3:04 AM – The birds have been very thirsty lately, giving us plenty of video of drinking and splashing around. Here’s a small Bluebird having a sip until a nice looking Brown Thrasher shows up.
Sometime yesterday afternoon the birds gobbled up the last of the mealworms. Today, we’re seeing a lot of this: a annoyed looking Bluebird waiting for a refill. And probably complaining about the service in this joint.
2:33 AM – More Pine Warbler activity.
And some archive video from November, 2016 – Mr. Cardinal bathing.
2:35 AM – Here are a Pine Warbler and Mockingbird at the birdbath. This Warbler is one of the first we’ve seen this Fall. A glimpse of a bright yellow one showed up on another video, but it was too brief to display. We’re never completely sure of the distinction between the Pine Warbler, Yellow Warbler and the Goldfinch. The bird in the follow clip doesn’t have the finches’ characteristic black head markings, but it does have the black/gray/white wing bars, and no striped markings on the chest, like the Warblers. I’ll go ahead and call it a female Pine Warbler.
Archive video from November 201 6. The Chickadee bathes the same way he eats, darting in for a few seconds, then flying away, and returning. In the first part of the clip he looks like a little motorboat.
3:12 AM – Our new bird, the Eastern Phoebe, seems to be settling in for a stay. He’s been carrying mealworms away, presumably to a nest somewhere to feed his mate and/or chicks.
Archive video, this time of a Red-bellied Woodpecker drinking. This is from November 2016.
4:37 AM – We’re seeing more Mockingbirds this Fall – or maybe the same few Mockingbirds a lot more frequently. As seen here, he’s a fan of the platform feeder and the birdbath. He also likes mealworms, puppies and long walks in the rain. Maybe not those last two.
Archive footage (November 2016) of birds peacefully at the birdbath. There are Bluebirds, Purple Finches, Cardinal and Sparrows.
2:56 AM – Bluebirds favor the mealworm feeder over all the others. Here’s a ‘mini-swarm’ of hungry birds.
Archive footage from 11/2016 of a Cardinal and Purple Finch on the empty birdbath.
12:27 AM – This is the first time we’ve seen one of these, and we’ve tentatively ID’ed it as an Eastern Phoebe. The video is choppy because our camera started ‘pixilating’, and we had to edit it. The Cornell Labs website says they can be winter migrators or permanent residents here in Alabama. It also says they’re from the Flycatcher family of birds, who usually eat insects and so are not often seen at feeders. These seem to like the mealworms pretty well.
More from the Archives. This was recorded in November 2016.
3:48 AM – The Sparrows we’ve been seeing have turned into a small flock. Here are at least five of them on the platform feeder. Near the end of the video is some slow-motion beak fencing.
The Yellow-rumped Warblers are back from a summer in the north. According to the Cornell Labs website, they are down from Canada. Last year we had quite a few.
Extra video from the Archives. This is from November, 2016.
4:38 AM – It’s ‘Retro-Robins’, a review of past videos featuring the American Robin.
We’ll start with some juvenile Bluebirds being approached by a juvenile Robin. I’m pretty sure the Robin wants to be friends, but the Bluebirds aren’t having any of that.
From last summer, a Robin bathing”
From more than a year ago, a Robin drinking:
Finally, a Robin and a pathetic looking molting Cardinal. The Robin waits for the Cardinal to leave before bathing. Robins are notoriously modest.
3:24 AM – Thirsty squirrels, a cat and the very popular raccoon take their turn.
I still have a hard time telling the difference between the varieties of Sparrows. I think these might be Song Sparrows, but those are supposed to have stripes on the chest. They also look like White Throated Sparrows but they don’t really have white throats. Whatever brand of Sparrow these are, there are several of them, which is nice, as they haven’t been around much lately. A femaile Purple Finch is also there, until finally a Cardinal runs the whole lot of them off.