Thursday – 7.20.2017

July 20, 2017 parmacetti

6:33 AM – After the squirrels destroyed the old compressed seed cylinder, we put up a pepper suet cylinder. At first we hung it by itself, with no cage, but only got a few customers (like the Downy Woodpecker shown here) . Today we put it in the cage, making it easier for the birds to cling. We’ll see if they can reach the small cylinder through the bars.

Cardinal update: Looks like one of the males is about done molting, but another (not shown here) is still pretty bald. One of the females is also molting, though she seems almost finished with it. Note her taking a mealworm away at the end of the video. Presumably she’s got chicks to feed.

Bluebirds are really blue. This adult (or maybe it’s two different birds) really has a vividly blue back. Not less vivid than the Blue Jays, just a different shade.

Tuesday – 7.18.2017

July 18, 2017 parmacetti

3:10 AM – We’re not sure which Cardinal is which. There seem to be at least three males, at different stages of molting. These videos were made over two days. Can birds re-grow feathers that fast? If not, it looks like three males.This calls for some serious study.

I can’t tell if these Carolina Wrens (or maybe it’s just one bird) are molting or just wet. I think it’s probably just wet. It’s been raining off and on for a couple of days, and I see wet and ruffled feathers, but no bald spots.

Monday – 7.17.2017

July 17, 2017 parmacetti

5:30 AM – This Cardinal is right in the middle of a serious head-molting. My question is, is this the same one we saw with a naked head several days ago, or is it a different cardinal. We saw a cardinal whose head was almost completely recovered, but this bare patches on his back. I know we have at least two males, maybe more, and I can’t really tell them apart. I need to get out the binoculars and really look at them. Maybe capture and tag them. Maybe not.

The camera we had on the seed cylinder has been taken down. Some critter has kicked the camera off it’s vertical axis, as this video of a squirrel feeding illustrates. And it’s not the first time. When we get the “pepper” cylinder up, we’ll restore the camera

Sunday – 7.16.2017

July 16, 2017 parmacetti

4:28 AM – It’s another Retro-Sunday.

This is from April 12, 2017. This Blue Jay keeps coming and going, stopping just long enough to grab a seed. The Jays that visit now will stay for at least a minute (that’s how long the camera records before shutting off). They sit right in the feeder, eating. I wonder why the change.

We haven’t had much success with hummingbirds. We got a few, then they’d disappear, and all we had was ants in the feeder. We’re waiting until later in the summer to put the feeders back up. Never give up on hummingbirds, every twitcher knows that.

This video was recorded on April 10, 2017, back when the Cardinals were showing mating and chick-raising behavior every day. We don’t see that now, but I expect we will eventually.

Saturday – 7.15.2017

July 15, 2017 parmacetti

4:03 PM – There was a lot of action and the newly restored platform feeder and bird bath on the deck. First, we see a Mourning Dove wallowing in the bath. The water got so dirty from all the bathing I had to change it early in the day. That’s a robin trying to run him off.

Here’s that robin with a really roughed-up looking Cardinal. That Cardinal is kind of a mystery. He was around earlier in the day, but didn’t look so bedraggled. Maybe he had a bout of accelerated molting. Maybe he got mobbed by a flock of delinquent bluebirds. He seems to fly away all right.

Finally, the robin by himself aggressively bathing and grooming himself.

Friday – 7.14.2017

July 14, 2017 parmacetti

5:38 AM – Now that we have two generations of young bluebirds, plus the adults, we get plenty of videos of bluebirds eating, drinking, squabbling and so on. I don’t know if these three are the same young toughs we saw at the waterhole yesterday. But they could be.

The Cardinal who had molted away his head feathers seems to be making progress in recovering. As can be seen here, he’s got most of his head feathers back, but still has some bare areas around the neck. I think one online source said it takes about 6 weeks to go through the entire process.

This Tufted Titmouse doesn’t have much of a crest, if any at all. I presume it’s also molting, since this seems to be the season for it.

Thursday – 7.13.2017

July 13, 2017 parmacetti

5:07 AM – All of our cameras have been out of commission for the last few days, for one reason or another. That means no recent videos. Instead, here’s a special Thursday edition of our regular Sunday “Greatest Hits” posting.

Here’s a weird video of a Blue Jay celebrating the ousting of another Jay from the birdbath, with a hopping dance. From April 29, 2017.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler and a bluebird at the mealworm feeder, from April 15, 2017. We haven’t seen the warblers for a few months now.

From April 12, 2017, a Purple Finch feeding an immature finch. Actually, that might be a House Finch, the color reproduction of these videos isn’t always right on target, so it might be purple, might be red.

Wednesday – 7.12.2017

July 12, 2017 parmacetti

8:27 AM – Bluebirds, particularly the young ones, seem to be a quarrelsome lot. The next two videos illustrate this. In the first a couple of them are squabbling on the mealworm feeder.

Here a bluebird juvenile shares the water with a young house finch for a while, but finally he flies into the finch and drives him off. That part is in slow motion, since it happens so quickly.

And last, these three young bluebirds are just hanging out at the birdbath. They’re not drinking, or bathing. They remind me of delinquents loitering in front of a liquor store, waiting for trouble.