Sunday – 7.9.2017

1:04 AM – This is the first video we posted, back in early November, 2016.  All of the early posts, from the first month, were consolidated into one called Bird Videos – Lots of Them, then deleted. The Bird Videos etc post is the now the earliest one, dated 11/15/2016. This video was labelled Song Sparrow Bathing.

Another early video, from the first month, is this one of a Dark Eyed Junco. We haven’t seen one of these for a while.

And this early one, a Cardinal skating on ice to get a drink. Last winter we came out frequently and broke up the ice on freezing days.

 

Saturday – 7.8.2017

1:11 AM – This bird looks like a molting female Cardinal, but it might be a juvenile. Probably molting – the sparse feathers in the crest look like those of the molting male.

Just a short clip of a nice looking adult male bluebird. At one time we didn’t see many of them, but putting out the mealworms really attracts them.

We see this young House Finch frequently the last few days. This one, or one of it’s siblings.

Friday – 7.7.2017

4:44 AM – The color of these Blue Jays is really amazing.

The mealworm feeder was down to zero worms this morning. After we restocked it, the birds came from everywhere. How can they eat so much? I guess they use a lot of energy flying. Here we have a Chickadee, a Carolina Wren and a bluebird.

This young House Finch sits on our camera for a few moments. This is how they (the cameras) get knocked to the ground. That’s actually not true – it’s always the bad boys of the yard, the squirrels and raccoons who do it.

Thursday – 7.6.2017

1:10 AM – Look who’s back. It’s the American Goldfinch. According to the Cornell Labs website, in the summer their feathers are bright yellow, with vivid black cap and wind feathers. That’s for the males anyway, particularly the ‘breeding males’. Females are not so colorful. Last winter we had a lot of these guys. I hope they’re back for the summer.

Pitiful cardinal, all that molting makes him look mangey. At this stage he’s got some feathers coming back in, and it looks like this series of ‘molting’ videos won’t last much longer. I’ve read that only a small percentage of cardinals lose all their head feathers, as part of the overall summer molting.

Wednesday – 7.5.2017

3:47 AM – Our wireless router failed, which means no transmissions from the bird-cams. We still have a few ready to go, however.

Blue Jay drinking, and calling.

The squirrel looks like he’s savoring his cylinder seed lunch, munching with his eyes closed. But I’m afraid there’s something wrong with him, since it’s only one eye. We really hate to see these animals get injured, if that’s what this is. Maybe not, though.

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, both looking a little scruffy from molting, dining out at the mealworm feeder.

 

Tuesday – 7.4.2017

4:04 AM – This is a cardinal with a completely black head, and only a wisp of a crest.  At first I thought it might be a new species, but the Internet tells me it’s just a regular cardinal who’s molting, and has temporarily lost it’s head feathers. Since the skin under the feathers is black, we get a ‘new’ species. When the feathers grow out, he’ll look like a regular cardinal again.

The vulnerable cylinder feeder got hit by the raccoon last night. That part at the end was when he knocked the camera off it’s mount, onto the ground. Tomorrow we’re getting a pepper cylinder, and it’s all over for raccoon, and squirrel too.

This young finch appears to be listening for something so intently he forgets to eat. I like the markings on these immature birds, like little drab clown suits.

Monday – 7.3.2017

1:47 AM – Tufted Titmouse on the mealworm feeder reaches out and pecks the camera, right in the eye. Slow motion instant replay after the action.

This Carolina Wren is repeated taking mealworms away, presumably back to the nest, for mate and young birds. He aways flies slightly to the right of the feeder, toward the corner of the fence. .There’s a lot of dense shrubbery on the other side.

On our last trip to Wild Birds Unlimited they were out of the pepper impregnated version of these bird seed cylinders, so we got the regular kind. The birds like them, but also, of course, the squirrels. We moved the cylinder cage to in front of the camera yesterday, and caught these images (among many others) of a squirrel going to town on the compressed bird food. He might as well enjoy himself now – we’re making a run back to Birds Unlimited in a few days, and we expect they’ll have the good, squirrel-proof stuff in stock.

Sunday – 7.2.2017

3:10 AM – The Sunday Nostalgia Post starts with footage of the Generation One young bluebirds on the open feeder, attacking one goldfinch after another as they try to land. The Gen-1 birds were a rowdy bunch. From April 18, 2017.

From March 22, 2017 here’s the Carolina Wren I was concerned about. It looked like a cat (or something) had bit his tail off. A little research revealed that when Wrens (and other birds) molt, they sometimes lose their tail feathers. Sure enough, a month or so later the bird had a tail. I’m pretty sure it was the same one, based on markings and behavior.

From February 27, 2017, we have this video of the aftermath of a good hard rain. The open feeder we were using then didn’t have drainage holes, resulting in some Goldfinches wading around in a  small lake of birdseed slurry,

Saturday – 7.1.2017

2:59 AM – We put the birdbath (and camera) back up on the deck railing – the only bird hardware we’ll install until the deck is sealed. We taped an immature House Finch, and a squirrel who was curious about the camera.

Is this an immature cardinal? Or an adult female? If it’s the adult female, it’s the first time one has been on the mealworm feeder – so far it’s only been the males that use that feeder, for some reason.

Another video of the new Gen-2 bluebirds. They’re at the feeder almost constantly.

Friday – 6.30.2017

3:17 AM – The birds in this video look like juvenile bluebirds – but not the same juveniles we’ve been watching for several months. The feathers on these show much less blue than those on the first generation of immatures. Take a look at the first generation bird at the end of the video, to compare.

This second generation hasn’t been acting like the first. The latter were usually found  at the open platform feeder being fed mealworms by the parents. Of course, right now the platform feeder is not available to them, due to deck maintenance. Now, all this could be wrong. For all I know the older juveniles are just molting, losing their ‘baby feathers’, and will turn up with full blue/orange adult coloring in a few days, or weeks. There’s lots I don’t know about birds. But I’m pretty sure we’ve got a second brood now.

As a break from the bluebirds, here’s another cute Carolina Chickadee.

Now, back to the bluebirds. Here’s an adult, then one of the second gens – just to show the contrast between the fully mature and immature bird.

Backyard Birds in Central Alabama