Thursday – 6.29.2017

12:43 AM – [We’re having the deck cleaned and sealed, so all the bird feeding hardware has been removed temporarily. There are still plenty of other feeders in the yard, so no bird is going hungry, but the open feeder camera is out of action. ]

We wondered if these bluebirds, so clearly adults, are this springs’ juveniles, all grown up. Nope. The spotted speckled juvenile bluebirds are still around, not yet transformed into the beautiful blue/orange adults. In spite of some research we’re still not exactly sure how long it takes for them to mature completely.

While looking at the bluebirds we ran across this video of busy traffic at the mealworm feeder, and decided to have some high speed fun.

For a change, here’s a video without bluebirds in it. Enjoy the Cardinal and Carolina Wren.

Wednesday – 6.28.2017

1:00 AM – Carolina Chickadees on the mealworm feeder, winning the prize for cuteness. With a cameo appearance by the Tufted Titmouse.

I’d like to think these are a couple of the juvenile bluebirds, all grown up. Maybe so, maybe not, but I like watching them anyway.

Another video of a Downy Woodpecker on the mealworm feeder. This one is very energetic and singleminded in his mealworm harvesting. He completely ignores the Chickadee who lands, grabs a worm and leaves.

Tuesday – 6.27.2017

3:29  AM – Red-bellied Woodpecker having an uneventful meal. All as usual except for the part where he flies off with a beak full of suet.

Downy Woodpecker at the mealworm feeder. The Red-belly is a regular visiter here, but the Downy usually sticks to the suet cage.

The Cardinal having an ordinary meal. At this time of day the sun really shows how vividly colored those birds are.

Monday – 6.26.2017

1:58 AM – The finches usually feed at one of the Squirrel Busters, but this bright male House Finch (and a couple of his female friends) are using the open/platform feeder. Toward the end of the clip one of the females snaps at him, and there’s a surprise visitor.

We replaced the remnants of the suet with a new cake a few days ago. This White Breasted Nuthatch was the first visitor.

This is a common sight, especially lately, after five days of rain. It’s hard to tell but the rain is increasing and the Mourning Doves seem to be considering their options.

Saturday – 6.24.2017

1:18 AM – It’s been raining for five days now. This cardinal has certainly gotten used to it.

We replenished the suet cage yesterday, and threw the leftovers into the platform feeder. It turns out the Blue Jays really like suet, even though they never come to the suet cage. Evidently they don’t like to hang from the vertical surface. Notice that he’s carrying off pieces of suet for some other Jay.

Friday – 6.23.2017

5:01 AM – We put the new suet out last week, and it’s almost gone. The birds, like this male Downy Woodpecker, love it. Stand by for a new brick in a few days.

This Chipping Sparrow – you can tell by gray band around the eyes – is almost always in the open feeder.

Here’s bluebirds at the mealworm feeder, as usual. At one time we were worried we wouldn’t attract any of these gluttons, but we’ve got plenty of them. As long as the supply of mealworms holds out.

Thursday – 6.22.2017

4:18 AM – Slim pickings today in the bird video world. It rained most of yesterday, and the birds didn’t seem to feel like performing. Here we have an unexceptional Tufted Titmouse on the suet feeder. The only unusual thing about this is Titmice aren’t usually big suet consumers.

We also don’t see too many House Finches on the mealworm feeder. This one looks like a juvenile, as it looks smaller than usual. But it could be the camera. That’s a Titmouse at the beginning. They’re everywhere. The Finch part of this is in slow motion.

Cardinal and the new pepper seed. He seems to like it all right. If we mix in the black oil sunflower seeds he really prefers, we get squirrels, and plenty of them.

 

Wednesday – 6.21.2017

1:03 AM – Lately we’re sticking to the ‘pepper’ seed to discourage squirrels, but most of the regulars really like the black oil sunflower seeds and other delicacies. D has been adding peanuts to the plain pepper seed mix, to make things more interesting to the Cardinals and Blue Jays. Here’s one of the latter picking up one nut after another, evidently tasting each until he finds the one he likes.

I don’t know if it’s the time of year, but the Tufted Titmice (one of them, at least) appear much darker in color than usual. So much so that at first I though they were a new kind of bird at the feeders. But no, a closer look confirms: they’re Titmice.

White Breasted Huthatch, acrobatic as always, at the suet feeder.

Tuesday – 6.20.2017

6:11 AM – There’s a new Blue Jay around, a little smaller than the others. Presumably it’s a young bird, one of the recent crop of chicks of all the bird variety. In this clip, he learns who’s in charge of the feeders (for now, anyway). Notice in the last part of the video that he’s in the background, sitting on the rail waiting his turn.

The small brown birds are either female or juvenile House Finches. Lots of them around the last few days. The female Cardinal seems pretty relaxed about the little finch sharing the feeder. That’s not always the case.

The pepper seed keeps the squirrels from hogging the feeder. However, we added some black oil sunflower seeds to the mix, for the Cardinals and Blue Jays, and of course, the squirrels arrived to take advantage. Here’s one picking through the pepper seeds to find the good stuff.

In a few of the recent videos you may have noticed that the water bowl/bird bath is empty. There’s a crack in it (caused by a raccoon visit some time ago). We repaired it with tape, but it’s finally deteriorated to the point it won’t hold water. Fortunately, there’s a much larger bowl on the other side of the deck, so no bird goes thirsty. We’ve ordered a replacement for the camera bowl.

 

Backyard Birds in Central Alabama