Wednesday – 5.10.2017

5:21 AM – More scenes from the Suet Feeder. The usual woodpeckers show up, also an unexpected Blue Jay.

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The bluebirds stick to the mealworm feeder these days. The immature ones have learned to feed themselves, and are big as the adults, but they still don’t have standard bluebird markings and colors. We’d thought it might be a case of delayed development (due no doubt to an excess of mealworms) but the experts online at the Cornell Lab say it’s not unusual length of time for birds to be at this stage. The markings are normal for the juvenile birds. The adult male shown here is probably delighted he doesn’t have to feed the kids anymore.

Monday – 5.8.2017

12:47 AM – Typical action at the platform feeder, with two of our most frequent visitors these days. First a little Blue Jay versus Blue Jay, then the Eastern Towhee. He’s also run off by a Blue Jay, though it happens so quickly it’s hard to see. He comes back, though. It’s been several days since we first spotted him, maybe he’s going to be a permanent resident.

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We replaced the hummingbird feeder with one of the suet cages, making the change from HummerCam to SuetCam. There isn’t much hummingbird activity right now. Later this summer we expect clouds of hummers fighting each other like the Battle of Britain; we’ll move the feeder back in front of the camera then. In the meantime, here are a couple of woodpeckers tearing into the suet – first the Red-bellied, then a male Downy Woodpecker.

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The Eastern Towhee has joined the Blue Jays, Cardinals and Sparrows as all-day, every-day visitors. I like the way he hops around when he feeds. Here, a Mourning Dove (another regular) watches him. Having an audience doesn’t seem to bother him.

Sunday – 5.7.2017

2:09 AM – What have the squirrels been up to? Let’s see – drinking, eating, avoiding a confrontation with another squirrel, then visiting the hummingbird feeder for desert.

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Sometimes our customers don’t get what they’re looking for. Here a Blue Jay arrives to early for food service, then a White Breasted Nuthatch can’t find what he’s looking for, and finally a surprise late-night visitor is disappointed.

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I guess Cardinals like mealworms too, though for some reason it’s only Mr. Cardinal that goes to the mealworm feeder.

Saturday – 5.6.2017

5:23 AM – This is our first sighting of the juvenile House Finch. Of course, this is our first year in business as the Backyard Foodcourt, so we’re seeing a lot for the first time. These little guys are fuzzy and awkward, bumbling around the platform feeder. We like the stripes all over them. In this video, they meet a Cardinal, briefly, and then a Mourning Dove, who breaks up their party.

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The Eastern Towhee is still around.

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What’s this? A raccoo, or a cat? Or maybe a possum? The shape of the head says it’s not a cat, and the skinny tail doesn’t look much like a raccoon tail. Might be a possum, but I haven’t seen one around here, ever. I’m sure they are there, I just haven’t seen one.

Friday – 5.5.2017

12:32 AM – We’ve seen the Eastern Towhee in the yard a few times, but never at the feeders, where we could get a video of them. This one spent all day, off and on, eating black oil sunflower seeds.

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The Red-bellied Woodpecker visited a couple of times. He’s not shy about joining other birds at the feeder. In this video we see him confront the new Towhee, then a Cardinal.

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Typical Blue Jay seed crushing. He can be noisy. We can hear him from inside the house.

Thursday – 5.4.2017

12:41 AM – There’s a new bird in the feeders, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. He’s evidently just passing through on his migration back north. He’s been sitting in the platform feeder off and on all day. This is really an attractive bird, too bad they’re not here for the summer.

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Meanwhile, the young bluebirds have completely abandoned the platform feeder, but they’re still crowding the mealworm feeder.

Wednesday – 5.3.2017

2:13 AM – We got a new feeder for the hummingbirds, on that should give us a better view of the little birds. And other creatures. Here’s a video of one of the first hummingbird visitors, followed by one of an unwelcome guest.

We should have expected this:

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Recently we’ve seen the young bluebirds sharing the mealworm feeder, two and even three at a time – a first for any kind of birds. Here’s a are a couple of Carolina Wrens following the new trend:

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The Blue Jays now hang around the feeder all day, even more than the Cardinals. Here’s a typical moment – this one seems to be posing for the camera:

Tuesday – 5.2.2017

1:02 AM – I’m not completely clear on the ‘food sharing’ between the male and female cardinals, but it’s been going on for several weeks now. And they’re still at it.

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We haven’t seen the bluebird kids around the platform feeder much the last week or so, but they’re all over the mealworm feeder. Here are three of them on it at the same time. This is a record number for any kind of bird.

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Here’s yesterday’s wet Blue Jay all dried out, and hungry.

Monday – 5.1.2017

5:47 AM – We had some rain yesterday afternoon. This is what a Blue Jay looks like after it’s rained on for a while. Of course, this doesn’t stop it from eating.

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One of the squirrels was also out in the rain. This really looks like he’s using his tail as an umbrella.

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From a few days ago, here’s a Blue Jay having lunch, and discovering some peanuts D added to the mix. Peanuts are very popular around here.

Backyard Birds in Central Alabama