4:54 AM – Usually it’s Bluebirds at the meal worm feeder, but not always. Following are three clips of other varieties of birds eating meal worms.
Here’s a couple of Carolina Chickadees and Red Bellied Woodpecker.
White Breasted Nuthatch at the meal worm feeder.
A Carolina Wren:
And a female Finch, probably a Goldfinch.
5:12 AM – Following are several Bluebird videos we’ve accumulated over the last few days. The meal worm feeder was relocated to a more ‘camera-friendly’ spot, so we’ve get better images. We know that we have at least three Bluebirds, and I think there might be a fourth. The first video shows the two smaller ones, first the next-to-smallest, then the smallest:
This is the largest one:
This is possibly a new one. His markings are slightly different than the other larger one.
The very minor difference between these birds is probably not interesting to the casual YouTube watchers, but then most of the videos on this channel won’t appeal to them. Of course, all this is posted so that it can be embedded in our website, which is interesting to us – a community of two viewers.
3:33 PM – Not sure if the squirrels have had a chance to sample the meal worms yet. This one takes a look, and decides to pass on them.
— The cat made a couple of tries, and missed. Eventually he’ll get one, I’m sorry to say, but I’m not sure what to do about it.
2:55 AM – The raccoon has returned. Here he’s washing something in the birdbath, getting a drink. I’m not sure what he’s eating, we took in the feeders last night. Maybe the suet feeder we moved off camera. We’ll find out when it’s light outside.
— The Carolina Chickadee at the meal worm feeder.
3:11 PM – We rearranged the feeders, hoping to get better videos. We still need some minor equipment (spikes for tree hangers, suet cage) before we’re through. If we ever will be done with the fiddling. We moved the meal worm feeder to a better location, with more light. The videos are much better.
1:33 PM – The black cat makes another jump at the birds on the platform feeder. He’s been prowling around off and on all day.
— No raccoons visited last night, at least, none that got on camera. We forgot to bring in the deck feeders. If we keep doing that, he’ll be back I’m sure.
9:08 AM – Typical morning at the deck platform feeder. There’s also a lot of finches hanging from the finch-sock, but no video of that.
3:12 PM – This Nuthatch, usually seen at the suet feeder, has unusual color. The gray back is almost blue. Actually, I think it is blue.
6:39 AM – Neighbor dog Bruno jumped the fence and is making another early morning run through the yard. He’s on the deck when his owner calls him in.
5:54 AM – No raccoon visits again, last night. Bringing in the feeders, and using pepper suet, seems to be working.
Speaking of pepper suet, we’re going to Birds Unlimited this morning to get more. We’re going to put some in the cylindrical suet feeder on the deck, which now has only the regular non-spicy variety. That should keep the raccoons out, and mean one less feeder to bring in at night.
Here’s a Red Bellied Woodpecker attacking the suet cage. These woodpeckers get the prize for longest, strongest beaks, in the non-predator category.
1:15 PM – Here’s that black cat making another run at the platform feeder. So far, the birds have been alert. That can’t last forever, though.
7:47 AM – We moved the meal worm feeder that the Bluebirds frequent, to get a better camera angle. The videos are now better, and the birds seem to have adjusted. In this video, I think there are three different Bluebirds. If so, that’s one more than the two we’re used to seeing.
5:31 AM – Quarrelsome Sparrows at the platform feeder.
2:32 PM – I guess it’s to be expected. With all the birds around, we’re going to have cats. This is a new one, not the usual black cat.
7:32 AM – The Pine Warbler. He (or she) is at the suet feeder off and on all day.
5:07 AM – I think this is a House Finch, not a Purple Finch. The color is more red than ‘raspberry’, and the pattern of the color is different than the obvious Purples. But I could be wrong.
Compare the above with these pictures from the Cornell Labs website:
The color and pattern seem to be a match.
10:58 AM – This Brown Headed Nuthatch isn’t around all the time, but when he is, he likes the pepper feeder.
### Here’s another Bluebird at the meal worm feeder. I think this is the smaller of the two I’ve been seeing. He (she?) has distinctive markings, so we should be able to pick him out of the Bluebird crowd later.
8:08 AM – We got a late start with the birds this morning, and didn’t get the feeders back out on the deck until a few minutes ago. I went inside, and about 10 seconds later the platform feeder looked like this:
— We hadn’t seen the Goldfinches for a few days, but as seen in the video above, they’re back. The Bluejays are still missing, and the Cardinals now come only early in the morning, and just before dark. They used to hang around the feeders all day. I don’t know if the Cowbird invasion discouraged them from coming, or what. Who knows why birds come and go.
3:27 AM – Bruno, the neighbor dog, jumps the fence again and comes over for a visit.
8:26 AM – Some of the birds I’ve been identifying as Goldfinches are actually Pine Warblers. I wasn’t sure for a while, but this video shows the strips on the chest/belly, and bars on the wings. This bird has the unmarked head, longer, narrower beak and big eye of the Warbler. The color on this one is very greenish, which is characteristic of the female. Other videos show Warblers that are much more yellow, but it’s hard to be sure of color in some of these.
8:07 AM – These are Bluebird videos from the last couple of days. They really like those meal worms.
In this one, we see two different Bluebirds, one after the other.