1:00 AM – More action from the platform feeder. A White Breasted Nuthatch and a Blue Jay:
Since we’re not able to access current videos due to some kind of problem with Arlo, here’s an archive video from November, 2016. This is one of the many we posted via the WordPress media system that disappeared from the website. Now, we’re reposting it.
1:00 AM – Here’s some platform feeder drama. We start with a Brown Thrasher running off a Blue Jay. It took just seconds, so it’s shown in slow motion. After the Thrasher loses interest, the Doves move in. Notice the Blue Jay coming back to see if he coast is clear. I used to think Jays were tough and aggressive, but not anymore. Finally, stay tuned, and turn your volume on, to see a Dove swelling his chest to call.
Dark-eyed Junco scratching through the empty husks.
Finally, a Cardinal having breakfast in the dark. The video was taken at 6:41 AM, just before light.
1:00 AM – Here’s how smaller birds can eat at the compressed seed cylinder. This Carolina Wren doesn’t have any problem getting to the food. A Chickadee could probably squeeze all the way inside. That’s not really a good idea, so we’re going to retire this cylinder to the platform, and install a new one.
More video of the Blue Jays on the platform feeder. They’re storing seed in their gullets, as opposed to eating. Maybe there’s some nesting going on.
Another video of a Downy Woodpecker, this one a particularly vigorous eater.
1:00 AM – Several Blue Jays have been around lately, mostly on the platform feeder. They particularly like peanuts, of course.
Other platform activity. A Finch of some kind – It’s hard for me to tell the difference between a House Finch and a Purple Finch. Then a White Breasted Nuthatch arrives, selects a seed to take with him, and departs. The Finch doesn’t mind.
Finches feeding and squabbling while a squirrel calmly eats peanuts in the background. Squirrels around here have it good.
1:00 AM – A nice variety of traffic on the platform. Red-bellied Woodpecker and Cardinal, then a Blue Jay, all nice big colorful birds.
Here’s the large and small on the compressed seed cylinder. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Carolina Chickadee.
Mockingbird having a mealworm snack.
1:00 AM – The finch sock ran out of thistle, and most of the Finches have relocated somewhere else. That leaves room on the feeder for the ‘regular’ birds, in this case a Dove, a straggling Finch and a Blue Jay.
Sometimes these female/immature Finches have really vivid markings. Not sure if these are Purple or House Finches.
1:00 AM – The flood of Finches has slowed somewhat, though there are still plenty around. In the slow times between Finch surges the local birds come out for something to eat. In this clip, a sequence of brief appearances by the year-round residents. At the end, of course, another Finch Flood.
We like the Brown Thrashers, especially the yellow eyes.
1:00 AM – Cardinal drinking from the ‘birdbath’ we placed down in the thicket at the far corner of the yard. We’ve been mostly getting videos of raccoons and squirrels, but the birds sometimes stop by. I wonder if this is one that also drinks from the deck birdbath. Maybe there’s a whole different community on that side of the yard.
Bluejay going after the peanuts we’ve been putting out. They really like peanuts.
3:37 AM – An unscheduled Retro Monday.
Here’s a gang of Blue Jays from 9.7.2017:
Sometimes Blue Jays squabble, and sometimes they seem to get along alright. Watch this small gang of Jays go for a pile of fresh seed. Then watch them get dispersed by one Mourning Dove. The Jays keep coming back – but the camera battery ran out of juice before the matter was settled. I suspect it never gets settled, this kind of thing just goes on all day. Notice that there’s still a little Summer Molting going on.
From 8.11.2017, a couple of juvenile Bluebirds, with patchy, striped markings.
3:07 AM – The Blue Jays have come back, probably because we’re putting out peanuts everyday. Here’s one stuffing nuts in his crop for later.
Short clip of a midnight raccoon scavenging up the leftover peanuts in the feeder. These cold nights can’t be pleasant for the little animal, but we’re not building a ‘raccoon house’, like a dog house. Probably.