3:54 AM – Several Bluebirds, and a full mealworm feeder, so we have some squabbling.
One of the local cats picking the peanuts out of the bird seed, like the raccoon did a few days ago. Always feel sorry for the ‘wild’ cats, though for all I know he/she lives in a nice house down the street, with plenty of food to eat etc.
12:10 AM – Catching up with the Bluebirds, we find them doing what they usually do – eating. In the first part of the video there’s one on the platform feeder. This is not their usual hangout lately, but I think there were a few mealworms in the mix. That will attract them. In the second part, they’re at their usual feeding station.
More about the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Here we can see the pale yellow belly, and the bold white stripe down the wing. The stripe, along with the red patch on top of the head – not behind the head, like the Downy – are good ways to identify him. In addition, the male has a red throat patch.
2:32 AM – Lots of Doves on the platform feeder recently. They’re getting aggressive with each other, maybe due to overcrowding, or maybe they’re just bad tempered.
Another series of birds drinking. In this case, a couple of Bluebirds, a Yellow Warbler, and our friend the One-eared Squirrel.
3:21 AM – The birdbath froze again the other night, providing us with this video of Birds on Ice. In order of appearance, we have a Bluebird, a Pine Warbler, a Dove and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Not long after these clips were recorded, we dumped the ice and filled the bath with fresh, liquid water.
Not only Birds on Ice, but Squirrels on Ice too.
2:18 AM – The final day of “Bluebirds Behaving Badly”, then we return to current bird activity.
Innocent Yellow-rumped Warbler tries for a mealworm snack, and you can guess the rest. The actual hit is in slow-motion.
Goldfinches keep trying to use the feeder/birdbath but greedy Bluebirds put a stop to that.
3:13 AM – Continuing our “Bluebirds Behaving Badly” series, we have these young birds squabbling on the mealworm feeder. They’re a quarrelsome lot.
Here’s a cheeky juvenile talking back to an adult. The good part is repeated in slow-motion.
In this one a small young Bluebird attacks a much larger Cardinal. Those Bluebird adolescents must be full of testosterone.
1:39 AM – Birds drinking – a Bluebird, Yellow Warbler and Robin.
Typical traffic on the Squirrel Buster. The Purple Finch is pushing everyone around, though he gets some kickback from a Sparrow or two.
First in a series of Bluebirds Behaving Badly. We have a number of these clips of juvenile Bluebirds terrorizing the other birds. In this one, a young Bluebird takes on a Dove twice his size, runs him off, then looks around for more victims.
2:22 AM – Bluebird mealworm brunch, attended by up to four Bluebirds at a time. I wonder how many would cluster around if the feeder was bigger.
We’re seeing these Dark-eyed Junco’s everyday now. They’re not the most colorful bird, and they’re not really that interesting to watch – they just sit and eat. But they’re good-hearted, and behave themselves, so they deserved a video. Just one video. Here it is.
3:22 AM – We have plenty of current videos on hand, so we’re skipping the Retro-Sunday feature until next week.
Another ‘snow video’, this one some random birds eating during a lull in the snow fall. Although it snowed all day, it was not a very heavy snow fall. The birds were able to get out and feed throughout most of the day.
And, trying to drink from the frozen birdbaths. We put some liquid water in them, so every bird got their thirst quenched.
From before the snow, colorful birds on the Squirrel Buster – a House Finch and Pine Warbler.
2:52 AM – Special ‘snow storm’ video. In the aftermath snow filled the platform feeder. This is funny – Mrs. Cardinal is baffled, but unexpectedly, a Brown Thrasher comes along and…
Earlier this week we showed a video of hungry birds waiting at the empty mealworm feeder. D filled the feeder, and everything got back to normal. Here’s some of the regulars, one after another.
We’ve got plenty of White Breasted Nuthatches, but the Brown Headed variety – seen here on the Squirrel Buster – is relatively rare in our yard.