Tag Archives: Bluebirds

Saturday – 6.3.2017

3:21 AM – We’ve got a ravenous squirrel problem. Those rodents are in the platform feeder off and on, for about half the day. They pretty much eat everything that’s in there. It is not news, of course, that squirrels are a nuisance, but the amount of seed they’re consuming has drastically increased this summer, not to mention the amount of time they squat in the feeder, shutting out the other ravenous animals (birds). We’re not sure what to do about it, but we’re working on a few ideas. But not with optimism. Squirrels are tough. . Since about half the video we get is squirrel lately, I’ll share some here:

The juvenile bluebirds appear to be getting their adult coloring. Notice the orange patch on the flank of these two, and compare with the adult.

This short, not-too-good video is the first sight of an Eastern Towhee for several weeks. They were once all over the place, for a while anyway. We hope we see more of them.

Friday – 6.2.2017

1:27 AM – We moved the mealworm feeder (and MealwormCam) to get videos with less glare. It seems to be working. Here’s one of a kind of rare event: a Carolina Chickadee feeding at the same time as a bluebird. Now that the bluebirds are older, they seem to be less aggressive.

More mealworm feeder patrons – a Carolina Wren and Tufted Titmouse:

We really like these Blue Jays. Never get tired of how colorful they are.

Friday – 5.26.2017

12:10 AM – Bruno the neighbor dog came by twice today – this is the second time. We didn’t know about it until we reviewed the ‘tapes’. Bruno really, really wants to come in our house.

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Before we moved the mealworm feeder back in front of the camera, we found that most of the traffic at the Squirrel Buster feeder we recorded were Finches (and some Chickadees). Here’s a close up of a female House Finch cracking a seed and extracting the meat. They’re really adept with their beaks, these birds.

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Now that the camera is back on the mealworms we’re starting to see some of the old, regular customers there, like this Red-bellied Woodpecker, the Bluebird, a Cardinal and a Chickadee. We get a lot more variety with mealworms than with the Squirrel Buster and it’s Black Oil Mixture.

Sunday – 5.21.2017

4:32 AM – Rapid turnover at the suet feeder. First the female Downy Woodpecker, then the White Breasted Nuthatch, then the Carolina Chickadee, then the Nuthatch again – and then the video runs out. It’s set to record for 60 seconds, then shut off.

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Those troublesome female House Finches are getting more plentiful. Here are four of them at once. The puzzling thing is, I see the male House Finches at the bird bath, where there’s no camera, but not at the feeder. And I wonder if these are not just females, but perhaps juveniles (though big ones) or non-breeding males. Sometimes it gets complicated. More research today.

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In this brief clip we see that the Carolina Chickadee, something like the Honey Badger, don’t care. He flaps right up to the feeder in the face of two juvenile bluebirds (not the friendliest of birds). He stays just long enough to grab a mealworm, but he gets points for doing it at all.

Wednesday – 5.17.2017

1:23 AM – Mr. Cardinal, in a pugnacious mood, runs the Carolina Wren off the platform feeder. I guess he didn’t feel like sharing just then.

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This should have gone on yesterdays mealworm feeder video. I’ll post it anyway, because any closeup of the Red-bellied Woodpecker is cool.

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As a follow up to the previous video, here’s the Red-bellied Woodpecker enthusiastically eating those mealworms.

Saturday – 5.13.2017

2:39 AM – The Mockingbird, an infrequent visitor, helps himself (or herself) at the suet feeder. I can’t tell if it’s the same bird in all of the clips – in one of them, it looks smaller, and so might be female or immature.

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These days we don’t see the bluebird boys in the platform feeder very often, but here’s one.

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The unsung, un-celebrated sparrow is a constant visitor to the platform feeder, but rarely featured in videos. I think this one is a Chipping Sparrow. So, here he is:

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.

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.