Tag Archives: Bluebirds

Tuesday – 4.18.2017

1:53 AM – Maybe we should call this edition of the Backyard Foodcourt “Young Bluebirds Misbehaving”. But before we get to that, here’s a short video of an Indigo Bunting. This is the first of these to show up at the Foodcourt. They’re supposed to be attracted to thistle, so we spread some in the platform feeder. We’d like to see more of this beautiful little bird.

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Now the young bluebirds. We’ll start with one of the young males going after a couple of goldfinches. One of the finches is very small, and may be an immature goldfinch.

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In this one, Mrs. Cardinal seems to try to run off one of the young male bluebirds. That doesn’t work out the way she planned. Note the cardinal’s crest rising and falling as she engages the bluebird.

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To end on a more heartwarming note (sort of), here’s one of the bluebirds getting fed by Mr. Bluebird. Then a male Cardinal lands and the two start a stare-down. The film runs out, so we don’t know what happens next.

Sunday – 4.16.2017

3:44 AM – Starting off with a brief clip of one of the recently returned Blue Jays:

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The young bluebirds are back, this time learning to take baths.

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And finally, some good news about the Foodcourt management problem of voracious squirrels. We recently replaced the cylinder in the suet feeder, the pepper suet feeder. The few bits left from the old cylinder of packed seeds impregnated with pepper juice of some kind, we put into the platform feeder. Watch this squirrel finding that out. If this little bit of pepper suet also works as a deterrent for the raccoons it will save us the aggravation of taking in feeders at night. I almost feel bad for the squirrel, he looks disappointed.

Saturday – 4.15.2017

12:34 AM – We don’t see that many Robins at the feeders. More often, they’re feeding on the lawn. This one is getting a drink of water. He stares down a couple of Mourning Doves.

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Male Northern Cardinal having lunch, and looking around for someone. This looks like more than the normal alertness-for-cats-and-hawks, so I suppose he’s looking for Mrs. Cardinal, or possibly other males.

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This is a good video of a Yellow-rumped Warbler on the mealworm feeder. He moves to the other side of the feeder, out of our sight, then a bluebird flies right at him, and he disappears somewhere. I can’t actually see him flying away from the feeder, but in an instant the bluebird is sitting where there once was a warbler.

Thursday – 4.13.2017

12:03 AM – Blue Jays at the platform feeder.

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This Yellow-rumped Warbler has very distinct and attractive markings. The Cornell Lab website says this is the usual Spring/Summer plumage for the male. Since we’ve only been watching the backyard birds since this past Winter we’re used to seeing these warblers in their drab cold weather uniforms.

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We thought there were only three immature bluebirds, but this video shows, for a brief moment, four of them.

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Last vidoe: a cat at the birdbath. We see more of them at night, but this one was on a daytime scouting mission.

Wednesday – 4.12.2017

12:15 AM – The Blue Jays are back. Here’s one at the platform feeder. We really like these birds. By the way, look in the lower left background of the video for a Cardinal getting a drink of water from a very small water container.

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Here’s something new: a Purple Finch feeding what looks like an immature finch.

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The Eastern Bluebirds continue to feed young ones:

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This video of a Red-bellied Woodpecker clinging to the mealworm feeder is cool, but kind of creepy. He’s so big that we only see his head and claws, like a close-up shot of King Kong clinging to the Empire State building.

Tuesday – 4.11.2017

1:52 AM – The immature bluebirds were around again yesterday. We were reading about them. Evidently at this stage they’re out of the nest for good (of course), do they spend the next few weeks eating and hiding. Here’s one doing exactly that:

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It’s still the season for Cardinal food sharing:

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The spotlight has been on the immature bluebirds lately, and the ‘kissing’ cardinals, but the other birds are still there in the background. Here’s a Purple Finch, though not one of the realy dramatically raspberry colored ones.

Sunday – 4.9.2017

10:29 AM – Bruno the neighbor dog jumped the fence again this morning. In the first section he’s in the bottom left corner – he pauses briefly to listen to, and ignore, his owner calling him. We always enjoy our visits from Bruno, and he seems to have a good time.

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9:14 AM – Bluebird fledglings are back. There are three of them, and they seem to be getting stronger, better at flying and hopping. Not always though. Here’s one trying to take off from the birdbath and getting an involuntary dunking.

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7:56 AM – Early morning Hummingbird.

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4:06 AM – The bluebirds made a brief appearance yesterday morning, but that was it. With any luck, we’ll get some good footage of them today. In the meantime, here’s a couple of standard variety Carolina Chickadees. These little hoppers are among of my favorites.

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Heavy traffic at the mealworm feeder.

Saturday – 4.8.2017

12:05 AM – This is great. I had no idea these young bluebirds could be so aggressive.

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One of the fledglings takes his first bath (probably). I guess he’s a little preoccupied when dad comes by with a snack. Which must have annoyed Mr. Bluebird, since he seems to spend every moment of the day ferrying mealworms from the feeder to a bird-mouth.

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Here’s a break from the many home movies the bluebird parents now have of the kids growing up. We had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird have a nice long drink of nectar. We’re really looking forward to swarms of them this summer.

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Finally, this Yellow-rumped Warbler has some markings we haven’t seen before. He’s a little small and rotund, and we’re wondering if he might be a fledgling, or maybe a little older.

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Friday – 4.7.2017

7:32 AM – First thing this morning we have fledgling bluebirds at the platform feeder. Following are several videos. In the first, we see Mrs. Bluebird feeding one a mealworm, while one of the chicks makes a stab at feeding himself.

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Here’s one landing in the feeder. They’re still a little awkward.

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This little one is still working on his hopping skills:

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Fledglings in the feeder, good shot of one of them getting fed by mama Bluebird.

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Two fledglings are visited briefly by a goldfinch.

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Mrs. Bluebird feeding the fledglings, and the new birds drinking:

The fledglings don’t look like they’re going anywhere, so we should have more videos later today, or, more likely, tomorrow morning. We don’t want to overdose on bluebird cuteness this morning.

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1:35 AM – From yesterday’s activity, here’s something you don’t see everyday. The strong wind gives Mrs. Cardinal an unexpected ‘punk’ style crest.