5:39 AM – The theme for the day is bird couples on a dinner date. The Cardinals sharing black oil sunflower seeds at the platform – no ‘mate feeding’, but still a nice domestic scene.
Then the Bluebirds at the mealworm trough. I’m not sure they’re actually together. Their separate visits may just overlap. It’s usually one bird at a time at the mealworm feeder.
11:03 AM – This unfortunate Carolina Wren lost his tail feathers, probably to one of the cats. That doesn’t seem to affect his flying/hopping/feeding ability, I’m happy to say. Now that we pay attention to these small backyard animals we’re seeing these kinds of injuries, evidence of the fact that they are wild animals and prey to other wild animals.
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We now have a flock of Purple Finches at the platform feeder. The males are the purple ones, the brown striped ones are females. In this video, we start with females, by the end we have four very purple males in the feeding pan.
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Cardinals don’t usually show up at the mealworm feeder, but I guess he felt like a change of diet. He flaps off, and is, of course, immediately replaced by a Bluebird.
11:25 AM – Bonus video of Bluebird close-up at the mealworm feeder:
5:59 AM – This morning featuring the Brown Headed Nuthatch, cousin to the White Breasted Nuthatch. Per the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “One of the few birds found almost exclusively in the United States, the Brown-headed Nuthatch is restricted to the pine forests of the southeastern states.” Not completely restricted to the forests, as we’ve get regular visits from one (or more) here at the Backyard Foodcourt. The BHN will eat suet, seeds or worms.
7:10 AM – I guess it’s mating season for the squirrels. This looks like squirrel stalking behavior to me, but I’m not a naturalist, or even close to it. Still, that’s what it looks like.
4:19 AM – This video posted because, what’s a day without seeing a Bluebird gorging himself on mealworms?
7:49 AM – There’s been increased squirrel activity, including squirrels hunkering down in the platform feeder. We run them off when we see them, but it’s really impossible to stop them from hogging the food. The hanging feeders – the Squirrel Buster brand – work very well to keep them out, but platform feeders are vulnerable to squatters. That’s the downside. On the upside, they can be entertaining:
2:03 AM – Breakfast with the Bluebirds:
6:45 AM – Unlike a lot of birds (and the squirrels) the Bluebirds don’t linger at the feeders. They usually land, stay a few seconds selecting a mealworm, then fly off. A few seconds later, they come back for more. In this one, the bird comes and goes four times in about forty seconds. At least, I think it’s the same bird. The markings look the same to me.
6:30 AM – Nice closeup of a Carolina Wren at the mealworm feeder. These birds are not as fussy about their diet as some. They’ll eat from the suet feeder, mealworms and seeds from the platform feeder.
2:24 PM – Not many squirrels have been in the feeder the last few months, but today they seem to be back in action. Here’s one squatting in the platform feeder. This one’s right ear has been slightly shredded – it’s visible at the end of the video. There’s another visitor that has only one ear. Evidently squirrel territorial disputes can get intense. Not easy being a wild animal.
8:14 AM – Recently there’s been a drop-off in the numbers of sparrows (and other small birds) at the platform feeder. We changed the seed mix to fewer black oil sunflowers, and more of the blend of smaller seeds. Usually we’ve been getting one or two sparrows at a time. A few minutes after we put out the new mix, the sparrows started gathering.
Also, note Bluebird drinking in the background. Now that the mealworm feeder is on the deck, we’re seeing a lot of them at the watering hole.
5:18 AM – No raccoon visits last night, as we brought the feeders in. We’ll probably replace the suet in the cylindrical feeder – a favorite raccoon target – with pepper suet. That will solve that problem. The raccoons really don’t like the taste.
We’ve had a lot of Eastern Bluebird action, so much that we’re not sure exactly how many different birds there are now. Here are some assorted videos of Bluebirds in action.
This is a good one, it shows one bird after another flapping up to the meal worm feeder:
One of the two bigger males:
A female:
1:57 AM – The meal worm feeder has been successful in attracting Bluebirds. There are at least four regulars now, two male, two female. The females are smaller, with less vivid blue feathers and a grayish head. Here’s one of them:
At about 15 seconds into the video, we see another female. The breast markings are different.
Here’s male and female at the feeder, first the male, then female, then male again:
And finally, something we don’t see too often – two Bluebirds, male and female, at the meal worm feeder at the same time. It doesn’t take long before one of them flaps away.
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.