3:02 AM – More excitement at the mealworm feeder. This Mockingbird doesn’t like to share. The Bluebird lands, and takes off again fast. Once that’s accomplished, Mockingbird goes back to eating worms.
Doves are getting numerous around the feeders again. Here’s one drinking, and another keeping some Cardinals at bay in the feeder.
2:54 AM – Mrs. Cardinal doesn’t get a friendly reception from the Bluebird on the mealworm feeder, but once it’s clear that she’s just there for the food, they both settle down. After that, Bluebirds come and go, as well as a little Chickadee. But Mrs. C keeps on eating.
This was taken just before we replenished the platform feeder. Mr. Cardinal swaggers in for a snack, and finds nothing but husks. You can tell he doesn’t like that.
1:04 AM – A small drama at the Squirrel Buster feeder. Pine Warbler and a Chickadee are peacefully feeding. Watch the slow-motion video of a Cardinal flying in and running them off.
We used to have Sparrows everywhere, but they’ve relocated. Here’s a stray after the long rain yesterday. We’d like to see more of these little guys.
2:36 AM – The Purple Finch versus Cardinal situation on the Squirrel Buster feeder continues. Recently the Cardinal sent the Finch packing. This time it’s different. I guess the Finch is just tired of being pushed around. Or maybe it’s a different Finch and Cardinal.
Brown Thrasher on the platform feeder, just after an all-day rain. We like these birds. In this part of the country (Central Alabama) they are year-round residents.
4:14 AM – The deck platform feeder is back. We took it down because it attracted too many doves. So far, it’s been mainly Cardinals using it, along with this Mockingbird. I like the Cardinal sneaking up behind him.
This fat Cardinal is doing what Cardinals always do: Eating sunflower seeds and chasing smaller birds away. Nature in action.
2:55 AM – We spotted a Robin at the birdbath (along with an ever-present Cardinal). We don’t see too many Robin, for most of the year. They should be passing through pretty soon I think. It was such a brief clip, I added a ‘freeze’ to get a better look at the bird.
Here are a Cardinal and Purple Finch sharing the feeder. The finch starts moving around, and the Cardinal pops around the corner like a crank neighbor, telling those kids to get off his lawn. Cardinals are notoriously irritable.
3:02 AM – The White Breasted Nuthatch darts in and out quickly – the second and third clips are a 50% speed. I notice he (or she) likes to get a seed then deliberately drop it on the ground. Maybe he’s got a partner down there collecting them.
We put some peanuts out, hoping to attract the Blue Jays, but they were a no-show. We did get this female Cardinal. In the bird world, you take what you can get.
1:33 AM – This scruffy looking Cardinal is parked in one of our outlier feeders, way across the yard by the back fence. The video was taken with a ‘regular’ Nikon camera, instead of captured by a Netgear security camera as is usual. We’re trying different ways to improve the quality of the video clips. The problem with this way – we have to stalk the birds for a long time to get an image. With the security cams, we just check the footage at the end of the day.
Cardinal quivering on the Squirrel Buster feeder while snacking. The quality of this video is actually not bad. I like the color better, though it’s not necessarily accurate. Lighting has a lot to do with this (how bright etc), plus season (are birds molting or getting ready to attract a mate).
4:37 AM – Mrs. Cardinal bathing.
Here’s a wary squirrel getting a drink. So far, he has both ears, unlike our favorite One Ear Squirrel. It pays to be cautious.
2:00 AM – Lots of Bluebirds in the yard these days – well, by lots I mean we see four or five at a time. Last winter they were a rare sight, but we courted them with mealworms, and it worked.
We put some peanuts out, hoping to attract the Blue Jays. Every now and then I see them high up in the trees, but they don’t attend the feeders anymore. Instead we got a Cardinal. That’s alright, but it would be nice to have the Jays back.