Tag Archives: Carolina Chickadees

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.

Wednesday – 5.24.2017

2:51 AM – We wanted a little variety in the birds we’re recording, so we changed out the feeders in front of the cameras. The mealworm feeder was replaced with the small Squirrel Buster, and the suet feeder replaced by the Finch thistle sock. One of the first videos we got was of this Punk Red-bellied Woodpecker on the SB (Squirrel Buster) in the rain.

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Here’s some activity at the Finch thistle sock. No finches, though, in spite of the name. We don’t have pure thistle in it, so it doesn’t seem to be appealing to them. Other birds like it though, including (in order) a Carolina Chickadee, a White Breasted Nuthatch, a wet Downy Woodpecker and, of course, a squirrel.

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We finally got footage of the male House Finch. He likes the Squirrel Buster feeder, though he also shows up once on the platform.

Monday – 5.22.2017

12:02 AM – A new record for the number of Carolina Chickadees that can fit on a mealworm feeder. These three are wet, too.

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We’re starting to see the recent influx of House Finches at the suet feeder. At least we see the female ones. It’s still a mystery why the males are not showing up on camera, though we can look out the window and see them at the birdbath. And we verified that these are female House Finches. Those stripes on their heads are unmistakable. In this video, we see one trying to cling to the feeder.

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Here’s that one-eared squirrel again (assuming it’s the same animal). The squirrels have been all over the platform feed this week. There’s an entertaining video of D racing out to scare them away, but I promised I wouldn’t post it. Too bad. It’s really funny.

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.

Thursday – 5.18.2017

3:03 AM – These two Carolina Chickadees (assuming it’s the same two) have been hanging around together for the last few days. At the suet feeder they appear to be sharing food, like the Cardinals a month or so ago. Either that or they’re fighting, but I don’t think so. In the second part of the video they’re together at the mealworm feeder. We’ve only see the bluebirds share like this at that feeder.

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A couple of videos of the suet feeder – the mockingbird is now a regular, but the Blue Jay is a rare sight here.

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.

Sunday – 5.14.2017

2:48 PM – Unexpected visit from our neighbor Bruno. Like all dogs, Bruno is infatuated with D.

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3:43 AM – Typical day at the Suet Feeder: White Breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, in that order. I don’t know where the Mockingbird went.

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The immature House Finches are still around. Here’s one at the platform feeder. I like the drab harlequin look. It takes longer for these birds to mature (like the bluebirds), than I thought it would.