Tag Archives: Goldfinches

Sunday – 4.23.2017

12:14 AM – Today it’s all about bluebirds again. The young ones continue to use the mealworm feeder, in some cases two at a time:

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The young ones are now joining the adult male on the feeder. The young one can more or less feed itself, but father bluebird keeps shoveling mealworms down its throat whenever asked.

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Finally, this brief but cool clip of one of the young bluebird thugs hogging the platform feeder. This is in slow motion, though it’s hard to tell that – the incident was over in a small fraction of a second, real time.

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.

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.

Friday – 3.31.2017

5:23 AM – These bright yellow Goldfinches have started to appear at the finch ‘thistle sock’, and the birdbath. According to Cornell Lab website, these are ‘adult breeding males’. Here are several getting some water. The sparrow in the feeder doesn’t seem to be bothered by the activity.

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We had a storm last night, with some wind that blew the platform feeder out of it’s frame. The seeds spilled on the deck and rail. Here’s Mr. Cardinal helping out with the clean-up.

Saturday – 3.25.2017

4:15 AM – More of Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. Mr. Cardinal looks like he’s ready to feed Mrs. C, but she never quite looks ready for it.

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We installed a motion detecting spotlight to try to deter the raccoons and cats at night. Looks like the big yard cat likes the spotlight.

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No flocks of them, but the Purple Finches and Goldfinches are still around, at least a few of them:

Thursday – 3.16.2017

11:09 AM – We haven’t seen these really yellow Goldfinches for a few weeks. Here’s one. He’s not super yellow, but more so than the usual dull gold ones we’ve been getting:

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I thought at first that this was a new bird to the yard, because of the yellow spots on his crown, but it turned out to be a variety of the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

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This one is, in fact, new to the foodcourt. At least I think so. With Sparrows it’s hard to tell, there are so many varieties. These are Chipping Sparrows, non-breeding adults. The gray collar distinguishes them from the White Throated Sparrow that’s in the feeding pan with them.

Saturday – 3.11.2017

12:02: AM – Where did they go? We haven’t seen the Bluejays for several weeks. We now have the Yellow-rumped Warblers. The dense clusters of sparrows and Goldfinches turned into a few solitary birds feeding, like divorced men in an all-night diner. There have been other species of birds that have come and gone, like the Brown Headed Cowbirds and Red Wing Blackbird, but I knew they were transient. This is our first year as backyard bird watchers, so I guess it could just be a seasonal change, and I’m not recognizing it. Anyway, as a tribute to those missing birds, here are a few videos from the golden age of Bluejays, Yellow Warblers and Goldfinches.

Monday – 2.27.2017

1:02 PM – This Cardinal is a regular. I don’t think he’s the one that had a gash on his neck/upper breast, unless it healed up really well. In this video he’s eating sunflower seeds, looking into the camera (it seems). These are beautiful birds, but up close they look kind of mean.

The birds have adjusted to the relocation of the mealworm and suet feeders. I like the way these White Breasted Nuthatches walk and feed head pointed down.

It rained this morning, make the platform feeder into a sea of birdseed. We really need to get a proper feeder, with drainage. This one is actually a birdbath. Here’s the Goldfinches – still around – doing the best they can. I like the one wader.

Wednesday – 2.22.2017

5:04 AM – We forgot to bring in the suet feeder on the deck. Of course, the raccoon (one of them, I think the smaller) showed up and helped himself. The actual feast occurred off camera, but here he is leaving the restaurant.

— A change from all the Bluebird/mealworm videos. Here we have a Goldfinch at the worm feeder.

— We thought the Goldfinches might have moved on, presumably back up North, but here they are, with some Sparrows, at the platform feeder. A typical busy day.