Tag Archives: Mourning Dove

Monday – 6.26.2017

1:58 AM – The finches usually feed at one of the Squirrel Busters, but this bright male House Finch (and a couple of his female friends) are using the open/platform feeder. Toward the end of the clip one of the females snaps at him, and there’s a surprise visitor.

We replaced the remnants of the suet with a new cake a few days ago. This White Breasted Nuthatch was the first visitor.

This is a common sight, especially lately, after five days of rain. It’s hard to tell but the rain is increasing and the Mourning Doves seem to be considering their options.

Monday – 6.19.2017

3:53 AM – We were concerned that we might lose the Cardinals and Blue Jays when we retired the open feeders – that’s their favorite venue. So we bought some ‘squirrel repellent’ seed for the platform feeder. It seems to work pretty well. Here are a Cardinal, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, House Finch (female) and Titmouse sampling the new menu.

And here’s a  customers that isn’t so happy. The pepper repellent doesn’t always work – we had some pepper powder we sprinkled on the black oil sunflower seeds that the squirrels seemed to find delicious – but these seeds are doing their job.

 

Friday – 6.16.2017

6:50 AM – This one is just for the color on the Blue Jay’s back.

After we took the open platform feeder out of service we had some disappointed and confused birds. The doves, Cardinals and Blue Jays don’t care for the ‘perch’ style feeders. Lucky for them we have two more platforms elsewhere in the yard.

This is a lengthy video of the raccoon discovering that he could reach the Squirrel Buster feeder from the rail. He makes the most of it. He was there for over an hour, and it looks like he ate until he couldn’t eat any more.

Saturday – 6.10.2017

12:24 AM – The bluebirds are getting more adult color every day. Here are a couple that have sprouted a lot of orange feathers over the last two days. They’re growing up right before our eyes.

Carolina Chickadee shows some outrage when he finds the mealworm feeder is empty. I swear I think some of these birds understand what the camera is doing.

These Mourning Doves are around all the time, but there’s really not much to say about them. Other than they spend more time in the platform feeder than we’d like, since we prefer more colorful, exotic birds. But, since we rarely post video of them, here’s a close up.

Saturday – 5.27.2017

1:07 AM – Traffic at the platform feeder yesterday. The face off between Mrs. Cardinal and the White Breasted Nuthatch was interesting.

The black cat, one of several backyard lurkers, is thwarted by D. The natural selection process will have to happen on another day. We hope.

Last,  some peaceful grazers on the platform feeder. Always glad to see the One-eared Squirrel is still alive and voraciously swilling bird seed.

Monday – 5.15.2017

5:02 AM – Yesterday was an ordinary day at the Foodcourt. Here’s a few birds at the suet feeder, including that Mockingbird we were looking for yesterday. He’s followed by the Red-bellied Woodpecker and an acrobatic White Breasted Nuthatch.

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Ordinary day with Cardinals at the platform feeder. A sluggish looking Mourning Dove shares the feeder with Mr. Cardinal for a bit.

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Finally, an ordinary night with a cat prowling around.

Monday – 5.8.2017

12:47 AM – Typical action at the platform feeder, with two of our most frequent visitors these days. First a little Blue Jay versus Blue Jay, then the Eastern Towhee. He’s also run off by a Blue Jay, though it happens so quickly it’s hard to see. He comes back, though. It’s been several days since we first spotted him, maybe he’s going to be a permanent resident.

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We replaced the hummingbird feeder with one of the suet cages, making the change from HummerCam to SuetCam. There isn’t much hummingbird activity right now. Later this summer we expect clouds of hummers fighting each other like the Battle of Britain; we’ll move the feeder back in front of the camera then. In the meantime, here are a couple of woodpeckers tearing into the suet – first the Red-bellied, then a male Downy Woodpecker.

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The Eastern Towhee has joined the Blue Jays, Cardinals and Sparrows as all-day, every-day visitors. I like the way he hops around when he feeds. Here, a Mourning Dove (another regular) watches him. Having an audience doesn’t seem to bother him.

Saturday – 5.6.2017

5:23 AM – This is our first sighting of the juvenile House Finch. Of course, this is our first year in business as the Backyard Foodcourt, so we’re seeing a lot for the first time. These little guys are fuzzy and awkward, bumbling around the platform feeder. We like the stripes all over them. In this video, they meet a Cardinal, briefly, and then a Mourning Dove, who breaks up their party.

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The Eastern Towhee is still around.

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What’s this? A raccoo, or a cat? Or maybe a possum? The shape of the head says it’s not a cat, and the skinny tail doesn’t look much like a raccoon tail. Might be a possum, but I haven’t seen one around here, ever. I’m sure they are there, I just haven’t seen one.

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.

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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