3:08 AM – This bird looks like a Goldfinch, of the non-breeding or female variety, but I’m not sure. First, it’s not yellow (or even yellowish) around the head, only under the wing and at the base of the tail. Second, the beak is not short and conical. It’s longer and narrower, like the beaks of Yellow Warbler. But the dark stripes around the head, the notched tail and stripes on chest are consistent with the Goldfinch. I’d have to rule out the Warbler due to the head markings and tail. After some research, I’m still not sure what it is, but take a look:
— Speaking of Yellow Warblers, we haven’t seen any around for a few weeks. Just like the Bluejays, they stopped showing up. Too bad, we liked both of those, particularly the Jays.
— This raccoon is passing through. We took in the feeders as usual last night, so he’s got to scavenge for seed the birds kicked out of the feeder onto the ground.
11:29 PM – One of the raccoons came by this evening. First he washes his paws, then tastes the pepper suet. He doesn’t like it, and so moves on to the mealworm feeder, which he does like. The sequence of videos shows him eating the mealworms from the feeder, then shaking the mealworms out of the feeder onto the ground. Finally we see him descending and making a meal of them. Raccoons are clever. Maybe we should stop feeding and recording the birds, and focus on raccoons. Probably not, though. We’ll have to start bringing in the mealworms at night.
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.
3:33 PM – Not sure if the squirrels have had a chance to sample the meal worms yet. This one takes a look, and decides to pass on them.
— The cat made a couple of tries, and missed. Eventually he’ll get one, I’m sorry to say, but I’m not sure what to do about it.
2:55 AM – The raccoon has returned. Here he’s washing something in the birdbath, getting a drink. I’m not sure what he’s eating, we took in the feeders last night. Maybe the suet feeder we moved off camera. We’ll find out when it’s light outside.
10:42 AM – And, he’s back. That black cat has evidently made the deck his hunting ground today. He’s not pouncing in this one, just patrolling.
10:10 AM – I’ve been waiting for this to happen. This video shows a cat almost catching a Goldfinch at the platform feeder. The cat is not one of usual ones I see around here. I feel bad for these feral/outdoor cats, it’s a tough life. But I’d just as soon they confine their hunting to rats. I understand that in the big picture, cats cull out the weak, and make the birds overall a healthier group. Still don’t like to see this. Today, it was a cat – eventually it will be a hawk – we’ve got plenty of them cruising the neighborhood.
The cat jumps into the video about half way through it:
4:27 AM – We had no visit from the raccoon last night, and so no video of him foraging on the deck. That’s good news. Instead of that, here are a few from the last few days.
Birds feeding in the rain:
Before we put on the feeders in the morning. Mr. Cardinal wants his breakfast:
This is a Warbler of some kind, maybe Yellow. maybe a Pine Warbler. I can’t tell from the camera angle. One way or another, it’s not a Goldfinch as originally ID’d:
The Purple Finch trio is back. Note Mr. Cardinal getting a drink in the background:
1:46 PM – It’s been raining a good part of the day. The platform feeder looks like a vat of birdseed soup. The birds seem to like it just fine. Here’s a few bedraggled Goldfinches snacking.
5:11 AM – The main camera on the deck was inside, getting it’s battery charged, but the other one caught this brief image of a ghostly raccoon checking to make sure the meal worm feeder wasn’t there. He (or she) is still not convinced the food court is closed at night. I’m pleased with the effectiveness of the pepper suet. All our suet from now on will be pepper suet.
### A few days ago the Redwing Blackbirds (along with the Cowbirds) flooded the back yard. Yesterday we had on Blackbird squatting in the platform feeder. He was there, continuously, for about a half hour – a long time in bird minutes. I don’t know where the rest of the crowd was. If the Blackbird becomes a permanent resident, I’d prefer just one or two, instead of the whole overwhelming flock.
### In this one, we’ve got a Purple Finch, Goldfinches and Sparrows, all feeding at the same time. They mostly get along, except for a few pecks back and forth.
6:37 AM – We’re pleased to see that the meal worm feeder is attracting Bluebirds. Here’s a good video of one:
Although the Goldfinches are most numerous right now, we still have the Purple Finch and House Finch. The first video shows the Purple Finch sharing with the Goldfinches and some sparrows:
The second shows what I believe is a House Finch, also with Goldfinches. The color on this one looks more red than purple to me, but it’s easy to confuse the two. Easy for me, anyway.
4:14 AM – Raccoon was back last night, but thwarted by lack of feeders, and pepper suet. We took in all the ones on the deck, and it’s clear that the pepper suet worked. He didn’t even try for it. Instead he scavenged on the ground under the feeders. That’s fine, he’s welcome to that, as long as he’s gone when we let the dog out.
1:10 PM – Here’s the Red-Bellied Woodpecker at the pepper suet feeder. He attacks for a few seconds, leaves, returns and so on. His peak is really strong looking, which is to be expected from a creature that gouges holes in trees for a living.
6:30 AM – The Goldfinch flock is still around, in spite of the invasion of Brown Headed Cowbirds. Here they are swarming the platform feeder. Note the solitary sparrow in the middle of them, unperturbed.
6:20 AM – It looks like we have two raccoons. In the video below you’ll see one shadowy figure cross the screen, followed a few seconds later by another. I thought the first one might be a cat, but the shape is more raccoon than feline. Last night I brought in the vulnerable feeders, so they got nothing. Maybe a week or so of that will permanently discourage them, but that’s optimistic.
11:40 AM – It’s been a busy day for birds, what with the Cowbird and Blackbird invasion. Here’s the Redwing Blackbird with some Cowbirds in the platform feeder.
Another Redwing tries some meal worms. These birds are much bigger than our usual customers.
9:10 AM – There are a number of Redwing Blackbirds flocking with the Cowbirds. They usually go to the tube feeders, the Squirrel Busters, or on the ground, not the platform feeder. Here’s the Cowbirds feeding, when a Redwing joins them for a few moments.
8:45 AM – From out of nowhere a flock of these birds hit the deck platform feeder. I think they’re Brown Headed Cowbirds. I’ve never seen one around here before. They moved in a took over for about a minute, then flew off together. They remind me of a flash mob looting a convenience store.
8:35 AM – Here’s the first sighting of a Bluebird at the worm feeder:
4:05 AM – We learned one thing for sure last night: Mr. Raccoon really likes meal worms. See video below of him shoveling worms into his jaws with his little hands. We also learned that the pepper suet works, and in fact does repel mammals. The video shows his preliminary suet stealing routine, then he’s gone. We can verify this at first light by looking at the pepper suet for gnawing.
Finally, we don’t have good clear video of the deck suet feeder, but I can see commotion in the background of the worm feeder video. I assume that was him getting into the suet, but we’ll look for raccoon gnaw marks to confirm.
All this means we’ll have to rearrange the feeders – probably the Squirrel Buster will replace the deck suet feeder, which will go, where? We may not be able to protect it, so we’ll hang it in a tree a good distance from the deck and call it a Raccoon Feeder.
4:35 PM – A flock of Goldfinches moved into the neighborhood recently. The cold winter up north drove them further south than they usually come, according to the lady at Wild Birds Unlimited. In this video they are swarming a finch thistle sock. They are all Goldfinches, I think. The Cornell bird website shows non-producing males/females with very little yellow color. I estimate there’s about 10 – 12 in this flock, but that could be wildly inaccurate. The video is about three minutes long, and nothing much happens except Goldfinches feeding at the thistle sock, and occasionally squabbling about territory.
7:50 AM – Our first customers at the worm feeder (captured by the Worm Cam) are two Titmice.
4:20 AM – We made a trip to the Wild Birds Unlimited yesterday morning, and indulged ourselves. We bought two new feeders – one for big round blocks of suet, and one for meal worms (not the live ones). The latter is supposed to attract Bluebirds. We also bought a Bluebird house, a slanted arm to attach to the deck for one of the new feeders, and some squares of replacement suet. One of them is Pepper flavored. The Birds Unlimited expert tells us birds can’t taste the hot pepper flavor, but mammals – meaning raccoons – can. The theory is ‘Rocky’ will taste it, and never return. To that feeder, anyway.
Yesterday afternoon we set up the feeders, and rearranged the cameras. We’ll put up the Bluebird house tomorrow, probably. The new arrangement isn’t permanent yet, we’ll see how it works.
Of course ‘Rocky’ Raccoon visited, twice last night. The second time he was on the deck rail while we were right inside. The video below shows him reaching for the deck suet feeder, looking at the house, listening, then deciding to leave. On the first visit, he got into the new suet feeder on the deck, the platform feeder and the original suet feeder in the tree. He didn’t knock that one down this time, but did detach the camera from it’s mount and leave it on the ground.
These videos aren’t very good, but I’ll edit them down and post them to illustrate and document ‘Rocky’s’ bad behavior.