3:02 AM – The Eastern Towhee was back for a second day. This is a much better video.
A few days ago we had a video of birds taking food away from the feeders. We’re seeing a lot of it – not just the birds on this video and the previous one. It will be interesting to see if we have new crops of young birds in a couple of months. Hope so.
The sparrows tend to be extras in the great bird dramas of the Foodcourt, even the relatively colorful ones like this Chipping Sparrow. Here he’s looking for intact seed after one of the squirrels has ravaged the platform feeder.
12:04 AM – We enjoyed going through the archives last Sunday, so we thought we’d make a regular thing of it. This, then, is the second Greatest Hits Sunday.
The raccoon hasn’t been around for a while, but he’s not forgotten. Here’s one of his less successful visits from last February.
This one is from January, this year. A pack of sparrows crowd the feeder. We still have sparrows, but not anything like this crowd.
From February, the Purple Finch and Goldfinches, along with the usual crowd of sparrows. We’re hoping we’ll see this kind of thing again next winter.
1:45 AM – These quarrelsome birds are female House Finches. They don’t seem to like sharing with each other, and sometimes other bird species. In the first video, a mild and innocent sparrow is ejected from the feeder. In the second it’s a round-robin melee involving the lady finches, and a couple of sparrows taking a few hits along the way. During the slow motion segments you can hear them shrieking at each other. They’re acting like wild animals.
2:39 AM – The Mockingbird, an infrequent visitor, helps himself (or herself) at the suet feeder. I can’t tell if it’s the same bird in all of the clips – in one of them, it looks smaller, and so might be female or immature.
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These days we don’t see the bluebird boys in the platform feeder very often, but here’s one.
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The unsung, un-celebrated sparrow is a constant visitor to the platform feeder, but rarely featured in videos. I think this one is a Chipping Sparrow. So, here he is:
3:40 AM – We replaced the shabby old birdbath we were using as a feeder with a nice one, made of wood with a screen floor. The birds probably don’t care, but it does look better. Here is a parade of birds trying it out: Cardinal, White Breasted Nuthatch, Sparrow and North Carolina Chickadee.
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We don’t have clouds of hummingbirds yet, but we’re starting to see an increase in traffic.
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The Blue Jays are now at the feeder off and on, all day. I think they’re nesting in a tree across the yard by the back fence. This is interesting – one Jay flies into the other, knocking him off the feeder, then does a kind of hopping victory dance. The last part of the clip shows this in slow motion.
1:52 AM – I don’t know what’s gotten into these birds. Usually the sparrows (all varieties) mind their own business. This one lights into a Tufted Titmouse, gets thrown back, circles around and attacks again. Flies right into his little flank. Wow. Maybe it’s all the rowdy adolescent bluebirds, infecting the whole Foodcourt.
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Later the same afternoon, a couple of the Bluebird Gang (now numbering four males and a female) were hanging around the water when a Purple Finch stopped for a drink. Surprisingly, they didn’t attack him. After a bit, he flew off. Then more of the bluebirds came – there were four males in all. This is the first real verification of the numbers.
2:24 PM – Not many squirrels have been in the feeder the last few months, but today they seem to be back in action. Here’s one squatting in the platform feeder. This one’s right ear has been slightly shredded – it’s visible at the end of the video. There’s another visitor that has only one ear. Evidently squirrel territorial disputes can get intense. Not easy being a wild animal.
8:14 AM – Recently there’s been a drop-off in the numbers of sparrows (and other small birds) at the platform feeder. We changed the seed mix to fewer black oil sunflowers, and more of the blend of smaller seeds. Usually we’ve been getting one or two sparrows at a time. A few minutes after we put out the new mix, the sparrows started gathering.
Also, note Bluebird drinking in the background. Now that the mealworm feeder is on the deck, we’re seeing a lot of them at the watering hole.
2:54 PM – After last nights raccoon rampage at the mealworm feeder, we rearranged the food court. The big pepper suet feeder is where the mealworms used to be – the raccoon won’t go after it. The mealworm feeder are now on the deck, where we can get to it easily to bring it at night. It didn’t take long for the Bluebirds to find it, and the suet eaters are already on the pepper suet at it’s new station. Here’s a male Downy Woodpecker:
A few days ago we dumped a lot of non-pepper suet into the platform feeder. It wasn’t popular with the regulars, just attracting a few Nuthatches and Carolina Wrens. Yesterday we tossed the suet and restocked with the regular seed mix, but the sparrows and finches that usually crowd the feeder haven’t shown up yet. Here’s one lonely sparrow snacking:
5:47 AM – We weren’t sure what bird this was, but after looking at the videos of the Cowbird/Blackbird invasion of a few weeks ago, it’s probably a female Brown Headed Cowbird. We usually don’t see them without a whole flock to keep them company.
### Here’s another cat attack. About 15 seconds in to the video you can see the black cat come onto the deck, then a few seconds later, make it’s (unsuccessful) run at the Sparrow. I don’t like this, but I have to admire the cats ability to stalk.
1:15 PM – Here’s that black cat making another run at the platform feeder. So far, the birds have been alert. That can’t last forever, though.
7:47 AM – We moved the meal worm feeder that the Bluebirds frequent, to get a better camera angle. The videos are now better, and the birds seem to have adjusted. In this video, I think there are three different Bluebirds. If so, that’s one more than the two we’re used to seeing.
5:31 AM – Quarrelsome Sparrows at the platform feeder.