Tag Archives: White Breasted Nuthatches

Monday – 8.14.2017

4:46 AM – This Blue Jay is easily identified by his black crest and the black sides of his face, and back of his head. He also has one small white patch at the ‘small’ of his back, before the tail feathers begin, and one other one half way up his back on the left. Also, no ‘collar’ around his neck/shoulders. I don’t really want to call him ‘Black Head’, so suggestions for a name are welcome.

We replaced the suet with a cylinder of compressed seeds, the ‘hot pepper’ style. This White Breasted Nuthatch is one of the first consumers. The Nuthatches don’t usually dawdle at the feeders, as the hit-and-run style of this one demonstrates.

Monday – 7.24.2017

3:52 AM – The Mourning Doves are now the most frequent visitor to the open platform feeders, and it looks like they’re feeling possessive. This one sure doesn’t want Blue Jays hanging around.

Since the cylinder suet cage is back in action, we’ve been getting a steady stream of bird customers (and a couple of attempts by squirrels). These were there over the last few days: Downy Woodpecker,White Breasted Nuthatch, Bluebird, Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee and Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Cardinal is new to the suet feeder, probably because the mealworm feeder wasn’t up that day. Same for the bluebird with the attractive pattern of back feathers.

Here’s that squirrel we mentioned. He takes a good sniff and decided to have lunch somewhere else. We really like pepper suet.

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.

Wednesday – 6.21.2017

1:03 AM – Lately we’re sticking to the ‘pepper’ seed to discourage squirrels, but most of the regulars really like the black oil sunflower seeds and other delicacies. D has been adding peanuts to the plain pepper seed mix, to make things more interesting to the Cardinals and Blue Jays. Here’s one of the latter picking up one nut after another, evidently tasting each until he finds the one he likes.

I don’t know if it’s the time of year, but the Tufted Titmice (one of them, at least) appear much darker in color than usual. So much so that at first I though they were a new kind of bird at the feeders. But no, a closer look confirms: they’re Titmice.

White Breasted Huthatch, acrobatic as always, at the suet feeder.

Thursday – 6.8.2017

4:13 AM – We put the suet feeder back in front of the camera. The finch sock that was there got no traffic, and the Squirrel Buster was easy prey for squirrels and raccoons. We loaded the suet cage with “pepper” suet, to discourage the pests. The usual suet fans showed up right away. The first one – a Red-bellied Woodpecker – looks like it’s been injured, but I think it’s just molting. No way to really tell what’s going on. The other birds are the Downy Woodpecker, the White Breasted Nuthatch and Carolina Chickadee.

The juvenile bluebirds continue to get more color – the blue on this one is coming in.

Blue Jay cracking a seed:

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.

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.

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.

Friday – 5.19.2017

4:57 AM – The Cardinals are still the most frequent visitors, in spite of the recent Blue Jay activity. They start eating early, and are usually the last ones we see on camera at the end of the day. Here’s some general Cardinal eating, drinking, bathing, making territorial displays etc.

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This one started as an illustration of the size difference between the Mockingbird and others – the point being that the Mockingbird is bigger than I thought. But the video doesn’t really do a good job of showing that. I’m posting it anyway because 1) it’s done and ready, and 2) it’s got cool ‘freeze frame’ technique. These videos are done with iMovie. I’m still learning the software. Next on my list is split screen shots.

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Nothing new about a squirrel hogging the feeder, but I liked these shots of a small one (presumably one of the crop born this year) helping himself.

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.