For weeks now,
the Goldfinches have looked like their change to the vibrant yellow summer feathers was about to start, but now, the really adventurous looks are popping up more and more. I thought the first one looked very interesting because he has a lot of features of a Common Redpoll.
This is the high time
of molting, and there is a good bunch of Blue Jays are are looking a bit rough right now. However, new feathers are emerging, and I always love to see the different individual ways in which they do. I love this rugged beauty, and I find it fantastic in photos.
The evenings are getting cooler
but the garden still thrives, and there are sill many many baby birds around. This is the time where I like to put a camera to the ground to try and capture some of the more camera-shy visitors. The Blue Jays are very entertaining and all over the yard, the Grackle youngster are getting teen feathers, the Redwinged Blackbirds are bringing their peachy-faced babies, there are still Grosbeaks around, and today, a teen Cardinal visited too. As always when a cam is on the ground, some furries have access too.
Video: Hatch day for the Robins!
The Robins started hatching today! Mom and Dad share feeding and diaper duties, and they are such fresh parents that they still seem to be unsure how to do it. You can see Dad bringing some food and Mom wanting to feed it to the baby but then letting him do it when he seemingly insists. She's eating the diaper instead. You can watch this cam live here in my livestream section and on my Birdsy channel.
Livestream PSA
I have several Birdsy cameras in my yard that I am livestreaming in different spots. The main bath/ pond in the summer can be watched here on my website but also on BirdsyTV. The Tree cam and the green bath cam are livestreaming on that website as well, I am going to post links below. You can give my channels and cams and also videos a like there too. The website will eventually grow but there are already several cams public there. My own livecams change throughout the year, I may move them around, activate and deactivate per my needs. But here is how you find them:
1. Ostdrossel pond channel: https://birdsy.com/l/355115274eb4873b and ostdrossel.com/livestream
2. Ostdrossel3 channel (tree cam and shed cam and sometimes a third one): https://birdsy.com/c/Ostdrossel3
Activity will ramp up in the coming weeks with migration starting, so there may be lots of fun stuff to see. Check it out if you like
During this time
of the year, and I guess always, there will also be the opportunists. And they can be tiny and adorable like the Titmouse but also overwhelming like a group of European Starlings. Well, and the MoDos…
I am so happy
to see that the Titmice have found their way back here. They are not just totally adorable but also a lot of fun to watch and listen to. In the spring, you can hear their surprisingly loud PETERPETERPETER sounding through the air. Right now, they sound a lot like Chickadees, making grumpy little noises when they are not happy with the spread or notice competition.
Video: The tree cam setup
has proven to be the most entertaining during this rather drab time. I have gone through the videos from the last couple of weeks and made a little montage. I use peanut butter and bark butter on the tree. It is fun to see how many different birds came tocheck it out. Yesterday, there was also a hawk visitng, I was thinking a Sharp-shinned but it could just as well be a Cooper’s. The bird right after it is the banded American Tree Creeper that has been coming for a bit. Have a great Wednesday!
I am seeing a lot of ads for
for "THE AI BIRD FEEDER" and things like that, and I would like to state that I am not using any of these birdfeeder cameras. For my photos I use a homemade setup with an action camera, and for video and streaming I use Birdsy cameras. Many of the currently available feeder cams appear to be knockoffs (makers saw products in Kickstarter that garnered a lot of attention and then proceeded to quickly produce lesser quality products and flooded the market with them). They are often pricey gadgets and not the quality they may promise to be. My opinion of this is coming from seeing posts in birding groups, as well as my own research for what is out there and promising. I can only recommend Birdsy so far because it is what I use and because I know there is a solid, authentic and diligent team behind it. My general advice would be - do some research, try to find feedback and don’t spend fortunes on bad products.
If you are a maker of a feeder cam, feel free to send me one, I will put it to the test.
Have a great Friday!
Today, we had the first snow,
and even the very light dusting made me happy. The birds were happily feeding, and the Bluebird family showed up too. I know I have said this before but they are one of my favorites even just because of the faces that they all seem to make. There are few others with such distinguishable expressions. There were more nestbox visits as well.
Video: Siblings
Yesterday, the Bluebird family returned, and this time the youngsters checked out both nestboxes. They seemed particularly interested in the twoholer, coming several times to explore. I thought it was neat to see them using the two holes so effortlessly. And of course it was hilarious to watch the little sibling rivalries going on. They very much reminded me of me and my sisters. They are not nesting right now, they are kind of scouting the area and also practise for spring.
It is quite wonderful
seeing the Bluebirds back here roughly one and a half months after the last brood fledged. It’s not all of them but a larger group, and you can still see traces of the baby feathers on some. I am not sure how many individuals are in these photos but it’s males and females. The females seem to have the paler than usual appearance that their mom has too (it is one of the things I recognize her by). These were all done in the evening, so the light is a bit meh. But I hope I get many more opportunities with this lovely smurf family.
Nothing much is happening,
but I am having a good weekend with very little work for a change. I got some knitting and watching tv done, which I usually do not have a lot of time for. I have had to wear socks for the last two days, it has gotten cooler. And things are slow in the yard. But there are some new visitors. The Red-breasted Nuthatches are here, and I am so happy because they are a complete delight. They sound like little beat boxes and have little to no fear of humans. I walked up to feeders earlier today and just watched with a big grin how they were watching me, doing their noises. A perfectly wonderful bird to cure the little void birdwatchers feel after the summer frenzy.
I am getting spoiled
with hummingbird visits right now. It is wonderful and makes up for the beginning of the season. There are several individuals. I have three feeding stations around the yard as well as flowers and vines. There seem to be two adult males, the teen and then several females. I can tell the males apart because one of them is molting and the other is not. Their red gorget is awesomely vibrant when they move one way, and elegantly black when they look the other way. The photos show the two adult males, the video is the teen.
On a personal note,
I was kind of proud to see that this morning, I was approved to be verified on Facebook. This MoDo perfectly sums up how I looked when I got the message 😂 I hope you have a great Friday evening!
A happy sight
this morning - Gayle and Mr. Business are bringing the babies closer and I was lucky to get a little glimpse of one of them getting fed by Dad. I am not sure how many are there, sometimes not all of them make it in the wild. Gayle has ramped up her building efforts this morning too and is quickly filling the box. I am glad they hang around more now and I hope the Wren stays away. Have a great Wednesday!
Nestbox news: Grumpy old grandpas
The Bluebird babies are 10 days old now. They have become vocal, their eyes are open, feathers are starting to emerge. We have gone from "shrimp" stage to "grumpy old gramps" stage. Gayle and Mr. Business continue to be very attentive. Gayle is still spending the night in the box but now that the babies are getting bigger, it is not as comfy for her anymore. First video is from day 7, then day 10.
Video: Winter has returned,
and the locals are not pleased 😬😆
Stay warm and come good into the weekend!
I know I am posting
a lot of Bluebirds right now, but they are one of my favorites and I am so happy that they visit a bit more regularly. One of the fun aspects with them is that they usually don’t come by themselves. If you get them, you get a group. I like to think that over the years, I have helped to enlarge the Bluebird population in my area, and when they come back here, it is my little reward for the work, emotions and money invested in monitoring their nestings, putting out food and creating a habitat.
If you want to know more or are trying to get Bluebirds to visit your yard too, sialis.org is an excellent source of information.
And...
things are going to get a little busy here for me and you probably as well in the next couple of days, so I wanted to take a minute to wish you all a merry Christmas / Fröhliche Weihnachten and a wonderful holiday time. Hopefully, you will bathe in presents and food and love as much as a MoDo 😜 I am thankful for all of you.
