Back for fall
After a week of battling with Covid, I have finally taken the jelly down and set up this little feeder again. The yard has been very quiet, almost eerily so. I am also waiting for a bird food delivery, so I sacrificed some untreated hazelnuts from my baking stash and look who came 😍 I haven't seen a Titmouse in months. I think this is going to be a nice fall.
Peter peter peter!
The Titmice have been very active recently, loudly chattering at feeders and feeding each other. I absolutely adore these guys that look like straight out of a Disney movie and hope to see babies coming soon too ❤️
There was also
a Titmouse bonanza! I love seeing them up close because they are such pretty birds with so many adorable details.
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…
When I first saw
a Tufted Titmouse, I was instantly infatuated. These birds are utterly adorable, not just in their Disney-ish looks but also in behavior and sounds. I usually never really see them in the summer but right now, they are hanging around, competing with the Chickadees and the Nuthatches. They sound a lot like Chickadees but their voices are a bit stronger. And when they are in the mood, they loudly proclaim: PETERPETERPETER!
These are weird times.
Things have been on the slow side with bird variety and fun photos but at the same time it feels like a lot more work because of the chaos on social media with all the different platforms that people are currently trying to figure out. It will all sort itself out in time, I hope. In the meantime, I am enjoying the few visitors that are coming right now, on the photo setup as well as on my Birdsy cameras. You can see all the ones I am sharing publicly on their BirdsyTV platform at birdsy.com. Here are some of the small crowd, super busy all day filling their cache or getting into berries (that purple haze on the BB is not a photo error, there must be some berries around here somewhere.) I present: Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Redbreasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch and Dark-eyed Junco (I love this one in particular, he also comes to the branch cam a lot - it looks like he has a kitty stache!)
I have set up an Ostdrossel account on Mastodon too, you can find me here: @Ostdrossel@mindly.social
It is very interesting
how different things are this November, compared to all the other years I have been here. Temperatures are more than mild, which I think is responsible for the relative quiet in the yard right now. Nature provides an abundance of food, there are still insects around too, so the birds seek feeders less. The Grackle and Redwinged Blackbird are still around too, and today I saw in a local birding group that someone had a Hummingbird on their feeder in Michigan. I am enjoying this mild weather but I really hope we will get some cold too. Anyways, here are some of the current residents, most of which are very busy taking nuts and seeds and hiding them for snowy days.
(Redbreasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Blackcapped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse and House Finch)
Since I've been so busy with work,
it sometimes takes me a bit to go back out and refill the feeders. And that is when I get lots of photos like these that show nice different angles like the side or back. It is great to see Whitebreasted Nuthatches and Titmice again on a regular basis after they’ve been more feeder shy in the summer. (Titmouse, Nuthatch, Bluebird, Starling)
And more Titmouse.
Because one can never have enough. This one cracked me up because it looks so disgruntled. They are flitting around with the Chickadees and Nuthatches, and can be very vocal around the seed cylinder. And their voices are as adorable as their looks.
This makes me so happy!
In recent days, the Chickadees and Redbreasted Nuthatches have started taking over, and especially the latter leave me standing with a big grin on my face because they are so cheery, loud and adorable. But wait, there’s more! The Tufted Titmice are back too! One of the custest birds we have here, looking like straight out of a Disney movie, with also one of the best calls - PETERPETERPETER! I hope they stick around, I love these guys so much.
They are back!
The Titmice have made themselves rare this winter, but they have started to make themselves known again, in loud and beautiful PeterPeterPeters around the yard, as well as the camera. They are one of my favorites because they are just so stinking adorable and they make me happy.
What more can anyone want during these wild times?
Today,
I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker (in a nestbox) What a nice change from the bird desert that my yard has been in the last couple of days. The House Finches are also back in full force, and I love that there are Titmice all over the place. I often mix them up with Chickadees when I just hear them but they are way more talkative! Always makes me smile to hear them.
Right now, pretty much every bird
has a scruffy look to it. Many are molting, either into their adult feathers or into new ones for the cold season. This is basically the current crowd. Except for the occasional Flicker I have not seen Woodpeckers in a while, no Bluebirds, and rarely Cardinals. Everybody is on the move, it seems. Except for the molters. And the impeccably looking Chickadee (with a spider!) and MoDo.
The livestream will hopefully be back working later today, there are some technical issues going on. Come good into Friday!
I was feeling adventurous
and put one of the hummer feeders on my photo setup. They are coming but I have not seen one yet and we got snow today. But oh well. I did get a Tufted Titmouse, which I haven’t seen in quite a bit.
The days are getting longer,
the grass is slowly getting greener, but things are off to a slow start with spring still. It feels like Goldfinches, Grackles and Doves are domainating the yard. But today, I had a Titmouse! And Mandrake, the Bluebird, came to the feeder too. He is guarding Dr. Clara in the box and occasionally bringing her snacks. Have a good Easter Sunday!
The Titmice
must have a peanut radar as well - sometimes I don’t see any for a couple of days, but once the peanut ratio is replenished in the feeder mix, they show up. They have a surprisingly loud voice for such a little bird, and the other day, I heard the first, almost perfect PETERPETER PETER of the year.
Tufted Titmice
love peanuts, and will make many trips to the feeder to grab a piece and take it to a secret hiding spot. Or they eat right there and then, holding the nut with their feet while pecking away.
The snow has melted again here, and now is a good time to make sure everything is winterized and ready for when the big white hits.
