We didn't get
any snow today but there is a lot of rain and temperatures are forecasted to go to freezing. The bird avalanche I was hoping for did not come but the week is not over yet. A good time to show off some Blue Jays from a couple of days ago. I love their expressions and patterns.
Bird activity
has picked up a bit, and the Juncos are definitely here but today, temps were like spring again, so generally, things are still very slow. I did get some lovely portraits in the sunshine yesterday and the leaves are finally starting to turn here too. If you are watching my livestreams, please note that the ones not active right now will be back soon, there have been some technical issues.
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.
I try to avoid
being anthropomorphic when it comes to the birds but sometimes you cannot help but noticing something that could be seen as a character trait. Both Blue Jays and MoDos are really good at posing and drama. Alone as well as together 😂 (The first Blue Jay is sunbathing, the one in photo 3 has been eating mulberries). Come good into Friday!
Summer is well under way,
and the garden is going crazy this year. The Blue Jays had a really good nesting season, and their youngsters are all around right now. In my efforts to capture baby birds, I also get some critters, and this squirrel was especially cheeky. Live streams will be down for the next couple of days for maintenance but back late Tuesday.
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.
Baby Blue Jays
are all over the backyard right now, and I love to watch them. This is fun time because they are all kinds of ages, some already quite independent while others look like fresh out the nest. What they all have in common is that they are super adorable and they all look like they came just out of the laundry.
This week,
the Blue Jay, Grosbeak and Oriole babies have started to come out, creating a beautifully chaotic symphony and fun behavior to watch. All babies seem to love the pond, so it is worth checking out the stream.
It was hard narrowing things down, so I am posting a larger selection here and smaller numbers on social media. I hope you enjoy the fluffy cuteness of these baby birds. (species names in ALT text)
I have been asked where my posts are,
so I feel like I need to say something. I was slowed down for a bit because of my injured thumb, but there is also regular life with a job with sometimes crazy work hours, a kitty and husband to love up, a garden to maintain and other hobbies that I like to spend time with too. A day sadly has only 24 hours. I put the photo setups out every day but during busy work days I am not always in the mood to process them all at the end of the day, and just put the SD card to the side for when I have time and the right mood. Each card carries around 20k photos, and processing is not just going through the photos to pick out the good ones and formatting the cards, I then also edit them, add my watermarks and then compile captions for seven social media platforms, Youtube and my website. And sometimes I just want to relax at the end of the day. Another thing is, I have been doing this since 2016 now, and I try to stay fresh and unique in my approach and avoid repetition, so maybe I am a bit more picky and selective nowadays, and I want this to be fun for myself too. Yesterday, I finally caught up, and I also had time to edit some photos.
I have not posted Blue Jays in a while. I loved these three because of the evening light and the feather detail. As you can see in the last one, molting is already under way. I am expecting to see the youngsters any day now.
Molt aesthetic.
When I saw my first molting bird, I was nervous that it would be sick. It is not always pleasant to look at when it happens, especially since birds usually look so perfectly groomed. Over the years, however, I have come to think that the molt gives the birds a certain grace and dignity, and it also does look beautiful in a certain way. I love the exposed skin on the Grack faces that makes them look like knights, and also the chicken skin of the Blue Jay, the beauty of the newly emerging feathers, and the lovely mix of young and adult feathers in teen birds.
The other entertaining thing
are the loads of young Blue Jays. They are all very excited to find food and will try almost any feeder, and they will announce it too. I like photos like here where they have a bit of a sleepy eye. I have only ever seen this with the babies. They are just the cutest little “penguins”.
At times right now
it feels like there are only Blue Jays around. They have a lot of young, as always, and they are exploring every corner of the yard, excitedly exclaiming and begging the parents for food. They are utterly adorable, and I love their enthusiastic personality. Here are a couple of them, plus an adult. One of the babies is very recognizable because it is missing head feathers. Maybe it got attacked somehow. We call him Frazzle because that is how he comes across. He is our favorite right now (he is in the third and fourth photo).
The weekend
was a lot of fun and felt like summer. The birds are all somewhat busy with nestbuilding and offspring, and things are a bit quieter right now. Except for the Starling babies, that is. Here are some of the current regulars, some are immature, some apparently feeding babies. (Grosbeak, Robin, Blue Jay, Grackle, Baltimore Oriole, MoDo, Hummer, another Blue Jay, a Redbellied Woodpecker and a sassy Finch couple)
The week has been busy workwise,
and there was so much bird traffic, so it took me a while to go through the bounty. Without further ado, I present part of the blizzard crowd. The Juncos had a blast. To be continued. Good night and come good into Friday!
(Junco, Blue Jay, House Finch, House Finch, Bluebird, Junco)
It's been a while
since I have posted these lovely blue friends. Blue Jays are around year-round, and currently, there is a good number of them visiting too. Maybe that is why sometimes I don’t see them as so special. They are masters at sitting for photos, and so entertaining, though. And I love all the details in their plumage.
I am sorry for not posting more frequently
right now, but work is busy and there is also not really a ton going on bird-wise. Nature is amazing right now and providing a lot of food to birds and wildlife. It is a bumper crop year for Black Walnuts and acorns here, and I am excited to see what that means for the winter bird population. Here is a view into the current regulars, furried and feathered. Also, since it is Thursday - check out the Ostdrossel calendars!
It rained cats and dogs today,
and overall it was a weird day. I saw two Orioles, and heard them singing all day, which was awesome. They have a very distinctive song. You might have heard it on the livestream too. I was also distracted by the Bluebird babies. Two were left in the box this morning, I took time to watch, nothing happened. Then I did some gardening towards the evening, and of course during that, one of them fledged. Now I was in position to watch the other one with my big lens… And nothing. That baby is spending the night in the box. But while I was watching, I saw a Hummingbird :D (Pictured wet mops: Blue Jay, Cardi lady, Oriole, Grackle) With this new set of birds, I am changing up my setups a bit, and things still have to settle in. It always is a bit like a game to capture all the new arrivals, and this is one of the most enjoyable times of the year for me.
If you are thinking
about how to spend this weekend... The Great Backyard Bird Count is going on! And you can share your data and contribute to science! I always thought this was super cool. Find all the info here: https://www.birdcount.org/
Bird backs
can be very interesting because they reveal the beautiful patterns and textures of feathers. Here’s to a happy Friday!
(Blue Jay, Starling, Cardinal, MoDo, Chickadee, Bluebird, House Finch, Starling)
