The other day,
I saw a young Cardinal in the yard, much to my surprise! The nest I found earlier this spring was not successful and I thought maybe there won’t be any Cardi babies this year. There are several adults around, and the males are always chasing each other. In between, they sit down to take a snack and pretty portraits though. And then the chase is back on.
Mr. Vacuum,
the Chipmunk, is still around and makes me giggle every time I see him. I know they can be destructive but so far they aren’t. I never see more than one, though. There is also a tiny American Red Squirrel around (he’s a little meano and even pulls MoDos by the tail) and of course the other regular squirrels. And they all make it tough to get photos of the birds that feed on the ground. Their nut radar must go crazy once they hear the camera being placed on the ground somewhere.
Long time no see!
Goldfinches are usually mostly absent for me in the summer. They are the latest nesters, I have heard, and they seem to spend some fun time out in the wild before they start building families. Right now, I see one or the other return, here a male in his glorious summer “clothes”. I have some shelled sunflower seeds out that they seem to like a lot.
The Blue Jays
and their babies are all over the yard at the moment. The funny thing is that they really don’t care where I place a camera, they will come and explore it as soon as I turn my back. Here, we have a baby, an adult and a baby with adult.
The smallsies
are slowly returning from their baby break. I have seen Goldfinches, Nuthatches and Chickadees more frequently in the last couple of days. They all look a bit rough around the edges, molting and parenthood are taking their toll.
This Grack
has a case of the Mondays. He also somehow reminds me of Maynard James Keenan.
(He is just molting.)
The penguin babies are here!
Well, technically, they are Blue Jays, but their face markings always remind me of penuins somehow :D They have started to come to the bird bath too, so the livestream should be fun today. I’ve had a lot of work and not enough time to go through the many photos I’ve taken but I will post some more this weekend. Have a wonderful Saturday!
I have heard them for a couple of days now,
but here is the first official Blue Jay baby of the year!
The Bluebird family
has four thriving babies. We are experiencing very hot and dry weather, and I have to admit that there are times where I am concerned about the babies in the box. But they are doing good. Tonight, Lagertha is not staying with them for the first time. According to my calculations, they should fledge around Thursday/Friday/Saturday.
So I think
there is more than one bunny. The one we usually see still has the white dot on the forehead and is so small that he can’t reach the bowl. This one, however… :D
With these Blue Jays
I want to wish everybody a nice and safe 4th of July. Don’t use hand sanitizer right before you light up the grill or fireworks ;)
(The one on the left is still either molting or fighting some kind of mites. The one on the right was taking a sunbath at the feeder. You might have seen birds do that, they spread the wings flat on the ground and turn towards the sun. Often, the beak is open and they look like they might have an issue or are paralyzed. In reality, they are just taking care of their feathers. Getting rid of parasites and such.)
Bruuuce
had some good eyebrows last night. The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are also bringing their babies near the feeders now, I can hear their cute little whiny noises in the trees. I always found it funny how a bird that looks so impressive has the most adorable little sounds when it is begging. The complete opposite of a European Starling.
The Orioles
are back in full force, with babies calling everywhere, and parents busily taking jelly from the feeder into the trees. This year, it is somewhat interesting in how many different shades and states they come. It feels like in the past, they were more homogenously colored. These, I think, are two females.
Long time no see!
The Cardinals like to feed on the ground, and they visit feeders more frequently in the cold season. There are several around though, and apparently sometimes when traffic is low, they do check out the cameras too. Much to my delight.
A Red-winged Blackbird
is showing off his pretty epaulets. They are not all deep red, and I sometimes use the wing patches as a way to distinguish the various individuals that come visit my yard. Right now, they also come to the bird bath a lot, bringing females and young ones.
There are so many Grackles right now,
and they are all in different stages of molting or age. I find it particularly interesting to see that the babies have different eye colors. I think it has to do with age, the one with the dark, rich brown looks younger than the one with the olive-grey eyes. And they are all the biggest goofballs.
And baby Oriole
also made it to the jelly feeder, following Dad. Such a cute little thing. We also spotted one in the potatoes and under a bush. They were really all over the yard, and they all look like fresh out of the nest.
Grackle faces
I put the camera by the bushes on the ground yesterday. I wanted to get some Cardi pics but, alas, that didn’t work. However, here is a wonderfully typical Grack face and an absolutely adorable baby Grack.
