These are funky times
when it comes to bird appearance. Everybody is molting to a certain degree but the Blue Jays are looking the roughest. However, we are now past the chicken skin naked phase and new feathers are starting to show. I just love this wild mix of textures and colors.
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.
Nestbox news: What a great season!
The Bluebird babies have fledged, and with that, the season is concluded. Three of the four left the nest on Friday in the evening, after a day of teasing. The last one spent the night in the nest and left at 8 am Saturday. As far as I could tell, they took off right away and looked like strong fliers. All that space in the larger box helped them gaining enough strength. Along with the clips I saved and shared throughout the nesting, I also set the camera to record two timelapses. The first one was planned from nestbuilding to a couple of days after hatching but powerouts stopped it before hatching. The second timelapse I started when the babies were about 3-4 days old and went all the way to yesterday. I added some clips of hatching and young days and at the end slowed things down for the fledge. Timelapse 2 is a lot smoother, apparently I did not set the intervals the same way (mental note to make notes next time!). I also do realize that the nest cavity seems to shift from the right to the left between egg laying and hatching. This is where the first timelapse stopped. It is all the same nest, though. My theory is that she moved the nest gradually with the change of the angle of the sun, which is rather noticeable from July to August. Anyways, what a great nesting season! There are 14 new Bluebirds in the world thanks to Gayle and Mr. Business. I am so happy the new larger box worked out and also that I started using a Wren guard - I can attest it works. Now I am waiting to see the parents bring the babies back to the yard. Usually, a larger group is staying here all year, creating delightful sights when migratory birds have gone.
And of course
I am trying to capture more Hummingbird photos while they are around. They are still the most magical little creatures to me and I am very happy to finally see a bit more of them. There seem to be at least three individuals. Two females and the male with the red feather. Below are the two females. The first one came right after a rain shower and has wet head feathers. I am also livestreaming two hummer feeders on BirdsyTV on my channel Ostdrossel3 there: https://birdsy.com/c/Ostdrossel3
The end of the summer
is always bittersweet but when fall migration has started, the backyard becomes alive with flocks of travelers. Some are just stopping for a short break while others stay for a couple of days. This is the case with Baltimore Orioles right now. I have added an extra jelly feeder, and the cups need to be refilled several times a day now (I also clean the cups with each refill). It is always wonderful to see the full spectrum of color variations at display when indivisuals of various ages come together. And in between, the Robins, Woodpeckers and Finches (the one pictures has a very interesting molt going on) also get their share.
Yesterday was a great day
because all of a sudden, I saw more Hummingbird activity than the whole season. There were at least two that were visiting all day. I think they are both young, a male and a female. The male is especially funny, he needed some time to fiigure out feeders. But he is also a super ham. And just turning into a man - with two tiny red specks on his throat, the beginnings of what gives the Rubythroated Hummingbird its name.
When the beakstick is right
it does not matter that you are also looking a little rough from raising your brood. I love that the Cardis are coming back to the cameras. Stay sharp and come good into the weekend!
There are still
lots of young birds around, and the majority of them are Blue Jays. Many of them are hopping around by themselves already, but there are also still some that beg the parents for food. Others have already learned how to look judgy into the camera. And of course there is Frazzle. Doing what everyone else is doing except for growing head feathers. Such a cute little stinker.
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.
Nestbox news: Sitting tight
Gayle and Mr. Business are doing a great job raising their four babies from the third brood. It is always interesting to see what they bring them, and this time around I see lots of larger maggots, spiders and flying insects. This little scene happened a day ago. He is always eager to feed the babies, and while he gives her part of the loot here, he also still goes in. They have a little interaction, and then a warning call can be heard from outside. They hunker down and sat it out (took a couple of minutes), and when another call is audible, they both leave. The babies are 8 and 7 days old today, and I removed the Wren guard. I am sure Gayle will appreciate it, she loves to peek out. Everything looks good so far. I am so happy.
And now that traffic
has generally slowed down a bit, some of the birds that haven’t visited feeders in a while are showing up again. I was so happy to see the Cardinal lady! She was not with her man but lunched with a House Finch 😍 Speaking of Cardinals - my fundraiser for Kentucky is still running over at my Redbubble shop, if you are inclined. Have a great Tuesday!
At this time of the year,
you might see birds that look a bit scary, rugged, even sick or somewhat familiar and you just cannot put your finger on what species they belong to. This means we are in the middle of molting season. Molting means either an adult bird loses older feathers and grows new ones or a juvenile bird is growing the first adult plumage. I love this time of the year because you get to study bird anatomy a bit and you might see some spectacular patterns, textures and color combos. Here are two examples of juvies changing to adult feathers (Cowbird and Starling) and two for adult molts (Blue Jay and Grackle). They will all look smooth again in a bit.
I am currently waiting
for a bird food delivery, so I had to stretch things a bit and only put very little out in the last couple of days. This also helps a bit with the feeder-hogging MoDo issue. However, they still have their lookouts and see me coming out or probably even recognize the sound of the door. And even the little ones know how to hog 🤣. This baby Dove tried everything to get the older bird to share. The new seed comes tomorrow, then hopefully things can mellow out here a bit. Have a great Saturday!
Sometimes, there are individual birds
that I recognize because of certain mannerisms or looks. This young Blue Jay that we call Frazzle or Frazzolino is one of these. I wrote about him here before. He seems to have suffered a head injury at some point and his head feathers are slow to grow back. He is a bit different than his siblings, a bit slower, maybe a bit more tame, but otherwise a very typical Blue Jay and very adorable. I love seeing him around and it will be interesting to see if he stays continues to hang around.
Video: Hummer!
As you know, hummingbird activity has been rather low for me this summer, a fact that made me very sad. But I did keep the feeders up in hopes that things would change. And yesterday, they finally did. I love this feeder that allurafeeders.com generously sent me because it looks so different and has such a clever filling system, and it was awesome to see it getting used. It was funny to see them explore the feeder. First I saw one trying to drink under the lid, but then they figured it out and then even sat. Wohoo! Let’s hope for more.
Nestbox news: Everybody is thriving
The temperatures are very lovely at the moment, not too hot, not too cool. The garden is visibly regaining juice and strength, and the Bluebird babies are thriving. I was so happy to see that the fourth egg hatched yesterday in the morning too. I hope with only four, the runt will quickly catch up. Also, believe it or not, I am still fascinated and enamoured watching this whole process even if it is the third time this season. Bluebirds are just so charming and entertaining. Here it looks like Gayle does not really like Mr. Business to come in and feed the babies. But at the same time, she is also quickly following him when he leaves. He does get his alone time with te babies too, though.
Video: Everybody has a sweet tooth!
I still have lots of Orioles coming, and the funny part is that this year, many more birds are seemingly having a sweet tooth and give the grape jelly a try. I have never seen a Cowbird doing it until yesterday.
Nestbox news: Welcome, brood 3!
I suspected that hatching would happen soon when I saw some marks on the eggs late yesterday. And this morning at around 6, the babies started hatching. This is brood 3 for Gayle and Mr. Business. The babies from the second clutch are also still around and I wonder if maybe this time they will help raising the babies. The Wren guard is still in place even if I have not heard a Wren in forever. We had awful heat here in the last couple of days but today, it broke, and I actually ave the windows open. Here’s to a smooth rest of August.
Update August 10 - this morning, the last baby hatched as well.
hatching Eastern Bluebirds in nestbox
Summer's slowly coming to an end,
and while this has been an especially bad year in regards to Hummingbirds for me, Oriole activity has been and still is great. Yesterday, I put the grape jelly on my photo setup to capture some sunshine. There are less now but I still have several individuals coming and loading up for the big trip south. I also put out some orange halves again, and the woodpeckers as well as Orioles enjoy them. I am wondering what fall migration will bring. It has been so dry, it makes me wonder if it may be another irruption year if food is scarce up in the more northern regions.
Video: Feeder choice
can determine what crowd comes to visit a backyard, and this summer, I have been a bit overrun by larger birds. As you know I love the Grackles, and they usually keep to themselves and eventually migrate, but Blue Jays and MoDos have been particularly dominating this summer. The other day I realized that I haven’t seen a Chickadee or Nuthatch or even Downy Woodpecker in a long time, and they used to be regulars here and I miss them. Usually, I have a big platform feeder and then several smaller stations in different spots and some food on the ground. They are fun for watching but once the MoDos feel comfortable, they will just hang out there and let noone else in. The same goes for my camera feeders. The small bowls hold about two Doves, and that has been most of what I have been getting in photos lately. So in an effort to bring back diversity, I pulled out the smaller, more restrictive feeders, like this one from Kingsyard, that especially Doves cannot access. They try, the rumble you hear here is the MoDo landing on the nut container I placed over this camera for poop protection. The Blue Jays are not happy but they are less clumsy and will still find ways to enter a feeder. And lo and behold - these Goldfinches came yesterday, and this morning I heard Chickadees. I thought this clip was funny because there is also so much going on in the back with Groundhog and Gracks.
Have a great Sunday!
