Nestbox news: Doing the shuffle
The Bluebirds have been doing a lot of nestbox visits to inspect and clean up recently. This year's couple is named Johnny and June, and here you can see her doing her little shuffle for the first time this season. She has not actively started building yet but given that last year she begun March 1, we may be close to that.
I am again using the 6 inch diameter PVC box that I made last year. The little grid you see on the bottom is just the lid of a suet cage on which I bent the corners to fit. It is in there to elevate the nest from the bottom to help with ventilation and also to help prevent harm from Blowfly larvae (they hide in the bottom of a nest and only come out at night to feast on the babies. The female is usually aerating the nest, and in my thinking, the larvae will fall down and end up on the floor underneath the grid from where they cannot climb up to the babies.)
Also - a happy Women’s Day to all on this March 8th.
The Bluebirds also came over today.
It looks like they still have not decided which box they want to use, but I would love for them to go for their usual spot. This year’s couple is gonna be Johnny and June. The male was around more frequently in the last couple of weeks but the female has started to come around more too. I am expecting her to start nest building soon but I also hope she takes her time because winter temps are not over yet. I love seeing how the female differs from the male in appearance (she’s photo 2 & 3).
March is well on its way
into spring, and it is noticeable when you step outside right away. The Redwinged Blackbirds and Grackles have even started to puff up already, and it is glorious to listen to and watch. The Titmice have also become a lot more vocal, and the Goldfinches are turning more and more yellow, changing into summer feathers. It is just so lovely to see the changes.
After the snowstorm last night,
we did not have any internet, but the sun was shining and everything looked beautiful. I pretty much put a coat over my PJs and put the photo cams out to capture some of that morning sun. The Grackles were shiny, and everybody else was happy to find food (Bluebird, Grackle, House Finch, Mourning Dove).
Video: The Count is back
The yard is filled with sounds of spring, as the Redwinged Blackbirds and Grackles have returned this week. We are still expecting frost too, but it is nice to see and hear more signs of spring. This one is a returner, I recognize him by his white spot, which also marks him as one of the family of the Count in my book. I sped the video up in the middle so everybody watches long enough to see him disapproving of the lack of peanuts in the bowl 😁
When nothing much
is going on, there’s still some activity apart from the MoDos. I call them the tiny crowd, and they are usually the first to greet me when I open the buffet in the morning. I often just stand ofr a bit to watch them, and they just make me smile. There’s two kinds of Nuthatches - the very human-friendly teensy Redbreasted and the more shy but equally diligent Whitebreasted. You can tell male and females apart by the color of the broad center stripe on their head. Males have a jetblack one, females more grey. Also belonging to the tiny crowd - the choir in the back, friendly Chickadees and Titmice. Come good into Wednesday!
Another ice storm today,
but the spring migrants keep coming. Here's a very weather-battled Cowbird.
Let's hope the power lines stay put!
Despite the snow today,
spring is definitely coming, and there are signs everywhere. One of them is that the Starlings are beginning to change into their summer plumage. They are losing the spots and become glossy and iridiscent, the beaks are turning yellow, and the legs are becoming more red. They are travelling in groups with Grackles, Cowbirds and Redwinged Blackbirds, one of which also visited today. It appears to be an immature male.
The Cardinal
is a bit of a special bird to me, maybe one could call it my “spark bird”, the one that started my interest in birdwatching. My native German eyes were stunned to see the first one, it almost seemed unbelievable to me that it was a wild bird. They have remained one of my favorites, and snowy days bring lots of them. I have seen up to eight individuals recently, and I am delighted that some have started to come to the cams. It’s two different females and a male here. One of the girls has spectacular red accents.
Memories on social media
can be helpful to see migration patterns and keep track of things. On Feb 21 last year, a Grackle showed up at the yard. It was a special one, one of Count Grackula’s family, marked by a while spot on the right side of the head. Well, guess who came by yesterday? Birds are remarkable. Welcome back! You’ve been missed.
There was also
a Titmouse bonanza! I love seeing them up close because they are such pretty birds with so many adorable details.
Extreme weather days
always make for some good birdwatching, and the feeders were buzzing at times yesterday despite the freezing rain. The light was murky, but this just kind of makes their colors pop. Here are some of the visitors. Top left to bottom right: American Goldfinch, Eastern Bluebird, Blue Jay, House Finch, Redbellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal.
Winter is back,
this time with an ice storm that covered everything in frozen magic over night. I find it beautiful and fascinating but I am also aware that it can be hazardous. Nevertheless, I was excited to venture out this morning with the big cam to explore everything (because this does not happen often). Here are some of the trees, and a frosted feeder, as well as a hilarious food fight at the high in demand tree cam.
It is a true February,
even if it sounded a lot like spring this morning with Redwinged Blackbirds singing. We are currently experiencing an ice storm, and I hope the powerlines stay put. Activity is still somewhat slow but this lovely lady came to the camera. The boxes and tripods were all covered in ice, and I do not envy anybody who has to drive tomorrow. Be safe and stay warm!
Some more sights
of Mr. Blue today. I am still trying to come up with names for the couple this year but so far, I have come up with nothing. There is still time though, they have not started building yet.
Video: Early visit
The BBs were back early today and came visiting all throughout the day too. Here, the male goes in to inspect and the female peeks in. Having a cam in the box made me love them even more, it is so cool to listen to their conversations. As I said earlier this week, I added a suet cage to the floor. This has two reasons, one is that it will lift the nest a little bit, improving ventilation from below, and two it may help in case of a Blowfly larvae infestation. The larvae can fall down underneath the nest and if a nest change is needed, I can pull a nest a lot easier from this top-opening box and replace it. I added the pine needles and some dry wood pieces because they like to take things in and out before they start, and it give the box a bit more patina. It has been used for three broods but I am sure it still has a bit of a “new” feel to it.
This week has been interesting.
It started with almost a spring-feel but ended with an icestorm. The backyard looked beautiful this morning, the lawn covered in frosted dew, and frozen, molty-looking layers over every branch. The trees were glistening with ice. Nevertheless, the hints of spring were becoming more pronounced. Today, there was not just one Grackle, but several, same for Redwinged blackbirds, and a Cowbird was present too. All good stuff for the Great Backyard Birdcount. If you haven’t participated yet, check it out, it is a lot of fun!
Happy Valentines Day!
Nature seems to slowly wake up from its wintery slumber, and the birds are starting to sing more. I hope you have a great day, the best time of the year is not that far away!
And so it begins...
In the last couple of days, the Bluebirds have been back to check out the nestbox. I have taken out the "winter padding" of pine needles the other day and just left a tiny layer along with some dried wood crumbs. This is a larger than normal box (like a Gilbertson but with 6 instead of 4 inches in diameter, which helps the babies to get stronger for the first flight because there is more space for wing practice), so I like to help her a little bit to get it going for the first one. I do think nesting season has still some time to go, we are expecing colder temps again, but it was so lovely to see them do their thing. Last year, she started building on March 1. Nesting season is one of my favorites, and I am very excited for spring.
In recent days,
a Cooper’s Hawk has been hanging around, trying to find some prey in the yard. The lack of foliage on the trees makes it easier for him to spot birds that are trying to hide, but most of the time, the hawk is out of luck and the birds disperse in time. Yesterday, he took a seat on the camera, and then this fun photo came about. It is a good example to learn one of the features of the Cooper’s Hawk - its rounded tail feathers and the broad white tail tip.
