Molting season is here,
and many birds are shedding part of their feathers in various spots to grow new ones. They do this now because their skin gets exposed, and warm weather makes being partially naked a lot easier. I always love this part of the year because nobody molts in the same way and the textures and colors are pretty cool to see. Yes, those awkward holes are their ears!
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 Grackles
are also still around, and some are still feeding babies, but molting has also begun, giving some of them the best and most dramatic looks. As if they couldn’t already do that with their plumage fully intact!
I always like it
when birds look distinguishable, have odd markings or behavior that I recognize. This Red-winged Blackbird seems to be growing new wings on his shoulders, and I think it looks really cool and dramatic how the sheaths are slowly turning into real feathers. He did like to present himself properly, 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.
While they are always around,
they tend to stay away from cameras during busy times but more recently the Cardinals have made it back in front of the lens. I have seen at least two youngsters too (one is in the picture with the male), and I hope to snap some shots of them soon too. In the evenings, several couples gather to eat the spills of the day.
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)
Another busy week has passed,
and I was finally able to solve my computer issues by upgrading. And I took some time for photos too. There are still no hummingbirds, which is a bummer, but I am still keeping up hope. The baby birds are pretty much ruling the backyard, and it is tough to find good shots because they have that toddler energy 😆
There are bird babies
all over the yard right now. The Chickadees and Bluebirds have fledged (I have posted videos on all my social media platforms and Youtube and may make a separate post here soon too), and it is the most wonderful yet funny to listen to when outside. Most of them you can see at the pond livestream (babies of Orioles, Grosbeaks, Robins, Grackles, Starlings love to hang out there), and the others are starting to find the feeders. Today the first baby Blue Jay visited, along with a cute Grack. You can tell them by behavior and cuteness but also by their unusually colored gapes, the soft edges of the beaks. I love the color combinations of these youngsters! A funny Grosbeak and MoDo shot in the middle. Have a lovely 4th of July weekend and be easy on the fireworks - I cannot imagine all the young wildlife being super thrilled about it.
About two days ago,
I started hearing baby calls of Grosbeaks, Blue Jays and Orioles. Grosbeak babies have a very cute and gentle begging call, almost like a teensy wailing. The young ones look like the females, and male plumage takes quite a while to develop, with some cool patchwork patterns in between. The males’ chest pattern varies in shape, size and vibrancy but usually they all have a fully black head. This guy that came yesterday does not. It is interesting because he otherwise looks like a regular adult male. I am adding two others for comparison. I also like that his chest pattern looks like a heart.
And here is an assortment
of bird moms. When I was a new birdwatcher, I mistook the parent birds for the babies because they look so unkempt, you can see this here on the Chickadee, but Bluebirds and many other go through the same. It takes a lot of energy to raise tiny baby birds, which is why they all look a bit scraggly, as the summer proceeds. The Grosbeaks and RWBB will also soon have fledglings. Exciting times are ahead, and I will try to be a bit more diligent about posting. Also, happy Juneteenth!
The Grackles were the first ones
to start bringing their babies. They look and sound adorable, and I will never get tired of their cute squawks. The one in the middle followed the parent to the feeder bowl, begging for food from the left bottom corner. My favorite pose of theirs is "downward Grack", showing off their elegance and beauty.
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.
The weather
has been interesting, with lots of rain and cooler temps after the hot and dry weeks. I am happy to see the lawn and garden grow, also because I know that all the baby birds that are growing everywhere are getting good nutrition from all the bugs and worms. After a bit of a hiatus the Orioles have returned in full force today, a good sign that their babies are getting bigger and ready to fledge. I loved seeing the very beautiful female Cardinal, the adorable baby Grack, and seeing the return of the most interesting Redbellied Woodpecker (in photo 2). Is it a boy? Is it a girl? The last photo is a regular male. It is the calm before baby birds are flooding the yard. Good times.
It has been a while
since I posted some photos but things have been rather quiet with so many birds nesting right now. But the light is nice and the backyard looks green and I am excited about all that’s coming up. Here are a few from the last couple of days. I had to move the cams around a bit to avoid direct sunlight, so there are some fun different backgrounds. (male Redbellied Woodpecker, Grackle, male Bluebird, female Rosebreasted Grosbeak, juvenile Starling, male Rosebreasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Blue Jay)
Nesting news: All tucked in
The bird moms are ready for the night. The Robin baby is doing fine, and both Chickadee and Bluebird are still incubating. I love watching them in the evenings, they certainly do look cozy. And with so many birds nesting, feeder activity has slowed down a bit. Which is nice for the bird food budget.
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 ❤️
Nestwatch update
Here is a view into both nestboxes, as of this morning. The Bluebird couple that has been coming over almost every day has finally decided to build and started yesterday. I think it is the same male as always but a different female. She seems to me more timid and nervous but looks like a good nestbuilder. The Chickadee nest is still being updated, and I still have no idea if there are actually eggs in there or not. The female spends every night in the box and adds fluff throughout the day. The male stops by every so often to bring her a snack.
Critter cam!
I worked some more in the garden today, and when I do that, the birds are more shy because of my presence. So I used the opportunity to put a camera on the ground. These are not perfect photos but I found them hilarious. The adult Groundhog is a momma of four, and the second photo is one of them. So far they are staying in their condo under our shed away from the house but I hope they all move out and seek their own stomping grounds. They are super stinking adorable but as adults can be a destructive force. I had to reinforce the veggie garden fence because momma had found her way in.
I worked in the veggie garden today,
and there was so much bird song going on that I put out Merlin to tell me who sings. Merlin picked up a lot, even a Tennessee Warbler, which makes me want to go explore. While I was shoveling, I spotted this guy, an immature male Orchard Oriole. I usually get an Orchard O at least for a day or two and was hoping this year too, so this was very nice. I love how his brown adult feathers are creeping in on the “bib”. I also saw a Catbird today, hopefully it comes to the feeders too.
