Video: They are back!
Today, about a week earlier than in the last couple of years, the Baltimore Orioles have returned. I hear that people are also seeing Rosebreasted Grosbeaks, Warblers and Hummingbirds, but they have not come here so far. Happy Spring, everyone!
Video: Duelling Gracks!
Love is in the air, and the Grackles compete for the females by puffing up and stretching themselves. This was a fun scene to watch today, seeing two males showing off in front of a female. It lasted quite a bit and I only made minor edits. Sound on for full enjoyment!
Video: I guess I was
a bit too optimistic about spring… Or actually not. It’s been close to freezing these last couple of days, and today we got this. Gayle is probably happy in her nestbox, and the Juncos are having a blast. On Thursday, we are expecting much milder temperatures. I have added this camera to the livestream page, too.
Nestbox news: The clutch is complete
Yesterday at her usual time, Gayle laid egg number five. she spent the night in the box, and today it was clear that she is done with laying and incubating now. During incubation, she will spend a lot of time in the box, warming the eggs evenly with her brood patch, and also turning them so they all develop evenly. Mr. Business will come occasionally to bring her a snack, and sometimes she leaves to get a bath, drink some water or eat. This will continue for the next two weeks. I started a little timelapse when she went into overdrive building, you can see the video below. I have started another timelapse for the next steps.
Trying out new feeders
is a lot of fun to me, and one of the perks of having a bit more exposure is that sometimes I get sent some to try. When Kingsyard contacted me, I checked out their spread and decided to give it a try. And I have to say, these are so much fun. They sent me three. All of them are well-made and sturdy, and two of them I really loved with the Birdsy cam. One is the most adorable little house, perfect maybe as a gift, the second one is a super nice feeder that keeps the seeds dry in wet weather and will go into permanent rotation here, and the wooden platform is also great, and it even comes with a pole mount. They sell on Amazon and are also present on social media, and they are easy on the wallet. Thanks, Kingsyard!
Nestbox news: A labor of love
Gayle has been working on the nest a lot even up until this morning but today around 11 she was finally done. She settled in and laid the first egg of the season. It is always fascinating to me how these small living beings are able to create something so delicate as a 1 inch egg and raise a fully fledged bird out of it within about a month. As you can see, laying the first one is quite the task, it looks like she is experiencing labor. The sparrow spooker is up and I am very happy. She will now lay one egg per day until her clutch is complete, and will then start to incubate. Here is to a great nesting season!
Nestbox news: Almost done!
After the framework mostly made of pine needles, Gayle is now shaping the nest cup and lining it with soft materials like grass and feathers. This looks pretty much done now. I love how thick the "walls" of the nest are, this should be very helpful if we are experiencing another sudden frost, which can always happen during spring in Michigan. The old box did not allow for a cozy nest like that.
Nestbox news: Back in business!
The weather has been rather nasty this week, and Gayle did not really do a ton on the nest. Today that changed, though. Temperatures were lovely but you could not feel them because there was a big storm raging all morning and the first half of the day. Yet, Gayle resumed her efforts and made quite some progress. I hope this means the weather will continue to improve now. All the visits in this clip are from today, I edited a bit.
Video: The Juncos
are loving the branch cam, and yesterday they were very active, taking turns at the peanut butter in a manner that reminded me a lot of the Soul Train line. You can see males as well as females, which have more brown hues and are a bit more slender. One of the things I love about the Birdsy camera is that thanks to it, I now also know what seemingly “silent” birds sound like, and Juncos are very vocal, as can especially ne heard in the second video.
Nestbox news: Mr. Business does Gayle a favor
That pesky leaf that Gayle was not able to fully remove is now finally gone thanks to the help of Mr. Business. It took two attempts and some funny interaction between the to to finally remove it. I love when they “talk” to each other, it is so eandearing. My favorite is when he does the triple whistle. It almost sounds like he poses a question. This is from two days ago, and the nest has grown now.
Nestbox news: Gayle and the giant leaf
Gayle has now actively started to build her nest in the big Gilbertson box, and I am so happy. She has been bringing grass and pine needles in, and today she came with this ginormous leaf and then seemed to have issues handling it. She actually tried several times to bring it in, this is when it worked. But then she did not seem to be too happy having it around. At some point Mr. Business came checking on her. It was hilarious to watch.
Nestbox news
I have recently also replaced my Gilbertson with a slightly larger version (6 instead of 4 inches in diameter and homemade), and it looks like I made the switch just in time.
There has been lots of Bluebird activity today, both are taking turns bringing things in and out (even though he looks to be a bit more excited than her, even making the nest shaping "shuffle"). I added the needles to make the transition for them easier and the box less "new". The larger box is supposed to help them raising stronger and healthier chicks, providing more room to exercise the wings and also better air flow during hot times.
They are very entertaining to watch and I am excited to see what happens next.
Video: Surprise night visitor!
Yesterday in the evening, I decided to put some peanut butter on the branch to see if anybody would come to check it out during the night. We have several species of squirrels in Michigan, and this is one of them - a Flying squirrel. These guys look like straight out of an animation movie, and they are so elusive and fast that it is hard to spot them, let alone capture them on film or photo. This is not perfect but still a lot of fun to watch, and only the second time I saw one in my yard.
BirdsyTV is online!
As you may know, I have been testing and using Birdsy cameras for a while now - I use them for my videos as well as for my livestream. Well, I am happy to annouce that Birdsy has now launched BirdsyTV. It is a platform where you can watch Birdsy live cams and videos from all over the world, and you don’t need an account. Wanna check out an Owl box in the UK or hummingbirds and wondrous critters in Ecuador? Go to birdsy.com. They are still improving things, and new features will be added, and of course the community will grow. My stream and selected videos are there too. This is very exciting news and I am happy to be a part of it.
Video: Winter has returned,
and the locals are not pleased 😬😆
Stay warm and come good into the weekend!
Video: Mr. and Mrs. Snowbird
The Juncos won't be here for a lot longer, so I am enjoying them as much as I can. This was a fun little clip, first, there's the male, and then the female comes. He makes way when he hears her.
For this setup, I placed a camera on a tree and just put a small speck of peanut butter on there in hopes that someone would inspect it. The zoom is very close, and I love that this actually worked out.
Nestbox: Meet Gayle and Mr. Business
These two are coming several times a day now, go in, go out, take or bring material. There is not active nestbuilding yet as far as I can tell, this is more like a courtship ritual. [And while I am writing this, she looks like she is actually bringing stuff in right now, cheered on by him. Time will tell, she took a whole month to make the first nest last spring too.] Everytime they come, he is first and then excitedly waves with his wings to greet her. I turned the camera a bit to include the entrance in the view, and I like that it will show a bit more of their interaction. I have also finally decided what the names of this year’s couple are going to be - please meet Gayle and Mr. Business. The weather is still on the frosty side, so I am happy they are having fun and are not busy with babies yet.
Happy Women’s Day!
Video: The sandwich feeder
Starlings like suet, and since they can be very voracious, people are trying to find ways to keep them at bay. I like an innovative feeder, so I got this one a while ago. It's two plates that you fill with bark butter or suet spread, just like a sandwich, but you leave the edges free. Woodpeckers can reach in, anything with shorter tongues and beaks cannot. This is one of the setups I currently have out. The Finches won’t go there, and the MoDos cannot reach it either. I I overfilled it a bit on the first day, so the edges offered a welcome snack for the Red-breasted Nuthatches and Chickadees.
Video: It's been a wild week
with some really bad stuff happening. During times like these I am happy to have the birds because they keep me busy, hinder me from being glued to the news, and also make me happy. The American Robin’s German name is Wanderdrossel, “wandering thrush”, and this morning after a night of snow fall, this merry group wandered into my backyard. The Grackle is also still around, and while things still look and feel winterish, there is a sense of spring in the air.
Updating this post because just now, a flock of Redwinged Blackbirds showed up too. Things will develop slowly, but spring migration has begun.
Video: Another surprise visitor
The American Robin is the state bird of Michigan, and I have seen people complain about this because many Robins go farther south for the winter. However, some also stay. I heard a flock in the area for several days (there is a Mountain Ash, a Cedar and a Crabapple tree nearby - all bird magnets), and yesterday, this one came to the bath. I don't count this as a sign of an early spring, we are quite a bit away from that, but it was a fun sight. It's very cold this morning, stay warm and have a great Monday!
