Spring is good
for some surprises after all. A Scarlet-eyed Grackle came by and curiously checked the feeders. I have never seen one before but I heard it is a special day when a birder has the opportunity, so I am sharing with all of you. Happy Friday, I wish you all wonderful surprises and a good laugh. Also, your zipper is open😉
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.
Good morning!
Nothing much is going on right now, in the last two days winter has returned with frosty temps. The forecast is looking good though. Gayle the Bluebird has taken a little break from nestbuilding, the Juncos are still around but there are also more signs of spring. Groundhog and Chipmunk are back, and earlier today I saw a Cardinal feeding wifey, which is part of their courtship. Here’s to a good Tuesday, stay warm!
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.
There are more
than one harbingers of spring in the bird world, and this beuatiful creature is one of them, the Redwinged Blackbird. Redwinged Blackbirds have a distinctive call and just (literally) screams “spring” to me. Their colors remind me of my native country Germany but also of a great Pearl Jam song. So far I have only seen males, who are elegantly black with vibrant epaulets that give them their name. And just like with the Grackles, they have a majestic side but can also look quite funny, as can be seen below. Females and youngsters look alike, with beige and brown speckles and patterns. You can see a tiny bit of that on the back of one of them here.
Speaking of Grackles,
they don’t just impress with their size and iridiscence, but also make the Grack ladies go wild when they puff up. It is a whole process that they get ready for, showing the nictitating membrane and also giving out their trademark call that sounds like a rusty garden gate. With that said, I hope you all have a great Friday - cocklareee!
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.
The small crowd
is not less entertaining right now. It is a funny time because summer and winter kind of meet. Spring can be felt and seen. The Goldfinches are starting to get their bright yellow summer plumage but at the same time, Redbreasted Nuthatches are still hanging around, as well as Juncos who do the most insane flight manoeuvers right now. (The lens fogged up when the Junco was there, and I think it created a cool look.)
Spring migration
is always interesting because a new bird might arrive any time. The first groups that arrive are usually males, but not long after that, you will see females appear. In these photos, the shiny ones are male birds and I think the other bird is a female. Some females do have a brownish washed-out look too. They might not shine as gloriously but they have the same majestic yet goofy look as the males. (Plus - rain on Gracks is beautiful too!)
The Robins
have multiplied in the last couple of days, and they found out that there are mealworms on the menu here. Now they compete with everybody else whenever a worm is available outside the cage feeder for the BBs. In the evenings, they are still strutting about, and since the day traffic is gone then, I throw them a handful as a good night snack. I love the details in their faces.
Redbellied Woodpeckers
are quite easy to tell apart when it comes to male and female. The male has an all red head cap while the female has a greyish forehead followed by red. This one here has been coming every so often, and it has the most interesting look. Now one could go into all kinds of theories but I personally think it is a female with some fancy extra color. Anyways - such a pretty bird!
When I was looking
through the photos from yesterday, I saw lots of familiar birds but then one chest caught my eye. A Pine Siskin showed up! They are the size of a Goldfinch, have very pointy beaks and some yellow on their wings. People often confuse them with female House Finches but if you look closely here, you can tell the difference. Beak, chest pattern and the yellow are good markers. Just like Goldfinches, Pine Siskins seem to suffer from a Napoleon complex - they are tiny but mega feisty and hardly ever get along with other birds. Very entertaining little buggers.
I finally decided
to put out food again, and I have to say I missed going through photos each evening. Traffic is still slow and I have not put all feeders out yet because I kind of enjoy the relatively small amount of doves and Starlings. It was wonderful to see more Grackles coming in this week. And I am happy to report that my favorite one, the one with the specks around the neck, Count Grackula himself, has also found his way back here. With their chiseled, majestic and impressive looks they somehow remind me of horses. But then they can also be incredibly goofy-looking. They love peanut halves.
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.
THANK YOU!
Because of you, I was able to make a 400 Dollar donation towards the relief efforts of World Central Kitchen (wck.org) this morning. The are on the ground and help people by providing nutritious food. I decided to go with them because I am a food lover, I know how important a full belly is and also because I admire the work that WCK does. I will continue the fundraiser, you can find my shop here: ostdrossel.redbubble.com. Have a wonderful day!
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.
