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.
Feeder test: Lucky Pop
This feeder has been sent to me recently too. It is by the company Lucky Pop (which is how you can find it on Amazon). I wasn’t really sure where to place it at first but I found the perfect spot today on my main feeder pole. It has several good features. Apart from being sturdy and looking clean and green, it can potentially hold a huge amount of seed. You can vary the size because it has a retractable shrout that gets fixed into place with a needle (you can see it in the first two photos). The perches can be pulled out but I feel like they will not stay in place, so if I wanted to use them, I would probably tape them in a fixed position from underneath. The little “trough” without the perches is perfect for smaller birds though, and that is exactly why I am using it right now. It fills from the top, and the lid gets fixed by a screw. They market it as squirrel-proof but I am not sure I see how that works so I would not recommend to hang it anywhere where they can access if you don’t want that. Another plus is the relatively low price.
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!
Videos: Babies, babies, babies!
Apart from the Blue Jays and Grackles, there are also young Robins, Woodpeckers and Cardinals. They are still curious and will visit all the feeders to see what is offered. Sometimes, this results in little dominance fights, like with the Robin and Canado here. The Robin has particularly pretty markings too.
The last video is not a bird, but an Opossum mommy that regularly shows up at night. And it looks like her belly pouch is full of little ones! She has quite the waddle going on, and I hope the babies will soon climb out there to get on her back. Well, and that she comes for a visit then too.
As you know, I am using Birdsy cameras around my yard to record feeders and the bird bath. Their website birdsy.com is the headquarters of BirdsyTV, a platform where Birdsy users can share their videos and live cams from their accounts. I have several channels there too and you can also find these videos there. I love visiting the site to check out other people’s setups, get entertained and inspired. And it is fun to see birds from Europe too! Check it out if you have the time.
The other entertaining thing
are the loads of young Blue Jays. They are all very excited to find food and will try almost any feeder, and they will announce it too. I like photos like here where they have a bit of a sleepy eye. I have only ever seen this with the babies. They are just the cutest little “penguins”.
I haven’t seen
a Chickadee, Nuthatch, Titmouse or even Downy Woodpecker in a long time. The Grackles, MoDos and Blue Jays, are dominating yard and feeders. I can see how smaller birds stay away from that but it makes things a bit boring. So I was excited to see this one showing up yesterday. It is a juvenile Redwinged Blackbird, and guessing by the red on the shoulders, a male. I love how much orange this bird has, the whole color combination is quite beautiful.
Kentucky Flood donation effort
We all have seen the images of the recent flood in Kentucky, and I feel like this would be a good time to get some donations going again. The statebird of Kentucky is the Northern Cardinal, so the King of the Yard will be the symbol for this one. I created some more Cardi designs in my shop, you can find them here: https://tinyurl.com/mjz3s4km All other proceeds will be donated as well. I hope you have a pleasant evening.
The end of July is a bit
like early Halloween in the bird world - the molting process makes many of them look a bit scary. They are using the warm weather to lose old feathers and grow new ones. Some, like Grackles, Cardinals and Blue Jays, may lose their parts or the entire collection of feathers on their heads. It is a great opportunity to see what a bird’s ear looks like. And just like last year, there is a Grack that reminds me of Maynard James Keenan 😆
The Redbellied Woodpeckers
seem to have more than one youngster. I have noticed a second one that has a stronger marking on the forehead. I decided to call them Canado and Canada because the red patch looks a bit like a Maple leaf. Canado is the one with the larger red patch, and he also has more streaks on the chest. I have no idea though if it is actually a male, time will tell. Canada is in pic 1, Canado in the other two.
I had not seen or heard
the Starlings in a bit, but in the last couple of days, they have come back a bit, along with groups of flocking Cowbirds. The adults are starting to get into their winter plumage, and I always like this look because they almost look like the fantasy birds we used to draw as children. The young ones will soon also be back, I assume, with their own unique look when the adult feathers come out through their brown baby plumage.
At times right now
it feels like there are only Blue Jays around. They have a lot of young, as always, and they are exploring every corner of the yard, excitedly exclaiming and begging the parents for food. They are utterly adorable, and I love their enthusiastic personality. Here are a couple of them, plus an adult. One of the babies is very recognizable because it is missing head feathers. Maybe it got attacked somehow. We call him Frazzle because that is how he comes across. He is our favorite right now (he is in the third and fourth photo).
It's been a busy work week
and I am trying to catch up with photos, but there is also not really much happening. The backyard is full of goofy and curious bird babies, exploring the backyard and eating me out of house and garden (a big thank you to the generous Leslie for the WBU giftcard that allowed me to get a little extra ❤️). I have seen more butterflies this week, my first tomato hornworm (wow, these guys are massive!) that already seems to have been taken care of by a critter or bird, and a garter snake. Despite not really seeing hummingbird activity, I keep putting feeders out, and yesterday I got lucky. I hope things will pick up a bit now, apparently their babies are starting to fledge.
Nestbox news: Four for three!
Gayle has continued to lay eggs in the last couple of days. Today, she did not, which means that the third clutch of the season will have four eggs. She will now start to incubate. Mr. Business brings her the occasional snack and the babies from the last brood are also still hanging around. I am leaving the Wren guard up for good luck even if I have not heard or seen a Wren since we brought the babies to the rehabber. (The rehabber told me today they are doing great.) Maybe once it is removed, the second clutch will help feeding the last set of babies to get them strong faster. I like how the nest looks this time around, a very elegant paler grass nest.
Nestbox news: What a whirlwind!
The last couple of days have been a whirlwind, mostly for the Wren babies. At some point yesterday I noticed the babies were constantly screaming but I did not see a parent feeding them. I went through the videos and did not see them there. As I was doing yard work I kept an eye on things. Then in late afternoon, a baby fell out of the box. I contacted a rehabber for advice and eventually took them all out of there. I put them in a box with tissue while I tried to figure out where to bring them. There are few rehabbers in the area and I also heard that due to Avian flu, many are not taking birds in at this time. Wild Wings in Detroit agreed to take them, all I needed was a ride. (They accept donations.) Now I did have a camera team from Local 4 over here today, and since they went back to Detroit anyways, they agreed to bring them in. I am so glad they are safe now and super thankful for the wonderful Local 4 team. This was a turbulent couple of hours. Local 4 came for a little segment that will air in September, I will let you know closer to the date.
In other news, Gayle laid her second egg this morning. The Wren guard is on even though I am not sure I still need it with the adult wrens gone. I have no idea what happened to them, they never returned to the box.
They have become a little less
recently, I think some might have already begun to migrate, but I still have quite a lot of Orioles hanging around. At this point, it is mostly juveniles but I also see the occasional adult male and female strewn in. I was hoping to see the Orchard Oriole’s young ones or females too but time might be running out for that. Anyways, here is a good dose of sunshine to brighten your Friday.
It feels like
I haven’t posted Gracks in a bit. There are many of them around, and I have been collecting pics for a bit for a nice big Grackle post. Count Grackula is still hanging around but his family is growing and there are lots of possible successors. He is the one with the speckles around the neck, and you can tell that he is getting old. Old but nonetheless magnificent. Some are starting to molt now too, and I am excited to see the wild looks that are upon us. The bird in the first photo is seen at a later molt stage in another photo. He is kind of Count II with that big white spot.
Rosebreasted Grosbeaks
are seasonal visitors in Michigan. they arrive in May and leave in the middle of the Midwestern summer. I love these birds because they are beautiful but also because of their character. They remind me a bit of an old dog or kitty. They will come, sit down and eat. And nothing will really bother them, not even a thunderstorm. They are another bird where all individuals look alike from afar, but nope. Look at this diversity!
One fun thing about birdwatching
is that you never know what you’re gonna get. Even for a backyard birdwatcher, things will change with the seasons but also from year to year. I did have male Redwinged Blackbirds at my feeders always but this year, there seem to be a lot more females. Or females that are not camera shy. With this expressive one, I would like to wish everyone a FANTASTIC MONDAY!
