While hot summer days move on
birds are still bringing their babies to the yard, and some are coming by themselves now, like the Grackle with the little ♥ on the chest. Grackles are also good at dealing with the heat, they bathe a lot, cover themselves in mud or lose feathers. We have an air quality alert today - take care and stay safe!
Each summer,
I am on a bit of a quest to get photos and videos of the baby Cardinals. They are usually coming very early or very late, feed on the ground and are camera shy. But they look so cute too, and I want to see what they do. Today, the male came to the pond and was so nice to pose for a bit on the rocks in front of the trail cam. Please enjoy!
We received the remnants
of Beryl here yesterday (thankfully just a lot of rain), and there was a bunch of wet mops at the feeders. I love it when the birds are wet because their feather texture changes and even the regulars can look more interesting. Today, it’s all back to sunshine but it’s cooled down nicely. (Grosbeak, MoDo, Cardinal, Titmouse, Cardi lady and House Finch, Blue Jay)
A compilation from the feeder hook
I love this simple setup with the Ceyomur CY95 trailcam. The hook is on the pole that also holds the jelly feeder. Lots of birds are checking it out, using the hook for a first look. As you can see, there are also tons of baby birds around! (Species: Baltimore Orioles (one baby), American Robin, Tufted Titmouse, Redwinged Blackbird, Rosebreasted Grosbeak (baby), Redbellied Woodpecker (baby), Blue Jay (baby), House Finch (youngster), Blackcapped Chickadees (baby on the left), Redbellied Woodpecker, Rosebreasted Grosbeak, Mourning Dove, American Robin (baby), Baltimore Oriole (baby))
Glass art is fascinating
but has so far not really entered my horizon as a “thing”. That is, until now. Sometimes, social media can be amazing - glass artist Frye Glass reached out to me on FB when she saw one of my Grackle photos and asked for permission to use it for her art. And here is the gorgeous result. She is extremely talented, and I am honored. I hope it goes to a good home. She is on Facebook and on Instagram.
Time seems to be flying
this warm season. Because of my messed up May, I have sort of lost my inner clock for the outside. The tomatoes are just starting to get going, the okra and peppers are still small, and I have one corn that is knee-high but two more that are not yet. And the Grackles are molting. I guess in my head, May is still to come. I love it when the Grackles molt, it adds a little edge and vulnerability to their fierce elegance. They use the warm weather to renew parts of their plumage and will be pretty again soon. And yes, that little odd round thing next to the eye is an ear.
It’s been a total delight
to see the Cardinals thriving so much this season. There are several adult couples around, and I have seen at least two babies, a male and a female. The female likes to spend time on the ground cam, the male baby likes to hang out by the pond. If you check livestreams in the early mornings and evenings, you may spot them. and here is one of the resident males, gorgeous and with some “battle scars”, reminding me of one of my favorite musicians, Mr. Josh Homme. Have a beautiful Saturday!
The other week,
I talked about a Redbellied Woodpecker with a slightly different look. It has a brownish tint which I think comes from going into a nesting cavity in a tree with darkening sap. I could be wrong and would love to hear some theories. Anyways, this woodpecker visited yesterday, along with a more regular looking one, and now you can see the difference side by side. Same species, different individuals.
While all the videos are fun,
I still love and cherish my photo setup the most. There is just something about the details that makes me go back and study each bird over and over again. And this way, also the more regular visitors become special. However, the babies always are. This cutie pie started coming recently, and it has a recognizable feature with that little head feather sticking out. I love baby Blue Jays because on the one hand they seem very energetic and loud but they also have a very soft and gentle look to them, with the fluffy feathers and the seemingly partially closed eyes.
Happy 4th!
The air is thick and humid, and going outside comes with lots of mosquito bites. I am happy I don’t have to camp out because mosquitos love me. The cameras will watch the birds, taking photos and videos to show more of the baby bird shenanigans. For things like the pond I do prefer video but yesterday, the trailcam produced a nice set of hilariously chaotic snapshots that capture their toddler energy perfectly. Be safe out there today, happy Independence Day!
July brings the baby birds,
and right now, the Orioles are seemingly everywhere. Young birds follow their parents around to learn how to find food but they also still rely a lot on them and beg for food. They are bumbly and cute and you can tell they are babies. It is just a joy to watch them. Some made it to the actual feeders but some also just follow and sit nearby. I added the CY95 to the pole because that is a bit of a blind spot for me but a spot where I know birds sit and wait to get fed. The center photos show babies here.
The mulberries are ripe.
How do I know? I watch the birds 🤓 It is always interesting to see who goes for which food, but they all seem to agree on the mulberries. There is a nice, mature tree nearby, and I appreciate it because I tried to grow one and it did not work. They seem to be rarer now because people like their white cars and mulberries cause purple bird poo. Also, the cheeky woodpecker said Hi, and a Grosbeak came and fed his baby. Have a pleasant Saturday!
The backyard
is full of baby birds right now, and they all come down to the pond. Here's a Baltimore Oriole with two young ones. A Rosebreasted Grosbeak watches on, his offspring came later. This clip I recorded with a CY95 trailcam. I'm fairly new to trailcams but I love the video quality, and that it comes with a solar panel! I am always looking to improve my setups and found this one at the beginning of the year on Amazon. Thr sepcs looked great, and so did the price, so I gave it a whirl. Trailcams are a bit different than my other setups, kind of like a mix between all of what I use, the Birdsy cams, the Birdfy cams and also my photo setups. Just like my photo setups, the resolution / image quality is superior to the other cams but trailcam and photo cams are not connected to the internet, so they don’t need to stream data. I have been experimenting with this one and really like what I see. The solar panel is something I wanted, and it works surprisingly well, saving me money on batteries. I set it to record video but also take photos for the events, so when I go through the recorded footage, I kind of get a glimpse of what is in the videos with the help of the photos, which is nice and saves time. Now I wish I had a bigger property with more hidden corners, I would put trailcams all over the place!
Grape jelly
is one of those things my German brain would never have thought of to feed to birds, but here we are. I only put it out in the warm season, mostly for the Orioles, but many others enjoy it as well, like Robins, Woodpeckers, House Finches and yes, even Chickadees will try it. Here’s to a great week!
Happy Juneteenth!
The weather is murky, hot and swampy, and while the bird baths are busy, there is not a lot of activity at the feeders. Which works well for me because I am trying to catch up with work. Here are a couple of the current regulars. The Woodpecker is interesting because of his odd colors. I think he is nesting in a tree with staining sap.
(Redbellied Woodpecker, female Cardinal, female Hummingbird, Grackle, Groundhog baby, male Grosbeaks, baby Grack with Dad)
Stay cool and hydrated and have a beautiful day!
When we first moved to this place,
I only knew Chipmunks from up north. I loved them but always thought they were mostly around in foresty areas. Fast forward a couple of years, and they are all over our backyard. The neighbors say they have been here all along but stayed away because many have dogs around here. Well, they do enjoy our backyard and the amenities, and I enjoy seeing them. They make me laugh. I know they can be destructive too and hope that nature will balance itself out if they become too much. For now, please enjoy these cheeky goofballs and have a great Monday!
Nestwatch news: Robins
After some good breakfast and wing practice, the first Robin baby has left the nest an hour ago. Robins cannot fly properly when they fledge, so the young ones follow the parents around by foot for a couple of days, learning how to feed and survive. (I put a Birdsy cam by the nest when they were putting the finishing touches on it. Eggs were laid a day after, perfect timing.) I am so happy to see them succeed, especially after the fail last year. Two are left, and I am livestreaming this nest on my Birdsy channel and in the livestream section on here.
Yesterday, I rolled up my sleeves
and put the pond back together. Activity by the bird bath had been rather low, and it has been bothering me not to be able to watch the pond shenanigans. I took my good time and got it done, and in the evening, there was already more activity than in the week before. It is going to get warmer now, so that felt like the perfect timing. I am streaming it here, as well as a nest of Robins that I put a camera on while they are finishing the nest. The babies are almost ready to fledge and it is fun to see them grow. I also put out my photo setup again after a long while yesterday. Just one, and here are some visitors. A female and a male Redwinged Blackbird, a wet Blue Jay and a confused Oriole (wrong dish, mister!)
A life-sign, and some care-taking
of my blog. As some may know, May has been a little rough for me with a medical emergency and hospital stay that required recovery in the first half. A week ago, I had another necessary procedure done, and this one unexpectedly hit me a little harder than expected, so I needed another week of recovery. I am slowly gaining my strength again and feeling better every day but things are not like before, and full recovery will need time. In the meantime, I have not used the computer a lot, meaning that I could not update things here. I have mostly posted videos on my socials because it is a lot easier and faster to do that from the phone.
So here are some updates, along with a link to my Youtube channel for the most recent videos even if you don’t use social media.
The Bluebirds have built a nest, and the female laid four beautiful eggs. They have hatched two days ago, and both parents are taking great care of them. I gave the box some extra protection by adding a wren guard on the day the first egg was laid. It is supposed to hide the entrance hole from the sight of the House Wrens who may otherwise inspect the nestbox and peck and toss eggs or babies. I have lost broods to them before, and the guard is a simple and effective solution.
The Chickadee babies are now 14 days old and look pretty amazing. The female laid 7 eggs, and all have made it to this point. Both male and female constantly feed and discard fecal sacks. I am linking a video below.
I have finally put out
the photo setups again, and today I got some nice photos of two of the many Orioles in front of the Chestnut tree. It is really wonderful to walk around outside right now, the air heavy with the most wonderful smells from the blooming trees and the songs of the birds. And it feels good to see the birds up close again, I have missed their faces.
