One Last Tour of the Feeders

Here we go. Getting to the end of all of the sorting through the tons of feeder cam photos. Let's begin!

Every now and then both dove species get along. Then they start whacking each other with their wings.



Quick shots of the Northern Cardinals. Poppa...



...and Momma.



Red-winged Blackbirds are still the rage. Where are those babies? They usually are brought over, too. Hmmmm...



Always fun to see the Red-bellied Woodpeckers stopping by.



Lastly, I leave you with a nice photo of our banded Carolina Wren with one of the kids. Nice.



Going to cut back on the feeders for a while. Plenty of things to do and the squirrels are getting too fat. The birds will find enough food in the garden and yard. Time to find some other birds.

Babies and More

Ah, there they are! The babies are showing up! I knew the Cardinals were close. Finally got a great shot of one of them.



Momma was quick to show up as usual.



Then our young Blue Jay made a visit, too.



The White-winged Doves are still taking the stage.



Of course, the Mourning Doves still make the most appearances.



Noisy Red-winged Blackbird males still rule the side feeders but the sometimes they wander over to the trays.



Put up with me for at least one more post on the BirdCam. Weather is getting hotter. Where is the rain?

"Ready for My Close-up..."

The last couple of days have provided a lot of good close-up shots of some of the neighborhood birds. Case in point, this stunning Blue Jay who shows they eat more than the fruit like they were doing last week. Their main preference are tasty peanuts.



It seems it is taking a little longer for this White-winged Dove to decide on where to begin.



Cardinals are beginning to feed in earnest. I know those babies are out there, somewhere. Here is Poppa.



Momma is not far behind.



The Titmice are usually the first to start calling in the mornings lately. They mainly stay on the side feeders but they still occasionally head out back.



Finally, a White-winged Dove stops by again for a great photo opportunity.



Can't wait to see what is up next!

So Blurry Around Here

Well, we are back to the backyard and the large tray feeder. Let's go through some shots from the week.

"Does this feeder make me look fat?"



Blue Jay time. Often, the squirrels leap off of the tray feeder and send it spinning. Blue Jays are waiting around and sometimes land at just the right moment.



More adults hanging out. Blue seems to be intensifying lately.



Plus, I have been wondering who was eating the fruit bits now that the Catbirds were gone.



Look! Finally, a juvenile bird has graced us with a photo pose. Compare the head feathers and color brightness with the adult above.



A little later a White-winged Dove watches a female Red-winged Blackbird feed.



A couple of days later we get a much better view of a female Red-winged Blackbird.



Ah, another blurry photo. Yet, it is a new bird for the month. A Red-bellied Woodpecker!



Next blurred photo of the week: Our banded Carolina Wren bobbing for bird seed.



Not long afterward, a juvenile Carolina Wren stops in for a look-see. Note the yellow gape still showing at the base of the beak and no white spots on the wings which distinguishes the younger birds from adults.



Finally, a really blurry photo! Had to include it, though, as I can't remember a BirdCam shot of a Brown Thrasher from the past. They live around here and breed around the yard but they do not visit the feeders too much. Proof after all of this time!



All local birds but still fun to see.

BirdCam Hopscotch

Trying to catch a good enough image of one of the male Red-wings. The females keep showing up nicely but the males have been in and out so fast they are often blurry. So, I spent about a week moving the cam between 3 different feeders.

Back at the frog tray we still get mostly Mourning Doves.




Been seeing the Blackbirds over on the kitchen side a lot so back over there. I did get a bunch of more blurry shots but finally got a shot of a juvenile male near dark.



Then, just as I was ready to give up on the side yard, success!



Nothing much else over there but Mourning Doves and squirrels so I will go to the main tray feeder for a while. There, we got another shot of one of the female Blackbirds.



It is also nice to see that the Blue Jay numbers are increasing. Still no young ones.



Even better, the Tufted Titmice are returning!



Think I will keep the cam here for a while and see what flies in.

Let the BirdCam Parade Begin

As promised in the last post, I slogged through thousands of BirdCam images to try and find something interesting. Going to spread them out for a while. These images begin in early April and go through recent days. A bunch of images. Another reason the spread them out for shorter posts.

So, lets go back into April. Still had some migrants around, including the Indigo Bunting and a few American Goldfinches.



A couple days later the secretive Gray Catbird even made an appearance.



I do really enjoy this Common Grackle pose even though there were several. This one just looks pretty nice.



Feeling like the Blue Jay family should be bringing in the young ones by now but nothing yet.



Most of the discarded photos are of Mourning Doves and Gray Squirrels but I have to keep a few.



Red-winged Blackbirds chicks must be hatching because the adults only start coming to our feeders when they have more mouthes to feed. This pretty female stopped by the frog feeder.



Northern Cardinals should also be nesting though I don't know exactly where this year.



Finally, White-winged Doves are back! Last year we saw a chick that confirmed breeding in the neighborhood for the first time. We wait and see if this year is a success, too.

Time to sort the BirdCam Images plus House Finch

Kinda been dreading sorting through all of the BirdCam photos. They have been piling up over the last couple of months and most are unremarkable. Migration winding down, lack of rain, me finishing school... Sigh.

Before I do that, I will share a shot of our yellow variant House Finch which I actually got from the kitchen window with the DSLR, not from the BirdCam. Enjoy!



Oh, alright. I will sift through the images...

Checking the Egret Rookery

Kids are growing fast. Wouldn't be surprised if some haven't already tested their wings. You can still tell the older chicks by their unkempt hair.



I still find it hard to believe that these large birds can build and maintain such small nests. Once the chicks get this big there is no room for Mom or Dad.



There are still some younger chicks around but very few. Only a couple calling constantly anymore. Most are busy preening their new feathers.



High overhead, Anhinga fly in and out of their treetop nests. Wonder when I will ever see any of those chicks? There are several adults drying in the sunlight.



Nearby, a pair of Wood Ducks rests on the cypress knees.



Wood Ducks are often very skittish. This pair allowed me too get a little closer but they were still nervous.



I was about to try for an even closer shot when something caught my eye to the left. An Anhinga chick! So they are leaving the nests. It just appeared out of an azalea bush and wandered straight toward the Wood Ducks. Timed that one right.



Farther down the bank, a newly emerged Anhinga adult climbs onto a cypress tree to start drying off.



Just over the water's edge, resting on a Button Bush tree, was a gorgeous Spicebush Swallowtail.



Finally, a foraging adult Great Egret still sports breeding plumage and glides slowly through the garden searching for lizards.



Not much time left to visit these young birds. They will be ready to move on and I will wrap up school soon and will not be so close for lunch breaks. Have to enjoy it while I can.