May 26, 2007 at 8:32 pm (American Robin)
Ever watchful and never interested in the feeders, we’ve been frequented by several American Robins (Turdus migratorius) of late. I was finally able to get a decent picture of our now-regular visitor.
They’ve been quite vocal of late and frequenting the area of our yard mostly in the mornings and evenings. We can usually see our little red sentinel checking things out from the roof peak, powerlines or here from the top of the fence. They seem to be mostly interested in worms or insects in the lawn. Attempts to lure them to the feeder with various types of fruit has been, well, fruitless. The pair seem particularly interested in nesting materials bits of which we’re finding on fence rails and the sidewalk.
They have made our birdbath a regular stop, mostly for drinks, but on occasion for an extended drenching. I caught him at unawares last week sharing a bath with the sparrows.
He was there for so long and was so energetic he nearly emptied the bath!
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May 20, 2007 at 10:27 am (Favorites, House Finch)
Lots of wee babies out and about lately. We’ve seen baby sparrows, chickadees and these house finch families visiting the feeder lately. While the little ones seem to have no problem flying, mom is still feeding them, though she’s showing them the ropes. Typically, the families have been converging on the feeder with the babies sitting in the seed tray while mom puts food in their mouths until they get the hang of feeding on their own.
The house finches seem to be ahead of the sparrows right now. The little ones are loosing their fluffy plumage (though it still looks like they have bed head) and have started eating on their own while the sparrows are still cheep-cheeping and waiting for mom to fill their beaks.
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May 20, 2007 at 10:07 am (Anna's Hummingbird)
The little hummers had been visiting our yard and hummingbird feeder fairly regularly through the winter, but with the advent of spring blooms everywhere, they’ve been less frequent. With many of the plants in your yard coming into bloom and the addition of some strategically placed hanging flower pots, the hummers have put us on back on their daily route.
With so few species of hummingbird in North America (only 12), and even fewer that live or pass through this area, this is most likely a female Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna), though they are so small and quick its hard to tell 100%. We haven’t seen a male this year yet which would make identification easier.
This little gal seems particularly partial to the hanging baskets outside my office and next to the hopper feeder. She’s even been known to perch for a few seconds on the hanger, but is still just too quick to get a great shot.
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May 19, 2007 at 11:14 am (Favorites, Northwestern Crow)
Big bird, small feeder. Curiousity finally overcame him I guess.
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May 13, 2007 at 6:11 pm (Black-Headed Grosbeak)
I’m glad the birdcam is back online again, because what do I see on a gray Sunday morning at the feeder? A bright orange visitor in the form of a Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus).
At first glance, I saw the orange and thought maybe the American Robin that’s been keeping an eye on things decided to finally visit the feeder, but this guy’s striking wing marks give him away. He and the missus visited the feeder briefly and now seem to prefer the suet feeder over the sunflower mix.
They’re still a bit timid as we are a new stop on their rounds, but judging by how often they’ve been at the suet today, I suspect we’ll be seeing more of these pretty birds.
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May 12, 2007 at 3:08 pm (General, Technology)
After a brief hiatus, Birdcam 2.01 beta is back online. A bit of soldering to repair the camera cable and installation of a 3″ ABS sleeve to protect the cable over the feeder pole will hopefully do the trick to keep those pesky squirrel-saboteurs from hiding from the all seeing eye of the birdcam.
We’ll give it a go and see how it works. Enjoy!
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May 6, 2007 at 2:31 pm (General, Technology)
Well, I said Birdcam 2.0 was a beta for a reason. Everything has been working out well with the new set up. I even thought we had the squirrel problem beat for about a week until I caught Wally (or Wanda) the Squirrel atop the feeder. So this last weekend, I made some slight adjustments raising the squirrel baffle and all seemed well.
I guess these squirrels mean business, because at some point this morning (around 10 a.m. by the last snapshot) in their frustration they managed to chew through my USB cable to the camera. This was something I was marginally concerned about initially, but I thought they would be so focused on food that they’d probably just leave the wires alone. Obviously these squirrels are professionals and not unfamiliar with revenge attacks. Not only did they chew through the USB cable, but also the zip ties holding the cable connection housing to the feeder pole. I think they’re trying to make this personal.
So, out comes the soldering iron and another trip to the home improvement store awaits so I can harden the set up against rodent assault. Stay tuned!
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May 5, 2007 at 1:27 pm (Rock Dove (Pigeon))
My wife and I took a walk around our neighborhood a few days ago when the weather was glorious and surprisingly we spooked a flock of pigeons. I hadn’t seen them in our neighborhood but we were a few blocks from home, so I thought they must prefer the nicer view up the hill.
Lo and behold, not two days after our first encounter, we have two Rock Doves (Columba livia) foraging below the feeder in our yard. Cornell calls them Rock Pigeons while the National Audubon Society calls them Rock Doves. They are both listed as C. livia, so call them what you like, they are still striking birds.
This pair is still a bit skittish, when I opened the window they fluttered off, but I’m glad to have a visitor that will glean what the sparrows leave behind.
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May 3, 2007 at 12:08 pm (Black-Capped Chickadee)
For some time, we’ve been visited by several wee little Black-Capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapilla). The problem with these cute little guys is that they are so small, fast and timid that they are hard to capture. The are so small and fast that its even difficult for the motion detection to grab them when they are on the feeder.
Not a great shot, but I’ll try to fill in if I can ever get a decent picture of these evasive little guys. This morning as I was leaving the house, I noticed a little chickadee in the rhododendrons near the door incessantly cheeping at me. At first glance, I thought it was a female with its unremarkable coloring. I was a bit surprised that it didn’t fly off as soon as I came near, then it occurred to me that this was no adult chickadee, this must be a fledgling!
There were at least two of these guys unsteadily flitting about the yard near the feeders seemingly without fear of us. In fact, one of our (inside-only) cats was sitting inside the window watching one little guy on the sill and he was completely unperturbed by a fierce (not) predator only inches away behind the glass.
My wife was able to grab a few of these shots this morning. He seemed to have no fear and she could easily have just scooped him up (but didn’t). He just sat there cheeping and holding his mouth open waiting for a handout. We hope these cuties develop some survival skills soon, because they are just so darned cute!
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