Feathered Follies 2

By Eilene Lyon

It’s time for some shots from our feeder-cam! I’ve had to take it down for the summer because of a bear wandering the neighborhood. He dismantled my compost bin twice, so I’ve purchased a new, bear-proof (?) one–not cheap at $250. (I always blame he-bears for being delinquent, but very well could be a she-bear.)

I added some new species to the list of visitors:

Black-billed Magpie

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Black-headed Grosbeak

Steller’s Jay

(he struggled to get a good-feather look for the camera)

Now for some fun takes:
Is it time for my close-up?

If I make myself look real big, maybe I can scare him away.

Mom always said, “If it’s not bigger than your head, it’s not worth your time.”

Maybe if I feed him now, he’ll take care of me in my old age?

Hey, check out my rooster impression!

Who bought this cheap bird food?!

Ha! Made you look.

You talkin’ to me?

This is my “Happy Dance”

He went that-a-way, dear. I hope you work it out.

Leg cramp! Ow, ow, ow!!!

I think it’s safe to say the grosbeaks are the winners at hamming it up for the camera.

And an update on my gourd birdhouse:

A pair of violet-green swallows decided to nest in my birdhouse this year. There are at least three nestlings. It appears they fledged sometime yesterday. We’ve been watching them from our kitchen window, constantly picking up the binoculars to watch the adults feeding and the babies jostling for food.

Feature image: A dark-eyed junco admires the winter scene last February.

53 thoughts on “Feathered Follies 2”

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  1. What a great variety of birds Eilene! Daughter put out a few feeders along with a bird cam feeder but I don’t know how many of these varieties come down into more populated areas? She has, of course- attracted squirrels and a raccoon that gourged on her full cam feeder the other night. No bears yet that I know of, although they are spotted on the trail system to the west. I’ve been using up my seed and just a week ago some random flock of pigeons showed up. Beautiful birds, but huge and very selfish. They don’t need to follow me to Colorado however. I’m not a fan of their greediness 😉

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    1. We quit putting out seed feeders in summer because they attracted rodents and the rodents attracted snakes. I don’t mind the garter and bull snakes, but when there were THREE rattlesnakes, I said “enough”!

      When the bears hibernate, I’ll put it back. No pigeons here, but Eurasian collared doves are around. I’ve never had one at the feeders, though.

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      1. Well that’s news! I had no idea feeders attracted snakes. The Eurasians are here as well, although ground feeders. Where those pigeons came from is a mystery although lots of construction is happening all around a 2-3 block area so perhaps they got displaced from their usual home… they would devour an entire sack of seed if it was available.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Eilene, it’s difficult to say whether your images or your captions were more amusing – what a great collection of the visitors you get at the feeder. How nice you can watch the actions at the gourd birdhouse just as easily as viewing the camera shots at the feeder!

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      1. A fellow blogger in Ohio has a feeder-cam and posted some photos of her birds too. What a great idea and now they have a bird cam birdbath too. Hopefully the swallows liked their “digs” and will return and you’ll see them fledge next time. My neighbor had a mourning dove nest on her deck in a low metal planter and she watched the male and female take turns incubating the eggs, then she watched them feeding the baby and teaching it to fly. Only one of the two eggs hatched. She took a lot of photos from her doorwall where she had an excellent view.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I would have been bummed to have missed it too Eilene. I had a cardinal nesting in my barberry bushes a few years ago. I watched her on the nest in this prickly bush and it was uncharacteristically cold for May so she had sunk down low into this raggedy nest to keep the eggs warm. At least I THOUGHT it was the eggs, but soon they were gone – so it must have been the babies. I tried to stay away from the bush and took only a couple of pictures to encourage her to stay and return the next year, but she didn’t. I saw the male around for a long time as I put out peanuts and safflower seeds, but not the female.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. It may have been a nest failure, too. It happens more than we like to think. It seems our magpies suffered a loss this year. I don’t know what happened. I could hear the nestlings, then suddenly nothing. Usually we see the fledglings around the house for up to a week. Total absence seems to have been a bad sign.

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      5. Total absence seemed strange to me too, since the male was still around. After the female left, I looked through the barberry bush at the nest and it was really flimsy. Since I thought she was incubating the eggs, not keeping nestlings warm, I was surprised. No eggs in the nest, nor on the ground beneath the bush. It was very cold for May and she was really hunkered down in the nest. We do have Cooper’s Hawks around and I hope she and the offspring did not encounter one.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Oh! I just took the dogs out and there they were, fledglings being fed—on the wing—by adults. Right in front of the house. I know it’s the ones from my birdhouse, because almost all the swallows are gone now and these were late season nesters.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. I love the black-headed Grosbeak and umm . . that Steller’s Jay looks like he’s the drummer for a heavy metal cover band. Rock on dude!

    Love the captions and the gourd update too.

    But let’s chill with the boy bears. Unless he doesn’t have an alibi . . .

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. For those about to flock, we salute you!

        Somewhere deep in the woods . . .

        “I tell you Boss, she has the place locked down good. There’s no way in! I went over ALL the schematics!”

        Liked by 1 person

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