Goodbye Lake Nelson

Black Crowned Night Heron



Barn Swallows


Cedar Waxwing


Gray Catbird


Tufted Titmouse with a peanut


Chipmunk


Well, this is really it. We fly to California at 7:40am tomorrow. In between packers, car transport and movers, we got in some backyard birding. One new discovery this week was the barn swallows feeding juveniles. Barn Swallows almost never land in our yard, but we had juveniles in trees being fed by adults catching the mosquitoes on the lake. Cedar waxwings are infrequent visitors but they were out on the lake catching insects as well. The night heron flew by and landed on the gate by the dam. We took a walk down and saw him on a log over the stream and then higher in a tree. The catbirds are finishing the last of our jelly and the titmouse took our last peanut.

Spring is here: The Night Heron has returned early

Black Crowned Night Heron 

Titmouse 

Robin 

The night heron has returned from his winter vacation. He's early this year. The earliest we've seen him in prior years was April 1.

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmice

Tufted Titmouse getting a drink

I don't think we've posted a Titmouse photo in a while.

Winter Birds: White-throated Sparrow, Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow





Tufted Titmice


White Breasted Nuthatch

When it snows, or when we want the birds to come up to the deck, we leave out nyjer, peanuts, and sunflower seeds for the winter birds in addition to the safflower, suet and nyjer in the feeders. The juncos prefer the nyjer and the cardinals prefer the sunflower seeds. Blue jays, red bellied woodpeckers and tufted titmice like the peanuts. The nuthatch will visit the suet and the feeders but rarely comes to the deck. The blue jays can be quite aggressive with the peanuts, but Mike got a photo of a nice pair of tufted titmice enjoying them without the blue jays interfering.

Tufted Titmouse Balancing on a Peanut

This was an entertaining little titmouse. Usually they land for barely a second and snatch a peanut up quickly with their beaks. This one seemed confused about how to go about acquiring the peanut. Mostly it sat around a pile of them, sometimes balancing on one, but eventually it pecked at one to make a small hole which seemed to make it easier for it to fly away with.

Tufted Titmouse Slide Show

I probably will grow tired of "titmouse with the peanut" photos. Time will tell.

It's getting too easy: Northern Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse

The new sony a580 and the birds coming to the deck are producing much higher quality photos than a few years back. We'll have to get out more.

Thanksgiving Visitors: Northern Cardinal and Red Bellied Woodpecker

Some sunflower seeds brought the cardinal and red-bellied woodpecker to the deck.

Oh, and another titmouse.

Tufted Titmouse: these peanuts are making me thirsty

 

We have about 5 tufted titmice that are daily visitors to the feeders. They also like coming to the deck railing for peanuts and the water feature for a drink.

Tufted Titmouse with a peanut

We've been putting peanuts out recently. The Tufted Titmouse love peanuts.

Bathing Beauties: Chickadee, Nuthatch, Titmouse

 

On Saturday we had more than the usual number of birds visiting our backyard water feature.  They are so entertaining, and it really delights us.  However, we promise to leave our backyard when the fall migration picks up, so hopefully we'll have more varied photographs to entertain our blog visitors. We've been meaning to go to Cape May, Brigantine, the Meadowlands, maybe even Dauphin Island, so check back soon to see what we encounter.

Backyard Feeder Birds: Juvenile Cardinal, Chickadee, and Titmouse

Northern Cardinal


Tufted Titmouse


Chickadee

Birdcam: Chickadee & Titmouse

 

 

Baby Bird Feeding

 

A pair of tufted titmice

Baby Grackle

It's baby bird time in our yard. A family of tufted titmice visit the feeder early each morning. We usually don't photograph grackles but we make an exception for baby birds.

Catbird and Titmouse

 

A pair of gray catbirds have been frequenting our yard. They are eating the jelly we put out for the orioles and one even drank the nectar. Here one has landed on an orange. The catbird has been making a wide variety of calls. It's the bird that sounds like a crying baby at times and has a wonderful song other times. Chris has two nicknames for the catbirds, jelly heads or silly singers.

 

This tufted titmouse is enjoying the peanut feeder.

Back Home: Tufted Titmouse at the Feeder

 

Birdcam photos: Spring birds at the feeder.

Black-capped Chickadee 

Tufted Titmouse 

Red Winged Blackbird

Northern Cardinal 

Mourning Dove

House Finches courtship feeding

We went to Connecticut for Easter but left the birdcam on to see who was at the bird feeder. We had observed the courtship feeding in cardinals, but this is the first time we noticed it in house finches.