Birding.

[MikeandRong]

 

 

Male Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker. Eating ants and grubs inside the raised flower and vegetable box. Note the size of his feet standing on the 2x12 wood.

[MikeandRong]

 

Black-Capped Chickadee. Really small but vocal bird that can be very tame. Due to its metabolism it must eat each day, no matter the weather. Stays here year round without migrating as long as there is food. Once they get used to you as long as you remain still, they will land on you and even eat out of your hand, a very gentle and friendly bird.

[MikeandRong]

 

 

Blue Jay with a Hairy Woodpecker coming in from the right. The sun was so bright this morning I was taking some test shots and only saw the second bird after I reviewed the photos back.

[MikeandRong]

 

 

Yearling Male Northern Cardinal. He is just starting to lose his baby colors and turn all red.

[MikeandRong]

 

Yearling European Starling. The iridescent glow of his feathers in the morning sunshine really grabbed my attention.

[MikeandRong]

 

By 9:15am today there were multiple species all over the yard. Here are 3 different species all together in the same frame.

[MikeandRong]

 

 

 

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker Father feeding his 2 young sons. The Mother flew off camera but the Father stayed right with his son's, careing for and feeding them ants.

[MikeandRong]

 

 

Female and Male Robin. The Females are much more pale red while the Males are more deep red. Easy to see the difference when side by side. Note the Male still courting the Female with a mouthful of nest building material.

[amberjack1234]

My two Pileated woodpeckers showed up yesterday and flew right over my head. My blue birds are making babies this year like crazy. If they ever stop long enough I have got to take the old nest out of their box so that they can build more. They build a new nest over the old one for each clutch of eggs and they are up to the hole in the box now. I have a two hole stagecoach box made out of cypress wood. They usually only make one nest at a time but this year they are making two nest one in each hole at a time.

[dnoblett]

My father has a special feeder for Baltimore Oriole , the feeder is orange in color, has a couple stakes for oranges and two cups for jelly, they prefer grape jelly.

 

http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/image-files/xoriole-feeder-jelly-fruit.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-uKfrLXggD.jpg

 

http://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/IMG_3804_zps3f04sl4j.png

[Greg.D.]

"My father has a special feeder for Baltimore Oriole ..."

 

How keepeth thee away the mighty squirrel from yonder impaled fruits?

[dnoblett]

"My father has a special feeder for Baltimore Oriole ..."

How keepeth thee away the mighty squirrel from yonder impaled fruits?

Father does not put fruit on it, just jelly, and squirrels don't seem interested in the feeder or the jelly.

[amberjack1234]

I thought that the little buggers would eat anything including baby birds.

[MikeandRong]

My two Pileated woodpeckers showed up yesterday and flew right over my head. My blue birds are making babies this year like crazy. If they ever stop long enough I have got to take the old nest out of their box so that they can build more. They build a new nest over the old one for each clutch of eggs and they are up to the hole in the box now. I have a two hole stagecoach box made out of cypress wood. They usually only make one nest at a time but this year they are making two nest one in each hole at a time.

This is the year of the babies, at least in my neck of the woods. Since the second week of June till today the family groups have been everywher, much more than usual. Now we did have an earlier spring this year by almost 4 weeks, so this also may have contributed to the population explosion.

 

Ah yes, the Pileated. I have plenty of them up North, but for some reason they just aren't in this general area. Only 1 time have I ever seen one in the yard and he was just passing through in the spring, looking into each birdhouse and upon finding a baby ripping it out and dropping them to the ground, uneaten but dead. There is no mistaking those big guys when you see or even hear one.

[MikeandRong]

My father has a special feeder for Baltimore Oriole , the feeder is orange in color, has a couple stakes for oranges and two cups for jelly, they prefer grape jelly.http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/image-files/xoriole-feeder-jelly-fruit.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-uKfrLXggD.jpghttp://i949.photobucket.com/albums/ad334/dnoblett/Misc%20Junk%20for%20posting/IMG_3804_zps3f04sl4j.png

The Goldfinches sure are attracted to bright yellow feeders so the orange should work for the Oriole's too, at least in theory. I have a perfect spot to place one and just leave it be and hopefully do its job. Once I can get some attracted to the area I can make adjustments if needed. What a special treat that would be if some Oriole's did start coming around.