Nuthatches & Blue Jays

The nuthatches and blue jays have been plentiful lately -- the juveniles are being tutored by the adults in  the ways of the world and the bird feeders.

We got a video camera recently and this is my first attempt, with both the camera and with iMovie. I have a lot more practice to do with the camera (definitely need to use a tripod or monopod) and with editing video.

Signs of Spring -- and another first

I'm finally beginning to believe that spring really is on the way. There is still plenty of snow on the ground in our area, but winter is slowly fading away. The snow banks along the roads are dirty, the potholes are growing, the mud is overtaking the back roads, and the annual "Frost Heaves" signs are sprouting like weeds.

As the temperatures gradually inch up and the days lengthen, the bird population is changing, too. The flocks of goldfinches are larger, the chickadees are noisier, and the blue jays are back with their bossy voices.

While I've had a few white-breasted nuthatches all winter, I've suddenly been getting a lot of the smaller red-breasted nuthatches. They do a fast grab and run at the sunflower chips, but stay much longer on the suet feeder. As fast as they are, they've been easier to get photos of than the larger white-breasted nuthatch.


This winter I've also added a few "firsts" to my bird life list. About three weeks ago I had a white-winged crossbill under my feeders. Yesterday, I had a LBJ (little brown jobby) with reddish chest up in the tree watching me for quite awhile. But it wasn't the usual house finch or purple finch. First I had a male common redpoll, then later a female staring at me from the branch.



Then, all of a sudden, I had about half a dozen common redpolls under the feeder.So, while winter probably hasn't had its last hurrah, signs of spring are here.

P.S. -- Did you look up last night and see the space station and shuttle overhead? It was a perfectly clear night and amazing to see how fast it seemed to move across the sky.

Daily Variety

Today's visitors included the hairy woodpecker . . .







and the white-breasted nuthatch . . .





as well as the chipping sparrow . . .

Growing Up

My birdfeeders have been very busy this summer – goldfinches, purple finches, house finches, evening and rose-breasted grosbeaks, nuthatches, blue jays, hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, and catbirds.

Of course, in the spring and early in the summer it was mostly the adults. But gradually the youngsters have started appearing. By now, they're about the same size as the adults and have similar markings, but their behavior often gives them away.

Several times I've seen a white-breasted nuthatch come flying across the street to the feeder, followed rapidly by three or four others landing on the branches above in the pine tree. As the youngsters hide in the branches, they start their begging "murmuring" until the adult flies back to the woods with the juvies zipping along close behind.

Sometimes the youngster is given away by its grace – or lack thereof. This downy woodpecker was out on his/her own one day and attempted to land on a thin pine branch . . . and whoops . . .

Then s/he settled down tight on the branch and watched me for awhile:

But eventually the suet feeder was the target for a perfect landing: