Ostdrossel™

(Forgot one photo! I love this Grosbeak, he is still maturing into his adult feathers.)

Things are a bit slow right now, in no small part thanks to many bird ladies who are taking care of their broods right now. Here is a little compi of some of them, Grosbeak, Cardi, Redbellied Woodpeckerine, Blue Jay and Modo (with the last two I am not sure if male or female but they both cracked me up). We have a tornado watch tonight, but hopefully things will remain calm. Be safe out there, birds and beings!

In winter last year I got myself some Bee Cups because I loved the idea. They are tiny drinking stations for pollinating insects, made with a special glaze that attracts them. I've had them out for a while without anyone but some squirrels drinking from them, but today, the bees found them! I hope to see some other cool bugs there too. This is just for water.

You'd think but nope, thankfully not. I have tripped over power cords though, there are still too many in the yard :D

Curious babies everywhere! The House Finches are exploring more of their surroundings and are loving the hummer feeders for whatever reason. Same for the Orioles, even when there are oranges, jelly and flowers around. And I am still surprised to see both male and female hummingbirds right now. That has not been the case in my yard for a couple of years. This is so nice.

For a while now, I have seen a clearly nursing Groundhog in the yard and was wondering when her offspring would show up. And today they did. I saw two, but there may be more. And at least one of them has something in common with me - it loves watermelon! I am going to adjust the camera setup a bit but I hope to see more of these adorable stinkers.

A handsome Cardi to close out the week. He spent a lot of time at the tiny bath, maybe marveling at his own image in the water, and eventually taking a bath. (He does not have purple on him, this camera sometimes has issues with red hues.) Come good into the week!

Thank you and welcome!

The female has not returned to the nest, so I decided to remove the eggs and end this nesting attempt. The nest looked very pretty and there were no bugs in there or anything. She even covered everything nicely before she left. There were 13 eggs in total, two combined clutches. You can see the darker ones are the old ones, some with a visible line too. I added a handshot for size. So sad.

Since there are more hummingbirds around this season, I also put out the Allura feeder. They always need to get used to it a bit but I just love the look of this feeder. It has little compartments that are quick and easy to clean and is especially nice if you don't have a ton of traffic. Video is slowed down a bit.

Thank you - it is fun to make the posts but also great to get feedback like this. Smiles are what I aim for ❤️

And I spotted a Robin nest in one of the cherry trees!

Sadly, I think the Chickadee has abandoned the nest. She was weird all night last night, not sleeping on the eggs and even pooping in the nest. Then she did not eat the worm her partner brought in the morning and just sat in the entrance for a long time. Then she left a bit ago. Her partner came twice with food. It looks like she covered the eggs again too. No idea what is happening, and I am sad but I guess that is nature. She may be old, she may be weak from all those freaking eggs. We do not use any chemicals in our garden but I cannot control the neighborhood. I will leave things as they are for a bit to see what happens. Having a camera in the nestbox can be a delight but also a curse. You get very invested. Sigh.

Baby birds are so entertaining, and their emergence is a highlight of the year for me. They are always so bubbly and bumbly and excited and adorable, especially right at the beginning when they are still very focused on the parents. Today, two sounds were dominating the yard - that of some young Starlings and that of a very enthusiastic House Finch.

It was a great pond day, even though I had to constantly run out to clean the lens 😆Even a Cedar Waxwing finally came down (I've been hearing them for days up in the trees), and the first baby Grack! Others are male and female RWBB, Oriole, Grosbeak, Blue Jay and Cardi. I also changed out the pond livecam, the old one was letting in water and fogged up too much.