Four Fledgelings and Other Birds

Tags

blue jay, Eastern Bluebird, photography, postaday, Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Instead of two Eastern Bluebird fledgelings, there are actually four! I was able to photograph them two days ago when they congregated on a high oak tree branch. They were too far, but can be recognized in the photos below.

Two Eastern Bluebird Fledgelings.

Three Eastern Bluebird Fledgelings.

Four Eastern Bluebird Fledgelings.

I don’t know whether they are all from the same brood that lived in the birdhouse in our backyard, or from that and another nest somewhere in the grove behind our house. They seemed to get along fine.

Meanwhile, the female Bluebird still lives in that birdhouse.

Female Eastern Bluebird inspecting her nest.

Yesterday, early in the morning, a House Wren came near the birdhouse and started calling out.

House Wren: “Is anybody home?”

The noisy call woke the sleeping Bluebird up, and she peered out to let him know the birdhouse belonged to her.

Female Eastern Bluebird.

The House Wren promptly left. A young Blue Jay stopped by our bird feeder.

Young Blue Jay.

Then a female Hummingbird came to the nectar feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

2018 Unpublished Photos

Tags

american robin, blue jay, cosmos, great egret, mallard, montezuma national wildlife refuge, northern cardinal, photography, postaday

In 2018, some of my photos did not appear on this blog, normally because I didn’t want to have too many in any post. Now at year end, looking at them, some actually deserve to be shown, and here they are.

Northern Cardinal in January 2018.

Mallard mother and ducklings, May 2018.

Great Egret at Montezuma NWR, September 2018.

American Robin, November 2018.

Blue Jay, November 2018.

Cosmos brought inside, October 2018.

Silent Sunday

Tags

blue jay, photography, postaday, silent sunday

Blue Jay.

Blue Jay.

Early Birds

Tags

blue jay, carolina chickadee, house finch, northern cardinal, photography, postaday

This morning, I went out on the deck and took pictures of the early birds that came for breakfast. Some looked very young, and they may be this year’s fledglings.

Blue Jay.

Northern Cardinal: “Peekaboo!”

Blue Jay: “I see you!”

Young male House Finch.

Young Carolina Chickadee.

Blue Jays and Others

Tags

blue jay, house sparrow, northern cardinal, photography, postaday

I still have not ventured out since coming down with the flu. There may also be quite a few people similarly afflicted for the local pharmacy shelves have been laid bare of the more popular flu and cold medicines. The weather has not been cooperating either, being mostly cold, snowy at times, and windy almost always. This has given me time to cull through some recent shots of Blue Jays and other birds in our backyard.

Blue Jay.

Blue Jay.

Blue Jay.

Young House Sparrow.

Female Northern Cardinal.

Male Northern Cardinal.

Red and Blue

Tags

blue jay, northern cardinal, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Not much snow fell, somewhat less than 2 in (5 cm), but the cold is staying with temperatures in the teens and twenties (-10 C to -5 C). Nothing is melting. Many birds came to our feeder, and I even saw a new one that was gray with black wings. It was too quick and only appears as a blur in a shot I took.

But Mr. Blue and Mr. Red were there of course and lingered long enough for me to photograph them leisurely.

Blue Jay.

Mr. Red especially took his time, even checking out the photographer several times.

Northern Cardinal.

Northern Cardinal.

Northern Cardinal.

A Tufted Titmouse patiently waited for its turn at the feeder.

Tufted Titmouse.

More Snow

Tags

blue jay, photography, postday

This Blue Jay put on this expression when told that more snow was coming this weekend.

Blue Jay: “Did you say more snow is coming?”

Cardinal and Other Birds This Winter

Tags

blue jay, downy woodpecker, house finch, house sparrow, junco, northern cardinal, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Today skies are mostly sunny and snow is melting at a good pace. I took the opportunity to photograph the various birds that come to our feeder all day long.

Blue Jay, checking out the bird feeder. They rule the place and whenever they land, all other birds scatter away.

Blue Jay.

Junco about to jump.

Female Downy Woodpecker.

Female House Finch.

Male House Finch.

House Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse, working on a sunflower seed.

Finally, the one and the only Northern Cardinal, resplendent in colors rivaling its human counterparts in Rome.

Northern Cardinal.

Backyard Birds in the Fall

Tags

blue jay, house finch, photography, postaday

I filled up our backyard feeder with sunflower seeds to help out the birds when it is so windy and cold. They came within minutes, and I took the following shots of two of our regular fall visitors.

Blue Jay.

Blue Jay.

House Finch looking up at bird feeder.

House Finch.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Waiting

Tags

blue jay, photography, postaday, red-winged blackbird, weekly photo challenge

The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/waiting-2017/

Blue Jay waiting.

Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird waiting.

Some Regular Bird Visitors

Tags

blue jay, downy woddpecker ruby-throated hummingbird, mourning dove, photography, postaday, turtle dove

The following birds are regular visitors to our backyard, and here are some shots of them near the bird feeder.

This year a band of Blue Jays have come swarming in our neighborhood. You can tell when they come as all the smaller birds have to scatter out of their way. Fortunately, they don’t eat everything at once and they leave enough food for others.

Blue Jay.

Turtle (or Mourning) Doves are always there also, not as aggressive as Blue Jays, but persistent. They will perch on high branches and patiently wait their turn. The one below flew down to our deck to check out some scattered sunflower seeds.

Turtle or Mourning Dove.

The Downy Woodpeckers are also always there, no matter what season it is.

Downy Woodpecker.

A regular summer visitor is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, very small and very territorial. The following female will attack attack any other hummingbird that tries to use the special feeder I put out for hummingbirds. It even tried to shoo away bigger birds.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering over feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird landing on feeder.

The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird either comes out in late evening, or when I am not home. So far I have seen him but it’s been too dark to photograph him.

How to Eat Peanuts

Tags

blue jay, chickadee, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Each bird has its own way of eating peanuts. Here are a few examples.

Blue Jay.

Chickadee, probably the smallest bird that is not a Hummingbird.

Downy Woodpecker.

Tufted Titmouse.

Then we are back to the Blue Jay, the most voracious of them all.

Blue Jay.

Two Backyard Birds and a Water Bird

Tags

blue jay, house finch, photography, postaday, red-breasted merganser

For this rainy and bland weekend, I offer three colorful photos taken over the past two weeks.

Blue Jay waiting for me to go away so it can get to the roasted peanuts.

A handsome House Finch.

Red-breasted Merganser near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Snow Storm

Tags

blue jay, junco, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Saturday was a cold and snowy day. Only one inch of snow was forecasted, but it kept snowing most of the day and in the end we got at least 3 inches. The poor birds sheltered among our magnolia branches, but only because they know I usually stock our feeder with sunflower seeds to the brim.

Junco.

Tufted Titmouse.

After it stopped snowing, as a special treat, I put out a tray of roasted peanuts to provide them with some energy food. Within a few minutes, Blue Jays appeared and swooped down to literally gorge themselves.

Blue Jay: “Hmm, maybe I can stuff all of these in my mouth!?”

Blue Jay: “If you must insist, I will try…”

Blue Jay, after at least four peanuts down its throat.

Birds, Flowers, etc.

Tags

blue jay, common grackle, cosmos, moth, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker, rose-breasted grosbeak, Sa Pa

Like others on WordPress, I have been going through photos taken in 2016 to see whether some of them could be displayed here. Several are shown below, and others will probably follow in the last three days of this year. As you can tell, there is no rhyme or reason to the order of these images.

Cosmos.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Blue Jay trying to scare away other birds.

Sa Pa hill in the clouds.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Goldfinch.

Moth on Black-eyed Susan.

Common Grackle.

Red, White, and Blue

Tags

blue jay, cardinal, great egret, photography, postaday

July 4, 2016 is a good day for Red, White, and Blue birds!

Cardinal.

Great Egrets.

Blue Jay.

Here are red, white, and blue, all in one photo, the banner image: East Point Lighthouse at the southern tip of New Jersey.

Gluttony

Tags

blue jay, gluttony, peanut, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

Gluttony is the third deadly sin, but that’s for humans. Blue Jays don’t care, they practice gluttony with abandon, as evidenced by the way they swoop down on the peanuts I put out for the birds.

Most birds take one then fly away. Not Blue Jays.

Blue Jay eating peanuts. We have seen some who swallow as many as seven peanuts at one time.

There was an older Blue Jay, who began by scaring away everyone else.

Elderly Blue Jay scaring away other birds.

Elderly Blue Jay surveying the scene, making sure he was the only one near the peanuts. Only then did he start eating.

In the meantime, the Red-bellied Woodpecker was the model of bird table manners.

Red-bellied Woodpecker always pick a single peanut. They may make multiple trips, but only one peanut on each trip.

One Is Not Enough!

Tags

blue jay, chickadee, nuthatch, photography, postaday, roasted peanut, tufted titmouse

Each bird eats roasted peanuts in its own way. Here are a few examples that I have witnessed recently.

Nuthatch: “Hmm…, don’t know which one I want!”

Tufted Titmouse: “I know what I want! Whoopee!”

Chickadee: “Come here, you silly peanut!”

Blue Jay:”Peanuts, here I come!”

Blue Jay: “One is enough, you think?”

Blue Jay: “One is not enough!”

Weekly Photo Challenge: Eye Spy

Tags

blue jay, brown pelican, cardinal, eyes spy, great blue heron, mourning dove, photography, postaday, red fox, tufted titmouse, weekly photo challenge

The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/eye-spy/

When I photograph birds and animals, I try to get a good eye expression, or at least get their eyes in clear focus. Here are my entries for the challenge, all from photos taken this year, some as recently as yesterday.

Great Blue Heron keeping an eye on a fish, which it caught just a few seconds later.

Blue Jay with a questioning look.

Female Cardinal modelling for photographer.

Brown Pelican.

Tufted Titmouse. These birds have some of the most photogenic eyes.

Juvenile Red Fox.

Bighorn Ram.

Mourning Dove.

Goldfinch in winter plumage.

Hmm … Pretty Flowers

Tags

blue jay, butterfly magnolia, house finch, magnolia, photography, postaday

The Butterly Magnolia is in full bloom, and even the birds have to stop in their track and admire its flowers.

Blue Jay: Hmm, Butterly Magnolia, so pretty!

House Finch: Yeah, pretty flowers, I agree.

Blue Jay

Tags

blue jay, photography, postaday

A Blue Jay came to our bird feeder this morning. They are known for their blue color and crest. When they are feeding at peace, the crest is lowered as seen in the following photos. Since the Blue Jay was so large compared to other birds, it monopolized the feeder for a few minutes.

Blue Jay at bird feeder.

Once it got a sunflower seed, it flew to the nearby magnolia tree to break it up and eat the inside.

Blue Jay with sunflower seed.

Then of course we had the usual staring match.

Blue Jay: it’s you again, photographer!

Blue Jays

Tags

blue jay, photography, postaday

This morning I put out some sunflower seeds on our deck still covered with snow. The birds must have been hungry because there was a constant avian stream landing on or around the seed pan, and partaking lustily.

Among the juncos, sparrows, and warblers, I noticed several blue jays and took the following shots of them. These were taken through our patio glass door, and they are they closest I have ever been to blue jays.

Blue Jay: what is there to eat?

Blue Jay: sunflower seed, good!

Blue Jay: good, yummy!

Blue Jay: anything left?