Frustrated Squirrel

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The squirrels in our yard attempt to get seed from our bird feeder periodically. Sometimes I watch them from my office window and wonder whether it is the same squirrel or different animals each time. They always leave frustrated unless they manage to tilt the feeder enough as they are jumping off to spill some seed to the deck below. That happens infrequently. When it does, the amount of seed is only a small snack for the squirrel.

Recently the bird feeder cam captured a frustrated squirrel. It started out reaching for the feeder as if it had figured out that the contraption would make the seed unavailable once it was touched. The squirrel made the leap…thoroughly explored the feeder from every orientation while it was swinging wildly as the squirrel moved around. The whole of the action took place in 3.5 minutes. And the squirrel left without a morsel. It interesting to notice the squirrel’s tail being curled as it finished the leap off the feeder….then straight out as it heads down and away from the feeder. Use the arrows to move back and forth in the sequence.

I’ve been reading about Salmonella transmission through bird feeders and baths. We haven’t found any dead birds and we’ve been more careful about keeping both clean….washing our hands after handling  them since there are some cases of transmission to humans too. My plan is to finish the bag of seed we have then take the feeder down this summer. It easier to keep the bird bath clean (and we check it frequently to avoid it fostering mosquito larvae). There’s enough seed to keep the feeder going during spring migration – which we’ll do unless we see dead birds.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 13, 2021

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Spring is starting here in Maryland…we have a clump of crocus up and blooming in our front flower bed!

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 birds of the week: March 2021 – Starting off the gleanings for this with bird photographs. I found myself looking at eye color as I enjoyed this group of 25.

Satellite imagery shows northern California kelp forests have collapsed – I had read a story about this previously….but this article include visuals: satellite image and underwater images of what it look like before…and the urchin barrens that are there today.

Kauri trees mark magnetic flip 42,000 years ago | Science – Analysis of a tree preserved in a bog. It lived during the Laschamp Excursion (the last time the poles flipped) The climate instability lasted about 500 years.

Giving Wildlife Room to Roam in the Face of Climate Change – The importance on microhabitats in wildlife conservation particularly as climate changes.

Small Particulates From Burning Fossil Fuels Kills 8.7 Million People Each Year – And this is a form of pollution no one escapes….unless you choose to live in an enclosed and continuously filtered environment (like on an planet that does not support life as we know it). Right now, there are areas outside cities that have lower levels of the small particles in their air but eventually the continued increase in particles and circulation within the atmosphere will spread the ever increasing particles over the entire planet.

Even for Solitary Squirrels, It’s Better to Know the Neighbors – Red squirrels that have the same neighbors year after year…live longer! The study was done in a remote area of Canada over 22 years.

Thanks to Etsy, You Can Now Purchase a Gee's Bend Quilt Online for the First Time | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Folk art…museums…and a modern outlet to improve the artists’ ability to sell their work.

There’s a Koala in the Backyard – A description of what it’s like to have a koala in a tree near homes – serenading.

Geologists Share Their Concerns With Drilling For Oil In Big Cypress – Hopefully the project will not move forward….a national preserve should prioritize the natural environment, not the degradation or destruction of it.  

Eight ways chemical pollutant harm the body – From Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health: oxidative stress and inflammation, genomic alterations and mutations, epigenetic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction, endocrine disruption, altered intercellular communication, altered microbiome communities, and impaired nervous system function.

Zooming – December 2020

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I took fewer pictures in December…and shifted toward macro rather than zoomed. It was an indoor month because of the cold and the activities associated with holidays. Still – there were pictures of birds and snow – sunrise and sunset…the wintery scene. I’m going to bundle up to take more walks even in the January cold!

Through my Office Window – December 2020

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I am appreciating the view from my office window more this year than ever before…it is a great view of the natural world. We’ve seen wild turkeys twice (no pictures!) and one evening 9 deer came through (usually we see 2-4 at a time). There are the usual critters that I almost always manage to photograph: the finches, crows, white-breasted nuthatch, a pair of cardinals,

The squirrels,

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The mourning doves,

The red-bellied woodpecker, and

The Carolina wrens.

The birds that we only have around during the winter are the dark-eyed juncos,

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The red-bellied nuthatch,

The white-throated sparrow,

And the red-winged blackbirds. We have the red-winged blackbirds near the neighborhood pond in the other seasons, but they don’t venture to our forest and feeder except in the winter or during migration. They are almost too heavy for the feeder, so they don’t get enamored with what it provides.

The view from the window – the forest, the bird feeder and bath, the winter yard…the best in the house.

Zooming – November 2020

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November is the month that transitions our forest from fall to winter. As I write this on the last day of the month – it is raining, the forest is wet and dark. It is a wintery scene from my office window.

Of course – the muted colors overall cause me to notice color that much more – in flowers…fallen leaves (that are brown by now)...birds…sunsets. Shapes also come to the fore – the fluffy parachutes carrying seeds away from pods…the disk of the moon in the sky. Overall – there are still lots of subjects for my zooming!

Through my Office Window – November 2020

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So much to see from my office window….

The resident Blue Jays come through several times a day. During the summer months I can only photograph them on the deck or at the bird bath. Now that the leaves are off the trees it is easier to spot them in other places in our back yard.

The Northern Cardinal pair are regular visitors as well. I see the female more often than the male.

The Carolina Wrens are around all during the year. They are easiest to photograph at the feeder since they are preoccupied with getting seed – stay for more than a few seconds.

The Chipping Sparrows and Tufted Titmouse are at the feeder almost every day. The titmouse often takes its seed to the gutter above the feeder to open the hull to get the good part.

The White-Breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, and Carolina Chickadee are all regular visitors.

American Goldfinch and Downy Woodpeckers are in our area all the time but they come to our deck and feeder infrequently.

There are birds we see primarily during migration times. Red-winged Blackbirds are at the neighborhood pond all through the year but only come to our feeder and forest in flocks during the fall and spring.

Sometimes we have Brown-headed Cowbirds around in the spring (laying eggs in other birds’ nests) but in the fall we just see them as they move through in small flocks when they stop to raid the birdfeeder.

Our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker comes to the feeder often. Right now - the female is all we see. Earlier this year there was a male and I hope there will be a pair next spring…another chance to see young birds.

The squirrels come to the deck for water and the seed under the feeder that the birds have scattered. Sometimes they try to dump the feeder but are generally not successful.

Now that the leaves are off the trees it is easier to see the Mourning Doves in the trees. Just before I wrote this post, I counted 7 doves preening in trees behind our house!

The sunsets are visible from my office window as well. The challenge is to look for it at the right time.

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My favorite picture ‘through the window’ this month is the last big leaves on the sycamore. It was taken on the 23rd. One of the leaves fell shortly after I took the picture but one is still hanging on.

Black Squirrel Antics

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I noticed a black squirrel at our feeder while I was watching one of the Crane Fiesta webinars…and took a few pictures.

Later I checked the birdfeeder cam and saw a series of squirrel antics - several strategies to get seed from the feeder. It started at the bottom where the holes are located and birds get seeds. As soon as the squirrel puts its weight on the feeder – the holes are closed! It got no seed that way.

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Then it tried from the top. There is no seed at the top but the squirrel did a thorough sniff…trying to get into the feeder. No luck for the squirrel.

The next strategy was to jump on the feeder. The squirrel started out upside down then turned the other way while the feeder was swinging wildly…finally it jumped off the feeder.

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It sat below the feeder for a bit – recovering – then left the area. Still hungry.

There was a black squirrel that visited our deck back in June but it didn’t explore the feeder. I wonder if this was the same individual. There have been times that I think I see a dark squirrel in our neighborhood as I drive out for errands. We see the gray/brown squirrels on our deck and at the feeder frequently…the black one is still ‘special’ because it doesn’t visit often.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Drying sunflower. I am still enjoying the sunflowers I bought earlier this month. They are drying on the windowsill in my office. I love the color that remains. I photographed one of them with a black fabric background so show off the color and curves.

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Broken treetop. I glimpsed what I thought was a freshly broken tree through the pine needles from my office window and went out in the back yard (2 stories down) to see it without the pine being in the way. I was still looking though some other trees into my neighbor’s yard - but it does appear that one of the larger branches of a tree broke…and the top fell into the forest rather than toward houses. We did have a storm that came through last week with some high winds…which might have been when it happened.

Neighborhood Pond – November 2020 – part 1

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I walked down to the neighborhood stormwater pond recently. There were still a few leaves that had not been swept away by the wind (or mowing or raking). I walked through drifts of leaves in the street gutter and sidewalks…crunching.

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I was early enough that the light was good for reflections on the pond. There was no breeze, so the water was a good mirror.

There was a red-winged blackbird in the cattails. It moved around a bit….called to others that had moved to nearby trees as I had walked up to the pond. I sat on the bench for a few minutes, but the other birds stayed away from the immediate pond vegetation.

The sun sometimes made a spotlight on the vegetation…bringing out the nuances of fading fall colors.

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The meadow on the far side of the pond has not been mowed and looks like it is being taken over by invasive pear trees. They’ll probably mow it again in the spring.

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All the flowers around the pond have gone to seed.

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As I started back, I noticed a tree with 3 squirrels’ nests! There were other similarly sized trees near it…but somehow the squirrels found this one more attractive.

A dogwood still held its colorful leaves. The native dogwoods usually have leaves that turn early and drop; this one is probably a non-native and I didn’t notice any seeds.

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Most of the oaks in the neighborhood have lost their leaves completely. Maybe they have just reached the age that they don’t hold their leaves longer. Ours was one of the early droppers this year.

I checked the micro-clover that we planted in some bare spots a few months ago. It is still growing very well everywhere we planted it. Hopefully, it will help the soil improve so we won’t have any bare places next spring.

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Tomorrow I will post about the high point of the walk to and from the pond.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Crane Fiesta 2020. The virtual version of Festival of the Cranes from Bosque del Apache is called Crane Fiesta and is happening November 19-21. It is being delivered as cost-free webinars….but registration is required. The link to register is https://friendsofbosquedelapache.org/festival-of-the-cranes/.  My husband and I are looking forward to the three days of virtual birding….the next best thing to being there (and looking forward to going back to New Mexico in November2021)!

Bird Feeder Camera Snippets

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Every week – I download the videos accumulated on the bird feeder camera and note any of special interest. Here are some recent finds:

On 7/6: A male finch appeared to be feeding a fledgling. The young bird found balancing on the perch somewhat challenging and kept flapping its wings to say in place. It also couldn’t seem to figure out how to get seed directly.

On 7/8: There was a squirrel that tried to get seed from the feeder. The springs worked to shut off the seed holes, so the acrobatics were for naught.

On 7/9: The bird feeder camera captured the goldfinches which I also photographed with my camera (included in the 7/10 blog post). It was interesting to see the different angle of the action. The bird feeder camera didn’t start recording until the house finch was already gone.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Last of the day lilies from the flower bed. The deer got more of the day lily buds than I did. I cut the last stalk that survived because it was tangled in the branches of a nearby bush. The buds should open nicely in the vase on our breakfast table. They will be dark orange…. descendants of the bulbs by mother-in-law bought about 30 years ago.

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The two stems I cut a few days ago are blooming in the vase upstairs in my office. There are still several buds developing…should keep my office in fresh flowers for 3-4 more days.

Once the day lilies are gone, the front flowerbed is going to be all green. I thought I’d have black eyed susans but the deer have eat all the buds this year already! I’ll rely on the CSA cutting garden for the rest of the summer.

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Zooming – June 2020

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Only two pictures in the slide show below were taken away from my house. The other location was a short walk from my house to the neighborhood storm water retention pond.

There are quite a few birds as usual:

  • Starling

  • Cardinal

  • Carolina Wren

  • Blue Jay

  • Red-winged blackbird (fledgling)

  • House finch

  • Mourning dove

  • Chipping sparrow

  • Turkey vulture

It seems like there are more other animals that usual: cat, deer (with faun), turtle, and black squirrel.

Overall it’s a good mix – but I am missing the usual garden and butterfly pictures as I look at these and think about June the past few years (see June 2019 and June 2018). In previous years June was a hyper month at the beginning with two volunteer gigs (Brookside Gardens’ Wings of Fancy and Howard County Conservancy’s hiking with school field trips) overlapping and helping my daughter move (last year). June 2020 has been a quieter month…but still enjoyable.

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2020

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We are still at home almost all the time, so the celebrations are mostly based there. There are two that celebrate the changes that we made in June that are away from the house….creating a sustainable new normal for the coming months.

Double rainbow. Seeing a rainbow is such a great way to celebrate summer! We’ve been having last afternoon thunderstorms and one of them was moving fast enough that the sun came out while it was still raining in the east….and it created a double rainbow! The arch was interrupted by our oak tree – but the colors were vibrant for enough time that I got a good series of pictures. I was so engrossed in taking pictures from our front porch that I didn’t notice our 18-year-old indoor cat escaping until he meowed; I was able to catch him before he escaped into the bushes.

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Day lilies. I enjoy having flowers in my office. It’s a way of bringing a bit of the outdoors into a place I can celebrate at closer range.

Ice maker fixed. My husband and I installed the part he ordered to keep our ice maker from allowing water to overflow into the rest of the freezer…..and it worked. We are both celebrating that we were able to do it ourselves rather than requiring a maintenance person.

Deck drapery. The deck drapery turned out to be a great project for us and we are celebrating the extra time we are already spending on our deck.

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Black squirrel. The black squirrel has only come to our deck once. I celebrated seeing it when visited because it was different than our usual squirrels….and it didn’t try to raid the bird feeder.

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Fledgling red-winged blackbird. If I hadn’t seen the parents nearby – I don’t think I would have seen it or be able to identify it. It’s a celebration of new life at the neighborhood storm water retention pond.

Plastic containers. The cabinet where we keep plastic containers in the kitchen had gotten so disorganized that it seemed to be overflowing…with us not adding anything new. I took about 30 minutes to reorganize it – putting the things we use most in the easiest to reach places…and putting some things in the recycle, trash, or give away. Moving from disorganized to organized is always something I celebrate.

Pleasant early mornings on the deck. Even on hot days, the early morning is wonderful on the deck. It’s a great way to start the day – often feeling like we are in the middle of a bird celebration.

Grocery shopping. Beginning to do my grocery shopping again is worthy of celebration. I take precautions (wear a mask, lots of hand sanitizer, go in the early morning, use self-scan and checkout, shop for 2 weeks rather than 1) but getting out just that little bit has made the new normal a lot easier to sustain.

CSA season. I always celebrate the beginning of our Community Supported Agriculture veggies. Picking up the share requires a mask and hand sanitizer…just like the grocery store. It’s an adjunct to the grocery shopping that makes the summer foods easily and abundantly available.  

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Unique activities for yesterday:

Rearranging deck furniture. The first afternoon I sat out on the deck to test the effectiveness of the deck drapery, I discovered that the table and chairs were not well positioned. They were in the patch of sunshine coming through the triangle of undraped screen near the ceiling.

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It was too hot to rearrange furniture that afternoon, so I did it during the cooler morning temperatures. I am also going to buy another prong to tie back the drape near the bird feeder (in the far left of the above picture) so that we can see the bird feeder when the drape is tied back.

Black Squirrel

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We have lots for gray squirrels that come to our deck – trying to get seed from our feeder and water from the bird bath. Yesterday was the first time I’d seen a black squirrel there. Its the same species as the typical color squirrels. The black color means that both parents carried the recessive gene. I noticed that the pink color of the skin (ears, front paws, along the tail) was more noticeable because of the higher contrast with the fur color.

The first time I saw a black squirrel was in the mid-80s at Dumbarton Oaks. The tail looked scrawny and the squirrel seemed more aggressive. The tail on the one that came to our deck was about the same as the other squirrels around. It didn’t go all the way up to try it get seed out of the feeder but made a thorough search of the area below the feeder and got a drink at the bird bath before heading out. I wonder if we will see it again.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Rain in the bird baths. Rain showers came through – some quite heavy. But the sky was bright enough that I decided to photograph their impact on our birdbaths. The larger one among the day lilies just looked turbulent. The smaller one in the back was more interesting with the impacts of the rain drops on the water surface more defined.

Lots of cats. My daughter took a picture of this house in her neighborhood in Missouri as she took her daily walk. How many cats do you see? And they appear to be social distancing!

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Zooming Photographs and Tripoli Prompt

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Zooming

Last May I took over 2,500 pictures…this May there are just under 1,000. There are still a lot to choose from…and I do use the zoom on my camera a lot. All the pictures this month were taken from around my house. Enjoy the slide show!

A Zentangle Prompt

Make a tile with TRIPOLI as the central tangle. I found this pattern to be challenging the first time I did it a few years ago. So give it a try. Feel free to try some patterns inside the triangles and/or use another pattern (like TIPPLE or CRESCENT MOON) to file some of the tile.

Here are some tiles I made yesterday – savoring the patterns from the last six days. The first was a hodgepodge of almost all the patterns. Then I settled down to 2 patterns (and auras). It was the beginning of a trend because the next one was two patterns with more obvious shading around the edges…and the last was a montotangle tile (gingo)! I enjoyed Tangler’s Choice day and I hope you did too.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Last grocery delivery. I’ve decided to go back to venturing out to the grocery store in June after more than two months of almost weekly deliveries…so this was the last delivery. I’m glad the option was available to us but found it stressful to be online while my shopping was done (to OK or reject substitutions) and then sorting through the bags left on the porch to put away the refrigerator items and leaving the rest to sit a few days (usually in the back of one of our cars) before unpacking. And I didn’t like the quick accumulation of so many plastic bags. All the shoppers seemed keen to do a good job but some were very inexperienced with grocery shopping/the store.

Low weight of the year. I didn’t have any dark chocolate on hand, so I celebrated with sweet potato custard with pecans on top – the making and enjoying warm from oven.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Cape May Spring Festival (2nd day), Last Iris, 3 Tangle Prompt

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Cape May Spring Festival Day 2

It was another full day of presentations - 7 AM to just after 5 PM. I managed to get up and move during the breaks more than I did on the first day and was not as exhausted at the end of the day. Two presenters went out at lunch and filmed horseshoe crab and shore birds at a Delaware Bay beach near where they live – lots of action. It was probably the highlight of the two days for me just as seeing it last spring was the highlight of being in Cape May for the first time.

All the presentations were interesting, and I look forward to being able to watch several of them again once they are posted. There will be several items in upcoming days that I’ll share as I do the ‘follow up’ for two very intense days of the virtual birding festival!

Other unique activities for yesterday:

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A last iris stalk. I brought it in the day before yesterday and when I went downstairs yesterday morning – the first flower was wilted but two buds had opened. I snapped off the spent flower and took a picture of the ones that were still fresh. It sat in the kitchen window, so both my husband and I enjoyed the flowers all day during breaks from the Spring Festival.

Deck check. I tried to check what was happening on our deck during breaks in the Spring Festival. There were a pair of cardinals early on and then a chipping sparrow sharing the feeder with a Carolina chickadee.  

A squirrel came for a drink at the bird bath a little later.

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During the lunch break a pair of blue jays had an interaction…the one on the right kept moving to the right then flew away first.

A Zentangle Prompt

Make a tile with these three patterns: ANTIDOTS, ELIROB, and BATON. Maybe experiment with using the ELIROB pattern as the ‘string’ for the tile.

Here are some tiles I completed based on the prompt: Meer feathers.

I used this pattern with summer campers (ages 5-12) in August 2019. Here are the mosaics of the tiles they made.  

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/18/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday – wet in the morning then sunny by the end of the day:

Cheering the male red-bellied woodpecker getting breakfast in the rain. The male is in full breeding colors…and getting plenty of peanuts for from feeder!

Taking a quick look at the close view of our front porch. On the other side of the house from the birdfeeder, the front porch was wet as well. It didn’t reduce the beauty of the azalea blooms piling over the concrete or the lush leaves of day lilies (not recently munched by deer) on the other side of the front walk. I’ll put the glass birdbath out soon on the stand; it doesn’t go out until there is no danger of frost!

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Enjoying beet root powder in my smoothie. I like the flavor of beet powder…and the color. This morning I combined it with almond milk, banana, walnuts, and a whole orange (the peeling too). Nothing was frozen so it wasn’t too chilling for a cold morning.

Finishing the Lifecycle module of the Fashion as Design Coursera course. It has been the most thought-provoking module so far. I went through my clothes and discovered that ALL my jean/slacks have at least some synthetic fiber in them (even the ‘cotton’ leggings) – which makes them difficult (near impossible) to recycle. I have more tops that are 100% cotton…but at least half are synthetic…or partly synthetic. I am experimenting with wearing clothes a bit longer between washings….and realizing that I should refrain from buying anything new for the foreseeable future!

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Catching up on Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safari videos:

Abundance of squirrel food in the maple. After the sun came out, I noticed a squirrel eating samaras. That’s a sign that thee are ripening…will fly away soon. The squirrel was gorging on the delicacy of the seeds.

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Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.



Zooming – March 2020

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17 pictures taken in March…full of spring blossoms and bird activity. All but four are from around my house and neighborhood…after the ‘stay at home as much as possible’ guidance was issued. The four are from Brookside Gardens…very early in the month before we cut back on doing anything other than groceries away from the house. Included in the slideshow:

  • Moon

  • Maple samaras

  • Reeds in water

  • Blue jay

  • Bird-of-paradise (flowers)

  • Azaleas

  • Miniature iris

  • Squirrel

  • Red-bellied woodpeckers

  • Cowbird

  • House sparrow

  • Plum blossoms

  • House finch

  • Goldfinch

  • Carolina wren

  • Deer

Enjoy the slideshow!

Through my Office Window – March 2020 – Part II

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Continuing the “Through the Window” photos for this month….

The red maple has bloomed and is now full of maturing seeds; from afar it’s gone from red to rust. The birds and squirrels will enjoy the bounty soon…and we’ll have small maple trees to mow this summer.

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The tulip poplar is leafing out. Both trees are visible from my office window and will be a big part of the green wall during the summer.

I started emptying the last of the seed from the bird feeder before I refill it….not wanting the seed to get very old before it is eaten. A squirrel is usually the first to find the small pile on the deck bench.

House finches are frequent birds at the feeder, in the trees, and on every part of the house visible from my window.

The Northern Cardinal is almost too heavy for the feeder. The female may be a little lighter because I see her there more than the male. The male likes to clean up the seeds under the feeder.

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The Mourning Doves are also frequent visitors under the feeder. They enjoy the bird bath as well.

A Brown-Headed Cowbird and House Sparrow were at the feeder at the same time. I’m glad we don’t have cowbirds around frequently since they would eat up the contents of the feeder very quickly.

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I hear the Carolina Wren more frequently than I see it. But I enjoy the way they contort their bodies at the feeder…keep their tail up!

Sightings of American Robins increase in the spring. They are never at the feeder…only occasionally at the bath. They like the trees and the yard.

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I finally saw and photographed an Eastern Phoebe this month. They probably are around but stay further into the forest. This one was sitting in our sycamore…almost out of the range of my camera from my office window.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/21/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Cooking corn on the cob and hamburger patties on the grill. It was a cool cloudy day…but not too windy for grilling.

  • Walking in the neighborhood. It felt good to get out of the house and get some exercise outdoors. It is easy to keep social distance…even more than 6 feet! I took some pictures along my way: bent reeds and their reflections in water, a squirrel at attention, some red maple samaras that fell from the tree too early to mature (beautiful color though) and cattail stalks from last season at the edge of the water retention pond.

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Celebrating birds finding our feeder again. They are still not back in the numbers before the seed was gone from the feeder. A titmouse is in the first video from the feeder cam. I’ve already seen red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina chickadee, titmouse, eastern phoebe (not at the feeder…on a nearby tree branch), dark-eyed junco, and goldfinch.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20

Zooming – December 2019

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December was not a big month for photography. I did enjoy birds and wildlife…the decorations too…but I found myself in observational mode rather than trying to take photographs. I did quite a lot of volunteer work early in the month, and there never is time for very much time for photography when I’m paying rapt attention to people during a volunteer gig.

Enjoy the slide show for December 2019!

Happy New Year 2020!

Camera on the Birdfeeder

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The new ‘toy’ we are playing with over this holiday week is a camera on our birdfeeder!

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So far, we’ve been experimenting with temporary mounting on ladders to decide where to position it more permanently and adjusting parameters. The camera is not very big physically (the white blob on the right side near the top of the ladder is the camera).

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This was my first image I clipped from one of the videos – a female red-bellied woodpecker.

I’ll get better with my editing over time. It’s very different than my usual pictures through my office window.

Ever see a squirrel climb a ladder? This one climbed right up to the camera after it was unsuccessful in dumping the seed from the bird feeder!

Next steps are to mount the camera from the eve of our covered deck and put out the small solar panel to help keep it charged. I’ll share some the technical details of our set up…once we get it working a bit better. My husband and I are enjoying the project!