Backyard birds 2021
24 May 2021 - How many fledged starlings can you fit into one bath? Two...
Four...
Five!
“I might be able to bathe myself, but you still have to feed me.”
Some fledged starlings can feed themselves...
... and some stand by food and wait for a parent to feed them.
After bathing comes the preening.
Though cute when just fledged, starlings do take over all food and water resources.
Backyard ready for visitors: water dishes for drinking, bathing, eating**, and pooping in***.
(**Grackles bring most of the seeds and peanuts they grab to a water dish and drop them in the water before eating)
(***So the water dishes need daily cleaning)
May 2021 setup using feeders on a tall deer-proof pole: corn-based crunchies (kibble), shelled peanuts, and inexpensive suet blocks that usually contain a lot of corn and seeds. The rear feeder does not contain any bird food -- it is used to balance the weights of the other three feeders.
Inexpensive "Costco mix", enjoyed by almost all visiting birds. These days it's house sparrows, house finches, cardinals, red-wing blackbirds, and grackles.
Much more expensive shelled sunflower seeds in the large left feeder, for house finches, goldfinches, chickadees, titmice, and the odd woodpecker and red-winged blackbird. Unwelcome guests include starlings and deer. The smaller feeder on the right holds nyjer seeds for house finches and chickadees.
28 May 2021 - a regular visitor to the back feeder is a red-winged blackbird, joining house sparrows.
Downy woodpecker
28 May 2021. In a bush between two houses in the neighborhood, a robin made a nest. This was just before a huge thundershower.
31 May 2021 - After a massive rainfall, the nest was seen to be abandoned.
