My Patio Birds and Squirrels

2009-03-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
You can see in this picture some of the snowfall we got last night. Not much, but it looks pretty the way it covered the top of the bush behind the fence and on the tree limbs.

2009-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
Starlings eating the suet cakes.

2009-03-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
Some starlings eating the suet cakes.

2009-03-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
I just this morning put out these two suet cakes and look what a dent they have made already! These are some starlings - one is just coming in for a landing on the top right. His wings are still in motion.

2009-03-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
The sparrows are sharing the suet cake with a starling. There are four birds on the peanut flavored suet cake and only one bird on the berry flavored one.

2009-03-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
Last night we had some snowfall. They said it might be four inches, but it was only about two or maybe three. I swept away a place under the fence so the birds could eat. There was a whole flock of sparrows and this one little mourning dove there when something startled the sparrows and they all flew away. But, this little guy just kept on eating. He would be an easy prey if there really were danger, huh?

2009-03-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

2 Mar 2009
I just wanted to leave a note. You will notice in future pictures that the nut block cage is gone. One day I noticed it lying on the ground and am guessing the weight from the squirrels hanging on it broke the chain link that was holding it. I put it back, using a plastic twisty to secure it, but when I looked out later, it was down again. This time, I didn't put it back up right away and later it was gone entirely. I couldn't find it anywhere. I don't know if the squirrels dragged it away or someone found it and removed it. But, anyway, I haven't decided whether to replace it or not. Have to wait and see.

2009-02-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Feb 2009
The squirrel is hanging by his hind paws while he eats what he has bitten off the nut block. They have amazing agility.

2009-02-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Feb 2009
The squirrel is hanging on the cages while eating from the nut block.

2009-01-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

Just a note for today, 28 Jan 2009

I did not take any pictures today, but wanted to leave a note. All evening and through the night, we had freezing rain here so the snow on the ground from yesterday had a coating of ice on top of it. I put the seed on the ice and just watched them when they came around to eat. There were sparrows, blue jays, starlings and cardinals this morning as well as two squirrels.

It was funny. The birds would slide when they came in for a landing and even the squirrels were slipping and sliding. They seemed to be ok and yet I wonder where they find shelter while the freezing rain is coming down. Poor things.

2009-01-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Today we had a light dusting of snow - you can see it on the fence slats. This squirrel is hanging from the suet cage with his hind paws while eating. You can see his little front paws curled up in front of his mouth - he broke off a chunk of the nut block.

2009-01-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
The male cardinal. There is a slight dusting of snow today, just enough to cover the ground.

2009-01-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
This is the female cardinal. We had a slight dusting of snow today, just enough to cover the ground.

2009-01-27T13:16:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Perched on top of the fence is the male cardinal. If you look closely, you can see the little Carolina wren eating from the bottom of the nut block.

2009-01-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Today we had a bit of snow, just enough to cover the ground. The male cardinal is in the back top left of the picture and there are four sparrows in the foreground. The bird landing next to the cardinal is an "unknown" one - I don't know what it is, yet. It is about 3-4 inches long with a black top and grayish-white belly.

2009-01-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
This is a good profile view of the black capped chickadee.

2009-01-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
A black capped chickadee.

2009-01-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
This is another picture of the "unknown" bird. Looks like it has a black beak with some black coloring around it.

2009-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
Today is the first time I've seen this bird and I don't know what it is. It appears gray in the picture but actually had a bluish tint. It also appears to have a crest or tuft of some kind on its head as well as some reddish coloring under its wing. I wish I could have gotten a better picture. If anyone knows what this bird is, please leave a comment.

2009-01-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
The female cardinal has just picked up a piece of food.

2009-01-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is hanging upside down and sideways to get at the corn and nut block.

2009-01-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
Two squirrels together. One eating from the seed and nuts on the ground and the other eating from the corn and nut block.

2009-01-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just climbed up to the fence post. He's in "alert" mode - checking to see if everything's ok before he settles down.

2009-01-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is climbing the tree behind my patio.

2009-01-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
These two squirrels were having a great time chasing each other around and doing flips. Then they both stopped at the same time to eat something.

2009-01-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is sniffing the ground looking for hidden peanuts.

2009-01-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The squirrel is eating the peanut flavored suet cake.

2009-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The Carolina wren preparing to peck at the corn and nut block.

2009-01-13T13:25:00.001-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The Carolina wren has decided to go for the cherry flavored suet cake.

2009-01-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This Carolina wren is perched atop the corn and nut block waiting to eat.

2009-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
A Carolina wren perched on the fence top.

2009-01-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
I thought this was a chickadee, but now I'm not sure. This bird is small, maybe three or four inches. It has black coloring on its top with a grayish white belly. It does not have the black cap or the white throat of the black capped chickadee. If you know what this bird is, please leave a comment.

2009-01-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.

I thought this was a chickadee, but now I'm not sure. It does not look like the black capped chickadee. Maybe there are other kinds of chickadees. Do you know?

2009-01-13T13:08:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009
I believe this is a chickadee.

2009-01-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Four starlings eating the suet cakes.

2009-01-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Some of the starlings who flew in this morning. These are landing on the suet cake cages to eat. You can see that the lowest one is still in the process of landing with its wings still open.

2009-01-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This starling has picked up a peanut to eat.

2009-01-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Today about 30 starlings flew in all together - they seemed to be everywhere. I wish I could have gotten better pictures, they were really awesome to see. These are some eating the seed off the ground.

2009-01-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This is another of the blue jays who flew in and is in the process of picking up a peanut before flying off again. That is a young starling in the foreground.

2009-01-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
The blue jay has picked up a peanut in its beak and will momentarily fly away with it.

2009-01-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This blue jay is looking at the peanuts for the best one to take. They are very selective and when time permits will drop one and pick up another that must appear better to them.

2009-01-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just grabbed a peanut [he has it in his mouth] and has run to the tree with it. When he gets high enough, he will sit on a branch to eat the peanut. [The round things on the tree are the stumps of lower limbs that the maintenance crew cut off last summer.]

2009-01-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is putting a peanut in his mouth. All morning the squirrels, blue jays and starlings have been grabbing the peanuts and running/flying away with them.

2009-01-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel was walking across my patio and stopped long enough for me to get his picture.

2009-01-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Squirrel at the bird feeder.

2009-01-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Two sparrows perched atop the patio fence.

2009-01-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Another picture of the female cardinal.

2009-01-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Today the female cardinal came around to eat and I got a few pictures, although they are not good ones. But you definitely can see she is much less colorful than the male cardinal.

2009-01-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
One of the three blue jays who come around - mostly for the peanuts but they also like the fruit and seed mix I put on the ground.

2009-01-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A starling perched atop the bush that grows behind my patio fence.

2009-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling perched atop my patio fence.

2009-01-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A starling eating the suet cake. I just today put in a new one - this is a raisin flavored one, which they will eat - but they much prefer the peanut flavored one.

2009-01-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling on fence top. The starlings usually get some greasy suet stuck on their beak [you can see it in the picture] and rub it against the fence top to remove it before they go back to eat more.

2009-01-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling perched on the suet cake cage.

2009-01-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
My flock of sparrows eating bird seed off the ground. The squirrels usually raid the feeder to eat the sunflower seeds and knock the rest of the seed on the ground where the birds are waiting to eat it.

2009-01-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Two sparrows at the bird feeder.

2009-01-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A sparrow perched on the patio fence.

2009-01-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A close-up picture of one of the sparrows sitting on my patio fence.

2009-01-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of the cardinal taken from a different angle.

2009-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Another picture of the cardinal.

2009-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of the male cardinal. Today the female cardinal was also around, but she rarely lighted and left almost immediately when she did. She did not stay long enough to eat and I could not get her photo.

2009-01-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just picked up a peanut in his front paws. Usually, he will position the peanut in his mouth and take off to either eat it or hide it somewhere else.

2009-01-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Another picture of the sparrows perched in the tree and on top of the bush behind my patio. You can get this type of picture in the winter as the tree is bare. In the summer, the tree would have so many leaves you would not be able to see the birds.

2009-01-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
The squirrel is hanging upside down holding onto the cages while nibbling corn kernels.

2009-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just climbed from the ground to the top of the fence and is looking around to see if all is safe before he goes for the food.

2009-01-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
Close-up of the squirrel eating while resting on the fence top.

2009-01-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is hanging upside down [as usual] to eat from the corn kernel block. This time he is hanging from the suet cage above by his hind paws and holding onto the corn kernel block cage with his front paws. Sometimes he eats while hanging upside down like this and other times he bites off a chunk and climbs to the fence top to eat it.

2009-01-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is resting on the fence top while looking around. It appears as if he is looking right at me while I take his picture.

2009-01-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 5 Jan 2009.
The squirrel is climbing to the fence top. This is a good shot of its fuzzy tail.

2009-01-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
One of the blue jays that come around for the bird seed and a mourning dove [in front, near the concrete]. There are three blue jays. They usually fly in, grab a peanut, and quickly fly away. Today, this one stayed for a while to peck at the fruit and seeds on the ground and I was able to get this picture.

2009-01-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
Another photo of the sparrows who flew to the safety of the tree when something startled them on the ground. This tree and the bush right under it are behind my patio where the birds eat.

2009-01-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
Something startled my flock of sparrows and they all flew to the safety of the tree behind my patio. [On the lower left, you can see one of the sparrows in flight - neat, huh?]

2009-01-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is eating bird seed off the ground. I usually put black oil sunflower seeds and a mixture of fruits and nuts on the ground and plain bird seed in the bird feeder.

2009-01-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
One of my squirrels eating bird seed from the ground along with a flock of sparrows and a couple of mourning doves.

2009-01-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
A picture of one of the two cardinals who come around to feed every day. Behind him is one of the flock of sparrows who also come to feed every day.

2009-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
A cardinal who stayed long enough for me to get a good photo of him [I think this is the male. He has a lot of red coloring. There are two cardinals who come almost every day and one of them is less colorful - I think that is the female.]

2009-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
On the left is a cardinal. Barely visible are some sparrows who are very well camouflaged. There are some peanuts on the ground as well as some bird seed. The cardinal is usually very flighty and rarely stays more than a moment in one spot, but today it stayed long enough for me to get this photo. It actually flew away and came back several times today before it finally left. There are two cardinals who come around - a male with bright coloring and a female with more brown on her body and a red beak.

2009-01-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is heading for the top of the fence to eat his chunk of corn kernel. Sometimes he will eat while hanging upside down and sometimes he prefers to rest on the fence while he eats and then goes back for more.

2009-01-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is eating from the bird feeder. They mostly go for the sunflower seeds and kick the rest on the ground. My flock of sparrows is usually on hand to eat the seed off the ground. They have to wait for the squirrel to finish and leave the feeder before they can eat from it. The birds are funny and very aggressive toward one another. They peck at each other to try and make the other bird fly away in order to have the feeder all to themselves.

2009-01-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has been gnawing at the corn kernel block. He sometimes bites off a chunk and climbs up to sit on the fence top to eat it before going back for more.

2009-01-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is preparing to eat the peanut flavored suet cake. He will hang upside down while he eats.

2009-01-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is actually bending over a suet cage. He uses his hind paws to hold onto the slats in the fence while using his front paws to hold onto the bars of the suet cage. Then he gnaws at the suet cake with his teeth. The squirrels are very fond of the peanut flavored suet cakes. The suet cake to the right of the squirrel is a cherry flavored one, which they will eat - but only after the peanut flavored one is all gone!

2009-01-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is raiding the bird feeder. The squirrels sit there and eat the sunflower seeds and kick most of the other seed on the ground, which is all right because the birds are usually on the ground waiting to eat it.

2009-01-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has grabbed a peanut and climbed up to sit on top of the fence post to eat it where he feels safe.

2009-01-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Photo taken 4 Jan 2009.

The squirrel is hanging upside down to reach the block of corn kernels. You can see how he holds onto the slats of the fence with his hind paws while he eats.