Trying to Feed Jays

I've been trying to attract Scrub Jays to my feeders. They don't seem to like the Squirrel Buster Plus. There are probably two reasons for this: 1) This feeder is a little uncomfortable for such a large bird! The Squirrel Buster Plus can accomodate many birds, but I would think Jays would not enjoy feeding from them. I've noticed the Scrub Jays in my yard feeding once or twice from the Squirrel Buster Plus, but they usually avoid it. This is not to say that the Squirrel Buster Plus isn't a great feeder; the other birds in my yard love it and it really does keep squirrels away. However, it may not be the feeder for my Scrub Jays. 2) Finches. Lots of them! Aggressive finches. I wouldn't want to hang out with them if I were a Scrub Jay. :)

So, I began looking for an alternative to feed these beautiful birds. I figured a platform feeder would be a good choice because it would give Scrub Jays room to feed comfortably. I tried one out, and sure enough, a Scrub Jay showed up the next day!



My BirdCam caught some wonderful pictures! I've uploaded the originals, so they are very detailed. Click on them to enlarge the pictures in my blog post.

But, later in the day, I had a problem. The squirrels started to eye my feeder. I'd used a long branch hook, so I figured the squirrels would at least have a difficult time reaching the feeder. I'd assumed they'd get to it eventually, but I was surprised at how fast they got there! The tray tipped over under the weight of the squirrels, and a whole slew of them had a feast of sunflower seeds! Once it was all gone, this one actually climbed on the feeder hanging on its side to finish the remaining seeds!



The Jay returned. Not much to eat now. :(



So.... How did the squirrels get to my bird feeder? They climbed up the tripod I used for the BirdCam. Lesson learned. Next time I'll need to pole mount a feeder, use a squirrel baffle, and then use the BirdCam Mounting Arm above the squirrel baffle.

Squirrels are persistent!

Shop By Bird Section & Backyard Flowers and Citrus

Despite my blog absence, I've been very busy over the past couple of weeks! Our store just launched a new "Shop By Bird" section. This makes it easy to get all the information you need about the birds you love, and shop for these birds and for yourself. We have six sections, Bluebirds, Cardinals, Clinging Birds, Goldfinches, Hummingbirds, and Orioles. Each bird section has a ton of information available, an informative video, and products categorized by bird for easy shopping. This is a great new feature of our web site, and I'm sure that our customers, blog readers, and other bird lovers will enjoy it! Click here to check it out! If you're just interested in the information, not our products, click this link instead.

Over the past few weeks I've gotten some great shots of my yard. As spring began, my yard bloomed! It is so nice to have some flowers back.

And the citrus came back! Oranges, Lemons, and Limes!

Squirrels are Crafty Animals!

A friend of mine sent me a cute squirrel video! It really is amazing how crafty squirrels can be. When I came home today I enjoyed watching a couple of squirrels as they tried to get to my squirrel-proof feeders. Watching the squirrels in my yard is a hoot!

Click here to check out the video my friend sent me.

More Beach Pictures

Before I get back to my own backyard, I wanted to share a few more beach pictures. The first one is a shot of a Pelican flying right above the water. I love the reflection! CLick it to see a larger picture.



There are always tons of pigeons at the beach!



As I sat on the breakwall, this bird was right below me. He hung out with me for quite some time. I still can't figure out what this bird is.



We just sat and enjoyed the view. It is so nice to have the sun back!

Pelican Tries to Eat an Octopus

Spring just began last Thursday, but on Easter Sunday, it felt like Summer! It was over eighty degrees at the beach with almost no wind. Everyone was out and having a good time. So, this meant a parking headache. As much I hate the crowds, living by the beach can be a lot of fun. I saw a lot of great birds, but one incident with a pelican really stood out.


I stopped to admire a pelican that was standing on some rocks right below me. A few other families were also watching this bird. At first, I thought they were simply interested in the pelican. It was a beautiful bird. But, as I watched, I realized that the pelican had a large bulge in its neck.


Suddenly, the pelican rose up and regurgitated something! It almost escaped from its bill...


...but then the pelican snapped its bill shut, preventing the prey from escaping. I was finally able to get a good look at a tentacle. This looked like an octopus!


The pelican struggled to swallow the food, but each time it got stuck in its throat. It was simply too big to go down. As soon as the pelican lost its grip on the octopus, another pelican swooped in and scooped it up. I captured the action above just as the second pelican grabbed the octopus. The first pelican almost looks sad sitting on the rock above.


The second pelican flew to a nearby rock and tried to swallow the food it had stolen. Unfortunately, it had the same problem. I watched for another twenty minutes as the pelican tried to swallow the stolen goods unsuccessfully. It would force the octopus down its throat and then push its beak against its neck in an attempt to keep the food down. As time went on, other pelicans began to gather around, waiting until this bird gave up and they could have a chance at the octopus. If you look behind the bird flapping its wings in the picture above, you will see a daring seagull. It grew impatient and started to nip at the pelican. The pelican was not happy and gave it one bad look before the seagull went back to waiting patiently.

Videos, Jays, and Finches

I decided to try capturing some videos with my BirdCam for the first time. I was very surprised by the results! I expected to see a ton of House Finches, and I did.

But, I was surprised to find a new visitor on film! I see them all the time in my backyard, but I have only seen one land on my bird feeder once. He quickly left. It seems they have rediscovered my feeder and are becoming more interested in what's inside. Be patient -- The bird arrives at the end of the video.

Western Scrub-Jay! Here, the Jay takes a little tour of my feeder.

Very fun! I will have to do some more videos in the future.

Broken Camera Card

If you've ever wondered what a camera card looked like on the inside, take a look. Early this week, I was taking some shots of Finches in my yard. I went inside and excitedly pulled the card out to see what I had captured. But, as I slid my card out of my camera, it split in two. Sigh. :(

Now to see what I could recover! I smooshed the card back together and held it firmly as I stuck it into my computer. To my delight, it was reading the card! I was able to recover some of my pictures, but others would not copy.

The next task was to buy a new camera card. I procrastinated as I knew that camera cards were very expensive. But, when I found myself at an office supplies store on a completely unrelated errand, I knew I had to plunk down the change and buy a new card......I was shocked! The prices on camera cards have really come down since I last bought one. My new camera card has twice the capacity and cost 1/4 of what my last card did.

So, I haven't had much of a chance to photograph anything in my yard this week. But, I did have all the left over pictures on my camera card that I was able to salvage. Here is a collection of pictures that have never made it past my camera card.

My cat likes to watch the birds as much as I do! :)
Finch action shot!
The Finches in my yard are getting pretty used to me. I was only about 1 1/2 yards away from these birds when I shot this.
Extra credit for anyone who can identify this bird. I saw it at the aquarium near us, but I couldn't identify it. (Shouldn't they have a sign?)