40k followers!

This past week, The Bird Perch on Facebook reached a pretty big milestone of 40,000 followers! I never imagined reaching so many people!!

Updating webpage

I am working on a few small updates to the webpage! I don’t use it nearly as often as I should, but I realized I should add the Live Stream of the Stream. I took down the critter garden cam from the site for now, but might add it back later. I am also a tab for media links that cover The Bird Perch. There’s only a couple for now, but there should be another one coming soon :) I was going to combine it with this page, but it might be better to have its own page!

Bluebird Baby!

It’s been a while since I blogged! I have been watching the Eastern Bluebirds finally settling into the nesting box a few weeks ago. I realized they had done this the day the eggs had hatched and we found 4 babies. That was on June 17, 2020. I took pictures of the babies in the box for a while until daddy bird became more and more aggressive. That was about day 10, so at that time, I didn’t go near the box. I did start putting out live mealworms and the parents would come by and grab as many as they could from the platform feeder. This gave me hope that maybe one day, they would bring the babies to the platform feeder where I have the Birdsy video camera setup. The babies all fledged on July 3 (about 9 days ago), though I didn’t see them leave. I could just tell because the parents stopped visiting the nesting box. The babies must have been staying in the trees near the corner of the yard where the nesting box sits. Yesterday, I thought I could see one in the trees so I was hoping they were getting ready to come out into the open soon! Well, today was the day! They brought at least one of the babies to the platform feeder so I was able to get a little video footage of the baby and both parents as well as mom feeding the baby. My heart is happy!! Here’s a link to the video: Eastern Bluebird Baby

Oops, it’s been a while!

Looks like it’s been quite some time since I last made an entry here! The past few weeks have been interesting but also quiet. Seems that most of the birds have been off nesting and raising their young. Some of the birds are starting to bring their young to the feeders! It’s lovely to see them all! I have also noticed the Eastern Bluebirds appear to be nesting in the nesting box. They have stayed around but have not been in the box recently, until a few days ago. It’s been interesting to observe their behavior as I have never had them in the yard before. I don’t think their behavior is typical but it may be because they lost their first set of eggs to a predator. It sure is a pleasure to see them around the yard every day!

Exciting Sightings!

May has been wonderful so far! The month has brought back some amazing birds and I couldn’t be happier! Some of the new faces are: Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, Eastern Blue Birds, Gray Catbird, and Scarlet Tanager! It has been so much fun seeing all of these beautiful birds returning for the spring and summer. The Gray Catbirds are here every year, but there has never been one that has visited one of the feeders. Yesterday, one first visited the platform feeder where there is an orange and grape jelly for the Baltimore Orioles. Later I found photos of the Catbird on the bowl at the other feeder. This is exciting to finally see them up close! They are so beautiful! Today was very exciting as well, when I looked out the window just in time to see a Scarlet Tanager landing on the top of the platform feeder, hoping he would go to the lower area to have some food. A few seconds later, he jumped down and started eating the mealworms. I was aware they were in the area but this was my first sighting of the year. Last year, we had at least 3 males and 1 female that came by for a few weeks. I hope to see more of all of these awesome birds!!

Bluebird Establishing Territory?

It is interesting to see all of the Eastern Bluebird behavior recently. This morning, the male was pecking on some of the windows of the house and singing outside the back window. I also noticed that he was flying from the tree to the side of the house and could hear some tapping. Then he would fly to another tree, then he would go to the bird house and look inside. When looked outside, I found him sitting on the flood light above the basement door, tapping on it, maybe seeing his reflection. This behavior continued for a few hours this morning. I am still not sure whether or not they are nesting in the box, but I think they might be.

May Bluebird Update

It has been an interesting few weeks watching the Bluebird nesting box. They had laid some eggs in the box, despite the back and forth activity with the Chickadees. However, something, possibly a raccoon, got to the eggs. The next day, we installed a raccoon baffle on the pole. Since that time, there was a House Wren who came in and completely dismantled the Bluebird nest but never really nested in there. Over the past few days, I have witnessed the male Bluebird spending a lot of time on the nesting box and going in and out of it, though I haven’t seen the female in it or on it. I see her around the yard and at the feeders. Yesterday, I saw her on the ground, with her wings spread out and I thought something terrible had happened to her. My heart skipped a beat and I headed out there to see if she was still alive. Turns out she was just fine! She flew up onto a branch, cleaned some feathers, then went back to the ground and did more of the wing spreading. I went to my computer and googled this behavior and learned she could have been doing something called “anting” where they are on the ground (probably over an ant hill) and they spread their wings out to collect ants on them. The ants then eat the parasites from the bird’s feathers! There really is a lot I don’t know about Bluebirds but I love learning about them! I still get so excited when I see them on the feeders!

April is ending with a burst of color!

Over the past couple of days, there have been many colorful birds around, some that are returning for the summer! On Tuesday (4/28) it was the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. I have seen at least 2 or 3 males but no females yet. Today the Baltimore Orioles have returned! The Eastern Bluebird pair and the Pine Warblers also spent some time at the platform feeder today! I hadn’t seen any of them at the feeder for several days. I assumed the Pine Warblers moved on, but maybe they do stick around longer? I am really enjoying my Birdsy video camera! It not only lets me view what’s going on in real time, but I also end up with many videos of these beautiful birds! Here is a sampling of some of these birds from today!

New Sightings

This was a fun week! A pair of Pine Warblers (Male and Female videos) have been visiting the platform feeder for the past few days, though I haven’t seen them today. A female Red-Winged Blackbird visited the other camera as well. Some of these birds are just passing through while migrating for the summer. Yesterday, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds showed up! This is what I have been waiting for! It was so wonderful to capture them on video… such a beautiful couple!! It doesn’t look like they will be nesting in the bluebird house in the yard at this time. After much back and forth with the Chickadees, it looks like neither are taking up residence in the house. I do believe the Bluebirds are nesting nearby, so that is good news! I can only hope they will remember where there is plenty of food!

April Snow!

While snow makes pretty pictures, especially when you add pretty birds, it’s not all that welcome this time of the year! Looking out the window today, it was difficult to imagine it was the middle of April and deep into Spring. I would imagine the birds were quite surprised as well. Spring is an interesting time of transition in Michigan. By tomorrow, it might appear as though it never snowed today, even though at least 4 inches of the white stuff covered the ground and trees earlier in the day. By this time next week, it could be 60+ degrees! Many migrating birds are on their way back to the area and probably hoping for more spring-like weather by the time they arrive. I wish for the same!

A small bluebird update: Yesterday, I saw the male bluebird sitting on the bird house in the evening, but only for a moment, then he flew away. Today, while it was snowing most of the day, I did hear him singing nearby, possibly in the yard. I did not see him, but it was nice to hear his sweet bluebird song! Seems like there is still a small chance they will nest in the bird house this year!

Another Bluebird Update

Over the past couple of days, it appeared the bluebirds were adding nesting materials to the nesting box in the yard. There still seemed to be a lot of competition for space between the bluebirds and the chickadees. It looked like the bluebirds would be the new residence. In the past day a half, there hasn’t been any real sign of the bluebirds nor the chickadees! The weather changed abruptly about that same time, going from warm and spring-like to cold, windy, and wintery feeling! I won’t give up just yet! Maybe they will come back when it warms up again?

Bluebird update

The bluebirds are still around! It looks like they are staking their claim on the nesting box. The chickadees are still interested and will go inside when the bluebirds aren’t around. It looked like the bluebirds were working on adding nesting materials on and off today. I am unfamiliar with their behaviors so I am not sure if they have settled on this location yet, just because they disappear for long periods during the day, then come back and look like they are working hard on making a nest. I would be ecstatic if they decided to stay as I would love to see them raise their young in the yard. I don’t think there are many things cuter than baby bluebirds!!! I would like to add that if you click on the title of this blog entry, you should see a space to leave a comment! I don’t think it shows up on the first two entries.

Bluebirds!

Spring is here and the birds are coming back! I have this fascination with Eastern Bluebirds! They are one of my favorite birds but I rarely get to see them. Every spring, I have noticed at least one pair coming around, looking for a place to start a family. It always surprises me because the location is more wooded and less open. I always understood that Bluebirds live in my open field areas. Last year, I had a bird house set up and ready for them in the spring. Much to my surprise, a pair started to nest in it. Unfortunately, I had not planned the location very well as the bird house was attached to a tree. Eventually, the Bluebirds moved out and a pair of House Wrens moved in and started nesting. One morning, I looked out the window and saw two cats stalking the bird house; one up in a tree and one on the ground. Later, we moved the bird house to a freestanding pole in the yard several yards from any trees. It looked like some House Wrens had moved in and nested, but the Bluebirds didn’t return.

Today I thought I heard a Bluebird near the house since I had the windows open. I only see them once or twice a year, so I wasn’t 100% sure that’s what I was hearing. A little while later, I heard it again out the back window. I looked toward the bird house in the back corner and sure enough, there he stood, proud as could be on top of the bird house! I then saw his mate going in and out of the bird house. I imagine they are sizing it up and shopping around for a place to build a nest. This is so exciting! I sure hope they pick our bird house this year!

New to blogging!

Please bear with me! I am going to attempt to start blogging for the birds! I suppose you could say I already do this on The Bird Perch on Facebook every day, but I try to keep the updates short so viewers can get to the photos, which is ultimately what they came for, I’m sure!

I might find ways to expand on my bird experiences and put them in writing here! Bird watching is part of my day, every day, so there must be plenty for me to write about. I am not sure if I can add photos here at this point, but that would certainly make things more interesting! Will need to investigate!