David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Birds at the bird feeder. Blue Jay, Brown Cowbird, House Finch, and Northern Cardinal. The blue jay has to take the sunflower seeds away to pound them against something hard. In addition to the adult cowbird, it appears that there are several juveniles. The cowbirds are brood parasites, laying their eggs in other birds species nests. I wonder if it was with the house finches? Another bird spending a lot of time here is the bright red cardinal.
Fledgling Day. This morning the House Wren parents would fly up to the nest, but not feed the chick. Initially one chick would stick its head out and beg for food, then another one would try to stick its head out above, and another one below the first chick. Eventually, the first chick went outside the entrance and the other two chicks blocked it from reentering the nest. It finally dropped down to the ground and started hopping around and begging to its parents “what do I do now???” Then it was just two birds looking out of the nest. Soon thereafter, the second one jumped out. I didn’t see it but presume the third one followed. Then it was a matter of learning to fly before becoming cat food.
Earlier this spring I noticed a tiny bird, smaller than a sparrow entering a small hole near my front door. The hole had been the access point for an intercom system that was removed when I installed a new Ring video door bell. I covered the hole with gaffer tape, and was going to fill it with wood putty, but the bird took the tape off and built a nest. When the bird flew into the nest it would often set off the Ring motion detector. The bird would also fly out of the hole when a delivery person rang the door bell. I finally got some images of the birds feeding the new hatchling(s). I also think that I have identified the bird as a house wren. The head of the young bird is almost as big as the parents, and this evening I noticed both of the parents dancing around, fluttering their wings, and chirping loudly on my door step. I think they are trying to convince junior that it is time to leave the nest…
Harvey Jr. trying to hide in the tall grass. This is the first rabbit I have seen this year. Normally, I will have photographed many by now. This one is pretty young, and doesn’t appear to have ticks in its ear. Also, the ears have not been chewed on, so no fighting between rabbits yet.
Some birds at the bird feeder at dusk. Trying the new Nikon D850 camera out with a 600 mm f/4 VR lens and pushing the ISO as it was starting to get darker out. Some post processing noise reduction using Topaz Define. Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinals, and Blue Jays. The Blue Jay is a bit big for this bird feeder. Also, unlike the finches and cardinals it needs to take the sunflower seeds away from the feeder and find somewhere to break the seed open.