Bird Watching: Time to start bluebirding thread number 4, 1 by 2dCousinDave

2dCousinDave wrote:
OPbirder:
Sorry, I have been up in Northern Virginia all day and just saw your posts.

Yes, our BB's stay with us all year round. I think it is mainly because I feed them and provide them water all year round. I leave the nestbox up all the time and every morning, all winter long, without fail, the two adults come and perch on the nestbox and stay there as long as there are other potiental tenants in the area. If any bird dares land on the nestbox, even in the winter, the blues are there immediately to chase it away.

The nestbox is located about 30 feet from the house and is turned away from the weather and in plain view from our breakfast nook. I shoot through the window in winter and often shoot through the open window when the weather is nice. I have three cameras loaded all the time. One has a 400mm lens, another a 300mm and on the third I use a 500mm or a 70-200 zoom, depending on the action. (The 500mm will not autofocus closer than about 15 feet, and sometimes the action is much closer than that). Usually one camera is mounted on a tripod inside the breakfast nook and another tripod is on the deck or out in the yard, both aimed at a perch or the birdhouse or at some point where the birds often land. I control the one outside with a wireless remote. The third camera I have positioned where I can grab it if a photo op presents itself and I usually shoot that one through the window. If I go out in the yard, to work in the flower beds, for example, I will take it with me.

The mealworms are presented in a wire cage type feeder that is velcro'd to the railing on the deck, about six to eight feet from the window. The wire cage is necessary to keep the starlings and mockingbirds from eating all of them. The birds are very used to coming that close to the window. They are waiting when I get up each morning and sometimes fly to within four or five feet while I am putting out the worms. I buy 10 thousand mealworms every 2 weeks. The blues don't eat that many but I also have titmice, downy woodpeckers,chickadees, carolina wrens, song sparrows, and of course, house sparrows that line up for a treat. The only ones I discourage are the house sparrows.

I am always looking for new props to use so I can catch the birds in a different setting. I bought this pink flower-looking bowl, attached to a small shepherd's hook-like base. I put it out in the yard and put a few mealworms in it. This shot was taken about 2 minutes later. So I guess in a way they do pose for me.

Dave