A few more shots of my bluebirds

Beautiful shots Dave!! Love the "bounce off perch" shot!

Always enjoy your BB pics, Dave. You should have been with me tonight. Went to a Master Naturalist meeting in OKC and the speaker was an OSU grad student who's research project is BB's. She has a trail of 144 boxes she has tracked the past 2 summers. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Hi Red.

I would have loved ot have been there.

Might the speaker have been Jennifer Burtka? I believe she goes by Jay Burtka. She is a grad student at Okla State and has used a lot of my pictures in her Power Point presentations. She most recently was interested in the aggresive attitudes different bluebirds present in defending their nest boxes against house sparrows and used several of my pictures of the bluebirds attacking the HOSP.

Yes, she was the speaker.

Iposted one of my pictures from this morning on the daily pics thread but I don't want to overload it with BB's so here are a few more with the red maple blurred in the background.

Another female, just as she is about to fly.

A third female, without the red background

Another female, on the same perch as earlier.

Here is one of the males

And another

Another male, talking about something.

Great shots Dave! I love it when their talking. :-)

Me too, Pelle. I also like to see them stretch their wings. These next few were taken yesterday afternoon and the bird, unfortunately, was in the shade, so some of the color is lacking. This is a female, stretching her left wing and tail feathers

It is interesting to note that when she stretches her wing, she also stretches her leg on that side, so she is balancing on one foot.

Here she really stretches it.

Next she pulls both wings up. Sorta like elbows back.

And finally, she stretches the right side.

And just before I stop for a while here is a goldfinch against the fall colors

And this one I really like. The goldfinch, just before he takes off.

Love the background colors Dave, especially that last photo. Those bluebirds are so colorful. That was interesting about the leg going out with the wing. I'll have to watch for that.

Dave....

More, more, more !

I just love these birds, such funny and beautiful characters!

taxicat

Thanks Taxicat. Happy to oblige. Here are a couple more from this morning before I go watch Monday Night Football.

One more

A different kind of blue bird

All are beautiful shots Dave and that last one of the female is a perfect Mad Bluebird shot!

Thanks Rose. Very rare to see a mad female. Here is one of my favorites.

That is so pretty Dave!

I love that one too! You are right...I rarely see a mad female Blue!

Question for y'all......why do birds 'fluff' their feathers?

taxicat

Oh Dave, that fav of yours and the other grumpy female are priceless. I was thinking that first one had heard you were leaving to watch an old football game when you could be taking more photos of her.

We want lots more!!

taxicat, I don't think there is one particular reason why the birds fluff the feathers. Often you see them do it when it is cold out. But I have also seen them do it to shuffle their feathers back into place, after they have been in the bird bath on a hot Summer day. I have seen red bellied woodpeckers, cowbirds and blue jays fluff up their feathers to make themselves look bigger when they are in a stand-off with another bird.

But clearly you see more birds do it more often in the winter time and I would have to say that in that case it is an effort to get warm.

Thanks Dave!

I suspected the winter thing and 'poofing' up.

I have to admit, some birds, look like 'skinny minnies' with their feathers down. LOL

taxicat

taxi, here is a picture taken in July. This red bellied wood pecker had a habit of fluffing up his feathers for no apparent reason each time he came to the meal worm feeder, which was several times a day while he and his mate had little ones still in the nest. Not sure why he did it but it made for a more interesting picture, IMHO.

Dave

Dave, I have had a horrible problem with a Mockingbird. My husband became ill during the summer, and my bird feeding became very erratic. After several months of erratic feeder filling, a mockingbird declared my backyard as personal territory and has chased all birds away. That included my backyard mealworm feeder as well as the bluebird house. It is awful. Many birds (Cardinals, finches, woodpeckers) are using my front yard feeder. But many birds are simply not around. Every once and a while, my BBs show up, but i really miss them. Any suggestions on how to restore my bird population?

You might try feeding the mocker off to the side. If it is food he's looking for, that might help. But they are very bossy by nature and if he considers your backyard his territory and is just wanting to throw his weight around, you have a different problem.

I have a similar problem, and have for the past several years Mine tries desperately to get into the meal worm feeder cage but can't, so he sits on it to keep the smaller birds away and is a continual pest. I watch and chase him away from time to time but he is determined. My bluebirds are used to my coming out on the deck to chase him, so when I do they rarely move more than a few few feet, and fly right back to the feeder. Sometimes, if I have time, I will stay out on the deck until the blues are finished eating.

Mockingbirds prefer insects but in this part of the country insects are very scarce this time of year, so in our yard they survive on things like the ornimental pears from our Bradford pear tree and holly berries or seeds from the crape myrtle bushes. They often have to cough up the larger seeds, so I can understand why they would prefer a delacacy like meal worms.

It is very frustrating and sometimes I'd like to use my bb gun, but, as you know, they are protected.

I will think about it some more. In the meantime if someone else has a suggestion, maybe they will post it.

Dave

Here is my mocker, taken yesterday.

While driving past our local river (a very sluggish one) I saw an owl in a tree. Much bigger than a screech owl & dark grey from the back.

Dave,

I will say it again, what a wonderful gift of photography you have! I have enjoyed every photo.

How many bluebirds do you figure come visit you?

I had not seen any since last summer at my house and all of a sudden about 6 showed up. I just love their expression when they look at you full face.....they look like real grouches!

taxicat

Taxi, I think I have nine. Seven are birds that I know fledged from the boxes in our yard and a couple more are apparent strangers because they seem unfamiliar with the technique for entering and leaving the feeder cage, and also because the local seven tend to chase them. As the weather gets colder and food and water become more scarce, I expect to see even more.

We had three significant snowfalls last winter and the bluebirds were out there each day at daylight, waiting for me. I had one female that would even fly around to the kitchen window where I was making coffee, and flutter there like a hummingbird until I came out with their breakfast. That's when they seem almost like pets, fluttering all around me. I am sure that they would eat from my hand if I held it still.

I am glad that you enjoy the pictures. I think that I enjoy sharing them as much as I enjoy taking them. For the past several weeks I have been going through the tens of thousands I have taken in the past several years, putting together a collection of my favorites. I am up to almost 300 already and hope to find 500, then put them on a DVD for the North American Bluebird Society and several of the State bluebird societies to use for promotional and educational purposes, such as brochures and Powerpoint slide shows. Here are a few examples:

Another.

And another.