05-20-2023, 01:44 PM
(05-19-2023, 10:06 AM)John Hardman Wrote: Hey Steve ~
Your 3 Jays look like a page out of my "BIRDS of North America" field guide! Great photos!
Here are a couple recent visitors to my backyard! Have not seen Grosbeaks in my yard
in a few years but I don't keep a feeder filled and out all day anymore either. A couple days ago
there were 2 Tanagers and 2 Grosbeaks on my neighbors feeder. What a splash of color that was!
~ SOB john
John, thank you for the kind comments. Actually, I think the photos of the Blue Jay and Scrub Jay are poor and marginal but they were taken that morning and fit the story. If only I could have caught both jays in the few seconds they were on the feeder tray together. I have many better photos of those species but that wouldn't honestly fit the story. Not every photo needs to be perfect to tell a story, although better photographers would disagree.
Most photos I post here are taken through double pane windows which harbor reflections, and the UV coating lends a cloudy character to the view. But shooting from inside gives me opportunities that couldn't otherwise be captured. Also, I greatly downsize the photo files which makes them less clear.
A few days later I got a better shot of the (Woodhouses's) Scrub Jay. Initially, two scrubbies arrived together which opened the possibility they might nest nearby. Now down to one, a probable female, and I expect her to leave before long.
On the hummingbird front, the number of Broad-tailed has increased dramatically in the past week. We have 13 feeders out now and the birds are consuming about 2 gallons of sugar water a day. Our neighbor has as many feeders and is probably feeding about as much juice. Figure about 1000 birds per gallon per day....
Prime time in the evening is when the birds furiously load up to survive the cold overnight hours. I use both 48 oz. and 30 oz. feeders. I've converted many of the 6 port 30 oz. feeders to 12 holes so that more birds can feed at one time. Sometimes, 16-20 birds will use a feeder, with some doubling up to feed from a single flower port.
5-16-23:
5-18-23 @ 7:21 p.m.:
