Chinstrap Penguin – Animal On Planet

The Chinstrap penguins are perhaps one of the most abundant penguins in theAntarctica region, that inhabits various islands and beaches in the Southern Pacific and the Antarctic Oceans.

Every winter, it is one of my favorite pastimes to look and find some hummer feeders that are a bit out of the ordinary. I like vintage ones but they are often not practical. This time around, I came across this one, and I fell in love with the style. It’s made by Allura and has a clever system with easy to clean containers and an included ant moat that even comes with a little perch. Perfect for me because I never get a ton of hummingbirds. They were so kind to send me one to try. They are on FB but also have a website allurafeeders.com.

The beginning of May,

my favorite month of the year, is also the point in time when the serviceberry blooms. And everybody comes to pose in front of it. (male Rosebreasted Grosbeak, Blue Jay, Grackle (‘tis the Count himself!), MoDo, female Redwinged Blackbird, female Rosebreasted Grosbeak)

Vitamin O to start the week!

We had the the first real thunderstorm and rain pour of the season. The yard’s vegetation has pretty much exploded and the bird songs have calmed down because many are busy building nests. Last week, I saw the first female Oriole (see first photo), and there is a good group of them visiting. It is funny to me how much they can differ in color. On of these is of course the Orchard Oriole, so it is generally darker.

I had an exciting Friday and Saturday morning - the Bluebird babies fledged! I sat all Friday, thinking that would be the day, and when my DSLR battery died down and I decided to go in to make dinner at around 7, they decided to go for it lol The first two were smooth and fast, third and fourth had some issues, and number five spent the night in the box and fledged early today. They all looked nice and strong! I emptied the box, scrubbed it to get rid of the poo, dusted it with foodgrade Diatomaceous earth, added some more kerfs outside for easier grip and some more vent holes and rehung it. Here’s a clip, it’s longer but it shows them all. I hope to see them soon again - usually the parents start bringing them to the yard two weeks after fledging.

I expect the babies to fledge any day now, and I set up a cam by the box to hopefully document. It is live on http://birdsy.com. Look for the Ostdrossel II channel, should be here: https://birdsy.com/l/11640d35d499dfff While you’re there, check out all the other cool live cams & vids!

I may be biased but Bluebird babies have the best faces.

Usually when the Orioles arrive,

I also get lucky to see an Orchard Oriole too. This year does not disappoint in that respect. He has been here for a couple of days now, he likes to chatter, and I hope he sticks around a bit and maybe brings the wife. Apart from the difference in color, Orchard Orioles are also smaller than Baltimore Orioles. Immature males are yellow with a distinctive black bib. I had one one year and always hope to see it again.

Happy Mother’s Day!

It is a beautiful spring day here, and I hope you all get spoiled today. Thank you for all you do, you make this world a better place.

Sorry, another nestbox video. They are just so much fun right now. They are 12 days old, and this is currently happening every 3 minutes On an interesting sidenote - Mom waits for the one to be done stretching because that is how they usually go when they poo. They are so dramatic, and I love their grumpy little faces.

The Bluebird babies are 10 days old now. They have become vocal, their eyes are open, feathers are starting to emerge. We have gone from “shrimp” stage to “grumpy old gramps” stage. Gayle and Mr. Business continue to be very attentive. Gayle is still spending the night in the box but now that the babies are getting bigger, it is not as comfy for her anymore.

And at 7:30 PM, this little guy showed up - first of the year! I hope he comes back tomorrow for an actual sip.

While migration is going on,

we might often see birds that can be a bit confusing to identify. They are the youngsters from last year and are still molting into their adult plumage or females that are usually more shy. In the last two days, I saw some of this in Rosebreasted Grosbeaks and Redwinged Blackbirds (the third picture is a female).

Grackles and rain

are a fantastic combo that makes a murky day worth the while. The textures and colors that the water causes make them look even more elegant and impressive than usual. For some reason, I am also very fond of them looking down. So here is a selection of “Downward Gracks”.