Ground Level Birdcamming

A fellow birder reminded me that some great photos could be taken when placing the Birdcam at ground level. I have gotten a few nice shots but mostly end up with "squirrel bottom" photos!

Still, because I've had both a white crowned and golden crowned sparrow coming in for visits, I thought I'd try again.

Well, the Birdcam captured 168 photos, 166 which were mostly of, yep, you guessed it, squirrel bottom!! Still, a cute squirrel face makes me smile and I always forgive them for hogging the camera.

The sparrows? Well, they showed up in the last two photos but it was approaching dark and they can't really be seen well enough to post their photo! LOL I will keep trying!

Chickadee Madness!

I have a small area off my living room sliding doors where I have put a couple of bird feeders (both seed and suet) and a little birdbath.

I've had a number of birds come in to sip and dine, including chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, house finches, and bushtits. There's also a little brown bird that I couldn't identify that came in for a few days.

What's amazing is that the number of chickadees has increased from from 2-3 to 6-7 AT ONE TIME!!! I have three chestnut backed chickadees and several black-capped chickadees visiting.

Yesterday and today I've had 3 chickadees at one time drinking at the birdbath!!

I've tried my birdcam on the feeders but even the chickadees seem too quick to be captured but tomorrow I'll focus it on the birdbath and see if I can get a group shot.

I've read that black-capped chickadees are diminishing in numbers so I'm very happy that they choose to visit me!

Happy Bird Day!

When I first started watching birds in Aug. of 2006, I had a goal of capturing a photo of every species that visited my little patio.

I've done pretty well for living in a condo complex to have had so many different kinds of birds visit me.

In the Fall of 2006 I had a Downy Woodpecker visit my suet feeder but never got that photo. I hadn't seen once since until....

MY BIRDCAM CAUGHT ONE A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO!!!!

I am so excited and happy to see one again as I think they are neat little birds!

Here's the video of the one that came to visit:

Of Pigeons and Starlings

Good grief, all I am getting in these days are pigeons and starlings. Oh, yeah, and squirrels. I have figured out how to best use my birdcam but where are all my "good" birds???
I guess the bright side is that I am ready to capture them in photos if they ever show up. I'm thinking of letting the suet run out so as to discourage the starlings and getting some "hot meats" (seeds with chili oil) to discourage the squirrels. It worked before. Maybe then my chickadees, bushtits, northern flickers, and grosbeaks will return.

STARling WARS

Another day with the BirdCam and another 95 photos of....yep, you guessed it, European Starlings! I did capture one that is pretty cute though; a couple of young birds demanding to be fed. I had a chickadee come in a few times but it was too fast for the BirdCam to catch it! Maybe next time...

BirdCam Blues

Well, my BirdCam arrived a little over a week ago and I have yet to capture a good photo. I know I am probably doing something wrong but it's such a simple device, how could I be doing so poorly?

And why isn't the cam triggering when a bird is right in front of it a mere 20 inches away???

While birds are not getting their close-ups, the squirrels are having much better luck getting in on the act.

I'm in contact with an extremely nice gal from the company and will call her again after the long weekend. I have not given up!

Excited

Stimulus check arrived.
BirdCam ordered.
Happily anticipating lots of fun.

Wishing for a BirdCam

I have been looking at the Wingscapes BirdCam website for several days now and have decided that I absolutely have to have one!

I love watching birds come to my feeders and I love taking photos. However, watching and getting photos don't always go hand in hand because BIRDS MOVE AROUND!! My camera is always set up in my window but by the time I turn it on and focus, the birds I want to capture are usually gone. And that's if I don't make any sudden moves to scare them away while getting to my camera.

Enter the Birdcam - it would already be set up and triggered by motion when the bird arrives! Who knows what birds come to visit when I'm not home???

And just yesterday I had a male and female Northern Flicker walking around my patio - why, they could have been stars of their own video had there been a BirdCam set up!

I could have endless hours of fun setting it up in various spots and boring my friends and family with even more bird and squirrel photos. They should be used to it by now though!

So the question remains: When my stimulus check arrives, should I be practical and save it, or go for the BirdCam?? Decisions, decisions, decisions...