Random Update

A few days ago, I went to a specialty bird store. Never been to one before. They had birds all over the place outside, the same kind of birds I see, but A LOT more, and all kinds of things for birds for sale, so that was fun. My binoculars with a built-in camera should be arriving today, hopefully, so I'm kind of excited and curious about that. :D) I've been using a small Canon SD1100 IS for my bird videos and pictures and am looking for better and more versatile cameras to do my bird recordings. Also am looking into a wireless camera I can control remotely, and later on maybe another binoculars w/ camera.

Cats, Squirrels and Birds

Some cute pics of my cat Willow (my Indoor Squirrel :P) looking at the squirrels on my bird feeders. Grrrr. Squirrels are lucky that they are pretty cute, but still don't like them around too much, scaring the birds away and not able to get food. I can't forget to get a bird picture up, with, of course a squirrel in one of the bird feeders, along with a black bird, either a Red-winged Blackbird (with red & white wings) or a Raven. I'm not good yet at identifying various black birds at my feeder. With time... My other cat, a sweet, mostly outside cat nicknamed Little Mister Kitty likes the birds and squirrels, too, but only in an evil "I wanna eat you" kind of way. :D)

My Bird Videos

Mates are a beautiful thing ♥

I love seeing a pair of mated birds, flying together, eating together, it's so cute. But I can usually only tell a mated male and female Cardinal because of the obvious color differences between the sexes. I just saw a mated pair about five minutes ago. And earlier in the morning I saw two female Cardinals with a male Cardinal. Not sure what that's all about, if he has two mates or just another female part of the family, but cute nonetheless. It's just too bad most or all of the other bird species around my bird feeders have no obvious differences between the male and female, so it's hard to tell if a pair are siblings, friends or an actual mated pair. But I did see something so cute one time that was the most precious thing. It was apparently a mated pair of Blue Jays on the ground, looking for food. One had a berry hanging in his bill and trying to offer it to the female, presumably. The male would try to offer the berry to her and she would hop away about a foot or two, then he would hop back to her and offer it again and she kept refusing and hopping away, and it went on a few more times. It is one of the most memorable and cutest things I've seen since I started birdwatching. ♥

The Cat and the Titmouse

Yesterday, while my outdoor cat was outside, he noticed the Titmouse at a nearby low-hanging feeder on the porch. He looked like he was about to jump and get it, but I tapped on the window and they both got scared and the Titmouse flew off, thankfully. I don't think I could bare to see one of the cutest birds ever killed by my cat. You might could say I saved a Titmouse that day... :sigh: ♥

Squirrels: Can't live with 'em, Can't live without 'em

I am having a horrible time keeping the squirrels out of my bird feeders. It's expensive enough to feed birds, but feeding squirrels, too, is not one of my top priorities, or a priority at all, really. Oh, but they're just so cute! It's hard not to want to feed them because of how cute they look, especially while eating. I felt bad (only briefly) after repeatedly shooing a squirrel away so my Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, Chickadees, etc. could eat without being scared off by the squirrel. The squirrel scavenged on the ground for a bit instead of the bird feeder and it looked so pitiful and cute, but that didn't last long, because it was back on the feeder eventually. I am really going to have to modify and make some bird feeders that I can use where squirrels can't get to or won't use them.

I feel they are kind of ruining my birdfeeding and birdwatching hobby, because I have to keep shooing them away and it's becoming a real annoyance and nuisance, not to mention that the birds can't get any food, especially if there's a large group of squirrels in the yard and at every bird feeder I have. And let's not forget the money issue. The more they eat, the more it costs me, and that makes for one unhappy birder. Heh.

So, let's just say I'm not a huge squirrel fan at the moment, but damn it, they are kinda cute... ' ' )

Hello there!

Hello there. This is my new blog I have started about my journey and adventure of my new, recent hobby of birdfeeding and birdwatching.

I currently maintain several bird feeders, one of which is custom and my ongoing project. It consists of using a platform-style bird feeder, which is really a painting from my artist brother's art collection (AudRoc's Web site). It's about 2' x 1'. I use it so multiple birds can fit on it at one time and for my video recording of birds, which I plan to get into more later on in this blog, like types of camera setups that are best, etc. I used to have it hanging with 4 metal pieces in the middle of each side attached to yarn/string. I didn't like how it swung all over the place, so I am now moving to a more stable stand for my main bird feeder. I like the stand a lot more, and I'm sure the birds do, too. I'll have a picture of here soon. Until then, take a look at my bird videos and my YouTube Channel!