Thank you, Jane.

The titmouse kids are learning by example - even if it's from the wrong parent.

Cropped to show soft tissue beak.

And STAY out!

I have de Quervain's tenosynovitis in my left wrist which has not allowed me to hold my camera (it weighs 4 lbs.) for weeks. But, I still have the same diner customers and they are doing all the same tricks. Violet-The-Bunny's child showed up (white blaze on head like Violet) but without disturbing her, I had to shoot through a screen. The animal, not the picture, always comes first and she really likes brown-eyed susans. She? is about 1/3 the size of her mother right now. Violet still comes evening time.

Jane

Cute pics, Jane. I've never seen a titmouse on a hummer feeder, but often the chickadees visit. I get the impression that the chickadees enjoy harassing the hummers - there aren't that many birds smaller than a chickadee. Maybe it's the same with the titmice.

That's an adorable little bunny. I wonder if it still hangs around with Violet or if they're completely independent at that age.

Claire

VIOLET AND HER JUNIOR HAVE BEEN SEEN TOGETHER in the back yard. Caps on, sorry, not going back to fix it. (can you hear me now?) hehehee

Mrs. RB Grosbeak and her children in a kousa dogwood. Not the easiest place to photograph them behind a bunch of leaves, but here they are:

She's feeding them safflower seed.

Jane

Great pics of the grosbeak family, Jane! I've never seen more than one rose-breasted grosbeak here, and I think they just pass through.

Your kousas are further along than mine. All of the petals are still attached here and the seedpods are no way near maturing.

Claire

Jane, do you think Mrs. Grosbeak would use the perches on your safflower feeder if it did not have a tray attached?

Pat

Pat - the RBGs use both feeders. They are in the cardinal family so they want/need something to perch on. "Backyard Tips - Rose-breasted Grosbeaks often visit bird feeders, where they eat sunflower seeds as well as safflower seeds and raw peanuts. Even if you live outside their summer range you may still catch one visiting during spring or fall migration if you keep your feeders stocked. " - ref: Cornell Allaboutbirds LINK: RBG

I don't have a thing about the lawn under feeders as previously stated, but this I know: People either feed birds or they don't. Nature isn't neat, but it is quite orderly. Whatever may fall on the ground (with or without a tray in place) is foodstuff for others. Buy shelled seed. It costs more but there will be no mess on the ground. I am unaware of ANY bird feeding setup that will give all that you ask. Mourning doves and RBGs BOTH like safflower and BOSS. It's kinda like love and marriage: Ya can't have one without the other. Unless you teach the doves to read and make signs telling them where to eat, the mourning doves don't know you don't like them and that they shouldn't eat where the RBGs eat. They coexist quite well here.

Life was messy before I got here, it will be messy after I leave. But, I have a huge collection of bird photos, I have spread info about birds, got other people interested in feeding birds, and I have learned a lot about life because I fed all birds and observed their nature while they were just outside my window. It seems that you have tried a few different feeder setups, locations, and multiple seed variations over the past few years. I hope you find a workable solution that is peaceful to all so you can enjoy the birds.

Jane

Pat, this picture may better answer your space ratio tray/post question. Clearly, they could've chosen either position, but, on a tube feeder WITHOUT the tray, the short posts are directly under the opening and they would have to be perched somewhat precariously sideways. Can they do it? Yes. Will they happily do it? You'd have to ask them. They're not chickadee size or show the quickness of a chickadee who is content with the short tube posts. I leave the tray on because they appear to eat more comfortably using it, and it keeps the seed off the ground. Okay, I think I've exhausted this subject.

There are also the Cardinal Perch Rings which slide onto the feeder posts and make it easier for birds to eat out of a tube feeder

Cardinal Perch Rings

This might work for grosbeaks.

Claire

I just found this picture of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak on a feeder on May 6, 2014. He does seem to be using a post (no perch ring). I don't think I was using trays back then.

Claire

Jane’s photo of the RBG family reminded me that I spent an enjoyable few minutes the other morning watching one of the song sparrow fledglings hopping and flapping around in the dogwood outside the kitchen window, getting comfortable with how his wings work.

Violet-The-Bunny's daughter - same white blaze as mom. Taken as the clover went down to the tummy.

And, whatshername...Digger # 401 still spitting out green berries.

Jane

Maybe we should listen to the bunnies:

Using White Clover for Food and Medicine

Claire

I had clover in a salad in some fancy restaurant years ago. Funny how people pull out clover and dandelions, but haute cuisine restaurants charge a bunch for the stuff in salads. Violet and her family love it, so I spread a pound of Dutch white clover seed every Spring for her and because I'd rather have a clover lawn. When the clover is in bloom, I mow around large areas of it to let it go to seed. On the same path --- I saw this cake yesterday; if only we could get the good chocolate as we did decades ago. Chocolate basil cake

Baby catbird came to the railing last evening for mug shots. That soft beak tissue really stands out. The low light was tough to shoot in, but...

versus an adult with fully formed hardened be

Jane

I assume Jane, that you are not trying to grow vegetables? [g]

I just saw the link to the chocolate cake. I've been adding chocolate and basil to my morning smoothies this week. Yum. I needed a break from Kale.

I've enjoyed the photos and the posts. I never got my scarlet runner beans planted which usually attract hummingbirds. We did see a hummingbird earlier but not recently. A family of sparrows is using one of the bluebird boxes. The bluebirds are around but I think tree swallows took over the boxes. We have three. The bluebirds were here before the grandkids made the bluebird boxes with bumpah's help so they're probably nesting where they always did before. Today a lovely marked new bird turned out to be another variety of sparrow. No rose breasted grosbeaks at all and no further sight of cardinals except in the backyard of an air b&b we stayed in last week in Topsham ME. BTW we saw a lot of beautiful dogwood trees and quite a bit of climbing hydrangeas in the Rockland/Bath/Brunswick area. Lupines were still nice in a lot of places and the lobster was great.

The Goldfinches are remodeling their nest (under her direction). He was looking for her on top of the basket of lobelia, but she was well into the proper selection of dried strands below.

I have no idea where he went, but she carried the lot home. So many similar traits among all of Nature's species.

Jane

Excellent pics of the female goldfinch gathering nest materials! According to Cornell's

All About Birds site:

NEST PLACEMENT

Male and female move around together to choose a suitable nest site. The female builds the nest, usually in a shrub or sapling in a fairly open setting rather than in forest interior. The nest is often built high in a shrub, where two or three vertical branches join; usually shaded by clusters of leaves or needles from above, but often open and visible from below.

NEST DESCRIPTION

The nest is an open cup of rootlets and plant fibers lined with plant down, often woven so tightly that it can hold water. The female lashes the foundation to supporting branches using spider silk, and makes a downy lining often using the fluffy “pappus” material taken from the same types of seedheads that goldfinches so commonly feed on. It takes the female about 6 days to build the nest. The finished nest is about 3 inches across on the outside and 2-4.5 inches high.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No obvious nest-building here, but the bees have taken over one jelly feeder.

I have two jelly feeders out but the bees seem to mostly stay on this one, leaving the other one for the orioles and catbirds. The photo is a little out of focus but I didn't really want to get too close and upset the bees. Usually it's the yellow jackets that claim the jelly, but maybe it's too early for them.

Claire

So many beautiful pictures! Thank you, Jane.

This is the turkey-in-flight picture you noted.

Claire

The small border under our kitchen windows is neglected this year so the annual poppies took over. I do have a new hollyhock at the end next to a medium size barrel that contains a plastic planter of dark red petunias. The hollyhock is pink with a yellowish center. Something in the allium family also grew, possibly a leek which I let flower last year in the veggie garden. It has several flower balls which the hummingbird loves. A second tries to join her but she chases it off. She also got tired and perched for a while. Sorry, I didn't even want to try to get up to get my phone camera but posting so people are aware that hummingbirds like alliums, too. I usually have a trellis of scarlet runner beans next to the windows but not this year.

Yesterday afternoon a hummer was making the broad arching swoops that indicate a male trying to attract a female. When I looked on the Cornell website, it said 1-2 broods per season, so it seems like this guy is hoping for a second mating.

Cape Cod weather was in the national news again tonight. Claire, are you okay?

I'm fine, Pat. The tornadoes touched down on the Outer Cape in Yarmouth and Harwich and nothing came near us here in Plymouth on the mainland.

Lots of thunder and lightning and rain but nothing dangerous. First the great white sharks and then tornadoes - I wonder if this will affect the tourist traffic.

Claire

A while back I mentioned that I put food containing jelly, etc. out for the raccoon to keep it from raiding the oriole jelly feeder. I think I also mentioned that a fox sometimes steals the food (I'm too lazy to go back and find the post).

Two days ago I saw two gray foxes eating the food in the early evening:

The next evening a raccoon appeared, maybe making sure it got the food I put out.

The location is the same - the only difference is I deadheaded the soapwort on the right side of the picture. This is just outside my porch, as seen from my computer window.

Claire

edit note: I just saw a fox there this evening.

This year I've been seeing gray foxes only, not red foxes, but a few days ago I think I saw a red fox kit in the yard - at least it looked very young. It's not a very clear pic but the best I could do at short notice. I just got three pics and then it was gone.

I haven't seen it again.

Claire

The monarchs finally came back this week. We even saw some flying over the outer harbor today during a regatta. Hoping my swamp milkweed plays nursery maid again to many caterpillars!

It must be special to see monarchs flying over the harbor, Deanna!

I don't often see monarchs, just moths, and the moths sometimes try to roost for the day time in my closed patio umbrella (I'm not sure that roost is the right word). Anyway, if I'm going to eat breakfast on the deck I always try to open the umbrella before I put my breakfast tray out on the table so that no startled moth drops into my coffee mug or cereal bowl.

So this morning I opened the umbrella and a tree frog dropped out and landed on the deck!

I carefully picked it up and deposited it in a pot with big ferns. The frog promptly disappeared. I hope that's a good hiding place for it.

I'm eating breakfast now, glad that there's no frog in my coffee or the cereal bowl.

Claire

Well, I guess the fern pot wasn't a good choice for the tree frog. I opened the umbrella again this morning and the frog was back. I'm assuming it's the same frog.

Since I don't seem to be good at making decisions for frogs, I decided to just leave it and see what happens (the frog wasn't directly over my breakfast table).

The frog stayed there on the umbrella for a while and then dropped off onto the deck. It stayed in one spot, maybe pondering the next move, when an ant approached it. The frog leaped about 3 feet and eventually headed off behind some pots on the edge of the deck. No sign of it now - I hope it's learned that deck umbrellas aren't a good place to hide and it will move on to a better place.

Claire

It's been an ovenbird and bobcat kind of day. Along with an optimistic squirrel that still thinks there is light at the end of the tunnel - everyday. My neighbor had a bobcat 12' from her back door at 1PM today and he was there at 6PM last night and both times she got so rattled she forgot the iPad has a camera - no pictures - but I notified CT DEEP of the sighting.

Outside my window this morning, this little guy is so quick. I think it's an ovenbird vs. hermit thrush. Looking for bugs in the cherry tree and he scours the birch for sawfly worms. Atta boy.

The optimistic squirrel for whom Violet, Jr. does not move.

Violet-the-Bunny's 2 babies

Goldfinches in August

Young doves do learn that they can't drink from the hummer feeder...but they tried. The titmouse kids do it...

Jane

NIce pics as always, Jane! I think I see a smirk on Violet, Jr's face - no self-respecting bunny would ever be seen crawling into a baffle, at least not one attached high up on a pole.

Going down the rabbit hole is quite different, as Alice discovered following one into Wonderland...

Claire

Claire - the bobcat came back and sat in my neighbor's garden tonight around 6:30PM. She called me and I shot him for 16 minutes. I have forwarded the highlights to CT DEEP. Beautiful kitty.

Then stopped to go pee before going back into the woods.

Jane

Great pictures! What is CT DEEP.

We've had a little bit of deer damage in the vegetable garden. I caught one nibbling on my forsythia bush so I had to go out on the porch and do my best angry bellowing. There is plenty of other food for them! The speckled bird I saw flying around is a juvenile bluebird. Fortunately, I can recognize the shape and distinctive eye pattern. I'm happy to know the bluebirds nested someplace since others took over the three bluebird boxes. There are two wild turkey hens wandering around with about 8 chicks. I was worried because they are very small but they seem to be growing quickly.

PAT - CT DEEP is the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

What a great photo op, Jane! The bobcat really looks like a wild cat, akin to tigers and leopards. It also looks like it's making a statement about what it thinks about paparazzi in that last shot.

Great that you have the turkey chicks, defrost. I love hearing the hens clucking to the chicks to keep them in order.

Claire

Family of five - all look well fed and groomed.

Jane

Those raccoons certainly do look as if they've been living the good life, Jane! Your seed mix must agree with them. Good that they don't have to shimmy up a pole to get dinner.

Claire

Have I been not paying attention or do we suddenly have a large number of dragonflies flitting about? A local farmer also mentioned watching a swarm.

Defrost, there are large numbers of them, and this happens most years at my house in late summer. I actually went outside late yesterday afternoon to sit and watch them. Way back in the early days of digital cameras my DH filmed a swarm of them, but it wasn’t super successful because they move so fast. We theorized that at particularly intense times that there was a hatch of small insects of some kind that drew them more densely to one area.

Watched a few dozen dragonflies late yesterday afternoon, and the sun angle was low enough that the slow moving prey insect caught the light. I could actually see the dragonflies change course to snatch the bugs out of the air. And there was a pair of hen turkeys with a string of half grown poults, though the grass in the field was long enough that I couldn’t count them.

This morning there was an eagle out of sight down by the river, but s/he was squawking about something.

edited to add that as I was hanging out laundry at lunchtime, an eagle flew overhead.

Two tornado warnings, 5 1/2" of rain in 5 hours and I believe the grackles knew ahead of time of the impending storms. Wiped clean.

Wow, Jane! We didn't get any rain at all even though I put away the deck stuff just in case.

So that's where my grackles went. They've mostly left here now that the fledglings are flying and feeding themselves. There may be a late brood still hanging around. The feeders stay full longer and the birdbaths are a whole lot cleaner without grackles.

I have no idea where they go in the summer but they usually stop by on their way back as they migrate south in the fall.

Claire

A friend showed us an anti-fly hat she wears outdoors. It's a plastic cup attached to a ball cap. The cup is coated with tanglefoot. Hers had quite a few flies on it. She said flies go for the highest point. There are similar ideas on the internet. Hers looked like this one. https://www.flickr.com/photos/writegraham/4797987678/

Yesterday we also visited a local lily farm. The owner said she has day lilies that bloom in September!

A tour of my garden shows no Colorado potato beetles on very late planted potatoes ... but deer have recently nibbled the row that was blossoming.

Oh, god, defrost, there is no way I would wear or look at that hat. Yuck! It's gross, plus, a horrible way to die. Maybe you could get her some mosquito netting for next year, lol. Anyway... coyote outside my window...

He's a big fella and I'm glad I just saw Violet, Jr. moments ago because the fox was stalking Violet or one her tribe.

And a minute (or less) later, just the tip of the fox tail.

Jane

How would I know, but Olivia O'Possum looks like she may be pregnant.

Opossum breeding season - good grief!

Jane

defrost: I agree with Jane - that hat would not be my first choice in the Easter Parade (unless the flies and mosquitoes were parading too).

That is a very menacing looking coyote, Jane! I hope the Violet clan stays watchful.

Does Olivia still have access to your garage? Maybe you could set up a nursery there for her....

Claire

Nice thought about the nursery, but the garage pet door has been closed since losing Ivy in May, 2017. Years ago there was an opossum nursery in a corner of the garage in back of a stack of old storm windows. Several times the mom fell into our recycle bin in the garage which is how we saw 'playing possum' in action, or, the lack thereof. After Ivy, the cat hole remained open until the smell of rotting squirrels in back of the lawn tractor was noticed. I assumed it was a fox that was coming in the generously-sized pet panel door and using the garage as a pantry. Disposal of the squirrel carcasses (3 - all pointing the same way one on top of the other stacked by a methodical being), and having to clean everything, made closing the cat hole an easy choice. Now, when opening the door to the garage, I no longer face shining eyes or hear anything larger than a mouse. It's a fairly busy wildlife backyard, a 1/2 acre of native plants and trees for them to use, so I've chosen to make life a bit easier for me by not meeting strangers in the garage.

Raccoon was startled by something that did not enter the camera's range. I'll never know what made him/her stand at attention.

But 44 minutes later, she, or a family member, returned. I'd like a 360° camera. Need an overhead cam or aerial surveillance, lol. Now there's an idea...

Jane

This thread is getting long and slow to load for some so I'll set up a new thread in a few minutes. As always, feel free to continue the discussion here, but please post any new items on the new thread, Birds and other mobile features in the garden 2019 #4

Claire