The backyard was strangely quiet. Normally it’s a busy beehive of birds. Especially after I fill the Bird Buddy feeder. But no. Not a bird in sight. Then I spotted this young Cooper’s Hawk on the fence. No wonder the smaller birds were staying away. He’s smaller than my Harris’s hawks. He was far enough away that I wasn’t sure what it was. It looked to me like an overlarge Mourning Dove who looked whitish in the morning sun.
Then I got the telephoto out and had some nice surprises.
Speaking of Bird Buddy AI bird feeders, I splurged and ordered a second one. I ordered my first one when my son had their account and was working on raising money to make the bird feeder a reality. I was an early contributor to the Bird Buddy campaign and I got my feeder at a huge discount. I did have to wait more than a year and a half for it, though.
Once the big birds like Quail and Mourning Doves attacked the bird feeder. The cord that connects the solar panel to the camera was destroyed. It ended up in the wash behind our house. The Bird Buddy people were nice enough to replace it and the bird feeder is still functional — with tape holding it together. It doesn’t like Arizona’s summers that well.
The new one arrived yesterday. It was so much easier than the original one to pair with my phone and set up. It was a breeze. I can also tell it’s a more solid unit. I remember having to work with tiny screws that kept falling into the feeder on the first go around. I almost gave up on putting it together. The new one had no screws to deal with. The camera fit snugly into the bird feeder with a magnet holding it in place.
I don’t have it in the yard yet. I’m waiting for Amazon to deliver a “Shepherd’s Hook” to hang it on. If that doesn’t work, I may try twine to hang it from the fence. I think the birds will be thrilled to have a new feeder and maybe they will fight less over birdseed.
Speaking of fighting over birdseed, watch this video of Mourning Doves in the Bird Buddy Feeder.
Any bets if the new camera with be sharper and better than the old one? At least it will start of cleaner and look more in focus!
What are the most exotic birds you have at your home?
Is bird watching something you like to do?
Do you know who is an avid bird watcher? Sam Darnold QB1 for the Seahawks on his way to the Super Bowl.
Daughter has a camera type feeder (not Bird Buddy brand) in the back yard. The raccoons have knocked it down, broken it a few times last fall while devouring all the feed. They disappeared when it got cold so we wonder if they’ll come back or perhaps they found another food source… Magpies were the most interesting birds to me when I moved here. Their black and white markings are amazing and they are huge. They are Corvids- like crows but so interesting to look at with their very long tails.
Wow. We’re lucky we don’t have raccoons. I’m sure our little squirrels would love to get in their, but they aren’t able to shimmy up the fence. I remember seeing magpies on a vacation and I was so fascinated with them. They are huge with great markings.
That’s a wonderful hawk pic!
I really need to look into one of those buddy feeders…
We have the new Bird Buddy hanging from a tree branch with a body back massage tool. It has big curves at each end. It’s supposed to be used on sore muscles on your back. We need to spend more time figuring out how to connect the shepherd’s hook to the fence. But in the meantime, this worked and the birds are going wild.
I admit I’m not much of a birdwatcher, though it me day I am going to go to the birdwatching tour at the botanic garden. There is a guy who walks around NYC with a parrot on his shoulder though
The parrot on the shoulder made me laugh. I would think your area wouldn’t be the best for bird watching. The botanic garden might have a variety of birds, though.
My husband saw some bird of prey when he was walking the dog at the park. The people looking at it could not identify what it was.
That’s exciting. We have to keep dogs on a leash here with our birds of prey. There was no letting Waffles the pug outside without me on the other end of the leash.
Oh….Betty was in the leash.
I figured Betty would be on a leash. You can’t let her out in the backyard like we used to in Palm Springs. I found a little white dog in our yard and picked her up and walked around the neighborhood looking for the owner. Someone new moved in and their dog got out because of the movers going in and out of their house. I told her it was too dangerous to let her dog out without her. She thought I was talking about traffic. I told her it was hawks, owls, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions that she needed to look out for!
I would be anxiety ridden if those things could show up in my back yard
We do have fencing around our house that keeps the coyotes and javelinas out. But the predatory birds and big cats don’t worry about fences.
Very entertaining video of the doves.
I’m glad you liked the video. I do enjoy the videos to see the interaction between birds. Plus the ones flying in the background.
You have entertained right at your fingertips.
I enjoy it!
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Beautiful hawk, good picture. I know when one is around, all the finches stay in the pines trees, and it get quiet.
Thanks! Yes, our yard was very quiet. The hawk must have been lurking around nearby.
That was a very good picture for a telephoto lens. I probably mentioned this, but we got to watch a hawk devour a finch ne day. It was in the tree outside our living room window.
Thank you. I’m pleased with the quality of the lens. It’s an 80-400 mm lens that I got last spring. I wouldn’t have liked watching the finch get devoured. But that is life in the wild.
Wonderful photo of the hawk and the doves are adorable, Elizabeth!
Thank you! I was so excited to get the hawk photo. It’s fun to get a new bird for the first time! Especially one so exciting. The doves are really aggressive with each other.
Great photos! While I don’t actively sit out and watch birds, I always stop to watch when I’m out walking.
I sit next to a window at a small table most of the day. I also look at birds while I’m on walks. If it’s warm enough, I’ll sit outside for a few minutes to listen to the birds.
We have egrets regularly eating across the road. I used to belong to the Audubon society and met a few interesting people in Florida. It was awhile ago. We visited a few islands in the area. It was interesting. Years ago, I joined the Audubon Society and went on a walk with them in South Korea. On that trip, a body was discovered floating in the river. That was interesting. I love the outside of your home.
Thanks. Joining the Aububon Society would be interesting. I don’t think I’d enjoy discovering a a body floating down a river!
I found it more scary than visiting the tour for the North Korean DMZ line. Very eerie especially since it was mostly discussed in Korean and I could not understand what was going on.
Unbelievable!
I do think joining the Audubon Society is an interesting hobby. You would probably enjoy that, also!
That’s a great idea. Thanks for sharing. I’ll look into it.
Look closer. That Hawk is giving you the middle finger.
Ha!
Sam Darnold is a bird watcher? How interesting! Doesn’t it seem like the birds in the feeder start eating faster when another bird flies by? Maybe that’s just my impression but it feels like they are aware someone is waiting.
I read something over the weekend that Sam said he likes to sit outside and listen to the birds. He uses the Merlin app on his phone. The birds are quite competitive with others while they are in the feeder. I’m enjoying my second Bird Buddy up. The birds all gather in one and leave the other empty today. They keep going back and forth.
Fascinating!
I may download Merlin, even though my bird feeders identify birds. I’ve heard good thing about it.
Loved the hawk photo.💕 I put my camera feeder up a few weeks ago (couldn’t have it out while bears were around), and the magpies have been hogging it, pulling out and scattering all the seed. I was told to put dogfood out for them and they’d leave the seed for the smaller birds, but I have not done that.
Wow. Bears. That would scare me. We have lots of wildlife but no bears. I have been watching our quail. One will get in the feeder and kick all the seed out for his buddies. There will be more than a dozen quail under the feeder.
Birds fighting… you must be the only good bird feeder in the area!
I know the neighbors right around us don’t have bird feeders and they have dogs. So that must be it.
How cool that you were one of the first people to have a Bird Buddy. Sadly, I left mine at our old house; *I didn’t think I’d have space for it at our new place. And at our current house in GA, we’re not allowed to feed the birds except for a few months in the dead of winter. (We have a lot of bears!)
Who knew the sweet, lovely doves were a bunch of bullies? HA! I guess if you’re hungry….
I have a feeling your newer model will be spectacular, and your birds will be so happy!
*I did eventually put up a regular feeder in our tiny backyard and the birds were enjoying the food, but then I started having issues. (I should blog about it!) and realized we had a hawk in the ‘hood and he/she was using my bird feeder as a baiting station! The feeder is gone now!
Wow. You’re the second person who mentioned not putting out a feeder because of bears. That is scary! We have tons of wildlife including bobcats, mountain lions and coyotes, but no bears! That’s probably why the idea scares me. I’m not used to them since moving from WA state in my early 20s.
I’m not sure next door neighbors are thrilled with my bird feeders and the huge community of birds I have here. They are messy.
The new Bird Buddy has a better camera, was so much easier to put together and pair with my phone. I am catching glimpses of Red and Mrs. from both feeders which thrills me.
We have hawks too, but the only time I saw them attack a bird was when a dove flew into a window and was already dead on the patio. The hawks were swift! I’m sure they are doing more damage to birds, but it’s not inside our fencing where I see it.
Dear Wickham, what a exciting to be an early bird buddy user! Too bad it stayed with the old house too
Thank you!
Oh, that hawk is impressive! We mostly have doves and little finches in our yard, but occasionally I’ll get a hawk too. They are such cool birds to watch. Great shot!
Thanks! That was my one and only Cooper’s Hawk visit. I was thrilled the photo turned out.