Tag Archives: Red

What happens when I fill the bird feeder

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When I fill the Bird Buddy feeder I sometimes spill a bit of bird seed. Then if a quail gets into the feeder, he kicks the seed down to the ground and all his buddies show up.

I mentioned this in a comment to blogger Edward Ortiz and he said he’d like me to post a video of it in action. I finally got a quail to cooperate and jump in the feeder and kick the seed out. As you can see from the photo above the buddies were more than happy to show up for their part. If you want to read some insightful, well written pieces about leadership, history, religion, and current events — check out his blog.

It’s not the best video, you mostly see his topnot bouncing around. But if you wait he’s gives a good kick on the birdseed. It’s interesting that the quail on the ground often use their feet to scratch and look for more food.

Red isn’t one to kick birdseed to the ground — or share!

I’ve got a busy week ahead with some long days. I hope I have the energy! I’m looking forward to Friday when our daughter visits from Berkeley!

What’s on your agenda for the week?

We Got Pink Slipped — Again!

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Not only did we get our second violation, the City of Scottsdale recycling cop came in person and knocked on our door to talk to us.

I wrote about our first offense and our bad, bad neighborhood along with coyotes HERE.

This time we were told we have one more chance at recycling. If we have three strikes we are OUT! The recycling police will take our bin away and we will put everything in the regular trash bin. This time it was plastic bags from the grocery store. I always thought they were supposed to be recycled, so I learned something new. I’m super careful about what gets recycled and break down all the boxes from Amazon that seem to be flowing freely to our house daily. It was a shock to get an in person visit.

On my small walk yesterday, I saw a neighbor had a pink slip on their recycling bin. I wanted to take a peek at what offense they had committed. I walked over to the bin to see what their pink slip said but my husband thought I was being nosy and objected.

On a brighter note, look at how the Christmas Cactus bloom I posted Wednesday looks today!

Here are a couple nature shots I took this week:

Mourning Doves at the bird bath.

The squirrels eat the blossoms on the barrel cactus.

Here’s looking at you, Red!

Have a great weekend! What are your plans for this second weekend of February?

Gilded Flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves and Red

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This video from my new Bird Buddy feeder begins with a female Gilded Flicker. Then a male, with the red markings on his face, takes over. I see Gila Woodpeckers more than these larger woodpeckers. The flickers have spots while the Gila Woodpeckers have similar colors but a black and white pattern on their backs.

The new Bird Buddy has a longer battery life than my old one. I do have them both up and running, but I have to charge the older one more often — which I did yesterday. The birds seem to prefer the new feeder or maybe it’s the placement? I turned the feeder around because I was getting photos of my neighbor’s house. I don’t know the neighbors to the left of us, but somehow I doubt they’d want me making videos of their yard and posting them on my blog!

This video captures a Gila Woodpecker so you can compare it with the Gilded Flickers above. There are also House Sparrows and Mourning Doves taking their turns. The first two videos are from the new feeder.

These battling Mourning Doves are from my first Bird Buddy feeder. You can notice a difference in the quality of the video. Or maybe the camera needs to be cleaned?

Since I’m in Arizona, I’m keeping track of the missing Nancy Guthrie story. I hope the family gets answers soon!

Red and Mrs.also paid a visit to the new feeder.

What are your plans for this weekend? Are you rooting for the Seahawks?

Red Returns

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Finally Red was hanging out long enough for me to get some photos of him. While I’m healing and recovering from surgery, Red was the sight I needed to make my day!

More photos of Red:

We put together the shepherd’s hook to hang the new Bird Buddy feeder. But it wasn’t working right. There was something definitely wrong.

Mrs. waiting for her turn in the new Bird Buddy.

I don’t know why the shepherd’s hook placed the feeder mere inches from the ground. It was low enough for a squirrel to jump on the roof. I was afraid he was going to get stuck inside with the camera. He’s definitely not very bright. All he needed to do was turn around and jump into the tray of seeds.

I hung the feeder on this massage tool which securely hooked around a branch of the tree. But before I could hang the feeder, Mrs. hopped on it to try it out. It worked out well to have the feeder there, but we may want to use the massage tool to get the knots out of our backs!

Voilà! I looked at the instructions for the shepherd’s hook and realized my helpful husband installed the hardware that attaches to the fence upside down.

Mrs. finally got her turn in the Bird Buddy. This movie was taken when the bird feeder was low to the ground.

I didn’t like this placement of the camera because the sun causes too much glare.

Do you have a favorite Red photo?

Do you think there’s any upside to letting my husband know he messed up on the shepherd’s hook? Or do I let him notice on his own that it’s in a new position?

Views from the Pool Bar

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I put a birdseed block across from the pool bar yesterday. I enjoyed sitting quietly in the second chair from the left to wait and see what happened. I like hanging out to shoot photos of critters because I’m at eye level with them. They don’t seem to notice me when their appetite gets the better of them.

Here are photos I took from the pool bar, bird blind:

A mourning dove was the first to bite.

Then came a solo quail.

Pretty soon, the quail had friends.

Another quail shared the block.

Squirrel!

Red came into the yard a few times, but he’s been so quick it’s hard to get photos. Here’s two I managed to get:

I liked how the morning light hit Red’s crest and legs.

Here’s a profile pic of my handsome guy.

I hope you enjoyed my pool bar shots of dove, quail, squirrels and sparrows. Red too!

Which photos did you like best?

Hawks, Red and the Moon

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This is a moon shot I took seven months ago with a Century Plant. I ran out of space on my current SD card, so I went through some in my camera case to look for one with space. I enjoyed looking back on photography from my “intro” class. I was surprised with some decent shots, which I will share here.

I found this photo of Red as a slim young guy.

Three hawks on the same Century Plant as in the moon photo.

A fluffed up Harris’s Hawk.

Another Harris’s Hawk. I heard a hawk yesterday. They have a distinctive call. I realized that it’s been a long time since one visited our yard. I do see them swooping overhead every time I drive.

Then wouldn’t you know it? Just as I thought I haven’t seen one for a while, one flew into a tree in our backyard. I tried to get a good photo, but he is behind some twigs and leaves.

Here’s the photo I took yesterday:

I have a better lens now then the one I used for most of the earlier photos. I don’t know if you can tell the difference or not.

Happy Friday! What exciting plans to you have for the weekend?

My backyard wilderness

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This is a view of our backyard with flamingos, doves on the fence and a bright red spot in the cholla cactus on the other side of the fence. That red spot is Red! It’s where I believe Red and Mrs. have built their nest.

Here are a few photos of my backyard wildlife:

A bevy of quail appear every time I put out some birdseed.

This sparrow was all fluffed up when we had seven days of rain! I put a rain gauge in the backyard and we got more than three inches. That’s a lot for the desert.

The Gila Woodpeckers are the bullies of birdseed. They also can hang upside down. Look at the grip this guy has on the Beavertail Cactus art.

Here’s looking at you, kid!

My backyard bunny and friends.

Harris’s antelope squirrel making his move toward the birdseed. I bet it’s not a coincidence that our hawks are Harris’s hawks. Any bets the squirrels must be named after the same guy?

A little out of focus but a better view of Red on the nest.

Happy Thanksgiving! Is anyone traveling for the holiday?