Dove Rejects Kiss

Two possible scenerios:

1. Left dove wants a smooch from the right dove, but the right dove is afraid. 

2. Left dove wants to eat right dove and right dove is afraid. 

Tuesday Teaser

Who's tail is this?

Answer will be posted tomorrow

Cardinals Date Ruined by Dove

Female and male Northern Cardinals enjoying sunflower seeds together.

Here comes the mourning dove to ruin the fun. For some reason the cardinals looks a lot less happy. 

Juvenile Central

Pretty shot of this juvenile mourning dove. This could be one of my favorite pics so far.

I'm not entirely sure it's a juvenile, but it looks smaller and different  (less prominent eye ring, light tips of primary feathers, black markings on face and no iridescent patch). 

Two juvenile house sparrows enjoying a snack together. Notice the beak is broader at the base and is yellow.

Liftoff

I took this action shot back in January without a feeder. I just placed the GoPro on my deck and let in run in time lapse.  I think it's funny how the House Sparrows stare at the camera, perhaps they're looking at their own reflection?

Red-winged Blackbird

There has been a red-winged blackbird singing in my backyard for about a week now. Yesterday he came to the feeder and I got this great shot:

Male red-winged blackbird

I'm not sure if they normal visit feeders, I know that they like marsh habitats and the nearby meadowlands might be close enough for this guy to visit. His red patch does not look to healthy though, more of an orange.

Also, that makes the blackbird family: Icteridae the most common in my backyard with 3 species: BH cowbird, common grackle and RW blackbird.

How Things Are Done

For those who are wondering what type of contraption I am using to take these photos, I will show you. I pretty much modeled it after Bird Photo Booth, except that I used what ever was available in my house. 

I built a box to hold the GoPro Hero 2 and attached a shower shelf to hold the bowls of food and water.

I then made it compatible with my tripod, by simply drilling a hole that matched up with that of the tripod screw. That antennae thing on top was a coat hanger. It was meant to be used a perch, but it broke so I need to think of a better way to do that. 

Future additions to this include: a way to hang a sock feeder to attract finches and maybe a homemade hummingbird feeder.

Addition of Water to the Feeder

Today I decided to put add a little water station. 

The mourning doves seem to like it. 

Taking a mid-day bath

A handsome shot of a Brown-headed Cowbird

Tossers

Here are some pics of birds tossing their seeds around.

Kind of looks like a rock, but I think it's a sunflower seed

I like the super tiny pupil, it really shows off its yellow eye

New Friend Found the Feeder

First squirrel to figure out how to get to the feeder

This dove is VERY comfy at the feeder