Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
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Category Archives: Canon 7D I was so lucky today and have the most awesome videos to share. I hope the videos come across as exciting as it was to watch this in real time. Let me create the scene of what I witnessed. As per my daily ritual I place some mealworms out in the mealworm feeder, provide some…  I’m going to try and describe this scenario between the nesting male and female Eastern Bluebirds. I’ve seen the male Bluebird do this behavior a few times before, and if I recall correctly I captured a single picture, but this time I have a few shots to share. As usual, the male and female Bluebirds…  This waterbowl is near the mealworm feeder. Each day when I fill the mealworm feeder, I also put fresh water in the waterbowl. Because it’s very hot and humid, the birds that visit the mealworm feeder like to get a fresh drink, or in the case of smaller birds like Carolina Chickadees an Tufted Titmouse,…  I went outside to feed the Koi and noticed there were several insects flying around. From a distance I thought they were flying ants, but as I was a little closer, I noticed they were bigger than an ant. Sure enough, they were bees. Not an extraordinary large amount, but enough that would sure hurt…  The Purple Martin Colony is doing really well at the moment, and that includes runt. In 2-3 of the nests I’m expecting them to fledge any day. The parents are nearly bringing all Dragonflies for the babies, but there is an occasional bee or something if it’s available. In the picture below you can see…  On June 2, I said there were 5 Eastern Bluebird eggs. The female did not lay any eggs after that, so I’m saying June 3 is the first day of incubation. Based on an average of 12-14 days for egg incubation, that means the eggs should hatch around June 14-16. The parents are reusing the…  Today is day 26 since the first eggs hatched in nest 12. They should begin leaving the nest within the next few days. Two items of information to report. “Runt” as I’m calling him/her is still alive. I fed it just a couple of meal worms this morning. I was hoping to capture some video…  Today is day 4 of Eastern Bluebird egg laying, and there are now 4 eggs. She’s probably getting close to laying her final egg if she hasn’t already. I say that because she was inside the nest sitting on top of the eggs and I’ve only seen her do that when she wants to begin…  The Bluebirds have a little competition this year for mealworms. The Tufted Titmouse and Carolina Chickadees also love them. The Chickadees go a step further in that they LOVE to bathe in the water dish I have out by the feeder. The literally will sit in the small bowl of water to take a bath. …  I’m very excited by this. Their first nest of this season they built somewhere else. They would still visit on a daily basis, but they didn’t attempt to build any nests. That has now changed. They just finished building a nest and all that appears missing are a few eggs. I’m super happy they are…  I can’t imagine that now is a good time to be a Purple Martin parent. They get no rest! In and out, back and forth, it’s constant feeding time for their babies. For the older babies that means that they are starting to get the Purple Martin favorite; Dragonflies. For their younger siblings, it’s insects… I created a small video collage of some of the backyard birds I have at feeding time. Feeding time is around 6 p.m., where I fill the bird feeder with Black Oil Sunflower Seed, sprinkle some Nut and Berry Seed, and put out a few mealworms. While I have no idea where some of these…  I still have lots of unhatched Purple Martin eggs, but also have 2 nests that have babies. Thus far, the babies in nest 12 look quite healthy.  I haven’t had any Bluebird nests so far this year, but that hasn’t stopped the parents from visiting on a daily basis for mealworms. Today I had a little surprise. The parents led their two babies to my backyard! Perhaps I will get lucky and the parents will build their second bluebird nest of the…  Honestly I’m surprised the male and female Baltimore Orioles were still here this morning, but I’m certainly not trying to rush them off. The male appears much less shy than the female. I did take a couple of decent pictures in the early morning light, and both birds seemed to enjoy the bird stream for… |
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