THREE Minutes of Avian Delight

The sun was shining and I had filled the platform feeder in the Pond Meadow with black sunflower seeds, safflower seeds and peanuts. It didn’t take long before the “Usuals” showed up to receive my offerings. It was a glorious day – partly because of the brilliant blue sky and mostly because I realized that I was hearing birds singing in the background. It was quite obvious.

Winter has been a fairly quiet time, bird-wise. However, for a couple of days I have heard Meadowlarks – both their song and their trill call. For the first time since autumn I heard a Bobwhite. I was graced with teh the Carolina Wren’s song, too.

I also heard an unfamiliar vocalization, so I clicked the dial on my camera to “video” and pointed it in the direction of the bird-song. After capturing the audio, it dawned on me that I could visually record the birds that were visiting the feeder directly in front of me! Why it has taken me a few months to consider using the “video” option for actual video, is beyond me. Last summer, as I was first experiencing all the different species that were hidden in the lush greenness of tree, brush, bramble and weeds I began using my camera’s video setting to record sounds – but, I typically ignored the actual video aspect of the files since the birds were so well hidden. I suppose that created a strange habit of limiting the capacity of my camera (CAMERA) to record VISUAL images! That’s just weird – but learning about oneself is a lifetime endeavor.

Yesterday, I broke out of the habit and turned the camera towards the platform feeder for the first time. As if I was being rewarded for such an original feat, in the span of two minutes and five seconds a myriad of bird species all showed up. I must be very honest. That is not typical. But, I’m not complaining.

Visitors: House Finches, Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals (male and female), Red-bellied Woodpecker, House Sparrow.

Please enjoy:

Red-bellied Woodpecker & Carolina Wren

In the next 48 seconds of video, a Red-bellied woodpecker is eating suet nuggets and peanuts from a column feeder. Then, after announcing it’s arrival with a very clear and crisp vocalization (which I have not heard all winter long), a Carolina Wren shows up and selects a snack from the platform feeder. I would have never guessed that bird would arrive while I was filming the woodpecker. It was just a glorious day all around! And, it must be shared.

If bird vocalizations are your jam, I invited you to post the species you might hear in the background in the Comments section below. You’ll hear geese at the end of the second video, for example, but I don’t know if they are Canada Geese, which is what they sound like to me, or another species.