Doug Hayes of Richmond, Virginia, is back with his “Breakfast Crew” series of bird photos (and a new mammalian member of the Crew). His captions and narrative are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
The gang is back! The past few months have been quiet at the backyard feeders as plenty of food was available in the surrounding wooded areas along the James River. We also had a pair of hawks build a nest a few yards over which kept activity to a minimum. The hawks seem to have moved on now. With the cooler weather, the Breakfast Crew has returned with the usual members, plus a new mammalian member of the crew, Pat the Bunny.
A common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) chows down at the basket filled with peanuts and sunflower seeds:
A female house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) levitates while waiting for a male to finish his meal:
Only peanuts will do for the red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus). They will dig around, tossing aside sunflower seeds and corn until they find a peanut:
We don’t get very many American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) in the yard, even though they are fairly common throughout the neighborhood. This day, four of the little guys showed up:
White-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) are regulars in the yard. They tend to be hit and run feeders, snagging a sunflower seed and flying back into the trees to eat:
A juvenile brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater):
Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) are among the regular visitors to the feeders:
This mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) decided to give perching on the crook a try. It stayed there for some time, despite looking uncomfortable:
We had a population explosion among the Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) this year. There are nearly a dozen juveniles that show up most mornings, most of them seem to be females:
This male cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) was going through a molt a few weeks ago and was completely bald. Now he seems to be regrowing his head and cheek feathers:
Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) are another bird that underwent a population explosion. Dozens of these noisy, curious little birds hang out in the yard most of the day:
A tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) about to take off with its meal. Another bird that grabs a quick meal and takes it into the trees to eat.
Downy woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) love peanuts, just like the larger, red-bellied woodpeckers. They will take suet when I put it out:
Pat the Bunny, an Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), has been hanging out in the yard for over a month now. I think Pat lives under one of the sheds at the end of the yard. The rabbit is most active late afternoons, but I have seen it eating scattered seeds under the bird feeders in the morning:
Photo information: Sony A7RV camera body, Sony FE 200-600 zoom lens + 1.4X teleconverter, iPhoto Cobra 2 monopod, Neewer gimbal tripod head. Auto ISO, shutter speed ranging from 1/650th to 1/2500th of a second, photos resized and tweaked with Adobe Photoshop (Beta) v25.13
Ah, that was a wren I keep hearing, and seeing – indeed, quite a set of pipes – very good!
This is so impressive! Lovely photos and so many different birds. We removed our feeders because the starlings took over and discouraged the other birds. It’s been a while. Perhaps we should try again.
Thanks Doug. A few miles downriver in Newport News we have a similar menagerie this year, including two bunnies who are as regular as the birds. They too feed on dropped seed below the feeders, but mostly on grass all around the house. We are a mile inland from the James, but only a couple of hundred yards from a tidal salt marsh. We have had lots of goldfinches and cardinals this year, several bluebirds (not jays), and more woodpeckers than I recall from past years. The woodpeckers quickly demolish the suet. Haven’t seen any grackles, but have seen a couple of doves for the first time.
What a bunch of cuties!; many thanks for brightening my morning.
Amazing what’s going on in your own backyard! Love the bunny—a new addition to the crew.
Nice pictures. Thanks.
Thanks for those superb photos, and for reassuring us that nature is alive and well, in Virginia at least! Here in my UK back garden there have been far fewer birds than in previous years: no Jays, Green Woodpeckers or Starlings, and very few Tits or even Sparrows. Too many Magpies, Crows, Jackdaws and Collared Doves, elegant birds though the last-named are. Fewer bees and butterflies, and almost no hoverflies or even wasps. I never thought I’d miss wasps. Nature here is on its knees.
Beautiful photos, as usual. I’m always happy to see the birds I recognize and not those exotic show-offs from faraway places I’ll never visit. Even the homely house finches make me smile. Years ago I dropped out of one of the local birder groups whose talk of birding junkets to remote jungles and whose thousand-plus-dollar binoculars dangling from their monied necks rubbed me the wrong way. And just where did all the bluejays disappear to? We too have had a veritable college of cardinals this summer. Toss in a bunch of fighting hummingbirds, a rabbit, a turtle, and four or five cats from the neighborhood hell-bent on killing all of them, and it’s all the nature I need.
Oh yes, as I was reminded this morning, we also have a turtle this year who, from time to time, motors across our stone patio that separates a flower garden from a row of shrubs.
Lots of personality in these pictures! All are terrific.
Nice group, thanks.