Woodpeckers at Feeder

I placed a new store bought suet block in the bird feeder on December 2. 17 days later I saw a Red-Bellied Woodpecker at the feeder. I have never ever seen a Red-Bellied Woodpecker up close before. It is a beautiful animal.

What I think attracted the woodpecker was that new suet block. I purchased it at Lowe's along with shelled sunflower seeds that I use in the main hopper of the feeder. I like the shelled seeds because there are no shells blowing around the yard or being tracked into the house on damp shoe soles. I digress. 

I must confess. I didn't actually see the woodpecker with my own eyes. I captured photographs of it on my time lapse camera secured to the inside of my breakfast room window. The Brinno TLC 100 is held onto the window by Fat Gecko suction cup camera mount. Any reflections on the glass are because the camera is mounted inside the house. Last year it was mounted outside and there were no reflection. This year I am lazy. The batteries need to be changed everyday and I don't wish to go outside to do that.

Above you will see several clips of Downy Woodpeckers at the feeder throughout the day. Individual photographs were taken at 5 second intervals and are played back at 50% of full speed. All of the clips on this post were taken on 19 December 2012.

At one point a Downy Woodpecker is feeding at the same time as a squirrel. That is the only bird I have ever seen at the feeder with a squirrel. I think that bird is either brave or hungry.


LINKS
All About Birds - Red-Bellied Woodpecker
All About Birds - Downy Woodpecker
Lowe's Woodpecker Suet



©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Goldfinch Feeding on Nyjer Seeds October 2012

Early in October, goldfinch amassed at the two nyjer seed socks I have hanging near my breakfast room window. In the spring and summer, the goldfinch came to the same sock feeders. Then, they were very territorial and chased away other goldfinch as they landed on the feeders. In October, however, they all seemed to get along with very little signs of aggression.

The above video was taken with a Brinno TLC at one frame every 7 secs.

At 3:47 into the video, you can see as many as 12 finches on both socks at one time. All of them getting along, sharing.

Watching the finches feed on these sock feeders is very entertaining. I recommend everyone purchases at least one of these and enjoy watching.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Slug Takes The Bait

I have slugs in my square foot garden plot. Lots of slugs. I want to trap all the slugs before the lettuce becomes a slug target.


I made a slug trap and baited it with inexpensive beer. I used a small bowl, the size of a desert bowl from a school cafeteria. I dug into the soil a bit so the lip of the bowl was level with the surface of the soil. I then poured beer into the bowl almost to the lip of the bowl.


Below you can see one slug take the bait. It will take some time at the rate of one slug a day. 


I wonder where I can purchase party invitations, slug size.

The image is enlarged at least 3x. The original time lapse between exposures was one every 5sec. The replay speed is 2x.




©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Lettuce

I planted lettuce seeds on May 2nd.  

By May 9th lots of sprouts were visible.


The night temperatures have not dipped lower than 50ºF/10ºC since April 31.  The day temperatures have risen as high as 80ºF/26ºC on May 4 and have averaged 60ºF/15ºC in May. Rain totals 0.75"/2cm for the 7 day period and I watered the plot once.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Slugs In My Square Foot Garden

To recap, in my square foot garden plot this year I mixed shredded and partially composted autumn leaves into last years soil that was amended with sand, and peat moss. I mounded that mixture above the level of the lawn to create this years square foot 4'(1.2m) x 4'(1.2m) plot.

14/"/20 hanger bolt

My time lapse camera was removed from the window mount so I could place it into my plot. In order to do that I drilled a fiberglass dowel to accept a 1/4"/20 hanger bolt. That is a lag screw on one end and a threaded machine screw on the other. The lag screw goes into the dowel and the machine screw is where the camera screws into the tripod mount. Then the dowel was driven into the soil at the edge of the plot and the camera screwed onto the dowel. 

What was captured was surprising.

I have since moved the camera to a mount about 20" above the plot pointed straight down. In this video the soil wasn't as moist as the above video. I also didn't see as many slugs, either.


Nonetheless, I will be placing a slug trap out in the near future. I planted some lettuce and expect that slugs will be there when the dinner bell rings.


As bait I purchased some inexpensive beer for the trap. It came in a 40oz(1.2l) bottle. 40oz is a popular size with the crowd wanting an inexpensive buzz. You see it wasn't just beer but beer fortified with extra malt liquor to bring the alcohol content to 8.1%. The slugs should get drunk faster.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Cleanest Bird In My Garden

Robins have to be the cleanest birds in my garden.  Below is a compilation over several days of time lapse images in my backyard birdbath.

March 20 through March 25, 2012

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved