I frequently watch the birds eating and bathing on our front lawn. I rarely have any camera other than my phone with me. Today I brought out my SONY telephoto camera so that I could take some closeup images of the birds without disturbing them. I avoided taking photos of birds at the feeder. It's a cage feeder to prevent squirrels from feasting, so bird photos aren't great with the metal bars.
Many birds can't fit into the feeder, like this Black-headed Grosbeak. These larger birds feast on the seed dropped by the smaller birds and seed that I toss on the ground.
Whereever there is seed, there are squirrels. This is one of the many ground-feeding squirrels. Note the hole in their fur. They must have been in a fight!
Stellar Jays is another species too big for the feeder. When the jays see me filling the feeder, they put out a call to alert the small birds. Then, when the small birds start dropping seed on the ground, the Stellar Jays swoop in to feed. This is waiting for an opportunity.
Acorn Woodpeckers, as the name suggests, primarily eat acorns. Still, if they can get some sunflower seed, they'll try. Although too big for the feeder, they will hang outside it and try to get their beak close to the feeding hole. This bird is waiting for the small bird traffic at the feeder to lessen.
After eating, many birds take to the pond or the bird bath to wash. After tossing water on themselves, they typically hop to a rock or tree trunk to dry off. That's what this sparrow is doing.
Birds that were notably missing today are the turkeys. Until two days ago, we were visited by up to 5 turkeys--4 males and a lone female. Turkeys tend to disappear for a few months, so I'll be on the lookout to see if they show up again this summer.
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