Posts

So the woodpecker...

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A new month. New adventures in the backyard. March has begun. Let's talk about the woodpecker or should I  say woodpeckers? We now have 2 that visit sometimes at the same time. They seem to favor the copper feeder but will also land on the dragonfly tube feeder. They announce their arrival with loud almost bark like sound. Pictures on Twitter @thebitboproject and IG @thebitboproject You can also see them on our LIVE feed at cbsobirdcams.com Is it just me or do the woodpeckers kind of sound like little yapping dogs. They have gotten a little more used to me and I  have been able to step outside of the patio and take a few pictures. I swear it seemed like it was complaining about the food being  low one morning.  Due to budget constraints, some health issues and recently falling,  I only fill the PVC feeders about once week,usually around trash day. It requires dragging out the ladder because of the height. A few days during the week, I  fill the other feeding stations and put
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The Winter GBBC 2020

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This past weekend was the winter great Backyard Bird Count  from Feb 14 through Feb 17. How many of you participated this year? I wanted to attempt to participate but it was also Valentine's day and weekend.  So that meant a busy wedding weekend  for me. I did manage to sit on the back patio and count birds visiting my backyard for 20 minutes in between Weddings and this is what I  came up with. The cowbird count may be a little low because they came and went several at a time. As you can see, there were some brown birds... ok a lot of brown birds and variants thereof...I was not real sure about. I have pictures of them below the list. Here are my notes oh and that is actually 2 mourning doves. I forgot to change the tick marks on that one. All pictures below taken by SL Thomson  These are birds I have a tough time identifying.  possibly a juvenile or female brown-headed cowbird or even a female grackle I want t
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Natural habitat food

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In addition to having many bird feeders in my backyard I wanted to have some natural sources of food for the hummingbirds, then the bees and butterflies and finally the birds. The majority of my plants and bushes came from Siefferts Nursery. The two berry trees came from Seminole Farm and Nursery and the last two plants the Florida Flame and the Shrimp Bush (not pictured) came from Lukas Nursery. Trees with Berries I purchased a beautiful young Dahoon Holly tree because I wanted to have natural sources of food available for the visiting birds. It was full of berries when we planted it and within two weeks all of the berries were gone. So that was a successful endeavor. I also purchased a strawberry guava tree that should produce tasty berries later this year. Bushes These bushes were available at local plant nurseries Fire Bush Fire Cracker Plant Florida Flame - not pictured Shrimp bush - not pictured Pom-pom bush Dragon's Breath
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What's in the feeders?

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Another Florida birdwatcher asked me on Twitter @thebitboproject what I use in my feeders. I promised her that I would do a blog soon...so here it is. Before we get started, I want to remind my wonderful #bitbo readers, visitors, followers, subscribers and fellow bird lovers that I  appreciate you all. It makes me very happy to share my backyard experiences with you. I am a novice backyard birdwatcher and amateur photographer.  I don't always know the names of the birds, or plants so I will ask for your help, guidance and expertise.  I also try to include photographs and video of  birds, wildlife, plants and flora so you know what I  am trying to convey. As you know, I  have 5 feeding stations. I use slightly different seeds at each one for various reasons. Mainly,  in the beginning, it was trial and error. I put out seed,  watching to see what worked and what failed. Then as I expanded the feeding station areas and added natural sources of nutrition, learned a bit
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A seedy business

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Over the last few years, I have tried many different types of bird seed from budget to costly. This is what I  have learned. Not all birdseed is created equal . I am no self proclaimed bird guru by far. I am a novice bird watcher. I am just someone who likes seeing birds come to my yard and once in a while I manage to take a halfway decent picture. In my experience,  shopping bird seed from dollar stores, Ace Hardware, Walmart, Sam's, Home Depot, Lowes, and Tractor Supply, there is one glaring issue.  Not all bird seed is created equal. Cheap bird seed, mixes and even single seed bags all come in their own quality. So I switched to buying smaller bags of premium seeds, which were a big hit, but expensive to keep the feeders filled so I  had to regulate how much and how many days the seed needed to last. I also learned that premium seeds are also not created equally. What the dust? I started out buying cheap/affordable wild bird seed mixes. They seemed to be extr
Location: Orlando, FL, USA
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