the BITBO project

Now that I have a better lens I am able to see what looks like expressions and possibly personality of the birds and some of them are hilarious. Please bring a sense of humor. Episode One of If Birds Could Talk A female cardinal is enjoying a few moments of undisturbed eating until.... photo by ©SL Thomson if I had to imagine what I think the birds are talking about~~~~'~~~~ Frame 1 : Titmouse: Hey can I join you up there? Cardinal- What? No! Go away! Frame2 : cardinal goes back to eating, ignoring titmouse Titmouse: rude bird Biyatch! titmouse flies over to wild wings platform feeder Frame 3 : Titmouse-I will just get my grub on at the platform feeder...all to myself. More seeds for me. Enjoy the squirrel leftovers cardi! Frame 4 : Cardinal-as she watches the titmouse carry a hefty peanut to the shade and security of the neighbor's lime tree:  Resting Cardinal Face: F'king Tits Photographing the titmouse can be tricky, they fly really fas...

The usual suspects are some of the birds (and other creatures) you can expect to see in and around the feeding stations, along the fence, in the hedges, scurrying and flitting about the yard. The birds we see in our Orlando backyard are some of the usual Florida suspects: American Goldfinch Blue Jay Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Mourning Dove Northern Cardinal Northern Mockingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Ruby-throated Hummingbird Tufted Titmouse Brown-Headed Cowbirds Red Winged Black birds Grackles added to the list are   hummingbirds butterflies dragonflies bumble bees yellow jackets wasps hawks buzzards moths lovebugs  the occasional ducks Shameless cat sharing .... Midnight and Sammy have their own instagram page if you want to follow them this is Midnight our finicky, skittish black cat and first adopted pet, he is harder to photograph  and usually just looks per...

Ugh....we are still in love bug season.... but the birds are trying to make the best of it. Here are some of the current birds that come early to the feeders. Enjoy! The Cardinals  🐦are usually the first birds at the feeder starting around 730ish Since we live in East Orlando we sometimes have to battle the rising sun. But hopefully once we can afford better cameras we will be able to capture clearer video and images. Following the cardinals are usually the smaller birds like sparrows and titmice along with the much larger, ever watchful mourning doves. The mockingbird was out this morning but he was hanging out on the yard light sunning his wings, not at the feeders. Even when there is plenty of food sometimes the smaller birds don't want to share. Cardinal and titmouse having brunch around 11ish. I purchased a birdhouse cover for the Arlo camera. Some days I kind of regret the decision to purchase it because the birds like ...

I wanted a bird and hummingbird feeder after a rare visit to a home in our community where I noticed the homeowner had a very small feeder and a cardinal was visiting it.  So started my journey of trying to make a feeding station. There was a lot of trial and error. But I had the pleasure of seeing cardinals, mourning doves, rabbits and squirrels all eating happily together in the backyard. The feeder was especially busy during dinner time and I could see them as I was cooking dinner after work. It was relaxing and entertaining to watch the animals in the backyard. We also have a thriving bee colony including a queen bumblebee that has made our flowers in the front of our house their territory. With the bee population declining it makes me happy that I can play a small part in helping the birds and bees, even the squirrels as pesky and destructive  as they are at times.  Please join us on this new experience. I will share more about our journ...

Early preparation for the upcoming love bug season Updated posting  As you can tell from some of the videos/ pictures.... we are squarely in lovebug season . it is is like love bug apocalypse now in our backyard. After going out to check on some of the new plants we added I was overwhelmed by a tsunami of love bugs. What the heck was happening? 🔹️Love bug season - a few weeks/months every April to May in most places and is usually no more than a mild nuisance. (we have a second bout in mid to  late summer extending into September last year) I literally could not got out in my back yard for about a week. This is fucking ridiculous! They were never this bad before. I immediately took to the internet to find a home made solution....in short it was an epic fail in the backyard.this recipe only worked in the front yard because there were no dead plants at the time. What I learned.... Just because it's on the internet doesn't me...