Big male Black Bear aka "Papa Bear" comes a little earlier this time and scores a small piece of suet. Captured with Bushnell Trophy Camera. I only put out 1/4 of a block for the woodpeckers etc during the day so that its mostly gone by nightfall and then take it in. Smart bear figured out to come before dark right near sunset :-) so now I have to bring it in earlier. A small price to pay to try and live in harmony with the bears and try and keep them out of trouble.
A Garter Snake is out looking for a meal among the rocks. By flicking its sensitive tongue close to the ground and moving its head side to side to get air moving into its nostrils it hopes to find something tasty to eat. In this case, perhaps a mouse or more likely a salamander or other small reptile or amphibian.
A male Northern Cardinal makes a brief visit to the suet feeder, the low sun of late afternoon brings on an unusually lustrous red, but he doesn't find the suet particularly to his liking and faces the age old problem of how to get the grease off its beak!
American Robin Weaning Fledgling - Tough Love. The fledgling Robin is now as big as its mother who has introduced it to the joys of suet. But now the fledgling is still following mom around and eating suet like a champ. The expression in the eyes of the mother Robin says it all - its time to be on your own. This video captures the moments when the Mother Robin chases off the fledgling and lets it know its on its own. The suet feeder is not big enough for both of us!
Female Downy Woodpecker and Gray Catbird - can they live in peace and harmony sharing a small suet feeder? Inquiring minds want to know - and will someone get the little Downy Woodpecker a napkin!
A big Black Bear standing just over 6 feet tall captured with a Bushnell Trophy Cam pays a visit to the bird feeder at 217 AM in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina. The suet feeders, hummingbird feeders and finch feeders had been put away for the night. The remaining wood feeder was essentially empty, but the bear found a small amount of seed in the corners. Bear could have easily ripped the feeder down as it's only hanging from a tree by some twine, but chose instead to stand and gently lick out any seeds and move quickly on. It is important to bring in bird feeders at night especially nectar and suet so that bears, as in this case, are not rewarded with a free meal. This bear has a large territory and stops by about every week to ten days and as long as it doesn't find anything good to eat it makes a quick survey of the area and moves on. If it were to find suet or such treats replaced every night and left out it would likely begin to hang around more often and then bad things could happen. The feeder is six feet off the ground which was nose level on tip toes so this is a pretty good size bear. Couldn't tell for sure, but this is probably Papa Bear - Moma Bear and the three cubs which keep apart from him are at:
Downy Woodpecker Father is feeding a very noisy fledgling at the suet feeder the day before Fathers' Day. Newly fledged Downy's often have red feathers on the top of their head which gradually go away as they reach maturity. Adult male Downy's have just a small patch of red. The dark band across the back of the fledglings head probably indicates it is a female. The continuous chattering will draw ones attention to the feeder. The quality of this video is a little disappointing as I filmed it through a screen, but the interactions are enjoyable nevertheless. And the calls of a young Downy are priceless!
Crop Duster flies by close and low out on the Florida Birding Trail. You just never know what your going to see and it is good practice for tracking shots - which you will note on the video near the end - I could use the practice. Looks like a type of "Air Tractor" crop duster and looks like a lot of fun!
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly in Florida. Gets its name due its voracious appetite for other insects caught on the wing after launching from hunting perches.
