# The New Gang



## PhotoHobbyist (Mar 15, 2022)

Put out my little bird feeder this spring and got a new regular gang.
This mornings gang:
pair of Cardinals, pair of Blue Birds, pair of Brown Head Nuthatch
pair of Tufted Tit Mouse, House Finch,  Carolina Chickadee
Omitted the Carolina Wren for bad behavior.  He shovels all the seed out on the porch looking for sunflower seeds.


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## NS: Nikon Shooter (Mar 16, 2022)

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… a most promising season ahead!


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## terri (Mar 17, 2022)

Love this little grouping!   Bird watching is wonderful, they all have different personalities and habits.      Little sweeties.


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## PhotoHobbyist (Mar 17, 2022)

Here is today's new group.  The regulars make enough commotion to attract others.  Never had a woodpecker and I don't think he even eats birdseed.  Doubt I'll ever see him again, so this shot will have to do.  First time I've had a dove, and he owned the feeder through a rainstorm.  First tme I've had a yellow rumped warbler since last year.  First time I've ever seen a brown headed sparrow (chirping sparrow?).   I'm seeing many new birds since adding a scoop of unsalted sunflower seed kernels in the morning.


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## PhotoHobbyist (Mar 17, 2022)

terri said:


> Love this little grouping!   Bird watching is wonderful, they all have different personalities and habits.      Little sweeties.


Yes, I've learned alot about birds since putting out a feeder last year.  I was surprised to find that birds don't travel far as the same individuals show up everyday. Most travel in mating pairs which surprised me.   Most come for breakfast, and only cardinals return for late evening dinner.    A sparrow follows the Cardinals to pickup the scraps.  Cardinals don't scare easy while Blubirds and Titmouse are very skittish.  The Carolina Wren is the most obnoxious, very loud, makes a mess, and chases others away.  He's the only one that eats peanut butter, though I was trying to attract a Bluejay but failed so far.   I use a Canon SX260 with CHDK setup to trigger on motion.  Works way better than just a monitor as I miss 90% of birds with that.  Trying to use a DLSR was a total failure because its just too loud.


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## jeffashman (Mar 19, 2022)

Wonderful sets of photos! I could watch the birds all day long. I've switched to shelled sunflowers to help minimize the mess. Anything that gets spilled is eaten by the Juncos, who seem to prefer eating off the ground, rather than the feeder. How far is your feeder from the window? I'm considering moving mine closer to the house to discourage the squirrel from knocking all of the seed out of the feeders. I love the squirrels, but they make such a big mess.


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## PhotoHobbyist (Mar 19, 2022)

jeffashman said:


> Wonderful sets of photos! I could watch the birds all day long. I've switched to shelled sunflowers to help minimize the mess. Anything that gets spilled is eaten by the Juncos, who seem to prefer eating off the ground, rather than the feeder. How far is your feeder from the window? I'm considering moving mine closer to the house to discourage the squirrel from knocking all of the seed out of the feeders. I love the squirrels, but they make such a big mess.


 My feeder is about six feet from my porch door.  It is sheltered from the rain.  I used to take pics through the venetian blinds with a Canon SX720, but have found its much easier setting up a tripod outside triggered on motion.  I gave up last year when a squirrel finally found my feeder.  We'll see how long it takes this year for him to find it.     Since I started a bird feeder I have been surprised at how rare sparrows there are today.  They were everywhere when I was a kid, but very few now.  There are several finches that are mistaken for sparrows such as pine siskin finch or female house finch.


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## jeffashman (Mar 19, 2022)

PhotoHobbyist said:


> My feeder is about six feet from my porch door.  It is sheltered from the rain.  I used to take pics through the venetian blinds with a Canon SX720, but have found its much easier setting up a tripod outside triggered on motion.  I gave up last year when a squirrel finally found my feeder.  We'll see how long it takes this year for him to find it.     Since I started a bird feeder I have been surprised at how rare sparrows there are today.  They were everywhere when I was a kid, but very few now.  There are several finches that are mistaken for sparrows such as pine siskin finch or female house finch.


All the sparrows have moved to Texas, they are everywhere.  My feeder is about 30-35 feet out. Since I'm shooting from inside with a 600mm lens, I'll just keep it where it is.


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## slat (Mar 20, 2022)

Nice set.


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