Blueberries for Breakfast

A couple of Saturdays ago my husband, Charlie, and I were treated to a couple of hours of entertainment by the critters that call our property home (or were just passing through that day). It started when we noticed that there were about 50 American Robins hunting for worms and bugs all around our property and enjoying some of the freshly ripe blueberries. Many of the robins were youngsters and in addition to looking for food spent some of the time harassing each other.

Here is some video I took of the robins in the yard. First a juvenile robin looks for bugs and takes a bath in the wet grass (filmed from in the house). He tries to find some peace, but is regularly harassed by other members of the flock. The second part shows a robin that has staked his claim to the bird bath, but waits for just the right moment to take advantage of it.

Our blueberry bushes were full of ripe berries and many of the birds were taking advantage of this.  We could harvest the berries (and make a few pies or some jam), but the purpose for having them in the yard is to attract the birds to the yard.  We also noticed some other backyard residents enjoying the bountiful feast as well. Below are a couple of videos demonstrating the entertaining and acrobatic moves of the chipmunk and squirrel as they climb the bushes to find the ripe fruit. 

Some of you might consider chipmunks to be no more than a pest in the garden, but I can’t help but smile every time I see one hopping around the yard.  The video with the chipmunk also has me apologizing to a Black-capped Chickadee that buzzed me and seemed to not like where I was standing.  A Baltimore Oriole also stops by to share the blueberries with the chipmunk.

Another visitor to the yard that day was a juvenile (or possibly female) Baltimore Oriole. In the following video she spends some time probing a daylily blossom for nectar (also filmed from inside the house), hangs out in a witch hazel shrub and finishes with a feast of blueberries.

The last bit of entertainment for the morning involved a variety of visitors. A White Breasted Nuthatch lands on a hook holding a hanging basket of petunias. I think he was wondering where the suet feeder, that was in the same spot all winter, was . A bluejay stops by and tries to figure out how to get seed from the niger feeder that the American Goldfinches use. A squirrel and a pair of chipmunks disrupt a juvenile Northern Flicker digging in the mulch. And lastly an American Tree Sparrow stops by for a close encounter.

Just when I gathered my equipment and went inside, Nina let us know of a few more visitors to the yard.  I didn’t get any video of them, but our twin fawns and their mom (see their videos here and here) wandered across the front yard.  It was so great to see that they are still safe. 

I could have spent hours observing and recording the action, but knew I needed to get on with the day.  Charlie was very understanding and let me indulge myself for quite a while. I love mornings like this and wish there were an endless supply. Maybe when I am old enough to retire….