Thanks Jane and Claire for the leucistic grackle confirmation. I've named him Ivory. Another source also thought juvenile starling for the brown bird. So that's what I'm going to call it. (But in all honesty, does the bird care what I call it).

Claire - I also feed safflower. Since I have one of those weighted feeders, squirrels weren't my problems. It was the grackles. As much as I love my grackles, they would empty the feeder in an hour. I made the switch about 2 years ago. It took about a day for the birds to adjust. My biggest visitors are house finches, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, cardinals. I now fill the feeder once a week. I also have a thistle feeder, which is the preferred food of goldfinches, and I serve plain I rendered suet (organic grass fed beef) which the woodpeckers love.

I still have plenty of grackles, but they more time down by the pond or feeding in the grass.

Does anybody recognize this bug in my Shasta Daisy? For now he gets to live. He goes back in front of the jury after a positive ID.

My only guess on your bug, Pixie, is a white-spotted rose beetle - and that I looked up. Turns out there are many white-spotted black beetles. Apparently black with pearls is just universal.

CHIPMUNKS: I've discovered that after Stuffy and Chunky filled their cheeks, dug up the lettuces and tunneled through the roses, herbs and geranium pots on the deck, that they deposited their cache everywhere and now there are sunflowers growing in every pot and raised bed. It must not occur to them that their food storage areas are fertile growing grounds.

Before delving into a vein of chipmunk pseudo psychology or referring to them even remotely as gardeners, I'll be in Plymouth tomorrow, Claire. Want 3 more experienced chipmunks?

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: What's that bug

nhbabs: I like the pic of the bumblebee on the alliums. Those flowers always look as if they've been given an electric shock and the hairs are sticking straight out.

It does sound as if you were interfering with the delivery of food to little chipping sparrows in a nearby nest. Or worse yet, you were stealing food out of their mouths!

pixie_lou: I have no idea what your bug is, even after looking at a whole lot of beetle pics.

Jane: I have plenty of chipmunks already, some of them quite noisy, so I don't need anymore, but thanks for thinking of me.

Claire

Yesterday I found this crab spider in one of my festiva maxima peonies, and was amused that he not only matched the white, but also had pink streaks to match that as well. I was not so amused that he was ignoring the rose chafer just visible in the flower with him. I think I am their only preditor as both the chipping sparrows and this crab spider are ignoring them.

I found an interesting link about how scientists can't find an advantage to the crab spiders matching the flower color where they are hunting.

Here is a link that might be useful: color changing spiders

That's a pretty spider, nhbabs. The link says the scientists were concentrating on the advantage to the spider while hunting prey and didn't find much, and they didn't really look at the advantage to the spider not to be prey itself. They just mentioned that there were birds around and only one spider got eaten after being moved to a flower it didn't match.

I'm betting that not being eaten by a bird is a big advantage to camouflaging oneself and that this study needs to be expanded.

I saw turkey poults today! I only got one lousy picture as they trotted by my window, but it looked like about eight poults with at least two hens shepherding them.

I'm so glad the predators didn't get this year's broods.

Claire

Correction! The broods came back while I was out on the deck and I got a better look (and pictures). There were three hens shepherding fifteen to twenty poults! I couldn't get a shot of all of them.

I'm hoping the hens are showing the babies where all the ticks are.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 11:46

Yay, they're back! Wonderful...and so many poults. So far today I've only seen a RW blackbird on sea grass, 2 mallards and a seagull at low tide. Maybe the wind will change.

Loved seeing the turkey poults back again this year, Claire!

Here is my only recent visitor, not exactly a garden visitor, but perched on the doorsill to the cellar. I wonder if this beautiful luna moth had just emerged from its chrysalis. It appeared to be drying its wings

What a magnificent moth, spedigrees! I've never seen one.

I found a YouTube video showing the life cycle with the moth crawling out of its chrysalis. Astonishing!

Claire

Good find, Sped! Excellent video, Claire. I'll have to look even more carefully at moths in my path.

I think this bird is a Least Tern judging by the white half-moon shape above its eyes. I know trying to photograph them in flight is not a 'least' effort. If my ID is correct, these 9" long fellows can fly up to 100mph and dive straight down into the sea for fish. I haven't 'met' a bird I don't like, but the more I look at water fowl, the favorites rise to the surface.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Terns

Excellent photos, Jane! You've really mastered the art of capturing birds in flight.

That picture of the tern diving straight down to the water is startling.

Claire

Yesterday I put on my sunglasses and discovered something was blocking my view. It turned out to be a pair of beetles mating. When I tried to get them off they bent a little but stayed attached. I managed to shake them off onto the porch railing, still attached.

I just posted the pics on BugGuide.Net and got them identified as Ellychnia corrusca, the Winter Firefly. This is a firefly that doesn't light up and comes out in the daytime. Talk about taking the road less traveled.

Claire

Eternally darkened diurnal fireflies tossed off cool shades to a hot railing during a procreation effort? Oy...there are just too, too many lines for this exhibit. I'm thinking it's a road few would want to travel again.

Anyway, back to the peaceful safflower perch, Mrs. Cardinal hasn't enjoyed such a respite this year. The bullies did vacate and later today she jumped on the opportunity till almost dark.

Jane (still chuckling over those poor, perpetually dark winter bugs stuck together in the blazing sun under the watch of the Yankee Paparazzi Co. No fire and can't fly. Misnomer for sure.)

I tried putting safflower seed in one of two side-by-side tube feeders, with my regular mix in the other. It was ignored for a day and a half until I couldn't stand it any longer and mixed the safflower in with the other stuff. I may try putting the safflower in a hopper feeder that gets quickly emptied by the squirrels. The cardinals like that feeder so it may be more successful there.

The leucistic grackle is back. Judging by his jousting with a normal feathered grackle it's a male.

With the Fourth of July coming up, I'm thinking of this one as a star-spangled grackle.

Claire

Claire - Spangles is attractive. Just a note about the safflower - which you've probably read online - it can take a few days, up to a week for the birds to acclimate. The bullies were so bad here that, like last year, I did no mixing of saff with the old mix. I went cold turkey and it's the only feeder up. So I went without antics for a day or so, but when I left Thurs. morning, the feeder was full. When we came home on Friday, feeder was nearly empty. So apparently they have not suffered much. And, I still hang suet which is popular with the larger birds. My problem may not be yours. The HOSP population was rising (again) and the feeder was fully dominated by them, cowbirds, and a few grackles. So it was truly a feeding station excluding all others. Not acceptable to me - nor was $78 every 3 weeks for seed for one feeder. Safflower in the summer works here.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: trails

Jane: I don't have the problem you do - I have various feeders to attract different birds and also spread seed on the ground for the perching-challenged types. There aren't that many house sparrows, and the cowbirds mostly drop by in the early evening.

I'm just curious and wouldn't mind having another feeder the grackles stay away from (they shun the oriole and hummingbird feeders) but I want to see enthusiasm from other birds. I'm sitting on the deck now with some peanuts spread out. A chickadee just grabbed one and a blue jay filled up a few minutes ago. A male cardinal usually stops for peanuts too. I've never seen a grackle on the deck but a hummingbird just visited its feeder hanging from the railing.

I refuse to calculate my birdseed expenses, but it's considerable.

I expect the grackles to leave soon when the fledglings are flying well. I'll miss them.

Claire

Spent the weekend up in Freeport. Stopped for Lobster Rolls at Cindy's - where we were entertained by Purple Martins feeding the fledglings in the bird house. (Freeport is in New England, so figured it was fair game to post here).

On the drive home, we saw this moth camouflaged on a post at the New Hampshire State Liquor Store in Hampton.

The moths are such lovely colors!

Our turkeys have hatched their poults and we are seeing them in the back field, popping in and out of the recently mowed grass. This female had 6 poults around her, though only one was visible in this photo, and there was another female nearby in the field as well.

The chipping sparrows have fledged from their nest under the clematis, so I snuck a quick photo. I am not sure if the parents will raise another brood, though I would think that there is still enough time.

We've had hummingbird moths several times, but it's hard to take a photo since they seem fairly skittish.

Seriously...does it get any better than a lobster roll and purple martins? Or, an amber moth on blooming catmint? I think not. There is a nearby nursery that serves lobster rolls and has very unique dwarf conifers. My kind of people!

That's an astonishing moth, pixie_lou, or is it a butterfly? The closest thing I can find is the Common Buckeye.

Your turkey poults have such a wide field to explore, nhbabs! Here they just get to roam connected backyards and a quiet road.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Mon, Jun 23, 14 at 10:46

This is the snapping turtle that we first saw last summer in the pond when we moved in...saw her again last week and we're guessing its a female as we saw her in a bed near the pond and then found some areas that were dug up - for a nest perhaps?? We haven't swam in the pond yet and I most likely won't if it will be filled with baby snapping turtles ha ha.

Hey, Lucy, you've got a pond and a snapping turtle too, like pixie_lou! Are there any eggs buried in those dug up areas?

If you have herons you may not have to worry about baby snapping turtles in the pond....

Claire

We didn't want to mess with the possible nest so we left it alone, but I guess we'll find out soon enough - we definitely don't have herons! Hawks, falcons and some occasional eagles though - maybe they'll help? lol

Unfortunately our pond is not spring fed so it's only really nice early in the spring...we're trying to figure out what we can do to improve things but it's not too high on the to-do list now!

Lucy: I think hawks and falcons and eagles will probably be interested in hatchling turtles, so your pond may still be safe.

I just caught the tail end of the turkey poult parade today.
My neighbor said he saw the four hens and something like 35 babies. I'm hoping for a good photo op in a wide open lawn space to document this brood, but it's hard to get a long view here.

The sun was low and reflecting off the windows (got to wash them) so the photos aren't too sharp. One hen is always on guard. I wonder if she's a descendant of the hen that managed to raise five or six poults a few years ago. She has that same calm, determined look. I like to think that the four hens have learned to cooperate to protect the joint broods.

They're using the water baths.

And still cute, but not so desirable, are the four, yes four, baby woodchucks I saw in the yard yesterday.

Claire

Four? ah, boy. Troubles, they're a brewing.

Lucy, that's a good-looking turtle!

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks love safflower seed. I think these chaps are first year because of their brown feathers. One caved in and perched in the birch: No two males on the same feeder at the same time. No wonder testosterone begins with test...

That beak was made for cracking

The less aggressive of the two - just waiting his turn

Jane

Beautiful grosbeaks Jane.

I startled a fawn in the front yard yesterday. He/she was just steps from the front door. No mama in sight. (photo taken thru the front door, decorated with window markers!)

I'm not sure if there are more leucistic birds than normal this year, or if I'm just noticing them more. I now own a really great pair of binoculars, and my camera has a super long zoom. I see Ivory, my white grackle, almost every day. Plus I've been seeing another grackle with a splotchy head, similar to Claires friend. And today I noticed this what I'm guessing is a leucistic Robin.

Pixie - according to my Crossley Guide, that's a juvenile robin - not leucistic. Always room for error, but I think it's a juvenile. Glad you got a good camera! Too great a property and observations not to have one.
Jane

I agree with Jane, pixie_lou, that's a juvenile robin (scroll way down). Cute fawn, that. Mostly legs and has just learned how to use them.

Do you have any female grosbeaks, Jane? I tried the safflower seed in my hopper feeder, which is out of view of my window. Something emptied it so there is a taste for it.

Claire

Well, what do you know. A juvenile. I thought for sure the white breast put it in the leucistic category. But what do I know?

Hi Claire, yes, Mrs. RBG comes, but far less frequently than the boys. I can say after the week plus of straight safflower, I have seen/photographed the following birds at the feeder: timouse - big time, nuthatches, BC chicks, Mr & Mrs. Cardinal very often, Blue jays, M&F House Finch, mourning doves - bellied up to the bar and knock the seeds back like it was popcorn. Other than BC chick who flies to the birch tree to crack his seeds and the nuthatch, when the rest come, they perch and stay. Unhappy and not visiting are the grackles and sparrows. I'm out of suet, and the catbird is outside filing a major complaint. Thus far, he doesn't prefer saff. Also, I've noticed that at evening time, they really stay at the bar and stock up. So have a look at your feeder at late twilight and perhaps you'll see who has taken a liking to your hopper fare.

Jane

He leaves me (fairly) speechless. Maybe with a small crowbar he could stuff more into those cheeks. Everything he plants, grows. I have sunflower shoots everywhere.

Little furry Roombas bustling around, the chipmunks are.

I'm phasing out the suet as the weather gets warmer and there are lots of insects for the new generation to eat. I really don't like handling suet cakes that get gooey as they warm up (although some of the products available aren't so bad). One cake a day until the supply in my refrigerator runs out - I just have to stop replenishing that supply.

The catbirds and grackles and woodpeckers will manage somehow.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 16:36

I'm out on the deck and I just heard a loud clucking sound. A bunch of poults flew up to the trees in unison while three hens walked by. I guess the alarm was rescinded because the poults came back to the ground and strolled on. I counted about twenty babies and three hens. Maybe the fourth hen split off with her brood.

The first picture is askew because I was leaning out over the railing trying to shoot past the viburnum.

Claire

Nice shots of the mamas and poults, Claire! I didn't know that you had that much lawn.

Pixie - I was painting glysophate on poison ivy by the shop this morning when a movement caught my eye - a fawn that looked quite similar to your photo galloped across the far end of the small field where I was working. I just stood and watched, so no photo.

We are overjoyed to see the dragonflies as they are great predators for the little bugs like midges, no-see-ums, and mosquitoes.

nhbabs: That's not my lawn; it's next door and the lot past that. Many of the back yards here are more or less connected by lawn along the coastal bank so the turkeys consider it their greenway. Some of us, like me, have established a visual buffer zone with planting between the houses, but the turkeys and other wildlife can filter through without trouble.

I hadn't thought of the dragonflies as being predators of mosquitoes, yay dragonflies!

Claire

This morning a Blue Jay was spread out in the sun, enjoying Summertime.

I watched to make sure it was OK, and it soon got up, looking a bit sundazed.

Claire

The jays are always special at this sunbathing spread.

Question: Under my office window around 2PM, a sound which I have not heard before continued for about 20 minutes. I went outside softly to see if I could see anything, nothing. So I held my camera up to the window to record the sound. The video is 26 seconds. (turn your sound up) If any reader here has heard this sound before, do you know what it was? Thanks for looking.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: Sound?

The only thing I can think of is a bumblebee stuck in a drainspout, and it stopped when you got near.

Weird and interesting.

Claire

Just enjoyed looking through all the great bird and turkey pics ... that fawn was brilliant! I see the usual birds at my feeder, but this was a surprise ... a red-bellied woodpecker. My 35-year-old field guide says the northern limit of their range is Maryland, but the online guides now have them as far north as Mass. Another sign of global warming :(

I witnessed a small natural drama today. I was enjoying the cool morning air in the garden when a commotion of chirping and screeching birds arose. I couldn't figure out why they seemed to be fighting until I saw a chipmunk dragging a bird by its neck! I initially scared away the chipmunk but the bird, though still alive at that time, was clearly a goner. I ran in to get my camera and then witnessed the chipmunk drag the bird under some lilies and begin to eat it. Interestingly, it started with the brain and had devoured that in under 10 minutes. I'll spare you the gorier pictures.

The chipmunk feasting.

The postscript to the story was a couple of hours later when I returned to look for the carcass of the bird. There was not a feather in sight, but there was a garden snake sitting coiled up contentedly at that spot. It had a distinct bulge in its mid-section. When it saw me, it kept trying to "escape" into a gap between the bricks of the wall it was next to, but it couldn't get in because of its full belly. What I don't know is whether the snake scared away the chipmunk or simply devoured what the chipmunk had left behind.

I had no idea that chipmunks could kill birds. This one managed to keep the whole thing to itself ... there were other chipmunks and squirrels in the area but somehow none of them got wise to the situation ... the squirrels particularly would have easily been able to scare off the chipmunk and steal its kill.

Here you can see the bulge in the snake's mid-section.

Love to see the turkey poults growing, Claire. Great pictures. I am sort of following two parallel threads showing young turkeys, yours and a facebook thread of the organic farm where we buy our thanksgiving turkey every year. Theirs are a heritage breed, very close to the wild turkeys, and out on grass, as turkeys are meant to be (not scrunched up into tiny pens and fed GM corn). Both sets of photos make me happy!

I think your moth may be a promethea moth, Pixie. Also I love your photo of the running fawn.

Jane, your beautiful pictures of the rose breasted grosbeaks made me recall the huge flocks of evening grosbeaks we had long ago during an era where we fed the birds. Since I haven't seen any photos of these beautiful yellow birds on any of the threads, I looked them up and am very sad to see that their populations are in decline now.

Since we had the house painted last fall, we have had no swallows build a nest on our porch as in past years. Perhaps next year... However a pair of tree swallows have raised a large brood in the birdhouse out in my orange garden. You can hear the chorus of loud chirping as you walk by! Here's one of the parent birds ready to deliver a meal to the little ones. They spend all day, every day, collecting bugs to feed the babies. I expect the small ones will be taking flight shortly and the parents will finally have a well earned rest! It makes me so delighted to have beneficial birds nesting in the house once again now that I have prevailed in my campaign to rid the area of HOSPs (English sparrows).

PankajT, nice photo of the red-bellied woodpecker. Seeing these birds in New England is one of the least objectionable effects of climate change, much more welcome than influx of ticks for instance!

PankajT: The red-bellies are great woodpeckers - I hear them more than I see them in the summer, although they're here all year-round. They kind of whinny.

The pics of the predator chipmunk are a cold slap in the face. You get used to the idea of the cute, cuddly, little critters and forget the dark side. I'll bet that was a fledgling the chipmunk caught. I also wonder if the snake's bulge was the carcass of the bird or the chipmunk (poetic justice), although chipmunks are probably too big for the snake to catch.

spedigrees: Promethea Moth looks like the correct ID for pixie_lou's moth! Yet another bug I didn't know existed.

I miss your barn swallows; the pics of the nestlings were delightful.

Claire

74 follow-ups is pushing the limits of loading for some folks. I'll start a new thread (2014 #7) in a few minutes.

As always, people can continue the discussion here if they want.

Claire

Jane, I am inclined to agree with Claire that it was a buzzing insect (bumblebee, large fly, ect) inside something manmade - between two layers of a window, in a jar or birdfeeder, stuck under an empty overturned flowerpot, etc. Must have been some type of material that amplified the buzzing or had great reverb.

PankajT, that chipmunk photo is a real shocker. I had no idea that they would kill and eat meat. I like snakes - fun to hear about how s/he was unable to go through the wall due to dinner.