Spicy squirrels

One of my biggest bird feeding problems is squirrels. If you feed birds, at one time or another you will look out your window and see a big fat squirrel sitting there, eating out of your squirrel-proof suet feeder.  I have dealt with this problem for years without much success.  Then, one time I was in a Wild Birds store looking to buy some suet and I saw a spicy pepper suet block. I bought one and a couple of the regular suet blocks. The squirrels ate the regular and left the spicy. That solved my suet problem. But, there was still one more problem. I have a feeder that holds a compacted block of seed.  It's pretty expensive and the squirrels kept eating it and would scare away all the little birds.  That would leave the squirrel alone for an hour or so to devour it.  So, I went to Wild Birds looking for a replacement for the block feeder and I saw a 'pepper coated' block feeder.  I haven't put it up yet, but when I do, I'll take a picture of it and post it.  I'll keep you advised if the squirrels leave it alone or not.

Bald Eagles

Today I went back to Marine point  Springfield, IL to look for the eagles. When I first arrived all I saw was the nest, but as I looked closer I saw two small figures and when I looked at them through binoculars, I could tell they were Bald Eagles. I trained my spotting scope on them and used my phone to take a couple of pictures.

Bald Eagle Nest

Loons on Lake Springfield, IL

12-26-15

 Today I saw the first of the many amazing birds that migrate through our state.   Lake Springfield in Springfield, IL is a great place to bird watch in the winter! The warblers and other warm weather birds have left and now it is time for the water birds (Loons, Mergansers, Scaups, and Buffle heads). Once, I even saw a White winged Scoter, trapped in the ice. They, like loons, need a long take off area and the one I saw was trapped in a small circle of ice.  This year, thanks to El Nino, we don't have any ice but we still have loons!  I saw one this morning and when I did, I set up my spotting scope and grabbed my phone. I hurried back and took a picture through the lens of the scope.

Raccoon Cam 1

In this video, the raccoon is eating out of a plastic Easter egg. I think the raccoon recognized it as an egg and that is why he/she is try to bite the top off of it.

RACCOONS

11-24-15
 I had a crazy idea to film raccoons eating. Weird, right? My reasoning was that I would learn what they can do with their hands so that I could figure out how to raccoon-proof my feeders.  I go through a LOT of birdseed, suet, peanuts and actual feeders and I've long suspected that raccoons are the culprits.  Here is some footage of what goes on in my front yard EVERY SINGLE NIGHT:

This is a video of one of the raccoons using it's paw to hold and eat a piece of food.

Here is a video of FOUR raccoons eating at my feeders. Please notice how fat they are!

New Feeder Bird

 I was looking at my feeders and I saw a couple of birds with streaks on their backs. At first I thought they were female House Finches.  But then, I saw the yellow on their wings and I realized that they were a Pine Siskins. Some of you who live in the northern climates where Pine Siskins are super common are probably thinking, "Big deal, there are so many of those at my feeders right now."
Well to all you who are thinking this right now, I have to tell you that I've never had Pine Siskins at my feeder before. I immediately got my camera and video camera and took a lot of videos and pictures. I was really excited!