The titmouse is taking plenty of food back to its nest. It fought off the usually ferocious juncos this morning to get a prime spot.

After spotting a pair of lesser goldfinches yesterday, I bought one of those mesh socks filled with nyger seeds. No takers yet.

Thanks, Kaiser, for canceling my appointment today, but not telling me till I got there.

Mealworms disappear fast when nests are full of ravenous baby birds (low-res frame from video). No matter, there are 1,000 of these coming in the mail today.

For several days now, a large gray squirrel has been sneaking up to the bird feeder tables. While I do sit in front of the window, the rain has forced me to move one of tables next to the wall on my far left. I can’t see it without pushing the chair back, which is hard to do on a very busy day engrossed in my day job.

It has made quite a dent in the food. Three times today, I chased it away, only to have it return within a couple of minutes. I own a large Havahart trap which I hesitated to move due to my annoying back problems. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I put it right by the feeder table. A chickadee flew in as I did so, thus reassuring me that the presence of this giant trap wouldn’t bother the birds.

My squirrel bait is stale walnuts smeared with peanut butter. It works well when blue jays aren’t around to steal it.

It didn’t take 10 minutes. Later it will be taken to a happier place for squirrels.

This morning, a bright red/orange hummingbird flew in to sample the flowers on the lemon tree a few feet away. Could it be? I’ve never seen one before. Gone before I could take a photo.

Still no Sparky but two small hummers were flitting about near the feeder early this morning, possibly his progeny.

I stepped outside to check the mealworms, and hear the familiar whirrring sound a hummingbird makes when you are too close to its feeder. Could it be? It flies by again, and then lands on the tomato cage and looks at me. No bright red throat. Smallish, but then so was Sparky. I run for the camera.

Of course it’s gone when I get back. Can it be he’s still defending his feeder, but living on insects for now?

The chickadee pair has stepped up their visits to the feeder, and taking mealworms as fast as I can get them out there. Their habit has been to land in the nandina bushes about a foot from my desk, then look for the feeder location, which has been changing due to all the rains. I forgot to bring in the cornmeal suet last night, which got completely soaked.

Just now, a chickadee shows up, chirping more than usual, then starts flapping its wings vigorously, pleadingly, with its mouth open. Aha! That was quick!

I have a large order of mealworms on order since the 50 I bought the other day are almost gone.

The deer scare has been written about here before, and is simply a large black pot with the moving parts in the middle. On the lip of the bamboo portion, there is a growth of moss topped with tiny jewel-like capsules. Frequently, this moss keeps the deer scare from working properly, but it is so beautiful that I leave it.

Recent rains have filled the pot to the brim, further hampering movement. This afternoon, the family member stood at the door and said there was something I should see, but it would make me sad. Oh no, not Sparky.

It was a hummingbird face down in the water. There was no way to tell if it was a male or female, it had been in the water a long time. A day or so ago, I saw what seemed to be a large leaf in the water. Only a small portion of the bird was visible, but once we got it out, the tail feathers all fanned out. Still, I couldn’t tell.

I did see what seemed to be Sparky only a few days ago. Male hummers are fierce defenders of their territory, and this could have been a potential suitor to the missus. It seemed too big to be a juvenile. Time, as they say, will tell.

It was almost to the other side of the room, and was unhappy. I left it near the deer scare container. Inside the container was another story.

In the process of mowing the lawn and picking up plant containers, the family member happened upon a salamander. Of course I wanted it to photograph, so he put it in a 3″ tall wood planter, and I put it on my desk. Then I proceeded to go through the hour of footage shot this morning, thinking the salamander could wait.

It didn’t. When I looked in the box next, it was empty. I keep a pair of boots by the desk, which it would have dropped into if it went over the edge of the desk. Nothing in the boots. Nothing on the floor all around. But then the door is wide open on this sunny day in the mid-70s.

I’m guessing it went right back outside. I sure hope so.

The towhees have a nest in the dead arborvitae, along with at least one other unidentified bird pair. I glanced up as a towhee flew out of the bush, and right behind it was a hummingbird, which landed somewhere in the bougainvillea. Just out of fun, I called out ‘Sparky! Sparky!’

Thank goodness I work alone, as this may seem like demented behavior. But I used to talk to Sparky all the time as he visited the feeder. There’s a goodly amount of footage of him looking directly at the camera as I’m saying his name.

The hummingbird came to the tomato cage about 18″ from the feeder, and looked at me. The cage is what I hang the feeder on when there isn’t enough light under the overhang where the feeder normally is. He had the bright red throat, so I knew it wasn’t a juvenile or the missus. Then he was gone.

Could it be? Does he actually help feed them, and that’s where he’s been the last 2-1/2, almost three weeks?

Yesterday, I saw two hummers high up in the oaks going through what appeared to be a mating dance. I don’t think juveniles can fly that well. We’ll see what the following days bring.

Two of them, stopping at the deer scare, whose container is overflowing from recent storms. They stopped at the breath of heaven bush, then one came to the feeder, but doesn’t seem to know what to do. Is this a juvenile? It looked slender, but could be, I guess. I’ll try to get some photos.

Thanks to the continous downpours today, I now know what hydroplaning is.

Surprisingly, the chickadee pair are making a new nest. I thought by now they’d have fledging chicks. Maybe the marauding squirrels ate the eggs. Daily now, the pair pull at the remnants of the long-abandoned nest (of another bird) by the window. One of them found the mealworms this morning. A titmouse went for them immediately. Maybe traffic will finally increase. Sparky is still missing, but his mate came by for a drink at the deer scare yesterday.

Meanwhile, the juncos are hesitant to perch on the small twig I stuck in the middle of the mealworm cup. I’m working on a better solution.

Last year, I bought roasted mealworms as a treat for the various birds that show up at the feeder. I’m going to assume that they got out their miniature cameras and took shots to put on their blogs, complaining about how underwhelming crunchy mealworms can be. Word certainly got out.

After inspecting these treats, I decided they were the equivalent of pork rinds for humans - some of us like them, some not.

Before dinner last night, I ran out and got a container of real mealworms from the pet store. This was not a simple task. In the store fridge, there were three tiers. One held the small containers, then the mediums, then the large. On closer inspection, some little tubs held waxworms. Others had Giant Mealworms. These I bought.

Today, I’ve set up the usual soft suet, but in a clear plastic cup (directions say to put out mealworms in something they can’t climb). Knowing the birds can’t perch on the thin rim of this cup, I inserted a twig. Then I added a few worms.

The juncos came by first, noting the live food. But being juncos, they appeared cool about it, pecking at the bits of food I’d dropped earlier at the edges of the feeder. One pecked at the side of the cup where it could see a mealworm. It did this time and again, then gave up.

Then the male wren showed up. It went straight for the twig, and was upside down reaching for a worm when I realized I did not have the camera and tripod set up. While I got my gear out, Mrs. Wren appeared, attracted, no doubt, by the symphony pouring out of Mr. Wren from the roof’s edge where he was going nuts.

It will be an interesting afternoon.

The resident hummingbird, Sparky, has been missing from his usual feeder activities for two weeks. After today, I suspect he’s more of a hands-on father (so to speak) than most male ruby-throated hummers.

After reading up on the facts of nesting life, I learned that males don’t stick around, don’t assist with the nest building and might even search out another mate. But this afternoon, I spotted a hummingbird skimming along the vinca, looking for insects. Then I saw another. When it turned, I saw the red throat.

The preferred food for baby hummers is regurgitated insects. I bet they’re doing great on all that food from mom and pop both.

For those who are tired of the usual tighty whities, underwear with the look of Japanese armor.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted it, flitting from one vinca flower to another, then it came at the feeder. Was it Sparky, missing for almost two weeks now? I got up to look. It fed for a few seconds, hovered, looking in the while and fled.

I think it was the missus. She’s the only female bird I’ve seen lately, all the rest must be on their nests.