Lesley the Bird Nerd

Cute level: completely unreasonable! 😄☺️
This young Black-capped Chickadee was curiously watching me today. I’m not familiar with this little one, but it sure knew how to ham it up for the camera.🖤🤍🐦

4 days ago | [YT] | 4,699

Lesley the Bird Nerd

A sweet dose of Speckle cuteness 🤎🤍
Speckle is a lovely Boreal Chickadee with distinct little white feathers on his forehead and at the corner of his right eye. They’re one of those helpful individual characteristics that let me know it’s him 😊
Every year when he molts, those same little white feathers grow back, almost like nature gave him his own tiny signature. 🤎🤍
Isn't he adorable? 😊

Just a side note. I'm still plugging away at the video about a chickadee who nested in my yard. It's coming along and although I had hoped to have it up for tomorrow (Sunday Sept, 20th) but it will have to wait until next Sunday (Sept, 27th). I'm very much looking forward to sharing it with you all. ❣️

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend 🙂🐦

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1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,998

Lesley the Bird Nerd

Meet a few of my adorable little camera crew 🐦😊 They may not know much about operating a DJI, but they certainly look the part! Especially the Blue Jay who looks to be particularly serious about his job, "Like there'd better be something usable on that memory card." 🩵😅

I think it's safe to say that between the wonderful new feeder and the bird bath, the birds in this yard are very happy and that makes me happy 🥰

1. White throated sparrows 2. Blue Jay 3. Evening Grosbeak 4. White-throated sparrow 5. Evening Grosbeaks in the feeder eating. 6. White-throated Sparrow and Evening Grosbeaks in the feeder

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,231

Lesley the Bird Nerd

Just popping in to say; I hope you're having a wonderful day. 🤍

The bird in the photo is, Frosty the Blue jay. Take notice of the white feathers on his forehead-- that's what inspired his name 🩵🐦😊

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4,158

Lesley the Bird Nerd

A beautiful Bluebird family for your mid-week dose of sweetness 💙 Courtesy of ‪@BirdsWalkingDown‬

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 378

Lesley the Bird Nerd

This is Sweet Blue (1st pic). Take notice of the little "pin" feathers on his head and face. They grow inside a protective keratin sheath, which is what gives Sweet Blue's new feathers that pointed, spiky appearance.

At this stage of growth, the developing feathers are still being nourished by a blood supply. But as each feather matures, the blood supply retreats, the protective sheath begins to break down, and the new feather unfurls.

You can see the difference in the second photo of Sweet Blue's mate, Chloe. Her new head feathers are further along, with many having emerged from their sheaths and unfurled, giving her a much softer and fluffier appearance compared with Sweet Blue's adorable little porcupine "hairdo".

Pretty neat huh? Aren't birds just full of fascinating little attributes?

The other photos are; 3rd Sweet Blue, 4th Chloe, and the last photo are the two of them 🩵🩵🐦🐦

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 3,197

Lesley the Bird Nerd

A little behind-the-scenes look at a video I've been working on.

I think this may be one of the hardest videos I've ever had to put together. Not just because of the editing itself, but also because of the story I'm trying to tell and everything that came with it.

There are parts of this story that are beautiful, parts that are difficult, and some that I've really struggled with figuring out how to tell. I've gone back over the script, narration and editing more times than I can count, trying to put it all together in a way that feels right.

It's taking me much longer than I expected, but I'm still working away at it. This little chickadee father and his story mean a lot to me, and I really want to do it justice. 💙

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,160

Lesley the Bird Nerd

Remember the Juncos I shared with you back in the spring? 🤎

The ones who began trusting me, chasing me down and coming out to see me as I walked through the woodland I frequent, knowing I might have some peanuts and seeds they could bring back to their little ones?

Well, this sweetie is one of those four Juncos (two pairs) and the only one who has regularly remained in my life. 🥰

Early this morning, it came to see me while I was standing there with my Blue Jay and chickadee buddies. I was able to give the little angel a couple of peanuts before it went on its way. It always fills my heart with joy when I see this sweet little soul.

I actually did get to see this juncos little ones which I've included in this collection🥰

Young Dark-eyed Juncos can look surprisingly different from their parents. When they first leave the nest, they're much browner and heavily streaked, particularly across the breast and belly, rather than having the cleaner grey-and-white appearance we associate with the adults. Newly fledged youngsters can also have that unmistakable baby-bird look around the bill. As they grow and begin replacing their juvenile feathers, they gradually start looking more like the Juncos we're familiar with.

It was such a wonderful experience getting to know these Juncos this year, earning their trust, and then having the privilege of seeing some of their youngsters, too. 🤎

If you'd like to learn more about Dark-eyed Juncos, you can check out this video I made a few years ago:https://youtu.be/u7ujX8rLSIo?si=mFU0K...

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3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,400

Lesley the Bird Nerd

I had the pleasure of contributing some of my Blue jay footage to a wonderful new nature series called, Neighborhood Wild created by Quinn ‪@NeighbourhoodWild‬

I watched the full episode, 'Hibernation', today and genuinely enjoyed it from beginning to end. It’s fun, informative, creative, beautifully put together, and even had me learning a few new things along the way!

And, of course, I have to admit it was pretty neat seeing some familiar Blue Jays make an appearance 🩵

If you enjoy learning about wildlife and nature, I think many of you will really enjoy this one. Quinn has put an incredible amount of talent and creativity into it.

I hope you'll give Neighbourhood Wild a watch and show Quinn some support! 🐦🐻🌲

-Lesley 🐦

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 72

Lesley the Bird Nerd

My buddy Frosty has that fresh-haircut look now that his head feathers are nearly all back! And with them, his distinctive white markings on the front of his head (the ones that inspired his name) are shining again 🥰

In certain lighting, especially dimmer light, those markings really stand out. He's the only one of the jays I know and see regularly who has them so prominently. Most of the others have very little white in that area, if any at all.

It's one of those little individual differences that I've come to recognize him by. So pay attention to the jays visiting your garden, if you get a good enough look you might see an individual of your like that 🩵🤍🐦

A breakdown of how I can tell individual blue jays apart https://youtu.be/eKfK9Ak9MPM?si=1q2qw...

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,171