Feeding on Sweet Gum seeds is a lot of work!
A lot of probing goes on and you can see some debris falling at the bottom of this next image.
The Chickadee’s foot grasps the ball between the spikes.
Check out the reward!
From my research the seed balls of the Sweet Gum (or Sweetgum, depending on where you read) tree should be empty of seeds by mid fall.
Clearly this tree didn’t follow the program and several Carolina Chickadees were feeding in its upper branches on this mid-January day.
The dried pod stems are still quite sturdy, although this little bird doesn’t weigh much at 0.3-0.4 ounces (8-12 g) per All About Birds.
If you’ve ever touched one of these balls you’ll likely remember; those spikes are quite sharp.
Fellow blogger Mike Powell has captured similar scenes in Virginia where there is overlap in both the tree and the bird, including his post Acrobatic Chickadee
A perky Carolina Wren entertained me while he hunted for bugs on a vine covered tree trunk.
The vine and some Spanish Moss are good hiding places for bugs.
An occasional stop for a song is the wren’s way.
I think I was spotted.
Back to business the wren moved on up the trunk.
I spotted this Eastern Phoebe from a distance, his whitish chest shining like a beacon in all this dried winter brown. I was pleased he stayed put until I got a bit closer.
After a bit he entertained me with some flutter dives as he hunted, then he landed in this nearby dried stalk.
This Yellow-rumped Warbler flew into a tree right in front of me.
I think we were both surprised!
I had a narrow gap view of this Eastern Phoebe perched on a cattail at the edge of a small pond.
I waited for a clear shot as the tall grasses and hanging Spanish Moss waved around in a slight breeze.
The breeze was agitating the water, too, giving interesting ripple patterns in the background.
Redstarts are part of the fall warbler migration through South Carolina and this is the first year I’ve gotten more than a glimpse of one of these speedy songbirds.
This one landed right in front of me when I was standing on a short bridge over a pond outlet late one recent afternoon. She then dropped to the ground so that I was looking down on her at the water level.
She proceeded to splash around in the water which was in the dark shade of the bridge, flashing her colored tail feathers.
A stalk of tiny purple flowers attracted this House Finch.
The delicate looking plant was easy pickings for the finch’s stout beak.
He had a nice snack before moving on.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston SC
August 7, 2020
I saw movement but it took my eyes a few minutes to spot this little songbird staring back at me.
The Merlin Bird ID app tells me this is a Common Yellowthroat, to my eye looking a whole lot like many other young or female warblers.
He was on the hunt, jumping from branch to branch, checking behind these waxy leaves for bugs or worms.
I got a quick full body peek while he contemplated his next move, which was to zoom into the heights of this tree.
White-eyed Vireos are a fast, elusive song bird.
This one was intent on food. He picked a worm off a leaf and flew down to an open branch to eat it.
But first he beat it a few times.
I’ve seen song birds gather a stack of worms or insects in their beak and thought he might be rendering this one ready for a flight to a nest.
No, this one was for him.
One gulp and it was gone.
