Giving Thanks

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I had the opportunity to sit in the backyard with my Beast for a half hour over Thanksgiving. It was a cold morning and the birds were so grateful for my feeders and the bugs on my plants. Come and see who was visiting…

Painted Bunting
Painted Bunting

The Painted Buntings returned on schedule this year, in the first week of October. Now I get to sit in my home office and enjoy seeing four males at my feeder at once! I am very spoiled. :)

Orange-crowned Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler

The Orange-crowned Warblers came back in mid-November. They love to hang out on the purple salvias, drinking nectar from the blooms. This one looks very determined to get a good drink!

Gray Catbird
Gray Catbird

Mieu! Mieu! The Gray Catbirds were out in full force. They meowed to me to remind me to go inside and feed Whiskey. You can see the new growth on plants that were heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton.

Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal

Mrs. Cardinal was grateful for the seeds on my coral honeysuckle vine. The vine died suddenly at the end of the year, but I left it because the birds love to perch in the branches.

Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler

Mr. Warbles was active hopping around in the lawn. Every once in a while, he’d pull a bug from the grass and eat it.

Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmice are one of my dad’s favorite birds. They are so cute, swooping in to grab a seed from the feeder, then taking it to a bush to eat. They were definitely enjoying their Thanksgiving feast!

But there was one bird who liked to chase away all the other birds. A bully bird. She was small and ferocious and she chased off doves, red-wings, buntings, and house finches. Ready to laugh? The bully bird was the smallest bird!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Thanksgiving Walk at Oakland Nature Preserve

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My dad joined me for a Thanksgiving afternoon walk at Oakland Nature Preserve. What better way to walk off our Thanksgiving dinners? I think it was the first day that the boardwalk was open after Hurricanes Ian and Milton. There were so many trees down along the sides of the boardwalk. Huge trees.

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Hurricane damage off the boardwalk

One of my favorite places on the boardwalk is at the very end, near the dock. That’s where Rich and I found our first Pileated Woodpeckers many years ago as the bird photography bug was catching me. Often I can find flocks of mixed warblers and blue-gray gnatcatchers in that spot too. Well, now some of those giant trees are knocked on their sides. The base of this one had to be at least 20 feet across.

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Giant oak tree knocked down by the storm

We saw bits and pieces of boardwalk boards in the trees. It must have been a huge effort to get the boardwalk repaired.

As good as it was to be out, the afternoon was not particularly birdy. This Eastern Phoebe perched in the treetop calling her name to us. Phoebe, Phoebe!

Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe

We wondered at the absence of small birds. Maybe it was too early in the afternoon for much activity. Maybe the birds were off celebrating Thanksgiving. Or maybe this Red-shouldered Hawk made it known that he was monitoring the area…

Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk

Of course I am not allowed to go out with my camera and return without a turtle photo for Rich. So here’s the turtle of the day!

Turtle
Turtle

Whiskey’s New Life Bird

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Our cat Whiskey was excited to look out of his window post-Milton and see a new lifer bird at his feeder. Well, it’s a lifer to him. It’s the first time we’ve seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak in our backyard.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are back for the winter. I’ve had both male and female birds vying over the feeder. They were especially hungry the morning after the hurricane! This next picture surprised me – not at all my usually Beastly image quality, but not bad given that it was taken through my office window and our porch screen! The little hummer was happy that there were flowers left in the yard.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Hopefully I’ll get to spend some quality Beast time with this little beauty soon!