One of the reasons I started this blog was to document the birds that come and go in my backyard. The posts below detail both the rarities and the ordinary wonders with wings!
August 24, 2010 - A few nights ago I mentioned seeing lots of swallows flying over the neighborhood in the evenings. Today I took my new camera on our walk and got some pictures. I think they are Barn Swallows. They continue to fly over the neighborhood in regular patterns at dusk. Note: Gotta love ISO 12,800 on my […]
August 23, 2010 - We’ve been seeing increased House Finch activity in the last week or so. I’ve seen juveniles flapping their wings and begging for food, and older males starting to molt (and looking extremely scruffy!) We’ve had six and eight birds at a time at the bird bath and bird feeders. It’s nice to see the activity […]
August 20, 2010 - Yes, that’s right, we had a hummingbird visit the yard around 9:30 this morning! First it came to the rosebushes near the porch, when I first noticed it. Then it flew off to the Mexican sunflower in the back of the yard and stayed there for a bit. Of course, as soon as I got […]
August 18, 2010 - The Mourning Doves in our yard aren’t too thrilled about the summer heat. Each afternoon they seek shelter in the shade of the rosebushes. I never would have considered my rosebushes to be major shade sources, but I guess when you are a dove that only stands a few inches high, you don’t need much! […]
August 17, 2010 - This little cardinal is so cute, hopping around our backyard every evening.
August 9, 2010 - Or is it Beaky-etta? This juvenile cardinal has been so sweet for the last week or so, hopping around the backyard and chirping. She seems to spend a lot of time with a male cardinal, who I assumed was her dad, until I noticed him doing the “hungry baby wing flutter.” So maybe he’s her […]
July 24, 2010 - The windy and cloudy weather courtesy of Tropical Storm Bonnie don’t seem to be bothering the birds around Stoneybrook West. This group of juvenile White Ibises seemed to be having very good luck hunting for lunch this afternoon!
July 5, 2010 - This morning we looked out to see Papa Cardinal with Baby C in the bird feeder. The baby was doing the “feed me!” wing flutter and Papa obliged him by depositing nice sunflower kernels right into his mouth. It looks like Baby C is a little boy (he is starting to molt into his adult […]
July 4, 2010 - It’s been rainy for the past few days and the feeder activity has picked up some in the intervals without rain. This afternoon the backyard got quiet quickly, though, as this adult Cooper’s Hawk perched on top of the big bird feeder and surveyed the yard. Lucky for our birdies, he didn’t see any motion, […]
June 25, 2010 - This afternoon I observed a very light-colored House Finch at the front feeder. The patches of light brown, almost white, on his face were intriguing, so I got out the camera for a closer look. With my zoom lens I could see that this was a juvenile bird, molting into his male adult plumage. Goldilocks […]
June 24, 2010 - The neighborhood is alive with calls from baby birds. Most have fledged and are fairly easy to spot on our evening walks. Just listen for shrill calls and watch for “I’m hungry” kinds of wing-flapping. This juvenile mockingbird attracted my attention with his calls, then he sat and watched me as I walked closer for […]
June 17, 2010 - Beaky finally found that wife! wife! wife! that he was looking for…and now he’s a proud papa, too. We’ve been hearing the babies in Peter and Carla’s oak tree for a couple of weeks now. Today they finally came to visit Goldy at her living room window. :) Beaky spent about 15 minutes chirping his […]
June 15, 2010 - The house finches are sticking around for the summer. Although we don’t see as many as we did during the winter, we hear them all over Stoneybrook West, and we have our faithful group that still comes to the feeder. I haven’t seen any babies yet this year. There’s always a decline in feeder activity […]
June 14, 2010 - We saw these Mourning Doves sitting on our fountain when we went out for our walk this evening. We’re not sure how they managed the dexterity to both land, and they managed to stay, too! “Look out below!”
June 11, 2010 - Rich and I saw a bunch of baby birds on our walk tonight. We finally caught up with our baby mallards, who we’ve been chasing for the last week or so. We keep seeing them as we drive out, when I don’t have my camera. Tonight we were amused to see them crossing Pebble Ridge […]
June 10, 2010 - I love my new gimbal head! It’s so easy to use. I went out in the backyard this evening to photograph the baby cardinals in Peter and Carla’s oak tree, but I couldn’t find the nest. This dove posed for me, though.
June 6, 2010 - This evening, Rich and I set out on our walk, I mean, our quest, to the Weeping Willows that are Far, Far Away (well, the intersection of Tour Pointe and Town Commons). There we met two ogres (according to their prey!) named Shrek and Fiona. I began photographing them as Rich asked “Can we go […]
May 23, 2010 - I’ve been watching this little family of mallards for the last couple of weeks. They come across the golf course every morning to go wading in the pond in between Pebble Ridge and Fox Hunt. I’ve never had my camera with me to photograph them, though, and the babies have been growing up. Tonight, finally, […]
May 12, 2010 - Rich and I were out for our evening walk the other day when we saw a mallard in the pond with a bunch of baby ducks. Of course I didn’t have the camera with me that day, and of course we haven’t seen the ducklings since. :-p So I’ll post a pretty picture of a […]
May 4, 2010 - Rich and I saw some wild rabbits twice last week during our walks in Lakehurst at “Bunny Hour”, so this week I started carrying my camera in hopes of taking some pictures of them. (They are cute!) But of course we don’t see them when I have my camera with me (Rich calls it my […]
May 2, 2010 - We see our baby cardinals almost every day. Last week the babies were always with their parents, and the parents were still feeding them. This morning, the baby flew unaccompanied by his parents into our tree in front. He seemed to try to figure out how to eat out of the tube feeder without actually […]
April 29, 2010 - Goldilocks is pleased to continue welcoming her mallards to our backyard almost every afternoon. They go under the bird feeders and eat the seed on the ground. They’re pretty friendly, and they let you get fairly close before they start to worry. Next door, Peter and Carla have a little pond, with a duck statue […]
April 27, 2010 - Papa Cardinal brought his newly fledged babies to the front feeders tonight. Mama Cardinal joined them after a few minutes. The parents ate at the feeders, while the babies hung out in our ligustrum trees. Every so often, the parents would hop over to the babies and feed them. There was such a commotion of […]
April 16, 2010 - I was out refilling bird feeders this morning when I noticed a new little bird hopping around in the rosebed. At first it was in shadow, and I assumed it was a migrating warbler. Then it moved into the light and I realized it had a green cast. “No, it can’t be!” I thought as […]
April 3, 2010 - Our two goldfinches continue to molt. It’s strange to only have the two visiting the yard. Usually by this time in the year, I’ve had to pull out the 24-port feeder, which I usually end up refilling several times a week! Where are all the goldfinches?
March 29, 2010 - Here’s a Squirt’s-eye view of his favorite place in the house: the window feeder! He spends hours sitting underneath it, staring up at it, waiting, waiting, waiting….and then we hear a thud and the house finches fly away. Poor Squirt.
March 27, 2010 - Goldy’s ducks were back this morning! Both Pete and I grabbed our cameras and went to take pictures. You know when you have good neighbors when they don’t think it’s strange to see you hanging out the upstairs windows, taking pictures of birds! :)
March 26, 2010 - I’m not seeing nearly as many goldfinches as usual this year. There’s a pair that comes faithfully to my feeder; usually by now I’ve had to pull out the 24-port feeder and even then I’m turning customers away! Oh well, at least these two have stuck around, and one is a male, so I get […]
March 25, 2010 - Sorry, Goldy, I accidentally erased the pictures of the ducks that visited the backyard on Monday…because I was in such a hurry to get out to take pictures of the baby sand hill cranes that were on the golf course tonight!!! :) There were two parents and two babies altogether. Aren’t they cute?
March 20, 2010 - Dyeyo and I went to Circle B Bar Reserve this morning, and then we saw this eagle circling my papitos’ house this afternoon. I’ve seen an eagle flying over my own backyard this winter, too, but I haven’t gotten a picture of it yet. They’re so majestic when they fly!
March 19, 2010 - The oak tree was full of cedar waxwings this morning. They stayed for about 10 minutes, until the brown-headed cowbirds took over the tree. I saw about 8 robins when I left work this afternoon. It’s been several weeks since I’ve seen any – I thought they were all gone by now. This migration year […]
March 16, 2010 - Our resident yellow-throated warbler, nicknamed Bow Tie, has been visiting almost every day. He likes to hang out by Carla’s back window, and then he gets a snack from our front tray feeder. Note: We stopped seeing Bow Tie shortly after this post. So I think he leaves to go back North around mid-March. Come […]
March 11, 2010 - Didn’t Mrs. Cardinal’s mother teacher her not to chew with her mouth open?
March 6, 2010 - What do you get when you cross cute yellow birds and the wicked witch of the west? “We’re mooooolting!”
March 3, 2010 - Mrs. C. (or is it Mrs. Beaky?) was a happy birdie, hanging out in the backyard this evening. It’s fun that the days are getting longer and we get home early enough to see them. :)
March 1, 2010 - We’ve been enjoying the cheerful sounds of the goldfinches each morning. They’re so cute! It seems like some of them have left the yard, since the niger seed isn’t disappearing as quickly as it was a few weeks ago, but we still have a couple of faithful guys that come every morning.
February 26, 2010 - Our Dove Detector (a.k.a. Squirt) went crazy with squeaking when it saw this dove on Carla and Peter’s roof. Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma…Mieu!!!
February 21, 2010 - Good news for Beaky! I went into the backyard this afternoon and found him chasing around TWO female cardinals in the crape myrtle. Maybe all his calls for a wife-wife-wife-wife-wife are starting to pay off…
February 20, 2010 - I’ve been playing with focus refinement with Live View on my camera and it really does help. Look at all the detail in this house finch!
February 18, 2010 - Mr. Warbles came to visit Goldy and Squirt! Note: Mr. Warbles is a palm warbler that visits each year. How do we know which warbler is Mr. Warbles? Well, he’s the one that comes up to the bay window to visit the cats.
February 15, 2010 - While Dyeyo enjoyed a nice trip to Circle B while Rich and I had to work, this shrike sat waiting for its next victim…
February 14, 2010 - Happy Valentine’s Day! I guess the robins and the cedar waxwings decided to go on a puddle-fishing date. Later they visited Peter and Carla’s yard, too!
February 13, 2010 - There were hundreds of robins and cedar waxwings by the town center this morning! Then some of them came to visit Goldy and Squirt at our house. I got to use my new flash extender – the morning was very cloudy and gross, and the only way I could get decent pictures was to use […]
February 12, 2010 - Finally! Bow Tie posed and I had the camera ready. I’ve been trying to get a good picture of this little yellow-throated warbler since he came back in September. He’s so cute! This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. If you have a Dove Detector named Squirt, all you have to do is count […]
February 11, 2010 - Usually by the time we get home from work, the only birds in the yard are the “piggies” (red-wing blackbirds, grackles, and brown-headed cowbirds). This piggy looked so nice by the sunset light that I couldn’t resist snapping her picture.
February 10, 2010 - Robins! In the fall it seems as if they migrate very high, and we only hear them from a distance. But in the spring they come down and hang out in the oak trees. It’s fun to have them around!
February 6, 2010 - This is our first azalea bloom of the spring. So sorry, Punxsutawney Phil, but I don’t think my azaleas got the memo about the six extra weeks of winter!
January 31, 2010 - Goldy and I were surprised to look over and see this Eastern Phoebe sitting in our crape myrtle this afternoon. Goldy was even more surprised when I grabbed my camera, laid down on the floor (to get a blinds-free view of the bird), and then scooted backwards until I reached a minimum focus distance and […]
January 17, 2010 - Wow it was windy today! Beaky spent the whole morning hanging on for dear life in the top of the oak tree, calling out repeatedly his need for a “wife! wife! wife! wife!”