Backyard photography

A nature photographer’s images and stories of birds, butterflies, and other creatures from her backyard near Orlando, FL

Goldfinch

March 27, 2008 - More Goldfinch pictures…this bright yellow one in the oak tree was so perfectly perched, I just had to take his picture… :)

Stowaway caterpillar

March 22, 2008 - We planted crape myrtles today and this caterpillar hitched a ride home from Lukas. He’s a White-Marked Tussock Moth caterpillar and my book says he’s pretty common on the East coast.

Piggy birds

March 18, 2008 - Every afternoon the flocks of blackbirds descend upon our backyard and eat up all the seed in the big feeder. They are a combination of grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and brown-headed cowbirds. They make a lot of noise squawking as they fight over access to the feeders and birdbaths.

Robins

March 10, 2008 - Finally! There were three Cedar Waxwings in the oak tree across the street this afternoon. Plus a whole flock of robins, who took turns getting a drink in our fountain. Then we took a walk in the evening, and we saw more Palm Warblers in that 30 minutes than we’ve seen in the whole rest […]

Ladybug

March 9, 2008 - I used my macro lens plus a teleconverter to attempt to capture the detail of this ladybug. It’s rather creepy to see the detail of his eyes in a few of the shots! Now if only we could teach ladybugs to turn on command…now come towards the camera…ok, hold it, stay there for a minute… […]

Howie the House Finch

March 8, 2008 - Howie the House Finch was eating at the feeder right in front of the window and I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of him. They turned out really well! I wonder if Howietta appreciates how cute he is? :)

Goldfinches!

March 7, 2008 - More Goldy-finches! (Yes, our world is cat-centric. We also call Gray Catbirds “SquirtBirds”.) I was very excited to get these detailed pictures of the goldfinches as they start to put on their breeding plumage. You can see the patches of old winter blah next to the new patches of bright yellow. It’s fun to see […]

Flyin’ goldfinch

March 1, 2008 - For the past few weeks I’ve been seeing only the occasional Goldfinch stop at the thistle feeders, and then this morning we had ten of them breakfasting in the backyard. They are starting to get their breeding plumage back, and some look pretty silly in their in-between molting stage. I hope they stick around a […]

Loggerhead Shrikes

February 22, 2008 - I haven’t seen one of these Loggerhead Shrikes around since about this time last year. This was the second morning I saw him perched in our oak tree. This week has been Robin Week, too. Huge flocks of them have been passing through the neighborhood, landing in trees and on houses. We’ve not seen the […]

Pineapple beginnings

February 17, 2008 - Stupid chinch bugs!! We spent all day digging up the backyard to resod. :-p But on the bright side, Rich noticed that our first pineapples are starting to grow!

Great Backyard Bird Count

February 15, 2008 - This weekend we are looking forward to participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Here’s bird #1! We haven’t seen Mrs. C. around much lately, but Mr. Cardinal spends several hours every morning singing from the top of our oak tree.

Hydrangeas

February 7, 2008 - Finally! My hydrangeas are really going to bloom this year! Even better, it looks like they are thinking about being bluish purple! Yay!

Groundhog Day

February 2, 2008 - Sorry to disagree with you, Punxsutawney Phil, but it appears that spring is making an early appearance in Central Florida. Our azaleas and hydrangeas are starting to bloom and it’s nice and warm out. Today it was hard to prune back my roses, which all had nice flushes of new growth, thanks to all the […]

More goldfinches

January 26, 2008 - More Goldfinches! They’ve been competing with our House Finches for the black oil sunflower feeders. Goldy and Squirt approve of the new feeders I put right outside our living room window.

Robin in the backyard

January 19, 2008 - Finally, a robin came to visit! We’ve been hearing them, and occasionally seeing them, at Oakland Nature Preserve for a month or two. But unlike last year, we’re not seeing much of them at the house. So I snapped this picture through my dirty window as proof that this guy really did come by…

Rose preparations begin

January 11, 2008 - Normally I don’t like spiders, but there is something neat about seeing such detail in a tiny one perched on a pretty rose. :) We had a hard freeze this week, but most of the plants got through OK. My roses are fine. It actually motivated me to finish clearing plants to prepare for the […]

Downy Woodpecker

December 31, 2007 - We were very surprised to see this Downy Woodpecker in our yard today, first in Carla’s oleander, then in our oak tree. We’ve never seen woodpeckers in our neighborhood before; I assumed we didn’t have trees that were big enough yet. But this guy was drumming away at our oak tree, so I guess it’s […]

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2007 - We’ve been taking advantage of the warm weather and the time off from work to plant some winter annuals. These ‘African Sparkler Daisies’ are so pretty, especially with their colorful centers.

Goldfinches

December 22, 2007 - These days there is almost always at least one Goldfinch in the yard. They’re so pretty and their songs are so sweet! Today I happened to have the camera out while a flock landed in the yard. It was upside-down feeding time!

‘Tuscan Sun’ rose

December 9, 2007 - My roses are loving our cooler weather. They have put on tons of growth and are blooming like crazy. For the first time, ‘Tuscan Sun’ is putting out double blooms, and they are a beautiful deep orange. It improves my opinion of that bush tremendously!

Sand hill cranes

December 8, 2007 - The last thing we expected to see on the side of the road by Stoneybrook today was this pair of Sandhill Cranes. They obligingly stayed while we drove by three times, with me hanging out the window snapping pictures. :)

Goldfinches

December 2, 2007 - The Goldfinches have found the new upside-down Goldfinch feeder and we’ve been enjoying watching them! This guy also stopped for a drink at the birdbath.

Eastern Phoebe

November 23, 2007 - We see lots of Eastern Phoebes at Oakland Nature Preserve, but I think this is the first I’ve seen in our backyard. Phoebe, not to be confused with Preeby! :)

Hawk alert

November 22, 2007 - I woke up this morning, looked out the window, and saw this hawk sitting on the neighbors’ roof. I grabbed the camera, pulled the blinds up, and shot some pictures through the window glass. Look at the beak of this guy!

Fewer warblers around?

November 21, 2007 - We’ve been seeing surprisingly few warblers at Oakland Nature Preserve for the last few weeks. Fortunately, we still have plenty in our yard, and they come very close to the porch while hunting insects. Goldy and Squirt have a great time watching them! I guess the birds don’t notice the cat ears sticking out over […]

Blue-gray gnatcatchers

November 20, 2007 - Rich has a new favorite bird – the blue-gray gnatcatcher. We’ve had several hanging around the yard for the past few weeks. It’s fun to watch them dart for insects – they are so fast!

My 400mm lens!!!!!

November 19, 2007 - Rich gave me my new lens early, and using it, I was able to take such details shots of our backyard House Finches. I can’t believe how sharp this lens is! I can’t wait to take it to Oakland to try with the Painted Buntings.

Our first goldfinches

November 18, 2007 - We had three American Goldfinches in the yard today! I’ve never seen one here before. I’ve had a feeder with niger seed out for them for about a year now, and I was actually considering taking it down. I’m glad I didn’t!

Birdbath clowns

November 8, 2007 - We had at least twelve House Finches singing and playing (and eating!) in our yard today. I sat outside reading with my camera ready. These bird bath shots are especially cute.

Squirt meets Squirrel

November 7, 2007 - Squirt made a new friend today – there was a squirrel climbing on our screen room. Finally, somebody with a tail as big as Squirt’s! Too bad Rich made him come inside. Goldy and Squirt are also starting to pay attention to the little warblers that hop on the ground close to the screen room. […]

Mona Lavender

October 28, 2007 - I planted two more Mona Lavender plants in the front yard today. I’d never noticed how detailed the flowers are. The undersides are spotted with purple and white, and are actually iridescent. Definitely a good opportunity to play with my macro lens!

Oleander caterpillars

October 24, 2007 - I’ve seen several Oleander caterpillars on our screen room siding and on Carla’s oleander. I’m half surprised they manage to survive with all the birds that have come back to the yard…but then again, if I were a bird, I wouldn’t trust something this spiny either!

White Peacock

October 23, 2007 - There have been fewer butterflies in the last few weeks but this White Peacock has been visiting daily to nectar on my black-eyed Susans.

New yard visitors

October 20, 2007 - Add blue-gray gnatcatchers and black-and-white warblers to the list of backyard visitors! I didn’t see either of these in our backyard last year. Maybe the birds have been spreading the word about the free seed at Goldy’s house…

Mr. Warbles is back!

October 19, 2007 - Mr. Warbles is back! Actually, I think I saw the first warbler on October 1. I’ve been looking forward to their return – they are so cute! So now my primary visitors in the yard are the mourning doves, the house finches, a cardinal pair, the warblers, and a couple of mockingbirds. Fewer red-wing blackbirds […]

Monarch

October 15, 2007 - This porterweed reseeded itself from last year’s plant, and the Monarch didn’t object! So I guess the Monarchs haven’t quite left for their fall migration. I’ve seen several around the yard on the milkweed in the last week or two.

New rose mini

October 6, 2007 - I just can’t help it, I’m obsessed with roses! This one is a beautiful little mini that reminds me of ‘Peace’.