Birds of a Feather

for anyone who knows me or reads my blog, it comes as no surprise that i love birds. i invested in a good tube feeder. (don't go cheap...squirrels can chew straight through the $4.99 plastic ones. don't ask me how i know.)
our feeder sometimes has as many as 10-12 goldfinches flitting back and forth. i love these bright, happy little creatures. 

all the following were shot by my daughter, erin.  she was sitting closer to the feeder and grabbed my camera.
  

 

although they're not quite as clear, i'm pleased with how well these next photos turned out. it was nearing dusk and i was using my zoom lens.

a pretty little house finch.

this red bellied woodpecker is a frequent visitor. 

  

"in all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

aristotle

 

Amazing Things....The Eagle

my dad occasionally emails our family with interesting things he reads, finds, or is sent by others. he sent this photo this morning and it was so cool that i wanted to share it. 

this amazing photo was taken by frank glick, an amateur photographer, and printed in the minneapolis star tribune. if you'd like to read the story follow this link to the newspaper website. 
i'm definitely taking my camera with me all the time now, lol. 

Chip or Dale?

i know i'm probably going overboard with the whole nature thing, but it's a love of mine and i'm practicing, trying to learn and improve my photography skills. last evening and early this morning i set up a makeshift photo studio on my picnic table, putting out birdseed and raw peanuts.  then i took the screen out of my living room window, set up a tripod, drew the curtains except for a peephole for the camera lens, and waited. such fun.

just take a look at those cheek pouches! come to think of it, that's kind of how i feel after eating at the chinese buffet.

 the whole gang!

 

Phlowers and Photography, or, Flowers and Fotography

The English language is interesting, is it not? Anyway, that's not what this post is about. It's about Mother's Day, and how my kids bless me. I'm perfectly happy with a call, a visit or a card, but they almost always go beyond that.

A lovely assortment of gifts from Natalie, Nathan's sweetheart, included this gorgeous calla lilly.

Andrea and the kids stopped by with this beautiful lace cap hydrangea.

This next photo isn't terribly interesting, but I sure had fun taking it.

You see, it was taken from probably about 30 feet away. Nathan heard me say I wanted to get myself a remote switch for my camera, and surprised me with one.  Of course, no birds landed on the feeder on my first trial run. I think the presense of the camera and tripod kept them away. So I'm going to let the empty tripod set there for a while to get them used to it. I did get a visitor at the tube feeder, but it was getting pretty dark for picture taking by that time. I had to lighten the photo a good bit.

I'm really excited about the process of getting some good wildlife closeups. I need to learn how to use the manual part of my camera. I see such wonderful photography on so many blogs and I want to get better. Most of the photos on this blog up to now, were taken with my Canon A20 point and shoot. It takes great pics, is simple to use, and I love it. The kids all went together and got it for me for Christmas one year. Recently I saved and bought myself a used Canon 20D SLR. Now I need to learn how to really use it....as in "what's an aperture or an F stop?" 

A Good Day in Birdland!

Pictures not the greatest, but not bad considering they were taken with my Canon point and shoot zoom lens. But such an exciting day. My Baltimore Orioles are back, busily nest building. And...for the first time since I began my interest in bird feeding and watching...not one, but two rose breasted grosbeaks. Both male, so there have to be girls around too.  These were taken two weeks ago and I just now got around to posting.

Public Enemy #1

Hate these guys!

They scare away the cute birds, the colorful birds, the interesting birds.
They hog up all the food, twice as fast as everybody else.

I sit at the computer with the window open, banging the windowsill with my plastic cup, yelling "get out of here!" like a madwoman.  Husband just shakes his head with the look that silently says "you know that won't do any good". 
Well, yes it does....IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER.

Said weapon.

Squatter's Rights

Squatter-  a person who settles on land without title, right, or payment of rent. 

I took this pic of a potted plant on my my front porch on July 15th.  Doing pretty well.

A few days ago I went out to water and, at first glance, thought my four year old grandson had been digging in my plant. (I apologize sweetie).  At closer inspection, I realized that I had a squatter. 

Of all the acres of plants, bushes and trees this little bugger had to choose from, she had to make a nest in my planter. Oh well...she new I wouldn't chase her out.  I haven't seen her yet to know what kind of bird she is, but she has startled the tar out of a few people as they unknowingly walked by and she whizzed out past them.

No eggs yet.

Old Friends

These little guys have become regular and welcome visitors at my feeder...Mr. and Mrs. Downy and a red bellied woodpecker.  The photos are not the best quality because I've had to zoom in so far. I am just using my Canon A630. It takes wonderful closeups and I love it, but I hope to someday have an SLR with a good zoom lens. One can always dream...

My husband made this feeding log (which is currently being enjoyed by the red bellied woodpecker) for me. He just took a small log, drilled holes in it and added a hanger. I fill the holes with suet. 

Experimenting

I'm playing. I'm still relatively new to this blogging business. Even though it's been over a year, I've never changed anything I'm doing. Not even the photo size. So this time I just went nuts and chose "large" instead of medium. I like to live dangerously.

My Little Visitor

You're going to have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see her...a female ruby throated hummingbird. They're so funny. I've seen four at one time so I know I have at least that many. They are all females and they will not share the feeder. Whoever is drinking at the time will chase everyone else away. There are four feeding portals, but will they share? No.....

A Miracle!

...to me, at least. The neat thing about this pic is what you don't see. Blackbirds, starlings, grackles, and cowbirds. Last weekend I told my husband I was thinking about stopping feeding birds. "All I'm doing anymore is feeding blackbirds." It had gotten to the point they were emptying the feeder at an astonishing rate and scaring away all the little birds. And all I was doing was making noise and chasing them away like a madwoman.
As a last resort, I got on the computer and googled "getting rid of blackbirds at feeders". I got three results: one- learn to appreciate blackbirds, grackles, etc. okay... no! two- buy or rig a feeder with a fencing cage around it (sold to protect against squirrels)...larger birds can't fit through. Okay...pretty good idea, a definite possibility. three- try safflower seeds. Most small and songbirds love it. Blackbirds, starlings, etc. don't have a taste for it. Hmm...interesting. So I bought some, put it out Sunday night. Monday morning, no black birds. Tuesday, no black birds. It's Friday and I've seen maybe three or four at the feeder all week. They check things out and take off...not interested. It's absolutely amazing to me. The cost per bag is a little more, but I'm not going through bird seed at the speed of light anymore so it will even out in the long run.
How cool is that?!

For the Birds

I've been feeding birds for years, but this year I'm having a ball bird watching. For Christmas my son N got me something I really wanted...a good pair of binoculars. A gift card for borders was used to purchase a bird book. I'm a big-time list maker, so of course I'm keeping track of all the species I've seen (31 so far). The photo isn't that great, but I don't have a telephoto lens. This red bellied woodpecker is a daily visitor.