While I’ve not been taking too many photos, I’ve still been doing a bit of bird watching. Sometimes it’s fun to simply observe without worrying about taking photos.

Had to quit feeding most of them for a bit while Chip, the stray cat, hung out with us. However, now that he’s in a much better new home (hopefully, still no word on things), I’ve returned to feeding my backyard birds. And they’re starting to return.

They’ve never been bothered by my original assistant. She’d much rather snooze on a deck chair or the railing than put in the effort required to nab one.

Here’s what I’ve spotted in the backyard over the course of the past week.

Our Hummingbird

I see more than one hummingbird (sometimes around the front porch getting in the sage and lavender as well!) but this fellow insists he owns the backyard feeder. 

As it becomes closer to time for him and his cohorts to depart, the feeder empties at a record pace. I clean it and fill it completely once a week. By the end of the week, it looks like it does in the photo, low on food with a few black spots (my guess is ants are causing the spots as a few never fail to get in there despite the ant guard).

One morning, I observed the most interesting interaction between the tiny hummingbird and our little gray cat. The cat was in typical style lounging on the deck rail just behind where’d I’d moved an almost blooming fuchsia.  The hummingbird zipped over to in front of the cat and flew all around her. Almost as if he was checking her out to make sure she wasn’t competition for his food. She just watched him with a “what now?” expression on her face.

He’s also flown toward me and “danced” around a bit one day. I did read where hummingbirds recognize humans. Perhaps he was trying to give Chelsey (our little gray cat) a message about his feeder as well.

Returning Regulars: Chickadees and Tufted Titmice

As I’ve returned to doing a bit of birdwatching, I’ve also noticed more of the returning regular birds in the backyard. One day I spotted no less than 6 chickadees on the fence by the feeders!

Happily the tufted titmice returned to the feeders as have the cardinals, sparrows (mixed thoughts on that), house finches, and a nuthatch.

I managed to capture photos of a chickadee and tufted titmouse.

A Parting Scene: Story From the Front Yard

One day while doing a bit of cleaning in the living room, I heard a commotion of crows out front. They were louder than the neighbor across the street’s rooster (story for another day but do know roosters do not crow only at dawn and they are LOUD). I opened the door to see why all the fuss.

Perched on the telephone pole across the road sat one of our Cooper’s Hawks. Knew I’d heard one earlier in the week but never spotted it. Ran to get my camera, returning, of course, as he gracefully made his exit toward the wooded area further down the street.

Almost immediately after he flew away, this Eurasian collared dove flew up and claimed the spot previously occupied by the hawk. It was like he was saying “That’s MY spot.” (I do often see doves of all sorts on that pole and the wires by it).

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Linking up with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Even though I did go on a brief nature hike Thursday morning, I’m going to just share the backyard birds I spotted this week. The ones we saw Thursday didn’t cooperate well for photos but my backyard birds like to at least give me a chance for a decent photo.

Downy woodpecker

The downy woodpeckers seem to always be happy to cooperate. They don’t mind us at all.

House Finches

Another one of our backyard friends that don’t mind us at all are the resident house finches. I often hear them calling to each other as I’m filling the feeders. Usually, they’ll sit on the wire, fence, or trees waiting on me to finish.

Cardinals

I tend to see more cardinals in late fall and during the winter. The summer ones are a bit shy.

Hummingbirds

While I don’t have a huge crowd of hummingbirds that visit, each summer one or two do decide our feeder is for them. They don’t mind us too much either as long as we stay on the deck. I was watching this one yesterday with the camera and it seemed as if he turned so I could be sure to get his “good side.”

Not a bird

Along with our backyard birds, we get a variety of other creatures. Most are nocturnal coming to clean up the spillage at night or creeping by in passing: possums, skunks, raccoons (if we don’t keep our trash locked down, they feast on the roof leaving quite the mess!). However, the daytime creature who likes to share the bird feed is of course, the squirrel.

Usually, they annoy me to no end. However, last week was so hot (heat indexes of 106, a bit higher than normal for these parts) that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to outside. Did look out the backdoor to spot this poor guy just lounging on the fence while waiting for his pal to finish a turn over at the suet feeder.

Other Birds Spotted This Week

We did see another set of indigo buntings on our Thursday morning nature hike but sadly, they were too far away for decent pictures. Other than a few turkey vultures and a hawk of some sort, that’s all we saw. Too hot perhaps.

Around here, in addition to the ones pictured, I’ve also seen a pair of nuthatches, the chickadees, sparrows, doves, the red-bellied woodpeckers, heard the bluejays (and our neighbor’s chickens and rooster-story for another day), and both heard and seen the Carolina wren.

What birds have you spotted this week?

(Linking up with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni at I’d Rather B Birdin’)

Haven’t shared a bird watching post since early July so thought I’d play a bit of catch up with this post.

First, Hummingbirds

Starting with the hummingbirds we spotted a couple of weeks ago when we visited my husband’s hunting lease land. These were all around the owners home.

The next photo is not great (took with my older camera, we were getting ready to hike and there was a decent rain chance so opted not to take my newer camera on that). However, it gives you a better idea of the number of feeders around the house (and the number of hummingbirds).

A few more photos of the hummingbirds.

Next, Park Birds

Finally, got around to going for a walk at one of my favorite parks. Been busy with work and we’ve had things going on here as well so I’d not been in quite a while. You can click back to this post to see a chipping sparrow I spotted while there. Here are the two other birds I captured on camera.

I’d hoped to get a better photo of the indigo bunting but a fellow on a bicycle rode by and disturbed it (and me, like it was a public place or something!). So, only two not so great photos. Still glad I spotted it.

This bird below, I’ve not had a chance to look up in my bird books. House finch? Some sort of sparrow? Female purple finch?  Something else? I’m admittedly out of practice with my bird watching and identifying. Liked the photo though so I’m sharing it here.

Finally, Birds Around Here

Pretty much the same set of birds visit my feeders, house finches, house sparrows, cardinals, chickadees, and doves.

Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers take turns on the suet feeder when the squirrels aren’t hogging it. And lately, the nuthatches are back to visiting. They take turns at whatever feeder is available.

And lately, though no pictures to show, I’ve been seeing the Carolina Wrens again and hearing (oh can I hear them!) the blue jays. Plus, my little hummingbird is back after I switched to yet another feeder. Had bought a pretty stained glass one but could never tell when it was empty. So back to a plain hard plastic clear model for that.

Usually also see a few robins, crows, and sometimes the hawks or turkey vultures flying overhead.

What birds have you spotted lately?

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Joining in with The Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’

The catbird returned early last week!  Since I had a very busy workweek, all these pictures are from Sunday. However, my week was filled with sunshine so no complaints!

I so rarely see catbirds in our yard. Cats, yes. Catbirds, no. Usually we spot one or maybe two during spring migration time. However, I’ve never seen them at my feeders. I’m not even sure if they visit feeders. Hardly see them hanging around the yard.

And I usually only see one as it passes through the yard. However, my first catbird returned with a friend!

I think they were social distancing. They didn’t get much closer than in the photo above so snapping photos of the two of them together was a bit of a challenge.

Are they on a date? Or a married couple squabbling? Anyone’s guess.

Wait? What’s the weird lady over there doing? We’ll settle this later, let’s get away from that weirdo!

Maybe I’ll get lucky and see these catbirds again sometime soon.

Other Birds Spotted This Week

It’s a tough job to be more annoying than a squirrel at the bird feeders. The grackles seem to be applying for the job. SIGH.

It even seems they can empty the feeders on pace or faster than the squirrels. I’m not happy about it. Time to switch back to all safflower seed to see if that slows them down. At least they ignore the njyer seed. The house finches are currently making due with that.

The squirrels are still annoying the red bellied and downy woodpeckers at the suet feeders. As are my sparrows. The starlings seem to have moved on though. Cardinals, chickadees, and the occasional tufted-titmouse wait out the grackles. The doves seem happy with whatever falls to the ground.

What birds did you spot this week?

Linking up with The Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Not a lot of variety of birds to share today. However, I did catch mama starling feeding her brood one day. Starlings aren’t my favorite birds by far but this little show was still fun to watch.

Some of the images turned out better than the others. Weather was still pretty yucky most of the week. On the sunny days, I either worked or did work in the yard (mowed) so that we weren’t surrounded by jungle. Sun is out today despite the chilly temps so that’s a good sign.

Anyway, one early afternoon a mama Starling and her brood showed up to dine from the suet feeder.

The Starlings

Can’t you just hear her saying get over here! In the photo below?

I’m here!

Stay together!

We try…

But there’s always that one sibling…

We’re hungry again!

Other Birds Spotted This Week

As I mentioned earlier, not a great variety of bird photos to share this week.

However, one day, J called me to look out the door at a “different” looking bird. Turned out it was just a rather rough looking mourning dove perched above a feeder.

The blurry birds in the background are our resident house finches. We’ve seen those along with cardinals, the tufted titmice (still not very often), house sparrows, and our hummingbird (also, still not too often). And I’m having a bit of an issue with the grackles taking over the feeders.

I joked on Monday about not being surprised to see ducks at our backyard feeders. I didn’t see any there. However, I did see two mallards simply standing on the sidewalk near the road as I cut through the park on my way to work Thursday morning. And yesterday, I thought I might be late as one was simply standing smack in the middle of the park road.

What birds did you spot this week?

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Joining in with The Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

I’m just sharing 4 quick photos today. We’ve had rain pretty much every day this week (and again this morning!). Haven’t had a whole lot of bird watching (photo taking) luck lately. Hopefully, that changes if the sun ever returns.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the following 4 snaps.

It’s A Bird!

Caught a house finch in flight toward the feeder.

It’s A Cat!

Took a photo of the cat through the window during just a cloudy part of the day. Doesn’t she kind of look like a ghost cat? However, I assure you, especially after her very loud meow in my ear at 4a.m. this morning, she’s very real.

It’s A Catbird!

Saved the best for last. A catbird stopped by to visit for a bit on Tuesday morning. He spent a lot of time hopping around the lower fence and ground. So the photo below is through the deck railing (and out the backdoor window).

Finally, he hopped up on the fence so I could get one semi-decent shot.

Other Birds Spotted In The Rain This Week (No Photos)

The grackles are taking over my feeders. Getting almost as annoying as the squirrels. Our hummingbird is back. Briefly saw the tufted titmouse one day. And the chickadees and woodpeckers (downy and red-bellied) continue to hang out. As do the house sparrows, cardinals, and doves.  An occasional blue jay stops by. I’ve also heard crows and geese flying over once in a while. Hopefully, next week the sun returns along with the chance for a few more photos.

What birds have you spotted this week? And before I end this post, could you please send some sunshine this way? Soon, please!

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Joining in with The Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Another lazy posting of mostly photos from me. Still, I wanted to get back into the habit of sharing my backyard birds. Our weather’s been so weird (I had the heat on one week!) that I kind of got out of my bird watching and photo taking habits a bit.

We were excited to see an American goldfinch hanging out around the feeders this week! And sad to have only briefly spotted a rose breasted grosbeak one morning when I’d yet to restock things. Maybe they’ll try again next week and I’ll get a decent photo.

The robin still likes to ham it up for my camera at least.

As well as our regular house finches.

We’ve spotted the hummingbird just a few times in the very early mornings, too early for pictures. However, we did have some new visitors to the backyard. Finally, some pine siskins!

The little yellow patch on the wing and the different beak helps to tell them apart from the female house finches.

Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to see the fun little pine siskins again this week. And maybe the goldfinches and hummingbird as well. I doubt we’ll be lucky enough to get a second chance from the grosbeaks as last year was the first time I’d ever seen one in the yard. However, you never know.

I also spotted our regular woodpeckers, bluejays, pretty sure a yellow warbler, some type of vireo, and a regular house wren (!! haven’t seen one of those forever!) in the backyard. Along with some mean grackles and the annoying squirrels.

What birds did you spot this week?

Joining in with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Thought I’d just catch you all up on the bird sightings and sounds from the backyard this week. Been a while since I’ve been on a walk to do any proper birdwatching but I’m still looking out the backdoor. Need to grab the camera more often.

Hoping to do better.

Regular Birds

Our regular sparrows and house finches are still hanging out around the feeders.

And while I didn’t get a photo of the action, the house sparrows are still raiding my suet feeder much the annoyance of my downy wood peckers.

The downy woodpecker took a minute to figure out the squirrel proof bird feeder. (The squirrel also continues to raid the suet feeder)

Moving on, we had a visitor!

Visiting Bird

The Eastern towhee came and completely checked out the backyard one morning. Two weeks ago, J had spotted him briefly but I hadn’t seen him since that day. I had a lot of fun watching on Sunday morning as the little bird explored all the feeder areas including hopping on and off the hummingbird feeder several times.

He spent some time playing peekaboo with the white throated sparrows.

However, I’ve not seen him the rest of the week. Perhaps he’s moved on like the dark-eyed juncos. One day they were here and the next, gone. So far, my white throated sparrows are still out there.

Birds Heard

While I’m out of practice taking bird photos, I don’t need to be near the window with a camera in hand to know a few of my birds are out there.

Each morning I hear the call of my white throated sparrows though I know that time is about to end. I’ll miss hearing their song. However, the chirping of the cardinals should keep me cheery. The grackles are back in town and trying to dominate the backyard with their rather loud vocabulary.

One night, I awoke to the familiar who cooks for you of a barred owl. My husband said he heard 2 and they were right out in our backyard tree.

Hopefully, I’ve caught you up on some of the bird sightings and sounds around the backyard. Didn’t mean to go quite so long without a bird watching post.

Other Birds Spotted This Week

Before I end this post (I’m going to resume linking up next week, I think), here are the other birds I spotted this week: a cedar wax wing! J and I took a quick walk down the street and mockingbird sat on the fence. Lots of geese by the pond. Starlings, robins, and blue jays searching for a place to nest. Looks like the starlings are returning to the maple tree in front and the blue jays to the neighbor’s oak tree. Saw the chickadees checking out a wren house. Crows flying over head. And briefly saw an appearance of brown headed cowbirds. Glad they moved on quickly.

What birds did you spot this week?

The artic blast hit our area last week. I think this robin’s face sums up our feelings about the weather.

None of us plan to request a transfer to the North Pole anytime soon.

Feel very fortunate to live in an area accustomed to snowstorms. Thought often of those to the south without power in the midst of all this. In this area, most of us simply had a 20-30 minute planned outage and conserved power as requested.

Prior to the storm, I stocked up on birdseed.

If you feed them, they will come.

My regular customers were very happy about it.

(I know it’s not the best picture above but because of the temperature especially, most photos were through the back door).

And I had a new customer as well!

New Friend in the Yard

I spent quite a bit of time chasing this sparrow with the camera, both inside the back door and also, venturing out into the backyard once the temperature hit 21 degrees (that’s still pretty cold by the way!)

I think (90 percent sure but hoping someone confirms it for me) this is a fox sparrow.

Behaves much like my beloved white throated sparrows.

Warming Up

Yesterday, the mercury finally climbed to the 32 degree mark. My youngest son and I ignored the wind chill number (mid 20’s) and set off on a winter hike. While I grabbed my camera, I didn’t plan to do any serious birding. It was more of a get the teenager out of the house outing.

However, he’s my good luck charm when it comes to birding. As we started down the trail near some local lakes, he spotted a little group of trumpeter swans in the one area where the lake wasn’t frozen.

On our way back from the trail, we noticed a lone Canadian goose flying along the skyline.

Happily, we notice some other geese join up as we arrived at our car.

Other Birds Spotted This Week

Before I finish my post, I feel I should share at least one snow bird (dark eyed junco) given the weather.

It’s above freezing and sunny out there today so the birds are a bit happier. My husband even spotted our resident Cooper’s Hawk in a tree early this morning.

Other birds out and around the feeders: cardinals, house finches, the Carolina wren, house sparrows, robins, a few starlings, blue jays, nuthatches, and both the downy and red bellied woodpeckers.

Did you get a chance to do any bird watching this week? What birds did you spot?

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Joining in with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni at I’d Rather B Birdin’