Sunday, May 26, 2013

A Late May Catchup

The bird pictures sure do pile up when you don't take care of them on a regular basis! The Spring activity remains high, with plenty of juvies, moms returning to nest for round two, and the Finch wars continue. Enjoy this week's offering.

 Driving down the driveway at work one morning, and I thought I had a cotton-tail in the brush.

As I walked back to take a look, the bunny didn't scamper away. As a matter of fact, it moved slow and seemed to have legs that didn't match its body. We had a young jack-rabbit having breakfast for the morning.

The tell-tale yellow at the beak corners gives this juvie away, as if the behavior didn't.

Like the Chickadees, the Titmouse are hit-and-run artists at the feeders.


 Caught this Chickadee getting a drink at the house.

It's rare to catch these guys in a pose; the Carolina Chickadee.

 We'll start our 'House Finch Wars' section with this shot of a peaceful male at the feeder. 

 The guys like to put on a show for the girls.

 Seems to be a lot of activity in this pic. We need a caption for each character.


 They're wondering what happened to the Titmouse?

 That's an intimidating female!


The Lesser Goldfinches don't seem to be bothered by the House Finches next door.

 There really is plenty of room at the feeder.


 And when things calm down, the Thistle Wars pick up next door.



 This young Phoebe is still used to having its mouth open! 

And mama has gone back to the nest for round two. This is happening at our house and at the office.

 The Red-winged Blackbirds are plentiful at the office, but very skittish.

Especially for our friend Annette, the romantically inclined male White-winged Dove. This is his mating action. Just go back and forth between this pic and the next, and you'll have an idea of how he was approaching the nearby female. Very impressive!

 Poor fellow! His efforts were futile!

 Blessed rain at the pond at the house, and a male and female Green Heron working the pond.

A female Black-chinned hummingbird, guarding in the rain.

 This young Ladder-backed Woodpecker was confused, but did figure it out.

 He found the wood much more agreeable.

 This Blue Jay dropped in to get a drink at our house.


We have a new variety of morning glory at the house, and we're really excited about the color.

We'll close this week with the oft-heard but rarely seen White-eyed Vireo. This one was especially noisy and close to the house, so I ventured out hoping to get a shot. Now I'll be calling him the 'Loud-mouthed White-eyed Vireo'!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Buchanan Birds and a Bunch of Juvies

I got to spend some blessed time at Darwin and Nelda's place on Lake Buchanan, so part of this week's offering is some of their bird population. I also offer up a slew of young'uns that are abundant right now. Enjoy.

Sunrise on the lake found this Carolina Wren searching among the rocks for some breakfast. I just happened to catch him in 'mid-hop'.

Darwin was pretty excited when he told me that the Purple Martins were back after an extended absence. He offers quite the living space with his Martin condos.

 This female Purple Martin spent a long time preening. Just sayin'...

 The male was checking out the housing availability.

 As he perched at the entry, she was giving him the 'honey-do' list.

 Here he is coming in for the landing.


More 'honey-do' list directions.

 In the yard, a very young Mockingird, making quite a racket.

 Mama and Daddy were nearby, and I fully expected them to give me a peck on the head if I got any closer.

The hummingbird feeders are always full. Thanks Darwin and Nelda, for always making your guests feel welcome!

 Back on the porch, a rare visitor to my yard. A Scrub Jay checking out my feeder.

He decided that the ground offering was just fine.

At the office deck, the Lesser Goldfinches are lined up at the breakfast buffet.

 This incoming male gave me a good pose for the bird in flight selection.

These two juvies have been hounding their daddy all over the deck.

 Two of these Painted Buntings are now frequenting one of my feeders at the house every evening.

 And they bring this young female with them.


She's showin' off her green.

 Happy to announce the Green Heron is back, and seems to be staying. Stay tuned for more shots of this one.

 This young Carolina Wren was hanging around the office deck, checking out the action.



 Givin' me the hairy eye-ball.

 I've been training the camera on the feeder that the House Finches use, so I'll have to expand my photo series to 'Finch Wars'.

 The House Finches have been quite abundant lately, with lots of young ones peeping for food.

 A few hummingbird shots at the porch.

 Their activity is up as well, and I've had a few times with 3 or more at the feeder at once. That's a big deal at my porch!

We'll close with one more juvie; the young Titmouse in the act of harassing maw and paw.