Daily Pic #451

chipping sparrow here. there are so many little brown & grey birds around so I had to sit still long enough to see the markings.

Here's a pretty female grosbeak. They have a yellow coloring under the wing, too, if you are lucky enough to see it.

Wow, Really beautifull and enjoyable photos all!! MargaretK, Interesting photo of the osprey trying to get the fish! Mrs_Ed, love the one with the oriole in the birdbath! JulieQ, Nice pic of that F grosbeak, I have them here but don't have a picture yet.
I have seen Sooo many baby birds around that I'm amazed! I have Thrush, Red Bellied woodpecker, Wren, Robin, mockingbird, and soon Bluebird babies bouncing around everywhere in the yard! Never seen so many at once! And I'm so excited because this is the first year I've had cardnals nesting in the hollie trees!! It's pouring out and the bluebird mom keeps coming in for food, I feel so bad for her because she's drenched! I've never seen as much rain here as I did this year! Or such extreme changes in temperature! It should be really interesting to see how the plants do this year!! It's after 7:30pm, Poring out, and I had just seen a mourning dove at the birdbath sitting there drinking the drops of water falling from the tier of the birdbath. ~ Have not seen the hummingbirds at all since the heavy rains and high winds, Kinda worried about them. Here are a few pics I got, but, they were not from today, i just have not had time to come here and put them on so I'm doing it now, they were taken withinn the past week ..
Thrush
Mockingbird
Cardnal
Bluebird
Bluebird

Few of todays photos with the birds coming for mealie worms ..

It's nice to see all the posting. There are some very interesting birds and great to see the Orioles, Hummingbirds, Grosbeaks, Thrashers , and that brave Ospreys. Such a nice variety.

1. Tree Swallow male
2. A Tree Swallow couple
3. Purple Finch
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Great shots Iris!!!

Thankyou Burn_2007! Great shots yourself!! Love those Tree swallows and that Yellow bellied sap sucker!! ~ I used to get those where i use to live but don't anymore and miss them, At least I get to enjoy your photos of them!

Lovely!! :)

Great shots everyone!

Julie, Pretty female Grosbeak!

IRIS, Wonderful shots. Love that male server!

Burn, Adore those Tree Swallows!

Oh my!! Everyone has been posting such beautiful pics and I haven't been around here much lately. I just have to try to catch up!

I'm beginning to wonder where my Hummers are. They usually show up sometime between the last week of April and the first week of May...but there's still no sign of them. When the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks came I thought "any day now". Then the Orioles showed up and I said "any minute now"...but still no hummers!

My feeders have been up for over three weeks and some of the blooms they like are starting to open even though we lost some plants during our early Spring Monsoon...uh, I mean Spring rains. I guess I'll just keep looking.

I haven't taken too many pictures, but here are some:

1) Red-bellied WP with a kernel of corn
2) Mourning Dove
3) Oriole with a (blurry) Rose-breasted Grosbeak
4) and 5) Oriole eating grape jelly

Here are some more...a Robin splashing around in one of our birdbaths. Some are kind of blurry, but still fun.

All the above pics were taken through our not-too-clean double-pane kitchen window.



This message was edited May 11, 2013 2:22 PM

A pair of Carolina Wrens have taken up residence in my garden. They have a nest towards the back of the yard, but spend a lot of time on this pot, from there they dart into the garden below and snag insects, come back to the pot and then fly off to the nest with their catch. Here are a few of the pictures I have taken of them. Also the link below is a video of the male singing. Might take a couple of minutes to load.

http://www.mutalik.com/test/wren_song.mov

Just caught this baby robin coming into the world. They made their nest on our shed.

MY HUMMERS HAVE ARRIVED!!

At least some of them have. They're soooo very late, but that's OK. At least they're here.
I saw the first one this morning about 6:15. I was so excited, I made up some fresh sugar water even though what was out there was fairly fresh. While I was changing one of the feeders a little hummer flew over and buzzed around my head!

YAY!!!!!

BCH, that's the brand-newest baby robin I've ever seen! What a wonderful shot!!

Hooray for hummers! Where are mine? They've been in the area 3 weeks or so, and our nectar has been out there... Some years, I don't see them at the feeder much until (I think) they start nesting, when "fast food" becomes more appealing. There are plenty of flowers out there where they could be getting sneaky snacks LOL.

Nutaboutnature, great photos! I find the Orioles and Hummingbird late this year too. Have not seen either of them yet.
Glad to hear the hummer found their way to your place.
pmutalik2000, wonderful details in your shots. Welcome to the daily pics thread.
BCH, Aww new beginning, so sweet!

Thanks burn!

critterologist & burn - I guess I'm not the only one with late hummers. I bet you'll see yours soon. My Orioles were right on time, though.

pmutalik2000 - Super close-ups of the Wrens!! I haven't looked at the video yet, but I will.

BCH521 - Such a sweet shot of the tiny Robin baby!!

Nice shots, everyone. The bluebird hatchling is amazing.

White-cheeked Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird and Pied Cormorant preening.

Love the shots, Margaret! It's always great fun to see all your bird varieties...many that I've only seen in pictures.

BCH....that is an awesome shot of the brand new Robin!!!

We had a hummer show up Saturday...finally!

pelletory, Thanks, Got the server at a yardsale , Worked out great to feed the mealie eaters!

nutsaboutnature, Great pics, Love the orioles and always enjoy watching the birds bathe like your Robin, Some make some real splashing while others just like to get a little water on themselves ~ and Congrats on your hummers arrival!!

pmutalik2000, Nice pix of the wren!

BCH521, What a cute photo of that Robin hatchling!

critterologist, I'm sure you will be seeing them anytime .. And they just might be fooling you and getting those sneaky snacks!

MargaretK, Always enjoy seeing the different birds!!

nanny_56, Congrats on your hummer!!

Thanks, IRIS!

nanny - Yay...Congrats on the Hummer sighting!!

BTW, I spoke to my brother yesterday and his hummers also just showed up very late. What's interesting about that is he lives in the Colorado mountains with entirely different types of hummers than I have.

Since my first sighting (twice on Sunday) I haven't seen any more, but at least I know they're in the area. I don't sit & stare out the windows all day long so it's also possible they've been coming to my feeders occasionally.

Here are a few more pics.

1) Female Oriole "not-so-patiently" waiting for her turn at the grape jelly.

2) Female Oriole relaxing between snacks of grape jelly.

3) This RT Hummer female is from last year since I don't have any new ones yet. I watched her go through this whole "fluffing-smoothing-drying-fluffing" preening ritual and I managed to catch some of it. This shot was during one of her fluffing routines.

These were all taken through our double-pane kitchen window. Not so great for the best quality, but one of the easiest places to take bird pictures.



This message was edited May 15, 2013 11:25 AM

nutsaboutnature, My hummers dissapear for a while too ( still) But they always come back, I'm sure yours will too :) I think these were great shots even though it was through the doublepane kitchen window! ( Looks like you can almost reach out and touch them!)

IRIS, you must be good luck...just since you posted, I've seen a few hummers (or one hummer 3 times)!!

Thanks for the compliment! We have a double shepherd's hook just outside the kitchen window so they are pretty close, but I still had to crop the pics some to make them larger.

The Hummer is perched on a branch I attached to the shepherd hook. They like it so much I just leave it there. If it ever breaks, I'll just put up a new one.

great pix all. P-mut, so jealous of your carolina wrens. Once in a while I get one stop by here, but not very often.

I haven't had a hummer for a while, my first one was a bit early, But I don't see them too often in spring, as most of you who know me and my hummer whining.

So, I've been collecting a few images…

A few spring migrants and a house wren.
Orchard oriole
House Wren
Myrtle Warbler
Baltimore Oriole
Nashville warbler having a bath

A few from the spring bird count on May 4.

Wood ducks in a tree
Northern Waterthrush
Black-throated Green Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Solitary Sandpiper having a stretch.

nutsaboutnature, Great to hear!! ( And Your Welcome for the compliment!) You remind me of me lol , When somethinhg works good I try to always keep it there and if it breaks I'll replace it!

Mrs_Ed, Nice array of photos, I especially like the Scarlet Tananger, I see them once in a blue moon and I think they are one of the most beautiful birds!

Yay Migration!

Indigo Bunting
Blackpoll Warbler (x2)
Tennessee Warbler

Some more nice pix Mrs_Ed! Enjoyed them! I seen a warbler yesterday but couldn't get a picture of it becayse it kept dashing between the tree leaves.

IRIS, the hummers are starting to come a little more regularly now and the Orioles chatter like crazy when their Grape Jelly is empty. So, I guess things are starting to get back to normal...except for the several days of super-hot temps we've had. I think it might be a little cooler today. Sure hope so.

Marna, LOVE all your pics!! So many varieties & sooo pretty. We usually get Indigo Buntings in Spring, but I haven't seen any so far...Boo!

Thanks so much. I try to work from the patio in the spring for the migration weeks. That way I can maybe see as many birds that come to the stream. Nothing new today though. The grosbeaks and orioles are gone already. They never stay for long. Though this year seemed to be the longest and with more numbers than before. Pretty soon it will be just all the usual suspects as the migrants have moved through.

Nice catches Marna!! I like the Orchard Oriole. That is one I keep hoping to add to my list.

We have lots of hummer activity now. We are seeing males and females at the feeders. I saw an Indigo Bunting and a Great Crested Flycatcher yesterday on our morning walk. I took the dog home and grabbed the camera and went back out but all I found was a couple of Brown Thrashers out and about.

Nanny, great shots of the Brown Thrashers, especially the first one!

I saw my first female Hummer a couple of days ago. They weren't nearly as late as the males were. Usually there's more of a gap between the arrivals of the males and females.

These are the first pics I managed to get of hummers...not very good, but I was so excited I decided to post them anyway.
Both were taken through my double-pane kitchen window. (I've got to wash my windows!)

1) Blurry female
2) Male, early morning, shot at ISO 1600 because the lighting was so dim.

At the hummingbird feeder this afternoon. This is the male Ruby Throated.

nutsaboutnature, Happy to hear that the hummers are coming in more frequently for you! Sure wish I had some Orioles here! ( Thinkl I'm going to pick up a jelly feeder and see what happens) Been hot here too, Really odd temps and rainfall this year!! My daylilys are like a month behind there normal bloomtime this year!

MRS-ED, I agree with nan --So many varieties & sooo pretty.!

Nanny, At least you got the thrashers, There nice to see too! ~ i got a nest that has four eggs in it from the thrashers, Can't wait for the eggs to hatch!

nutsaboutnature and pmutalik2000, nice pix!

We washed out our feeders and made fresh nectar today. Hopefully we'll see our hummers soon!

Sadly, we lost one of our Carolina Wrens yesterday. I found him on the front porch, looking a little twisted up. It seems unlikely that he'd have crashed into the sidelight windows, as they're small and full of window-stickers, so maybe a neighborhood cat? Probably he was one of the pair that usually roost on our front porch at night (they use an old robins' nest at the top of a pillar).

Love love love the photos on this thread!

Pretty Hummer, pmut!

IRIS, I think the grape jelly would be a good idea since the Orioles Love it! You really don't need to get fancy, though, if you just want to try it out. There are so many inexpensive ways you can put out jelly, but here's one of my favorites:

They also really like oranges, so in the past I've put half of an orange in a suet feeder and hung that by the chain. They'll cling to the wire cage and peck at the orange. If you put a chain or cord in each corner of the suet cage you can hang it horizontally. Then when there's even a tiny bit of room in the orange shell put a little jelly on it.

Keep in mind, though, this will only work if they're in the area. Next year, if you're prepared ahead, as soon as you see or hear them set out an orange or some jelly. You might find that they'll stick around longer because of it.

Oh, critterologist, I'm so sorry to hear about your Wren! No matter what people say about it all being "part of nature", I will never, ever get used to losing wild birds or critters. Wildlife lovers are very special, compassionate people. It's one of the reasons I enjoy these threads so much.

Hopefully your Hummers will show up any day! It's been such a strange year they seem to be arriving late in many parts of the country.

IRIS, I found these old pics I posted a couple years ago. They're not very good, but they show an orange half in a suet cage with some grape jelly.

In this case it's sitting on top of a nectar feeder for Orioles, but most of the Orioles had trouble getting to the sugar water so I stopped using it. Maybe I'll try another type some day, but they seem perfectly happy with their grape jelly.

BTW, I buy cheap jelly in big 32oz jars. They really don't care what brand it is (since they can't read...yes, I really said that!).

nutsaboutnature, thanks for all the updates and photos ( Which I enjoyed)! I'm going to look up on google if they will be in my area and go from there, I used to feed them back north but don't believe I have here. (yet)
Good thing they can't read lol, I have to use the cheap stuff for them.
My Bluebird babies made it and are doing good, They are getting ready to come and eat with mom and pop, They get closer each day, I'm going to have to get some photos of them to show on here.

I just took these pics a little while ago.

1) "Splish-splash I was takin' a bath..." Another Robin in one of our birdbaths, but this time it was raining!

2) "Gee, I wonder how many more kernels I can fit into my beak?" Blue Jays (obviously) love corn. Their antics can be quite funny to watch.