Backyard Birds (continued)

taking off:

There have been so many fledglings around lately. It's been a blast to watch them. Here are a couple who hung out on the top of the fence quite a bit, waiting for mom to feed them. I also saw one take a very enthusiastic, if awkward bath which was quite adorable (I wish I had a pic of that). I am not good with bird IDs, but Mom looks like she might be a Black Phoebe. Supposedly the babies are black and white and have a bit of brown on their feathers. Does anyone know?

Stretch....

they looked so cute together:

Here is a funky pic of mom coming in to feed them...I wish I'd been able to get a decent shot of this, but she was very quick!

How cute! They sure look like phoebes to me. One of our favorite birds. They skim our pond all day long.

Oh, SunnyG, that last photo is GR8, girl! It's like Mom is an angel coming to feed her babies, sitting there with their beaks open awaiting a treat.

You may have wanted a "decent" shot, but this one speaks volumes! Awesome.

Linda

Yes, sunnyg, it is! I am so excited for you! Liked the geese too.
The fledgling series was a treat as I haven't seen any babies at all, yet. Just the usual suspects and the unexpected too. I especially liked the last photo of Mama coming in to feed the babes. She looks like an Angel of light. Beautiful! ^_^
WIB!
SW

Hello Singingwolf, Sharon in Las Vegas. Still under the weather but on the mend. I had two feeder fish that I rescued on a weekend at the pet store with the children over 15 years go. We put them in a very large tank in the house but every time the power went off the tank would back flow on to the wood floors. The second time the insurance company told us no more claims for fish tanks. So we moved this very large tank into the backyard, in the shade and built a forest around it to protect it. When we built our new home we had a KOI pond built. We moved KOI that were a gift and our two feeder fish. I will take a picture tomorrow and post. Mid summer last year one disappeared but one is still left. He is a monster. The children & I could not believe they would sell these fish to be eaten by another fish.
The children are now grown with their own families and we still have one of the feeder fish left. They were both very large so something very large had to invade the KOI pond and take it away. One day it was here and he next day it was gone. Hope all is well. We are going to Hawaii this year instead of San Diego. A family friend is letting us use their condo for free. The cost is the same. Just air fare instead of condo rental. I have never been to Hawaii and our granddaughter is graduating from high school and moving on to college. We have not told the grandchildren we are going to Hawaii. They are not stupid. Why are we flying to San Diego after driving for 16 years? Suppose to be a surprise. Love to all of you.

Have a wonderful time, skwinter! We were married on the beach in Hawaii so have fond memories. It is a magical place.

Sharon,
While I will be disappointed not to meet you in person this year, I'd be even more upset if you missed out on a trip to HI. You are going to love it. (Can you take me with you? ^_^) Just remember to bring a sweater for when you go indoors, especially the IMAX theaters. The A/C there is incredible. I prefer balmy, myself. Don't drink that last Mai Tai, and use the facilities before you leave the Luau. You'll have a blast! Lots to see and do and just breathe in. I envy you! Take lots of photos!
Goldfish, koi, are members of the carp family. They will continue to grow until they reach the right size for the area they inhabit. When I was a kid, living in Garderville, NV, I saw a 3 foot long carp someone had pulled out of one of the irrigation canals. I myself have a couple that are about a foot long. One is almost pure white. I'll have to do some weeding and take photos so you can see them.
WIB,
SW

Well SingingWiolf, maybe after I am back from Hawaii I may drive down your way to help you with what ever needs to be done. I have a very strong an unending stamina. As my father said many times, "You quit when you are done, not when you are tired". At 66 soon to be 67 by body someday is going to say, "OK, we are now old". I still run around and work most young Hispanic workers in the ground. But we all know one day that will stop., Hopefully August 4, 2039. That is 30 years from this year and I will be in my late 90's. SingingWolf, I am looking forward to wandering your hills and spreading my wild flower seed every where on your property. Love to all of you....

Enjoy your Hawaii trip SKwinter!! You'll love it. You're certainly not old yet. Heck, I'll be 65 in October and am still feeling much younger. I figure I'll start feeling my age when I celebrate my 80th!

Sunny, your photos are wonderful!! I think that last shot is great!!

I can't wait to show you all my photos from our kayak trip yesterday. I have to download them still, but I'll get to it soon.

duc, can't wait to see them.
WIB,
SW

Thanks :-). Sharon, I hope you have a great trip! Duc, I'm looking forward to seeing your pics!

I had some unusual 'blooms' on my bush today.

LOL Aren't they funny? What I love is when the stems start to bend and they just go along for the ride.

Yep, happens all the time in my breezy yard! E ticket ride for sure.

Great photo Sally. You've been to Disneyland when you were a kid too! LOL! Love to watch them just pretend that they are another leaf.
WIB,
SW

Thank you SW. My favorite time of year, never a dull moment at the feeders. (except when the hawks are flying)

I've been following this thread with delight, but didn't have anything to post...until now! I finally got a shot of the scrub jay that "lives" in my garden (or should I say "our garden"?). The couple built a nest on one of the palm trees, I can hear the babies calling, it's so cute! I saw them building the nest and now I see them coming and going with "baby food" all day long!

Too cool, Rob! ^_^
WIB,
SW

: )

How sweet! :-)

They're noisy, but fun birds and I love to see that flash of blue flying through the sky. I wonder if we could teach them to attack squirrels?

DH said he heard babies in/near one of our big Salvias today, but we don't see a nest and don't want to hunt aggressively for it.

What a gorgeous collection of colors! Fun to watch, I'll bet.

What fun....babies!!

These are actually "front yard" birds. This pair has been taking up residence at my campus for a little over a week.

I love waddling ducks!

This one is getting a little long, so I've continued our Backyard Birds here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/996952/

The orioles build their nests in our palm trees every year:

How cool!! Always wanted to see one.

Fan palm! I'll have to go check out ours and see if I can spot any! Super photo wc!
WIB!
SW

Someone just got home......

Yippeeee, WC! She's HOME!! Back to the hummies!

I think someone around my neighborhood let a flock of parakeets loose. I spotted about 7 of them this afternoon at my fountain. They freak when people get near them and only fly short distances, which leads me to believe they've had their wings clipped, which makes them easy prey for all the cats around here.

Don't know what they'll find to feed on...they don't seem interested in pyracantha berries. I've never owned parakeets, so no clue as to whether they'll survive out of doors or not around here. 2 of them seemed to like the seeds in the dry Buddleia blossoms.

ohhh...

They will make it for a while, but probably not long. Are you talking about budgies, the ones we grew up calling parakeets? They can sometimes be rescued.

If you're game, JD, pick up some simple seed mix at the local pet (they might even loan you a cage) or grocery store, and see if you can find a small cage to put it in with a flat-ish bowl of water. Some carrot tops wouldn't be bad. You might be able to save them from the cats. Wish I was closer. :-(

Did you know the budgie is one of, if not the, best talkers in the parrot world? There's one in England that held the record for words and phrases, last I heard. One lady taught her bird her address and phone number in case he got lost.

My first budgie was a feral green that we named Fang. He arrived one day when we were at the end of an extremely long day learning about and laying the first section of our glass block patio wall (dmail me if you ever want to lay glass block---I can save you a horrendous learning curve). DH thought I had completely lost my mind when I started pointing and skyward saying "Bird!" Those pesky '60s flashbacks.....

Anyway, the cat who couldn't catch her own tail became very interested in "Bird", and I got a Tupperware container of seed out for it. He spent his first night as part of our family in the cat kennel where none of the cats would bother him.

Maybe someone who's been foreclosed on turned them loose, JD. I'd trade your budgies for the 5 newly-feral cats that now hang out in my yard. Mine will fight with each other and tiptoe around these intruders. They pretend to be invisible hoping I won't hiss at them.....

Oh, KC, what a good idea to teach your talker his addie and tele#. I didn't know that they were the best talkers. Not that I know much about birds, BTW. But they are not as demanding, it seems to me, as parrots, for example, for attention, at least not the parakeets I had as a child. I understand that parrots can be very demanding, needy, and if not given sufficient attention, destructive or nasty. They must, I understand, have enuf attention to be pleasant to have around.

I learned something on Animal Planet this weekend which just blew my skirt up. I learned that the hollow skeleton of eagles weigh half as much as their feathers. Isn't that mind blowing? Amazing!! Absolutely amazing.

Speaking of birds, here's a pic of the little divots that the local finch population is leaving in the dust of my front yard. (Oops, should I post this to the front yard birds" forum? LOL). It is just a hoot to catch them rolling around, wings and feathers throwing dust about in a little flock, 5 or 6 or more at a time. So cute to watch. Can you imagine them in this picture?

Linda




This message was edited Jul 28, 2009 9:45 PM

I guess they're "budgies"...I've just always called them parakeets...

IF I put out bird seed, the cats will stalk the poor things and get them for sure. These birds can only fly about 6 feet or less and they fly "low"...which is why I assume they've had their wings clipped. ( ??? )

The people in the house next door said they've seen them, too. She said she would put out seed for them and suggested I turn my fountain off in the meantime...hoping they'll go to her place instead.

I'm assuming Canary's can live outdoors here as I have a few who have been hanging around here for years. Where they go in the winter is anyone's guess, but they always return in the spring and summer.

Ima: I've got feral cats "abondonza"...they come and go like the wind.
They're everywhere around here. The bluffs at the beach become a dumping grounds for them by people who get tired of having them as pets. Poor things are just trying to survive.

60's flashbacks, huh ? Throw away your old bell-bottoms !