Thursday, May 12, 2022

Just birds...

Female Cardinal often feeds on fallen seeds under the birdfeeders

Male Cardinal watches from a distance.



Male Grosbeak and a male Cardinal hangin' out in the redbud tree


Rose-breasted Grosbeak - male

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - female


Red-winged Blackbird


Because you can't have too many pictures of a Pileated Woodpecker, can you?


Or too many of Baltimore Orioles?
Male Baltimore Oriole


Female Baltimore Oriole (I believe)


Can't wait to see who shows up next!





40 comments:

  1. These are wonderful. I live much further north and in all my birding years have only once seen a Baltimore oriole and a rose breasted grosbeak. Never seen a pileated woodpecker. What a treat to see them in a blossoming tree. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you, Liz. I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker in the spring of 2020 (during the first "slow the spread quarantine". This one at our new place hung around for a week or so, but we haven't seen him (or her?) for days now. It's harder to see the birds in the trees now that they're leafed out. Up until this week, the flowering trees here have been just glorious with colorful blossoms.

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  2. You have such a variety of feather friends where you live. So much color too.

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    1. We do, Marsha. It's been hugely entertaining. And we feel very blessed.

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  3. You have an amazing variety of birds visiting your yard . . . and you are doing an amazing job of capturing them with your lens!

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. Photographing birds has become a hobby unto itself. :)

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  4. Oh such wonderful photos! The one of the Pilated is fantastic! Our bird flew right in front of us yesterday-I wish I could get a good photo of him. I have never seen the oriole feeder you have-I need to look for that. Ours are riding the hummer feeder -making it spin, and drinking!

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    1. The previous owners left two of these feeders behind, but we didn't know what they were until a friend texted me and asked if we'd seen any orioles yet. She had a picture of one on a different kind of feeder and that sent me searching online for oriole feeders. There are many designs (most having some orange coloring, and provide for spearing orange halves). Within two days of putting our feeders out we had orioles visiting them.

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  5. I enjoyed seeing the variety of birds. My that cardinal stands out in the redbud tree most especially. The clash of color perhaps because cardinals stand out no matter where they are.

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    1. The purply pink of the redbud is a great complimentary color for the cardinals and the goldfinches and the blue jays - even the male grosbeaks and woodpeckers with the red flashes in their coloring. The orioles have only just made it to the back yard now that the redbud has leafed out. I wish we had put the oriole feeder back there earlier so we could have seen their orange bellies among the purply buds.

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  6. We don’t get the orioles here. Birds are just delightful to watch.

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    1. Sandy here—- it missed my name.

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    2. Hi Sandy. Glad you let me know it's you. I've never seen an oriole before, but since friends in town now tell us they get them, I think it's just because we'd never put out an oriole feeder. If this is Sandy in Florida, you might try putting out an oriole feeder (with grape jelly) come winter. Florida is one of the places these birds supposedly spend their winters.

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  7. WOW! This is a post filled to overflowing with beauty. I love seeing all the birds.

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    1. Thank you, Ruth. It has been a beautiful spring here, and the birds have put on quite a show for us. :)

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  8. OMG! I love, love, love, the orange! Such pretty birds, too.

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    1. Hi Ivy! So good to see you again. Glad you like the Baltimore Orioles. They fly around here so fast - when we see orange zipping around we go hunting for our cameras. lol

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  9. You have capture some great pictures!
    The pileated woodpecker is fantastic!

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    1. Thank you, May. That pileated woodpecker entertained us to no end for a couple of weeks, and now has been scarce for another couple. I wonder it it's just tucked up in the trees.

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  10. Oh wow how lovely to have such a wide variety of colourful birds in your garden. Have a lovely weekend. x

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    1. Thank you, Linda. And yes, we've been amazed at the variety of birds we've seen. And there are still some I haven't managed to get a picture of yet!

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  11. Everyone has such beautiful birds that visit. Very colorful and your red bud tree is a lovely backdrop to the birds.

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    1. Thank you, Sam. We have been wowed by the redbud tree this spring. And yes, it seems it is the season for bird watching. :) Soon the foliage will obscure them, I'm thinking.

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  12. Hey Becki....just wanted you to know I've received all your comments and have published them. Thank you for checking.

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    1. Thank you for letting me know, Marsha! Visiting blogs this week I can see Blogger's intern designers/programmers have been at work again. Even my comment section looks different to me and I've done nothing to affect the change. I'm finding it glitchy from the commenting side (on other's blogs). Can't tell if it's glitching on the blog owner's side or not. I don't (yet) appear to be experiencing difficulties on this side of my blog.

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  13. Thanks for sharing, we don’t get any of these in the UK so it’s nice to see. Our blackbirds are just black and we have 3 woodpecker breeds but none so fancy as this handsome one. Liz Highlandheffalump

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    1. Hi Liz! Thank you for telling me it's you. I'm so sorry if Blogger is making it difficult for you to post as yourself (with a link to your blog). It's interesting to see different wildlife from different areas, isn't it? :)

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  14. Goodness!!! Such beautiful birds! Cardinals are one of my favorites . . . they were my mom's favorite bird so I always think of her. Those pilated woodpeckers ARE big and beautiful but boy can they damage a house! My sister-in-law's house has had more holes pecked in it and cost thousands in repairs. They just keep coming back lol! What is that feeder that the oriole is at? I've never seen one of those. I used to have feeders but they drew the squirrels and the squirrels kept shredding my gazebo screen! Wish I could spray the seed so the squirrels hate it and the birds can still enjoy it haha!

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    1. Yes, woodpeckers can do some serious damage to houses and trees. We don't have much wood on our house or outdoor garage - just some trim around doors, I think. Probably why the Pileated seems to have moved on. While the previous owners left two of these feeders behind, if you look online you'll find this one and different designs of oriole feeders. At our house in town we had serious issues with squirrels, but not so much out here (we're about 5 miles from town). We have a large baffle on the post that hold the multiple birdfeeders, but I think the biggest reason we're not too bothered by squirrels is because there is nothing close by they can jump from onto the birdfeeders. We've only seen a squirrel once on a birdfeeder here and I'm guessing it got to it from above by jumping off the roof of the house. Fortunately, that's only happened once, or else we'd be wondering if we need to worry about SQUIRRELS damaging the house.

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  15. These captures of your bird visitors are amazing!

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  16. Wow, Becki! What gorgeous pictures of birds! It's good to be reminded of how detailed and beautiful our Creator has provided for us.

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    1. Thank you, Barbara. I agree - our Creator God is generous. And that He treats us to such beauty is amazing.

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  17. So beautiful to see your beautiful birds enjoying your yard! And thank you for teaching me what that beautiful purple flowered tree is in my yard. It had more buds on it that ever before, and my son noticed it for the first time. It was lovely to see your feathered companions enjoying yours!

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    1. Thank you, Christi! We had no idea it was a Redbud tree until I used a plant ID app. :)

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  18. Hi Becki! Oh nice birds!!! The photo of the Grosbeak and Cardinal in the redbud tree is fabulous!!! We have Evening Grosbeaks here, they're yellow but only visit from about January through to April. I've never seen a Rose-Breasted, my birding friends say they have very tough beaks, don't let them near your fingers lol! We don't get the Orioles here, they are so pretty!

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    1. Thank you, Rain. I like how those birds stand out in the redbud tree, too. The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks' beaks look so large for their heads. I'm not surprised that they're tough. These birds are quite loud, too!

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  19. No 'just' about it, Becki, these photos are fantastic. I wish we had such gorgeous birds around here.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. Oh, thank you, Amalia. I'm glad you enjoyed my pictures. :)

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  20. Oh, the birds are lovely! Thank you.

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