WW- Rockin' Robin

WW- What Do You See?

Can you see them?

 How about now?

 Maybe this will help. About 30 Cedar Waxwings took perch on our front tree.

 We've never seen a Cedar Waxwing this close up and certainly not this many.

 Joey was obsessed with birds for a long time and Cedar Waxwings were his favorite.

 I thought he was having an attack when I heard him screaming for me, "MOM! Come here, QUICK!!!"

 It was pretty exciting.

Joey informed me that the Cedar Waxwing eats berries. The birds flitted from this large tree to our smaller Crabapple tree and then back again. Luckily, they stayed long enough for me to capture a few fuzzy shots through our windows.

WW- My Little Friend

Black-capped Chickadee

WW- Beauty

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy." 

-Anne Frank

"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."

-Louisa May Alcott

Bizarre

A few days ago Grace and I dropped Joey off at baseball practice and were driving back to our house along the lakefront. I pointed out a huge flock of what I thought were seagulls, flying in a long straight line. It caught my eye because I'd never seen seagulls fly in a line formation like that. As I got a little closer I was shocked at how big the seagulls appeared to be. Finally the birds were flying right over us and as I looked up I realized they weren't seagulls at all. They were PELICANS!!!!

Pelicans! In Wisconsin! I couldn't believe my eyes. I think I nearly crashed the minivan staring above me in disbelief. I slowed to a near stop and watched as the huge birds soared above us. There were dozens and dozens of the massive creatures.

And just like that they were gone. I didn't even have time to grab my travel camera from the glove box to sneak some pictures. 

When I got home and told Todd I think he thought I was losing my mind. To reassure him (and me) of what I saw I looked in my bird book and, sure enough, pelicans do sometimes pass through our area. As further proof of what I saw I noticed people taking to Facebook to report the bizarre sighting. Whew! I wasn't losing my mind! There are pelicans in Wisconsin!

Now all I have to do is figure out what kind of bird food to leave out in my backyard so I can add pelican pictures to my bird posts. Oh how I would LOVE to add pelicans to my bird photo repertoire. What do ya think? Dead fish? Might not be the best addition to the backyard.

(Pictures courtesy of the internet) 

Back to Birds

This spring has once again afforded me the opportunity to do some quality bird watching. Over the last couple of years I have really taken notice of the beautiful variety of birds that come through our neck of the woods. I never knew we had so many vibrant, beautiful birds in this area and once I discovered them I was hooked on spying on the birds in my backyard. 

I try and make our backyard as desirable as I can. There are already plenty of trees but I also add four different types of birdfeeders (suet, thistle seed, wild birdseed mix, and hummingbird juice) and make sure that the birdbath is always clean and full of water. That seems to do the trick.

Our first little mister is a beautiful little Veery. At first glance I thought it was the Ovenbird that I've been forever trying to capture on film. I saw a flash of warm brown out of the corner of my eye and ran to grab my camera and zoom lens. I only got a few pictures, and most of them very blurry, before he flew away but I did manage to get one okay picture. I showed my bird expert (Joey) the picture when he came home from school and he said, "No mom. I don't think that is an Ovenbird. I think that is a Veery." And sure enough. He looked it up in my bird book and he was right. So here is the beautiful little Veery.

I was hoping to get clearer pictures of the beautiful Veery and kept my eye out in the backyard. I was sure I saw him again and grabbed my camera. When I took a closer look I was surprised to see that this time I caught the Ovenbird instead. Ha! I want the Ovenbird and I got the Veery. I wanted the Veery and I got the Ovenbird. It all worked out in the end. Here is the Ovenbird.

The Baltimore Oriole just passes through our area and is only here for a very short time. To tempt him to my backyard I put out a few oranges. It worked!

Mr. Oriole was happy to take advantage of my bribe and I was happy to get a few great pics.

He even caught my eye a couple times and let me snap away at him. With that gorgeous bright orange he must be used to all the attention.

It seems the oranges worked on a lovely little House Finch couple as well.

We have a plethora of Goldfinches flitting around our neighborhood. The males are such a shocking and vibrant yellow it always takes my breath away. I just had to get a shot of this male's bright yellow back contrasting the black and white wing feathers. So handsome.

Here we have two couples. Two males with two females all enjoying the thistle. Oh how the Goldfinches love their thistle!

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only type of hummingbird that we have in our area and luckily for me they are privy to our yard as well. Here we have a female actually sitting on the feeder. Usually the birds just hover and drink but she must have felt safe enough to sit for a while and rest her wings.

The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird is much more colorful than the female. Here he is taking a break on the feeder as well.

I got quite the shock when this male looked up and I zoomed in on him. The feathers on his neck looked more like a ruffled collar than a smooth band of color as I'd seen it before. It was breathtaking. Thank heavens for the zoom lens. Also not sure when he is called a Ruby-throated Hummingbird when he is clearly more golden yellow or orange. Either way, he is a beauty.

Next up we have a female Downy Woodpecker. She is intent on getting to that suet that she loves so much. The female looks almost identical to the male Downy Woodpecker except the bright red patch that the male has on the back of his head.

This mama Robin is clearly taking something back to her nest to help make it a little more comfy for her babies.

Maybe this was even this nest she was coming to. A beautiful robin's nest was right next to our front door. I tried to keep the kids away from it so mama didn't get too stressed out but every once and a while we had to go in and out of our front door. Mama and Daddy robin would stand watch from a few yards away letting out little chirps to warn us not to go any closer. But I did manage to get a shot of the four blue eggs safely nestled inside the wonderfully made nest.

We were even lucky enough to spy the babies as they had just hatched and watched them grow. Shortly before they left their nest I took another picture. I didn't want to get too close and scare the babies out of the nest before they were ready. The day after I took this picture I witnessed the birds testing out their wings. They took turns standing on the side of the nest flapping their wings. They practiced for two days and the next time I checked on them they were gone. Good thing, too, because they had definitely run out of room in that nest.

None too soon for mama, I'm sure. She was finally able to get in a bath and have a little "me" time instead of running back to the nest every five minutes with more food for her hungry babies. Job well done, mama!

This is the first time I ever saw this little fuzzball in my backyard. This beauty is a Gray Catbird. He is so soft and smooth looking and I fell in love with him immediately.

I am so happy I was able to get a few good pictures of this little guy because I haven't seen him in my backyard since. Cute lil fella. Thanks for stopping!

This stunning fellow is a Northern Waterthrush. I believe this is the first time I've seen him in my backyard as well. I'm not surprised he is here. They love running water and with Lake Michigan and a bunch of rivers right next to us I'm sure this is a perfect spot for him.

Seeing as how they eat mosquitoes and slugs I will be happy to welcome him back anytime. Keep up the good work!

And of course we have Mr. Radiant himself, the Indigo Bunting. I'm always surprised when I see one of these guys in my backyard because he looks so tropical in his glowing blue attire. Such a handsome lil thing. And he does a great job cleaning up under the feeders too. 

Thank you for humoring me in my birdie obsession. If you are not already on birdie overload feel free to check out my other birdie photos here, here, and here.

The Perfect Pair

"A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

WW- Vibrant

 Female Goldfinch

 Indigo Bunting

Cardinal

WW- Bird Watching

I'm back to my summertime obsession:

 A Goldfinch, a Pine Siskin, and a House Finch walk into a bar...

An immature Red-wing Blackbird

 A Common Grackle

 White Crowned Sparrow

 Three Pine Siskins

 A Pine Siskin

 A female Goldfinch watches the Pine Siskins eat

 An Oriole

What? 

 You talkin' to me?

 Coming closer

Checking it out

Getting comfy

For more birdy pics check this out: