Almost a Washout!

We decided to go to Huntley Meadows today for a change - went of course too late in the day, but you gotta do what you gotta do! Just couldn't get off any earlier.

We had seen these swallows flying over the wetlands, but they were not about to land anywhere! Then as we started back, we saw probably close to 100 of them in a big flock in the trees.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Sometimes if you don't find what you set out to, you just photograph what you see!

The skink didn't mind being on-camera.

And there were loads of dragonfies - many varieties, but truthfully, I don't know one from another - they are just dragonflies to me.

Almost Forgotten

It was pretty quiet in the woods this morning. But this little hooded warbler made a brief appearance for us.

Juvenile wren - very tiny and fast.

There were still lots of juncos.

This great crested flycatcher was really high up - sort of surveying everything.

Just a few butterflies left.

Magic Moment

We were sitting out on our balcony having our coffee at SNP very early this morning - the view was magnificent, with the moon still shining, and the mountains misty. Very quietly and daintily, two fawns walked out into the clearing in front of us.

They started running and playing like a couple of puppies (or little boys!)

They ran together and separately, kicking their heels in apparent joy at just being alive on a beautiful morning in the mountains.

Back and forth, around and around.

They would rest a moment from time to time.

Then more races.

They were joined by 3 does - this one seemed to be the mama of both - maybe one or both of the other does were yearlings.

More playing (with big sister?)

Family Portrait (you can see the 5th one's ears in the foreground.)

It was amazing, and seemed to be a show put on just for us. I don't think I breathed the entire time - could hardly (believe it or not!) even think about photographs.

GOOD MORNING

The little bluebirds are coming for their mealworms all by themselves - They can feed just fine alone, but they still beg!

The ringleader.

He's bigger than Mom!

The eastern wood pee-wee is fun to watch when he's swooping around snapping up bugs.

And this silly baby doesn't even care WHO has the worms - he wants some! LOL

The woodpecker really went at him - he does the same thing to his own baby when it gets close to him!

Labor Day Washington Post Ad

Motley Crew

Boy, they are starting to look a little rough! One of the catbirds has mites and has no feathers at all on his head...he looks so pathetic, and doesn't want his picture made. Mr C is a mess, but I don't think he knows it.

Very calmly posing....

Uh-oh...he's seen me!

Et tu, Ollie?

All these babies take their toll!

But look - the babies are gorgeous. This last brood just started coming to the porch.

All three are fine - and very beautiful.

One more look...

Just hanging around. No molting here yet.

I'm not trying to run this in the ground, but John got these photos of "Sugar" and they show him drinking nectar better than my pictures did. I'm thinking it's only the one chickadee, but not sure.

Checking it out-

Definitely knows what he's doing!

Summer Treats

This treat is for me! The other 2 babies were in another tree.

I had to bait this with mealworms, and he was a bit squeamish at first, but once he saw the big red blob was OK, he munched away - I was wondering if he would actually try the watermelon itself, but the light was going fast, so I gave it up. I want to try this one morning.

I REALLY hoped he would taste it. With his "sweet beak" he would love it!

Double Delight!

One more of these - I just love to wach this!

1600 is BAD

Oh, shoot! We started out at dawn in the park this morning. There were some deer beside the road grazing, and I wanted to get a couple of shots, so I set my camera ISO to 1600. Fine, but I forgot to change it back, and everything is very noisy...No good pictures, but we did see a good many birds: towhees, catbirds, juncos, redstarts, wren, a flock of cedar waxwings who had just had their morning baths and were preening, northern parula, eastern wood pee-wees, ravens, the black-throated blue warbler below, black and white warbler, kentucky warbler(?) and the funny long eared bird at the bottom.

The culprits who precipitated the wrong settings.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Kentucky Warbler (?)

Black and White Warbler

Female Towhee - "Look Ma, no hands!"

Name That Bird!

Monday, Monday

It was a busy morning again. I was changing the hummingbird nectar and saw that the funny red-bellied woodpecker was taking huge bills-full of mealworms up to the top of the snag. When he flew back down, I saw this little fellow hoping for more.

Posing nicely.

Dad's back.

Please, a few more.

OK, here you go.

Watching hopefully.

Noticed the baby robin just in time to see it get fed.

"Everything is a miracle!"

Sunday Same-old

Now that he knows about the "candy" in the hummer feeder, he will really be a steady visitor. And that's a good thing!

It makes a great perch.

But he didn't waste any time getting down to business.

Down it goes. I try to keep the nectar fresh and cool when I'm home - it probably feels really nice in his throat.

Looking a little rough.

Still stealing - this is one noisy woodpecker - he chatters the whole time he is here.

Felix the cat(bird)

Unfortunately I focused on his wing - but this is too funny to leave out. Look at the big mealworm hanging out of his mouth.

True little jewel.

Note the tiny ruby spot on this one's throat.

Showing off.

I realize nesting is over for these guys, and this might even be a young male, but if it's a female, we know who he was showing off for. Pretty plain, but pretty.

Turf war.

This is for Barb. LOL

Embarrassingly Lousy Photography

.................but delightful bird stunts. The little chickadee has been sitting and climbing on the hummer feeder for a while - tonight we looked up and, lo and behold, he had discovered that it had good stuff in it. I made the photos through the door, with one leg of the tripod on my foot! Ouch! And the light is going, but here they are. Isn't it fun?!

Again, not enough light, but you can see the end of his bill inside the tube!

All Three Alive and Well!

Here they are!

Sessions

The hummingbirds are at this feeder most of the time now - the young ones, like this little male, like to rest on it.

Licking his lips! If you look closely, you can see his tongue.


And here, on the left side of his throat, at the bottom of the spots, a little red is visible.

Little acrobat.

Well, look who else likes to rest on the Canyon Trading feeder!

He's talking about something.

And posing for me!

The nuthatches are back, after being MIA.

Looking a bit ratty...

I saw one of the new babies yesterday up in one of the big trees.

Well, it's the end of the summer - and he's no "spring chicken" anyway.

The buddies were back together - for the third day in a row. They come at the same time, eat and play and move around all over the place, then leave at the same time. Mockingbird above, catbird below.

And a busy brown thrasher.

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS.

Unexpected

I have never seen a yellow warbler here before! (Or if I have I just saw yellow and assumed goldfinch, of which I have many.) This one was flitting around - I got a lot of shots but (sadly to admit) these were the best. It's always exciting to see the unexpected!

We call this the "bird tree" and I have seen many, many different birds in it over the past 5 1/2 years: Bluebird, cardinal, goldfinch, house finch, purple finch, blue jays, hummingbird, red-eyed vireo, yellow-billed cuckoo, cedar waxwing, carolina wren, house wren, titmouse, chickadee, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker, nuthatch, great-creasted flycatcher, eastern wood pee-wee, phoebe, mockingbird, brown thrasher, towhee, mourning dove, tree swallow, northern flicker, ruby-crowned kinglet, blue-gray gnatcatcher, catbird, robin, yellow-rumped warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak, white-throated sparrow, chipping sparrow, song sparrow, tree sparrow, dark-eyed junco,blue grosbeak, indigo bunting, red-tailed hawk, red-shouldered hawk, Cooper's hawk, a great blue heron, and alas, brown-headed cowbird, red-winged blackbird, grackel, starling, and #%$%^*house sparrow. And now - a yellow warbler!

Sort of camera shy.

Thank you, goldfinch, for coming to pose in the same place and show your differences.

My little "Wild Kingdom."

There was early activity outside this morning. This is one of two young squirrels that were playing hide-and-seek.

He would go around and around the tree trunk, then run up into the branches, then back down.

The hummers emptied the test tube feeder!

They actually seemed to be taking turns instead of fighting at the feeder.

Baby robin was cheep-cheeping away.

And mama (or dad) has something for his breakfast.

My mealworm thief - he's actually stashing mealworms in the cavity!

Just showing off.

These two must be buddies - they were together yesterday, and came back today together.

"Share our similarities; celebrate our differences."

Morning toilette.

And his lady friend.

COOL CUSTOMER PHOTO

Customer and fellow photographer Tom Claussen captured this delightful image of "his" bluebirds bathing in his backyard habitat. Thanks, Tom & Cheryl, for your loyalty to Backyard Boutique, and for sharing this wonderful photo.

Photo by Tom Claussen

BIRDS NEED WATER! They are hot too.

Visiting Hour

Just had a few minutes with my little friends this morning. The hummingbirds have been voracous lately; fattening up for their journey.

Love that cool clean water on a muggy morning.

Young mockingbird and catbird (below) flew in together, preened a bit, then flew off, still together.

Busy feeding the last brood in the trees.

What a fun surprise!

Fun at the Feeders

"Betcha can't eat just one!"

These little things are just so lovely. I have on a red shirt, and this one really buzzed me - back and forth - for at least a minute.

Have a Cigar Part III

My 3 babies fledged - I missed it....both in person and on the spycam. I had taken the wires in for the lawn service to mow, and didn't get them back up in time. I guess all is well, because the parents are taking mealworms high into the treetops. Stay tuned for the baby album!

Yawn!

Whoa! We got up before 5 and headed to Shenandoah. Didn't quite make our goal of getting out before sunrise (just couldn't get up at 4:30 - ungodly hour!) But we were there in time to snap some of the "early birds"....and a few furry critters as well.

Chipmunks were the first living things we saw.

My favorite photo of the day....Female (or possibly 1st year male) redstart.

Same bird.

Black and white warbler.

Chestnut-sided warbler.

Female hooded warbler.

Male hooded warbler.

And another female...(who can blame them - he's very handsome.)

Eastern wood pee-wee. I love these guys - something about them is just so sweet.

Lots of young juncos. Maybe this one will come stay at my house this winter.

Bambi.....mom was nearby, but the baby was straying off a bit. Very brave.

"Are you friendly, lady?"

Having breakfast.

I guess they were having breakfast too.

Going Batty!

Last night we had a bat expert from Batworld NOVA come to Backyard Boutique for a public education program on bats. She was wonderful, and, for August, we had a decent crowd. This is one of her orphans, who cannot ever be released back into the wild. It's the first time I've seen live bats up close and personal, and I didn't really expect to think they were cute - but actually they were. John made the pix - they are actually made off the screen - she held the little bats in the camer's light and we watched them in real time on the screen...She did hold them out for everybody to see their size and their very velvety coats.

Big brown bat.....that's its name, not its size. It was tiny!

Looking for another handout. She fed it mealworms..and it spit out the heads!

Looks like it needed an orthodontist!

Rod (my son and the store manager) looking on from amongst the feeders.

Some of the audience, enjoying the show and the rocking chairs (Amish-made bent oak - absolutely wonderful!)

After dinner enjoyment out back.

The light was getting a little low, so I couldn't "stop" his wings.

I guess these are just more of the same, but I CAN'T STOP!

Before the Storm

This morning early it sounded like spring outside....There were birds all over, singing cheerfully. I couldn't really figure it out since they have started to quieten down as usual during the late summer, but then around 4, we had a HUGE storm, with wind blowing from directions I've never seen since we've lived here! They always seem to behave differently before storms.

I heard Mr C's babies in the trees, but only got a fleeting glance. (I didn't dare go out looking, because I would have gotten carried away and not gone to work!)

Charlie and friends were busy, busy.

And the young catbird was squeaking away!

I haven't had nearly as many goldfinches as usual this year, but the ones that have been around have been beautiful.. (Another interesting thing: they have eaten far more sunflower seeds than niger.)