Tag Archives: carolina wren babies

Pretty colors and a sad story

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It was the end of April and there sat another indigo bunting in our backyard. This was the third indigo bunting sighting in the yard so I’m thinking it might be the same one hanging around. His only company was some cardinals and bluebirds. This was the last migrating bird I saw at home.

An adult Carolina wren sits on the bird feeder hook. I hadn’t seen any for a while and now they are passing through with their babies. She started calling and I realized her two babies were bouncing around in our bushes.

The babies were almost fully grown and were taking short flight hops from place to place. I went outside and shot the above. They didn’t seem to mind me being out there and I stayed far back.

I put the hummingbird feeder out about mid-April and the first time I saw one was on 4/28. Both a male and female were coming to the feeder. The last time I had seen one was at the end of August. I only saw the male a few times but there are 2 females that take turns coming to the feeder everyday since.

The last time I saw my backyard turkey was this day at the end of April. She has been visiting the backyard almost every day for weeks. She would quietly feed and take a quick nap under my neighbor’s oak tree. I saw her around 3pm and she was napping. The next day I found out from a neighbor that she had been hit by a car at 5pm at the end of our street at the stop sign. I was crushed. I knew it was my backyard turkey. I haven’t seen her since. I’m thinking someone hit her on purpose. The turkeys here don’t dart out in front of cars. The speed limit is 20 and she was hit at a stop sign? The neighbor didn’t see the car that hit her but she was dead when the neighbor found her. The people who live near that stop sign don’t have cameras so we couldn’t check that. I just don’t understand people anymore.

On a brighter note, the hibiscus in our courtyard have been blooming and they are huge. The top one starts out pale pink and turns yellow before it dies. This type of hibiscus doesn’t close at the end of each day. They stayed open for at least 3 days.

The peace lily plant has also been blooming.

I took the above shot of the gulf fritillary with my phone as I was taking the garbage out.

 

Around the house in mid-June

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The downy woodpeckers and the chickadees keep coming to the feeder together.

Another set of Carolina wren babies were hopping around our backyard. I think they had been born in my neighbor’s pot because I kept seeing an adult flying over there with bugs.  Mom was close by. You can still see the fuzz in their head and necks.


A beautiful cooper’s hawk in our tree. I was walking back from getting the mail and he landed on my husband’s car in the driveway. I ran back in and grabbed my camera thinking he would be gone when I got back outside but he flew up to the tree when I came out.

I have seen hummingbirds coming through the backyard but this is the first time I was able to catch one. They were buzzing around my gardenia bush but they don’t stay long. I was looking out the back window watching a squirrel and saw her fly in and feed on my hanging purslane flowers. I grabbed my camera and waited, half hiding behind the curtains. She came back again and I was able to snap the above but then she took off and I didn’t see her again that afternoon.

A smiling gator drying out behind the pond near my house. I was riding my bike around the neighborhood with my camera and stopped to catch it.

Juvenile osprey are everywhere in the neighborhood. There’s a nest in every utility tower across the neighborhood and they are all filled with osprey.

As I was biking home I stopped at the pond down the street and noticed something moving around with an adult limpkin. I was glad I had brought my camera in my backpack. At first I thought there was just one baby but when they started swimming across the pond I could see all 5 of them. The pond turns into a river that runs through the neighborhood and once they crossed they started heading behind some houses so I lost track of them.

The rain was starting to move in. I love the summer skies after the rain. The lake across from my house is going to be a good spot to catch some orange sunsets.