The backyard in late june

On October 18, 2025September 20, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The bluebird families were continuing to come to the mealworm feeder in the backyard throughout the summer.

I saw a pileated woodpecker in the oak tree in the back and ran out with my camera. I realized there were two of them and they were pretty high up in the tree. Dad (with the red stripe under his beak) quickly fed the juvenile and then went scooting up the tree with the young one screaming behind him.

Other birds at the mealworm feeder included a Carolina wren family and the thrasher that’s been hanging out here for a month.

We’ve had several bunnies stopping by and it’s fun to see 2 at the same time. One was much bigger than the other so I’m thinking the little one is an offspring of the bigger one.

A ruby throated hummingbird feeding on the shrimp plants.

The young squirrels spent so much time playing.

A juvenile Carolina wren was spreading his wings out in sun on our patio chair.

Watching the moon going down in the early morning from the driveway.

Summer skies in late June at the pond across the street.

We are empty nesters

On June 11, 2022June 6, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

On April 5th I watched as a pair of Carolina wrens built a nest in my hanging plant. At first I thought they had abandoned it but several days later I saw the wren fly out and went outside and saw 5 eggs in the hole. Three weeks later I kept seeing one flying into the nest with bugs. I’m thinking the eggs must have hatched.

One morning after the parent left I went outside and was able to take these with my camera. I couldn’t tell how many at this point but I thought I saw 3 beaks.

For days both parents were busy bringing in bugs. These were all taken through the window.

A few days later I went outside and caught the above. Their eyes were open at this point. I think there was a 4th one back there.

Mom and Dad continued to bring bugs.

This was about 8 days after I first saw the babies. They were growing so fast and so much. They all didn’t fit in the hole anymore and the biggest was sleeping out on the basket. I took this on a Thursday afternoon before we left to go to Fort Lauderdale for a long weekend to visit Brett’s relatives.

We got back from our trip late Sunday afternoon and I ran outside to check on the babies and the basket was empty. I was crushed. I didn’t think they could be big enough to be out of the nest yet and thought maybe the crows got them. I came back inside to unpack and a few minutes later I heard Brett yelling that he had just seen the babies. I ran outside with my camera and found them on my neighbor’s patio. They were bouncing around with Mom close by. There were 4 babies. I was so excited to see them. They will be flying in 2-3 days and Mom will continue to feed them as they bounce around, learning to fly. They were heading down the neighborhood that night, staying close to the townhomes. I hope they all made it.

A different type of Easter eggs.

On May 14, 2022May 1, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Since we moved into our home in late September, I’ve always seen Carolina wrens in the backyard. Some days there are two but always at least one looking around for food. They sit on the bird feeder or the plants and sing for a while.

One morning I was home in early April and saw one bringing nesting stuff to the hanging plant in front of the window.

All day I watched as both wrens brought stuff into the plant. They were building a nest in there. I would see one stay inside the plant and dig around.

Pausing before heading into the plant, or was he posing for me?

The only shot I could get of both bringing in sticks at the same time.

Sitting on the edge at the end of the day. I didn’t see them again for a few days and thought maybe they abandoned it. I’ve heard they will build several before nesting. All of the above were taken through the window.