Around the yard in early March

On July 13, 2026August 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Bluebirds were working on a nest in the nest box in early March like they have done the past few years but they haven’t actually nested in it. Next spring I’m going to move it much higher and to the other side of the tree.

A juvenile red shoulder hawk was sitting right outside the window.

I slowly opened the back door to get a shot with my camera and he flew off and landed on the cart path. He quickly ate what looked like a cricket and then took off again, flying so close that I cut him off.

I heard cedar waxwings in the trees in the front yard and ran inside to grab my camera. I saw some birds flying across the street (next to the pond) and when I walked over I realized they were brown-headed cowbirds. We don’t see them often here.

After snapping the cowbirds I heard the waxwings again. I turned around and saw them flying towards me.

They landed in a tree right over my head and stayed for a while. It was such a treat to see these beautiful birds right on my street. They only come through in the spring and some springs we don’t see them at all.

Things blooming in the yard in early March.

I bought a small basil plant thinking I would be cooking more but I forgot about it and it grew quickly and started blooming. I’ve heard that once they bloom the leaves become bitter so I haven’t used them. It smells good when I walked outside though.

Green lacewings are highly beneficial feeding heavily on aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mites. I usually don’t see them until the middle of summer so this one was early.

Inside flowers from Valentine’s Day.

I was still spending quite a bit of time at the pond across the street watching the black bellied whistling ducks. It was fun to watch them all fly in at the end of the day.

Swallow tail kites had arrived.

The clouds in the back turn bright orange when the sun sets.

Early August in the backyard

On December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

At the end of July we were getting rain almost every day. We had several little puddles appear in the backyard and one morning I was able to catch the white ibis getting some bugs in the water. It was fun to watch them sloshing around in the ground. We must have some good bugs in the backyard because they were having a feast.

The rabbit made another appearance and I caught him eating the ivy again. He saw me through the window but kept eating for a while.

Cardinals will molt and lose a lot of their feathers and they look scraggly when it happens. This guy had lost all of the feathers around his neck and the back of his head. He was easy to spot for several days.

We had a lot of Carolina wrens this summer. There were several juveniles that stopped by for a bath. They liked resting on some storm debris we hadn’t picked up yet.

We still had ruby throated hummingbirds at the feeder in early August. It was mostly females but I did have a male show up a few times (with the bright red throat).

Another lacewing on the back door.

A young squirrel getting a snack in front of the back door.

A coyote down the street? What? I knew they were here and I have neighbors that have seen them at night but I had not seen one in the 3 years we have lived here (I did have one on the back patio last year in the middle of the night that I saw on the backdoor camera). I was on my way to the grocery store one morning and saw this guy laying along the sidewalk near the utility field. I luckily had my camera in the car and pulled over and took the above. He just sat there and looked at me. I did talk to a lady walking her small dog that way and told her to watch for it. When I came back from the store I saw him heading into the woods.

More summer skies, all in the backyard.

Around the yard in mid-July

On November 4, 2024October 24, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I looked out the kitchen window and saw a squirrel in the small tree in our front courtyard. I realized he was eating one of the almost dead sunflowers. He sat there and ate it while I ran and got my camera. I guess he was eating the sunflower seeds. He looked so happy like he had just won a prize.

In mid-July we had a heavy storm and the temporary pond across the fairway filled back up. Late one afternoon I saw a spoonbill feeding in the pond and went out with my camera. Luckily there wasn’t anyone playing golf that late and I was able to stand in the fairway and get some shots of the spoony and his friends without getting too close. There was also a snowy egret, a little blue heron and a juvenile little blue heron (the white one above).

A quick video of them feeding that I took with my phone.

The hummingbird was a regular visitor to the feeder and the shrimp plant.

These two turkeys came cruising by and stopped long enough for me to sneak out back and shoot the above from our patio.

We had a rabbit come by and feed on our ivy in the patio. I took these through the glass door. He saw me but kept eating for a while. I didn’t mind him eating the ivy. We are always cutting it back.

A few days later I was doing some clean up in the front and saw this tiny bunny up against our front door. I snapped the above and texted a rehabber to make sure he was old enough to be on his own. She said he was fine. Later I saw him hopping around the courtyard but haven’t seen him since that day.

Those weird fungus looking things on my back glass door that was actually lacewing eggs turned into this. They are beneficial to the yard and will eat tons of little bugs including mealybugs, aphids, spider mites and whiteflies.