A New Family

After the disappointment in the nest box, the bluebirds have found a new place to make their home and start a family.

I took this picture yesterday and when I looked tonight, there were three eggs. Busy, busy.

Life in the Wild

I love having my windows open in the morning waking to the sounds of the birds chirping and singing. As I continue to attract birds to my yard, there are three types that I would love to have visit - bluebirds, orioles and hummingbirds. Very briefly I saw an oriole in the past and I spotted a hummingbird here and there, but they have not visited my yard in great numbers. Mark built me this great oriole feeder that will hopefully help the orioles find their way to my yard.

I have been delighted to find bluebirds in my yard and, once again, Mark built some nice little houses for them and I set out a dish of raisins, cranberries and mealy worms. We have been rewarded with at least one bluebird couple (there may be more, but we haven't been formally introduced). The bluebirds had built a nice little nest in one of their houses and there were 3 eggs, but then "something" got to them and broke up all the eggs. I am relieved to see that they have not left our yard and we are keeping an eye on the other house we have for them. I wish I knew how to keep their nest safe.

 My little camera does a pretty decent job of capturing these guys, but I would love to have one that would really show off their beauty.

Here's another visitor we had one afternoon:

and a couple of raccoons the size of medium sized dogs who did not get their picture taken. I just told them to go play in the street. It's tricky attracting the delightful creatures you want in your yard versus those you would like to go somewhere else, but it's been a fun hobby and hopefully the orioles and hummingbirds will find their way here as well.

Love Is In The Air

All winter, I have fed the birds that come into my yard and I have been able to watch the variety of birds that visit my feeders. .

I have had a lot of success with cardinals. In the winter, Mrs. Cardinal would stop by the food and would eat a little bit and always be on the lookout for, I think, Mr. Cardinal. Then Mr. Cardinal (the little man above) would swoop in and Mrs. Cardinal would have to leave the food and fly away. Well this spring, I have seen an entirely different scene with the cardinals. Mrs. Cardinal still leaves the food dish when Mr. Cardinal stops by, but instead of flying to a tree further away from her cardinal food, she will walk along the rail of the deck where he can defnitely still see her. When she gets past him, she will look over her shoulder to see if he's noticing her and then she flies right next to him showing off her graceful flight and shiny feathers. He, of course, pretends not to notice her at all. And then both are gone, perhaps building a home or doing whatever it is that cardinals do, like lay eggs or something. Ah yes, spring love in my own backyard.