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.