Baby Time, Outback

The birds were calling early this morning and there were numerous and random little cheeps and peeps and whistles tucked in among the usual morning cacophony.  Spring is clearly in the air!

I grabbed my usual amount of seed and headed out back for what was to be a short visit and photo taking expedition.  It turned into however, an hour long photo shoot with many more opportunities than I bargained for.  This is good news.  I love having more to shoot than not enough. I have had plenty of those days when I stood in the hot sun with nothing to shoot at!

The Blue Jays were the first to arrive.  Surprisingly enough, the baby arrived at the feeder first.  Clearly
he /she will have no issues with self confidence in the future.  He even challenged the squirrel who was at the opposite end minding his own business.  After the squirrel jumped from the feeder he/she decided to watch the proceedings from a nearby oak tree.

The baby was then quickly followed by a family of Red Bellied Woodpeckers.  Mom, Dad and two little fledglings graced the area and at times, the feeder.  They made quite a racket with their peeps and screeches!  Peanuts were the food of choice though the sunflower seeds were also taken.

The Carolina Wren made a brief appearance and then was off to sit close by on a branch and sing VERY loudly!

All in all it was a very productive day!  I just may have to go out there again in a few minutes.  ;-)

A Different Kind of "Bird"

Due to the fact that I spent most of yesterday taking pictures of butterflies, I thought I would continue the same theme today and take pictures of creepy, crawly beasties out behind our apartment.  It proved to be a good plan because the birds were clearly not in the cooperative mood, as only a sparse Red Winged Blackbird and Blue Jay decided to stop by for a nibble.

The woods out back is a virtual haven for many insect species.  There are mosquitos a plenty, (especially during the rainy season), along with beetles, (not Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, that was for you older people) and many butterflies and dragonflies.  I quickly scoped the area and saw numerous wild flowers abuzz with insects.  The lighting was such that I could easily get pictures of the bees, dragonflies and butterflies in flight, but I decided to not work that hard, and to rather concentrate on the lighting and agreeable ones.

The dragonflies seemed to be everywhere and I was amazed that there were so many different colors.  There were red ones and blue ones and even an orange one or two, flitting here and darting there.  Here are a few pictures of the one that seemed to want his/her picture taken.


Enjoy...