First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of Summer, June 22, 2013.  The weather forecast was for no rain, so I got up early and planned a day of backyard photography.  The truth is however that that was to happen after I went to the store, started dinner and took the dogs for a long walk.  I think I've found a new way to be more productive on my days off.  Getting up early gives you not only a new perspective on the day, (seemingly more hours), but it also allows for errands and fun.

I finally got out the door with bird seed in hand about 12:30pm.  It was hot, about 90 degrees when I got out back.  The sun was beating down on my favorite standing spot, and I guess the birds were happy with me sweating out there, because almost immediately they started coming to the feeder.

First the Blue Jays came.  They weren't very loud today but they were skittish for some reason.  A stop and go was all that they ever did, so there weren't many opportunities for photographs of them.  The next bird to the feeder was one of my favorites, the Red Bellied Woodpecker.  Today one of the adults, (I think Mom), brought their newest fledgling along.  The baby wasn't keen on landing on the feeder at first, probably because of all the traffic.  The Mourning Doves were pretty pushy today and they didn't back down until Mom RBW had had enough and put them in their place.

As I stated the traffic was pretty heavy out there and most all the bushes, trees and shrubs had movement.  To my left, something caught my eye.  A Monarch Butterfly was searching for the milkweed plants that I planted out there last summer.  It flitted here and there, finally landing on one and to my surprise started depositing her eggs!  Though this is a rare photo opportunity I was more interested in the avian activity on and around the feeder.

Right above the Monarch the sapling moved.  Then a bird, too quick to identify flew down to the ground.  Now without bragging, I'm pretty savvy in bird identification.  The shorebirds and warblers give me trouble, but most all of the regulars are easily identified.  This bird was the exception.  It had brown tail feathers and a "flycatcher-like" head.  My first guess, and probably my last, was a baby Brown Thrasher, but I really wouldn't put any cash on the guess?

The Carolina Wrens were out and about and as loud as usual.  I finally caught one signing high in a scrub to my right.  It's not a great picture, but the fact that you can identify the bird even though I was shooting directly into the bright mid-day sky was a plus.

I counted six squirrels today, only one on the feeder at the time however, so it was a very polite day also.  I will wait until around 7pm and go back out for some more shots, but it's been a while so I thought I would post some of this mornings jaunt.

Back Out Back Again

Howdy!

Today I got up with the good intentions of going out back early to get some awesome pictures as the sun rose and the birds fed.  Good intentions sometimes don't happen.  For one reason or another, it took me until after 4:30pm to grab my camera and head out back for some photo-ops.

It's really a good thing that the birds in my backyard don't hold grudges, as I heard them yelling this morning at around 7:00am for food.  I'm sure that they are not pleased with me and my laziness.  However, you wouldn't have known it by the way that they came almost immediately when the food hit the feeder.

They were mostly the usual guests, but it being Springtime, one could always hope to see a surprise visitor every now and then.


The Red Bellied Woodpecker, (Woody as we call him), came first.  He's polite and usually only takes one or two peanuts before flying off to eat them in a near by pine tree.  Then the Blue Jays came.  There were both parents and fledglings, (probably by now an inappropriate term as they fledged about a week ago), and they were hungry.  They challenged the squirrel and the Mourning Doves for the food, which is unusual for them.

The surprise visitor was a newly fledged Greater Mockingbird.  This little guy's eyes haven't yet changed to the golden hue of it's parents yet, and it still has a mottled chest, much like a Wood Thrush.  This will change in the next week or so, but today he/she was there, on the feeder, picking through the seeds for what I can only assume were little bugs.  I saw him/her take no seeds.


A young raccoon made an appearance also.  They're cute but I'm always cautious of them in the daylight.  This one loves peanuts and was chased away twice so I could get some pics.

It was a great day.  Tomorrow I'll again get up early.  Perhaps I can talk myself into going out back for a while before breakfast!