Guests for Dinner

One evening about a month ago my husband and I were carrying our plates to sit down at our kitchen table, and this was what we saw:

I immediately said to Jack, "Take my plate and don't move."

This trio of Baltimore Orioles were originally

attracked to my Hummingbird feeder.

Before sitting down to eat, I quickly cut apart some oranges

and placed some on both of our decks.

For the next couple of weeks I could see them

eating out of two different windows.

In previous years I was lucky if I saw them on two days.

Such beautiful birds!  

However, some of my local birds and some visitors

were not at all impressed.

 

Taking turns didn't

seem to be in the

Oriole's vocabulary.

Even a few harsh words didn't help.

Finally the Rose-Breasted Grosebeak got a little creative.

And they ended the day as Friends!

Hope the Orioles come back next year...and bring their wives along.

Headache or Bad Hair Day?

"Could this be a headache

or has the thought of becoming a father

feaked me out?"

"Maybe it's just a "'bad hair' day."

"Hey look....I can hang upside down just like the Woodpeckers!"

It's Time to Build my Nest

In the branches of an old lilac bush that once belonged to my grandmother

hangs a little wrenhouse.  Every year some wren family builds a nest in it.

A couple of mornings ago I heard a very familiar song.

And there she was singing her heart out on some of the old bare branches.

However, there was much work to be done.

Just how can she get this big stick into that little hole?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

She finally got it in

 



So now she can sit and sing for Joy!

A Hermit Thrush??

I saw this bird sitting very calmly outside my bedroom window.

It sat there for a long time;

then jumped down to look for something on the ground;

and finally flew back to the same perch.

After looking in my bird book and on line, I think it is a Hermit Thrush.

However, I have never seen one before, so what do you think?

It also looks similar to a Wood Thrush....I'm just not positive.

Just Passing Through but Stopped for Lunch

I had never seen a Black Throated Blue Warbler before.

When I first saw them they were

checking out the oranges I had put out for the Orioles.

Soon one of them flew around to the back deck

and posed for me.

How fun to finally be seeing some "new" birds

even if they didn't stick around.

Picking a Kentucky Derby Hat

I have always enjoyed the times

when we were priviledged to attend the Kentucky Derby

to watch and sometimes take pictures of some of the beautiful hats. 

Some, of course, were funny, some were pretty common,

but some were extraordinarily beautiful

and cordinated with their owners' dresses..

...I know, the Kentucky Derby is supposed to be about horses, 

and those horses when you see them up close

are magnificent creatures...

..Anyway, getting back to hats.. 

Here are some of the birds from my backyard trying to pick their Derby Hat.

This Baltimore Oriole

won First Prize

This little Chickadee was trying to get perched just right.

The Titmouse tried a couple different poses.

A little disagreement insued when  two female Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks saw the hat. 

Mr. Grosebeek seemed to be trying to tell the one sitting on the deck rail that he was buying this hat for his wife, and she wasn't included.

This did not go over very well, but finally

 the man and his missus had their time to wear the hat.

She finally convinced her husband to let her wear it by herself.

Eventually the Baltimore Oriole came back

 because he wanted to have a photo shoot. 

They tried doing it together.

But in the end, all had to agree

that the hat really went with the Baltimore Oriole's dress.

As you may know, feathers have been really "in" recently in hats!