A finch picnic
Our bird feeders and bird baths give us a wonderful opportunity to view many types of birds. It is always fun to watch their antics.
A classy swimming pool
A puddle will do nicely too
It doesn't seem to matter the time of year, we always seem to have some kind of avian visitor.
This robin is wondering what happened. This picture was taken in April.
A Lazuli Bunting
Here's a Northern Flicker, a type of woodpecker. They hang around into winter. I always leave some grapes on my vines for them, well what the robins don't get. The woodpeckers love frozen grapes.
This hawk is scouting for lunch. I know they have to eat also but I sure don't like them getting my little sparrows. Fortunately the sparrows have a nice place to hide in a prickly rose bush near the feeders.
I think this is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak
This is "Morty" our resident pheasant. He has been coming and going in our yard for several years now.
Here's Morty last spring with one of his female friends, he had two.
These guys showed up in our yard one day this past August. They poked around for awhile then waddled on their merry way.
We always seem to have one or two rabbits that like to make a home under our shed. Like the other wild life they come and go.
This doe stopped to take a drink last week in front of our house.
Here's the doe's friend munching on some grass. We see this buck and several does frequently this time of year roaming around the neighborhood.
A first for us, a couple weeks ago we had raccoons in our yard. We found the dog's water dish tipped over one morning and were wondering how it happened. That evening our motion sensor light in front went off and my husband spotted four raccoons before they scooted around to the back. The next day the water dish was tipped over again. We're pretty sure they were eating fallen crab apples. They have since moved on to greener pastures. I wish I could have gotten a picture.
These are a few examples of the wildlife that visit our yard. Over the years as our garden has grown and evolved we've noticed more birds. Not only the number of birds but also the variety. So who's in your garden?
A thought to ponder: "When man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard." Lakota
What a delightful post! You do indeed have a most wonderful, delightful garden, and it's clear from these photos that it's also a very successful - and very popular - Certified Wildlife Habitat! I love how generous you are about sharing your beautiful property and the bounty of your garden and fruit trees with members of ALL species! :-)
ReplyDeleteI adore the birdbath photos - I'm thrilled if I see ONE bird using ours - yours is SRO! I had fun imagining that at day's end, the birdbath-using birds told their friends they'd gone to the pool, while the ones who used the puddle boasted that they'd spent their day at the natural hot springs. LOL
Your post made me miss all the many wildlife visitors we always enjoyed up on Red Grade. It's pretty amazing that in parts of town, at least, many of the same critters have managed to carve out places for themselves, and places like yours are a real gift to them. We see so few critters up here compared to when we lived by Kendrick Park and on Absaraka - all the construction activity and the lack of trees probably accounts for much of it. :-(
Pretty exciting to have raccoons come calling! ;-) They are such clever critters, I hope they'll return again one day when you can get a photo.
That looks like a sharp-shinned hawk, and funny thing - just this morning I was talking about members of that very species, who would occasionally stalk our feeders, in my reply to veganelder's comment on my latest post. And that is indeed a handsome Rose-breasted grosbeak! The Lazuli Bunting is gorgeous - we only saw them a handful of times in Big Horn, and it was always a thrill - as were our equally rare sightings of the Western Tanagers. Do you ever get them?
Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos of your furry and feathered neighbors! They're all so beautiful, and smart, too - they know kind, gentle people and an ideal place to hang out when they see them! :-)
Thanks for confirming the Rose-breasted grosbeak and also the hawk, I couldn't find him in my bird book. I guess I'll have to expand to looking on the internet. We don't see the Lazuli Bunting very often, I was lucky to get a picture. We also have a few Blue Jays but the only pictures I've gotten so far have been blurry. I'll keep trying.
DeleteI'm glad you liked the post. I'd forgotten how much wildlife variety we really have here until I started looking through my pictures. Hopefully when they get done with all the heavy equipment use up by your house you'll get more critters. There are so many open fields by you they probably hang out there rather then near all the noise.
We love our bird baths. It does look like they're having quite the social gathering, discussing world events.lol The little guys like to use the blue one which was pictured. We have a larger, deeper one that the robins use for bathing. I don't think we've had Western Tanagers. We keep our bird book handy in the spring and summer in case we spot a bird we don't recognize.
Yes, it was exciting to have raccoons. If they do come back I will need to figure out a remote night setup, since they are nocturnal. Although we're glad they didn't stay too long, they made a bit of a poopy mess. They are cute though. My father had a family of raccoons that came to his home when he still lived in California. They would steal the dog's food. So my Dad started buying them their own and fed them for years. They wouldn't come every day but several times a week. They got comfortable with us watching them through the sliding glass door.
Thanks for all the kinds words.
A beautiful post with so many gorgeous critters! You get a wonderful variety in your backyard and I especially love the Bunting. What a pretty bird!
ReplyDeleteOur backyard is fenced, but we still manage to see quite a bit of wildlife. Lots of birds, including some bald eagles and hawks every once in a while. We've also seen foxes, deer, turkeys, and coyotes. In front of our house is a field and a lot of sandhill cranes and geese love to graze there.
Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed this post!
Thank you, Molly, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. We are lucky to see so many different critters, we really enjoy them.We actually live in town so we feel fortunate. Our yard is fenced also. As much as I enjoy seeing the deer I prefer they not come in the back and eat my vegetable garden. It sounds like you get a nice variety also. It's lovely to be able to sit in your own home and see wildlife.
DeleteThanks for visiting.