Hummers

I was reading a blog about hummingbirds and I am so glad they are back at my home too.  I love to see all my hummingbirds come to our feeders. 

We had 6 Ruby Throated Hummingbirds out there fighting for the feeders.  It was amazing to see them fly around and come so close to hitting me and my camera. 

Here you can see one ready to land on the feeder and you can see his red throat.  How amazing!

We (girls day out) took a little trip to a friends house way out somewhere between No and Where.  They had a beautiful yard with tons of hummingbirds fighting there too.  This is the first time to see a Buff-bellied Hummingbird.  The white tip on the beak is actually its tongue. 

We were told they actually have around six different varieties of hummingbirds come around their home.  I'd love to be there for that.  These Buff-bellied hummers are fierce little guys.  They would not let the Ruby Throated hummers near the feeders.  


Our feeders are still hanging in front of a window at our home and my little one loves to watch them fly around and often will call me to come see.  If only we had several different kinds stop by...oh well, we are happy to see what we have.   

Bird Day

We were out in the ministry and had to stop to take pictures.  These birds were making their homes under an overpass.  They are Cliff Swallows.  I just love their colors.  If you look at both pictures you can see some with nests all done and some that are working on theirs.  It was amazing to see them fly all around.  Yes, I made hubby stop on the side of the road and we watched for a bit.  It's a country road so there was not much traffic. 

 

We also saw a Blue Jay.  I love the colors on him.  They are so beautiful.  I still remember seeing a Steller's Jay on a trip a long time ago to California and I also got to see a Mexican Jay on last years vacation.  My iBird PRO app on my ipod says that a Mexican Jays range is mostly in Mexico but I saw him in Texas.  

That was our nature observation for this week.  I am wanting to go back and take more pictures of those Cliff Swallows.  They are beautiful. 

Nature excitement

We came home on Sunday after lunch and these were out there.  They came up to us, I guess they thought I had something for them to eat.  We had never heard them before.  We have seen them but never heard them.  They are loud.  I figured I would take out my little and very portable video camera.  Good thing I did.


Then another thing we had never seen is that those wings are for something.  Check it out.



The boys had fun looking at these guineafowl.  So did I.

Still Learning about our Hummers

If you click on this picture you will see that a bee is fighting with the hummer for the feeder.  The hummers do fly away though.  We have seen the hummers being chased away by those bees.  It is so funny to watch.  We are learning so much about these birds by observing.

Enjoy some of my pictures that I took today as we watched out the window.   

Today's Extraordinary and Amazing Event

We saw something awesome.  We have a hummingbird feeder outside one of our school room windows and at the moment we have lots of hummingbirds.  It's amazing to see these little creatures.  We walk up to the window very slowly and they stay around for us to see them up close.  What amazing creatures.

These little guys and girls come over during this time of the year and we make sure to try to keep those feeders full but before you know it they drink up all that food.  It doesn't help that a Baltimore Oriole came over and learned how to stick his long beak in there and drink away.  

Today was a different day.  One like other days but different in what happened.  I've stood at the window and looked in awe at these little birds.  I was thinking of a time that I might be able to hold one in my hand and how wonderful it would be to hold such a small and amazing bird.  

So I came home from grocery shopping today and hubby was home with the boys this afternoon and had left the garage door open.  The door has this cord in the center of the garage to close the doors manually.  The end of the cord is a grip and it's red.  I've had hummingbirds in the garage before pecking at it and go out as fast as they came in.  But today as I came home one of the boys came out and said that this hummingbird has been in the garage since they got home.  Even though, the door was wide open it was flying up above the door and could not figure out how to get out.  It would bump it's head on the ceiling of the garage.  

Now I don't know about your garage but we have lots of spiders and webs which we like because they catch a lot of our mosquitos.  My mom would clean them off but I leave them.  I choose my battles.  Anyway, this hummingbird was flying and hitting the ceiling and had a lot of webs on it's beak and wings.  All over really.  Poor thing.  Then it happened.  It got caught up on something.  It was upside down.  I got a swimming pool noodle and gently touched it.  It tried to fly away and eventually did.  Then it started falling.  It fell down behind some of the other noodles.  

My son and I felt so bad for it.  I went over and picked it up.  Poor thing was exhausted.  It tried to fly but fell back in my hands.  I held a hummingbird.  Did you hear what I said?.....I held a hummingbird.  I took it outside and let the wind hit it and let it rest in my hands till it struggled but finally made it in a tree and there is stayed for a long time.  Till it finally flew away.  After I saw it fly away I felt better and knew it would make it.  

I never knew these guys made such a cute little noise.  Then when he was in my hands he was crying in a lonely, I give up sort of way.  It was sad.  My boys and I have been doing the hummingbird cry all evening.  Truely an amazing experience.       

Yellow Birdie

Update:  Baltimore Oriole it is!  This bird is a migratory bird in our area of South Texas.  I've never, ever, ever seen this bird in person.  It's been at the hummingbird feeders for a few days already.  It's long beak is perfect for getting in those little holes of the feeders.  I need to put out some more seed.  Thanks for all your comments.  I finally had time to check on this and here is a post about it.


My little one called me and said that there was a yellow birdie on the hummingbird feeder.  He was excited and when I saw it I was too.  

This bird was actually eating out of the hummingbird feeder.  The hummingbirds did not like it at all.      

I'm trying to put a name to this guy but I haven't even had time to sit much less pull out our books.  I'll be out most of the day tomorrow and will not be home to check on this till night time so if anyone can help me out and name him for me.   It would be most appreciated.  *wink*  

Humming excitement

Today we went out to Corpus Christi because hubby had a meeting to attend and of course we tagged along. I love seeing all the birds out there. Every time I see the pelicans I think of the pterodactyls. Those are some huge birds. Another exciting thing was I met a friend walking into a restaurant without even calling her. How cool was that. I just walked in and there she was. How fun.



After coming home I was excited to see hummingbirds at the feeders again. They came yesterday. Yesterday they were what I've always seen....the ruby-throated hummingbirds. Today I was happy to see what I think is Allen's hummingbird. I'm excited because this is the first time I've seen it in person. I took a bunch of pictures as they zoomed by me sometimes barely missing my head. I love waiting around to see these on our feeders.


I have a ton more pictures of these guys but that is it for now.

Nature Time...Pigeon, Purple Martins and a Cow Killer

We had a nice day today. After spending some volunteer time this morning we went to visit a friend. The kids had a great time and of course us moms talked books and homeschool stuff. After a while she told us she had a pigeon nesting on her plant outside. So of course we had to go see. There is momma but after a little light watering she moved and we saw some of what we thought were the ugliest babies. LOL

Two babies starting to get their feathers but still a bit fuzzy. They lay there quietly while all the kids climbed a ladder to take a peek. All the while mom was checking us out in a tree close by. I guess she didn't trust us.

This is a white-winged dove. If you click on the picture you can see a blue color around the eye. Pretty neat! We hadn't noticed the blue till I made the picture bigger on the computer.

We also saw Purple Martins. These birds are in the swallow family but

the blue on it is beautiful. You can only see a little blue on the head of some of the birds but believe me that I tried and tried to get a better picture. I want one of these purple martin homes.

Last but not least....have you seen a Cow Killer (aka Red Velvet Ant, Red Wasp). Although this looks like an ant it is from the wasp family. So why is it called a Cow Killer? Well those that are unfortunate enough to get stung say that the pain could kill a cow. I know I would never want to get stung by something like that. OUCH!!! The female lays her eggs next to the larva of a bumble bee in the nest and the future cow killer had food to grow up on.

Isn't the color amazing? The boys enjoyed our nature finds today. We looked up information on the internet and in my large assortment of ID books. Oh and I did check out iBird on my iPod and found the Purple Martin. We all took turns hearing it also. Did I mention that I liked my iBird program? Oh, yes, I did.

Another New Bird

This is the first time I have seen this bird in person. It also made such a cute sound. If you go to that site and click on the second bird sound then you will hear what I heard. It would go down the tree head first. It was neat to see and hear.

It's a white breasted nuthatch. How cool is that. There are several birds that I would love to see in person and seeing this one was great.

I'm keeping my eyes open and hope to see more birds.

Our first vacation bird sighting

I saw this bird once before in my life. It was in Canada when I was visiting a friend. Although I didn't get a very good look at it like this time. What a beautiful bird. I know some say this is more of a pest but the colors are beautiful. I made hubby stop so I could take these pictures. Good thing we were in a parking lot and out of traffic.

This was one of the birds Lewis and Clark saw on their trip through South Dakota in the 1800's. They mentioned that these birds were very bold and would enter their tents to steal food.

I think this is a beautiful bird no matter what anyone else says about it. hehehe Can't wait to see what other animals I come across in these parts of the woods.

Gardening

I got it done. Well, at least the upside down part. I am planning on putting herbs on the top part of this neat thing I found. Actually, hubby saw it all done and suggested I get another one. YIPPEEEE!!!

I have my squares done too. Even the one foot square slats are down. I have some things planted too. I have different varieties of tomato. Some my brother from next door had some extras so I got some from him. He gave me a tomato called Mr. Stripy. That should be interesting. I am starting some green beans and peas from seed. I have a few more packets to start.

Oh, yes, I also got that bell pepper plant into its square. An old friend had her square foot boxes and they always had lots of veggies so I've been wanting to make my own for a while. I'm glad the kids helped me to get it done now.

I am also trying some strawberries in containers. We have so many ants on our land that I want to try it this way instead of in the ground. Let's see if this is better.

I will slowly be adding some blocks to the paths. Who

knows I might try something else

Although the last picture is not about gardening I had to post it. Today is the first day this year that the hummingbirds came back. I only got this good picture. It was dark already and thru the window but it's a hummingbird.

Feed Me

I mentioned a while ago to a friend that I got a different bird feeder. It's the kind that you stick on a window. Its been so fun having it that I got another one. So we have two of these feeders and the birds have actually gotten a little used to use being around. They don't fly away when we move around the room that much.

We have so many types of birds out there. So I have my camera ready at all times to get some pictures of the birds when they are there which is ALWAYS.

We have to refill those feeders every other day. Same goes for the ones we have hanging outside under the trees. The cardinals are just beautiful.

I've take some of these thru the screen so you don't get to see a perfect picture but still they are so beautiful.

These birds are pigs though. I have to be filling the feeders every other day. We still enjoy seeing them at our window every day. We stop our school work to look at them and their beauty.

New Bird

This is the first year that we have had this guy in our back yard. I've seen him around town but not in our area. I was so excited that I took out my camera and took his picture from inside thru the window. I took a picture of his back so you can see his wonderful colors. This blue jay is a beautiful blue color.


Click on picture to see it bigger.

Watching the Birds

Today was a fun day. We went to art class. While the boys were at art I went to the grocery store. Then went to the library for the library book sale. I must say that the sale was very disappointing. Almost all the books were already sold and it is just Wednesday. Next time I am going on the first day.

We got home and I saw birds. So what does someone do when they see birds or at least what would I do? hehehehe Yes, I grabbed my binoculars and my camera and went outside to see what I could take pictures of. This first picture is the regular house sparrow. I see them all the time but sometimes I just get the right picture and today was the day.

I also got a picture of an American Kestrel. This is one cool bird. I love the colors on this bird. I looked in my ID book on this bird and I saw a funny thing. It said that they are usually found perching on telehone wires. I've always seen them on the wires and I was able to get a picture of one on a wire.



Then I saw this bird. I saw some yellow on the rump. I had no idea what it was but then figured it out. I had a *duh* moment when I figured out it's name. Ready? It's a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Wow, what a great name. I wonder who was the genius that named that bird?

So those are some pictures for our nature time today. Hope you enjoyed seeing what we see and maybe I'll encourage you to do the same cause I sure would like to see some bird pictures from your neck of the woods.

Nature Days

Well, I thought I would play around a little with the colors to go along with the birds. Sometimes I just amaze myself at how creative I can get. hehehe This is the first time that I've ever seen an American Robin in our trees. I was able to get some good pictures of them and this one just eyed me as I slowly got closer. This bird is all over the country. It is supposed to be in Canada in the spring and summer for their breeding times. As for now they are here and I was able to catch some with the camera.

Then we saw the Rusty Blackbird. There is nothing Rusty about this bird. He is totally black. It just stayed put so I could take a couple of pictures of him and then it flew away.

My little one is always looking to the sky to see what bird is flying around. Maybe we will see something new next week.

Picture Quiz

I haven't done this in a while. I thought I would start and see how it goes. I did this picture quiz game every week. I would post a picture and you the trusty blog viewer will guess what is in the picture. So if no one plays along then I will eventually give up. If you enjoy this then you need to play along. Here is the first one. I will be posting the Picture Quiz on Friday and you have all weekend and the following week to guess. I'll update this post the following Friday with the answer and post another picture quiz. How's that? Let's get started and see who will guess? It doesn't matter if someone has already guessed, you can still guess. Don't cheat by looking what others have commented. Ok, ready....set.....go......

As we were driving to go to town we came across this bird on a telephone poll. Now we live out in the country so we have plenty of times that we come across animals on our drives to town. This was a great one and it was great that I was able to get these pictures.
I was disappointed that it took off as soon as I started to take pictures. I kept taking pictures and hoped that I had taken some good ones. When I got home I quickly plugged my camera into my computer to download the pictures.
These are the pictures that I got. If you click on them you can see them closer and you can see a little more detail. Can you guess what this is? Come on take a guess?

Update:Thanks to all of you that joined in and guessed. This is a Red-tailed hawk that we saw. Great guesses, everyone. The next Picture Quiz will be posted either late Friday night or early Saturday morning. We are going on a little over night trip so you will not hear from me till then. Stay tuned for the next picture quiz.