New and COLORFUL Birds to My Feeders

American Cardinal (male)

Here are some of the latest Backyard Birds in and around my yard recently.  Today I'll show you a little color!!!!  Above is a regular,  our male American Cardinal.  Isn't he gorgeous?  This is the prettiest time of year for the male birds!

Be sure to click on the photos for enlargements... Hope you enjoy them!

Pine Siskins (eating me out of 'house and home') plus one Goldfinch!

Since we have SO many of these little finches (as many as 30+ at a time),  I must share another picture of some of our many Pine Siskins. We have quite a few Goldfinches also--but the Pine Siskins outnumber all of them.

Eastern Bluebird (female)

Our Bluebirds are busy taking care of their babies... They go back and forth to the nestbox all day long... This is Mama Blue at the mealworm feeder.   Bluebirds are very protective of their nest.  AND--I found out that they do NOT like Blue Jays AT ALL.  Every time a Blue Jay comes around,  the Bluebirds dive-bomb the Blue Jay....  But--they don't seem to bother any of the other birds... Wonder why?????

Purple Finch (male)

Our Purple Finches (at least 2 of them) are still around...  This is not a very good photo since it was getting dark --and since I was shooting through the screen door... BUT--you can still see how beautiful he is.

Purple Finch (female)

The female Purple Finch looks alot like other little brown birds.  She is, however, larger than the other similar finches.  She and her male friend are ALWAYS together.

Purple Finches

Here's a photo of both the male and female Purple Finches.  They love to each take a side of the feeder and munch out on black-oil sunflower seeds.  (That is suet on either end of this feeder.)   Whoever named this bird a "Purple" Finch must have been color-blind.  Their color is not purple at all.  It's a very deep rose/raspberry color.

Indigo Buntings (males)

This is a new 'life' bird for me... It's the first time I have ever seen one of these.  They were in my neighbor's yard ---and that beautiful blue color really stands out.  These are two male Indigo Buntings. 

I zoomed and cropped to get a closer shot of the Indigo Buntings.   Wish I could get them to come to the feeders.  I read that they like thistle, nyger, and mealworms... I have all three.  Aren't they beautiful?  I got SO SO SO excited!!!!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

A couple of times a year,  the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks visit us (spring and late Fall) as they migrate through the area.  On April 30,   I saw a female Grosbeak...  They are such unique little birds.  Love her big white eyebrow!!!!!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male)

THEN---on May 2,   I saw a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  Aren't they just gorgeous?  Talk about colorful!!!!!! 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male)

Here's one more shot of the male Grosbaek----with his mouth full!!!!!! ha ha  (They really love the black-oil sunflower seeds.)

Hope you enjoyed seeing all of the COLORFUL birds at my feeders recently... Birding is just so exciting!!!!

Be sure to 'fly' over to my Photo Blog NOW (click HERE) to see a great photo from Ocean Isle Beach.

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,

Emoticons

More Spring Photos from our Yard in APRIL

I have another group of photos from our yard which I took in April that I wanted to share with you.  I'm sure that by now,  the yard looks totally different --so I'm sure I'll have some May yard posts to share also!

Spring came to us LATE this year ---so it seems as if things bloomed at different times.  We never did get nearly as many blooms on our Pink Dogwood nor our Redbuds as we usually do.  The cold weather in March and April really messed things up!!!!  Oh Well--each year is a totally new year.  Right????

Today I'll share more photos from our yard in APRIL.  Be sure to click on them to see enlargements.   The photo above shows the upper side of our front yard showing the Ivy, Periwinkle,  Hosta,  Daffodils,  Siberian Irises,  and some Autumn Joy Sedum.  Right now,  the leaves were just beginning to come out on the trees and things were getting GREEN.

Here's one of the few photos I got this year of our Pink Dogwood blooms.  BUT--when it does bloom,  it certainly is pretty.

As I said on Facebook,  a pretty yard just doesn't happen.  It takes work!!!! Here is a picture of George mowing the front yard.  I walk ahead of him, picking up sticks and junk from all of the winds we have here. You can see a little of the blooms from the Redbud in the background.

Here's a picture showing the sidewalk (and Daffodils) in front of the garage.  I liked the photo since I was able to capture a good picture of our flag.  We had it at half-staff when I took this picture in memory of those killed in Boston.  (That is the bottom part of a windchime hanging down in front of the flag.)

Here's another picture I took from the upper side yard. I seldom take pictures from that angle ---so I wanted you to see our yard from that side.

Our Phlox is gradually spreading on our big rock bed on the lower side of the house.  This is the hardest bed we have to get things to grow due to the rain water running down that bank and washing things out.  In that bed we have Daffodils,  Daylilies, Phlox, Dianthus, Candytuft,  English Ivy,  Periwinkle,  and Sempervivum.

Here's a close-up of some of the Phlox.   I love the PINK color.

Here's one of the few pictures I got of one of our Redbud blossoms this year.  The entire tree is  usually gorgeous --but not as much so this year.

Here's a picture looking toward the upper side yard --toward the deck and backyard. This side yard bed is fairly shady --and some of our flowers don't do as well there.  However, the LILIES love it---so I'm waiting to see their blooms.  In this bed we have Daffodils,  Tulips,  Lilies,  Daylilies, Irises and Hostas.    Along the sidewalk on that side, we have Autumn Joy Sedum and Hostas.

Here's another photo of one of our beautiful Hostas.  These love our yard ---IF we can keep the deer from eating them!!!

Finally,   here is a picture showing the front of our home ---just as the big trees were beginning to 'leaf'.... This picture was taken on April 18.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the last of our APRIL yard photos.  I can't wait to share some MAY ones with you soon! We NOW have lots of Irises and  Azaleas and Rhododendron blooming...  SO pretty!!!

Hope you had a wonderful week, and a great Mother's Day weekend.  We just got home from Ocean Isle Beach --where we enjoyed a week of sunshine and seafood!!!!  Yeah!  Be sure to check out my Photo Blog (click HERE)  on Wednesday for a great photo from Ocean Isle Beach.  I also hope you followed me on Facebook this past week since I posted several photos from our trip. 

Hugs,

Emoticons