Birds and Blooms

My mother subscribed to this magazine. I always enjoyed reading it, too. Every issue is full of pictures of gorgeous birds and beautiful flowers and butterflies.
Articles place an emphasis on gardening and bird watching. And they accept photos from readers......hmm.

My Facebook friends and blog readers know, I'm all about birds and blooms!
An oriole snap from Thursday. I hear them before I see them. But as soon as I put the feeder up, gotcha!

I'm always thrilled to see the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak return. I remember the first time I saw this bird on the farm I thought it was some kind of woodpecker because all I glimpsed was the black, white and red.

Do I have a favorite? It has to be the doves. The Ringnecks are first in my heart, followed by the mourning doves. Imagine getting both in one lucky photo!

I've been able to identify the male Brown-headed Cowbird for years, yet had to have help identifying the female. I won't forget her now. She is so beautiful. I used to identify as "a little brown wren" (brown being one of my favorite colors for clothes), now I think I'll identify as a female cowbird.

Early last month (one month ago today), the red-winged blackbirds arrived. These are the birds which used to populate the small trees along the lane we traversed on the way to and from the pasture. When we went after the cows and there were babies in the nests, the parents would dive-bomb us.

I'm still not sure we're going to have goslings on the pond this year. Mama goose's behavior is unlike any other year. First she had to abandon one nest and make another, now she doesn't stay on the nest all the time. I just can't imagine her hatching any eggs that way. We'll see.

Another water bird and frequent visitor to the pond - if the heron is coming looking for a meal, he should find plenty. The frogs this year are many and very vocal. Love listening to them.

There's no shortage of Robins around here. I get such a kick out of watching them in the birdbath.
There are also a lot of Blue jays, finches, woodpeckers, grackles, cardinals - and it won't be long before the wrens and hummingbirds show up. (Why do I capitalize some of the bird names and not others??)

We've had a large number of ducks on the pond this year - ten or twelve at a time. Some of them were out for a stroll in the grass last week when I got this photo of the Wood Ducks*.

I didn't forget the blooms portion of the blog....the lovely forget-me-nots and one dandelion.
Last year I thought these sweet little blue flowers had all died; I didn't have any. This year they are back. I forget they are bi-annuals.

And for some inside flowers - the white lilacs I picked this morning and a little vase of lily of the valley and one columbine picked yesterday. It is amazing how they perfume the room.

One final bird photo of a fellow I'm glad did not stick around. This kestrel stopped and watched the bird feeders for awhile in March. I know he was looking for an easy meal.
I'm so glad we have so many birds and blooms around our house. And I'm really glad my Mother introduced me to her love for nature.






*Thanks to cousin Dennis Ridnour for identifying the ducks for me. I had incorrectly labeled them as Mallards. He says Wood Ducks are less common than Mallards. (As I was typing a reply to him, I saw my first hummingbird of the year!