But First, The Birds...

A Cardinal greets us on our front lawn

We are officially moved into our new forever home. The birds were here to greet us right away. This blog will be focused on the birds that have visited us already. I will write a blog with photos of the house and yard after we get a little more settled in. The birds have been plentiful, and definitely different than our condo in the trees. Even though we have several acres of pines behind our home, we have not seen any woodpeckers yet. We have heard a couple of them, but mostly across the road. We have seen some familiar birds, like the cardinal, house finch, gold finch, orioles (as they migrate), brown headed cowbirds, turkeys, hawks, and one eagle fly by. Sandhill cranes are nearby, and we see them as we drive down our road, but none in our yard. We certainly hear them from our place though. They have such a beautiful "clucking" noise I think. We have seen a few nuthatches in the trees, but none at the feeders yet. We have heard a few chickadees, but we have not seen any yet. We have been introduced to a new bird. The chipping sparrow. They are cute little buggers and not that shy at all. They like to forage on the ground all over our front yard, where there are some yummy ants to feed on. 

A chipping sparrow

The orioles are beautiful and fun to watch

The first few days here we had a family of finches in a nest on our back porch. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any photos of them! Sometimes I am a doofus. The babies were fun to watch. They grew so fast and flew the coop in a matter of days. The first day they were just little heads popping up looking for the mom. Their mouths would be wide open waiting for food. After 5 days they were fully grown, and on the sixth day they flew away never to be seen again. I couldn't believe how fast they grew. It sure was fun to wake up every morning and look out our back porch though. Maybe we will get some babies again next year? If we do, I will have my camera ready. 

It has been a fast and furious 10 days, but fun! We are really enjoying getting to know our yard and the birds. Connie has her infamous bird "cage" up already, with some nice additions. It looks lovely in our front yard, and we hope you all will come join us someday for some fun bird watching!

Our bird "cage" to feed the birds. It lets the birds in, but keeps raccoons and squirrels out!  Bird bath on the left. Humming bird feeder above that. An oriole feeder on the front left (bright orange). Peanuts in the middle. Black Oil Sunflower seeds inside on the right. And a low hanging feeder with mealworms, etc. This is our view from our front porch, just to tease you! So, come visit us when you can!

For those of you interested, below is a link to a few bird photos I have taken this week. Enjoy.      

 

                                          https://photos.app.goo.gl/z8TZj1MTMLSMbBSJ7

                   Now Go Out and Hug Someone Today!!!