I love the mornings, as long as they don’t start too early. Enjoying my quiet space, looking out my windows, opening the door to let dog out, cat in, dog in, cat out, dogs out, dogs in. It’s a revolving door routine. In the warm weather, the inside door can stay open and the animals can go in and out as they please, through the hanging screen that keeps bugs out – or at least most of them – and allows easy access for the four girls. Am I beginning to sound like a broken record? Perhaps I should show more and speak less.
It looks like the Nuthatch has taken possession of this house.
Sometimes photos through my windows come out less sharp than I like, but I have been watching this little one and its partner fly in and out of this house for a few days now. I think they’re calling it home.
Black-headed Grosbeak
They are telling me that this is a finch feeder, and they are members of the finch family. A bit larger than I had in mind, with a bit more of a voracious appetite than I had in mind, but we do not discriminate. Much. We do cut back on food other than the thistle seed during the influx of blackbirds, who arrive in such large groups and eat so very much. Many days I have considered making pie – you know, the kind that is made with four and twenty of those guys.
Smaller guests arrive
The food has dwindled, so the grosbeak have moved on to better hunting grounds for now, allowing the little guys to scratch the bottom of the barrel. There’s a bit of a variety here – the Pine Siskin on the left feeder, with the addition of a Red Crossbill and an American Goldfinch on the right.
Pieris in bloom
This young lady likes her warmer spot and always blooms before her kin who are not as protected. She has a happy face, and a very pleasant disposition, offending no one. That cannot always be said about everything that grows in my gardens. Or everything that visits our yard. I suppose that is true of all kinds of visitors; some are pleasant and inoffensive, others a little less pleasant and occasionally offensive. It is the variety in this life and in its people, that are the spice.
A photogenic girl
There is the Shasta girl, the one who spends most of the morning in the chair next to me, sometimes (as in this photo) resting her head on the table that sits between the chairs. The part of the morning that she is not in the chair is spent going in and out aforementioned door. Or harassing the Twiggy cat. Or checking to make sure her food dish has not magically refilled itself. This Shasta girl, however, seems to have decided get-up time for us should be between the hours of 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. rather than 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. She is pushing her luck, and my patience. Especially since once we are up and I have fed her, she then takes naps. I think that is unfair. We have little discussions about who it is that is really in charge. Rarely do I win in those discussions.
Such a delight to see birds at your feeders….mine can’t reach the feeders because the squirrels have claimed them!
The squirrels get at my feeders, too. I’m happy they seem to leave yours alone.
We used to feed our cats breakfast until they decided we were not getting up early enough. Now we feed them “breakfast” at about 10:30pm.
My top two photo pics are in a dead heat (nose to nose): (1) Birdhouse with bird surveying the neighborhood, and (5) Miss Shasta in snooze mode (or so we are to think)….
I love your ‘bird’ setup. I bet the birds do, too!
I really like your new header Carol, a lot. It suits bird season very well for you. And isn’t Shasta the beauty? And so contented too.
I like your style Carol, it always makes me smile. I’d never heard of black headed grosbeaks before or seen pieris – does it have a scent? – so thanks for the pics.
Lynne, I have not noticed a scent from the Pieris – Pieris Japonica, which does better in a climate that does not have the fickle late spring freezes that we have. It flourishes on the west side of the Cascades. I love the blooms and in the fall, if we don’t have a hard freeze too early, the foliage takes on vibrant shades of reds.
I’ve not seen any Grosbeaks in our yard. I really like their coloring. And LOVE the new header. The quote is perfect for both the photo and life. The light/shadows on the pic of Shasta is wonderful!
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