This sweet White-breasted Nuthatch is one of my favorite backyard birds. Whenever I watch them, I feel an immediate sense of calm and peace. They’re very serene, deliberate and curious creatures. Their little squawk is easy to identify, too.

Do you have a favorite critter in your backyard? I’m curious - and would love to have a peek at the different kinds of animals found in different areas of the world.

Catybug planted our sunflowers this year, this is one from a variety blend of seeds. When I looked up at it (it’s about 10 foot tall) it was just glowing from the sun behind it.

I planted Lantana again this year because last year it grew into nice sized bushes that the swallowtails really loved. It’s a little measly thing this year, but still has pretty blooms that are definitely worth a view through the lens.

A friend of ours brought over a bird yesterday not knowing what it was, just that it seemed pretty friendly and that maybe it was a domestic bird. I opened up the box to find this fledgling robin. We immediately set to digging in the backyard to find some fresh worms, and Catybug enjoyed mothering this little fella until dark, when we sent him on his way (with a very full belly). Robins stay with their babies until they can fly, which he can, but he wasn’t doing so well in the hunting for food department.

Pretty calm around us, he just made himself comfortable on the concrete and demanded his dinner.

In anything other than news, I’ve been enjoying a week “off”. Off meaning I’m not working on things for other people, but I’m also not really going anywhere or doing anything spectacular. The girls and I had a nice day of shopping, another day of cleaning and organizing their room, and basically lounging, taking walks, and playing games. This is my summer “vacation”. heh! I’ll be painting next week, so you’ll see a sketch soon.

How have you been?

I just can’t get enough of these adorable little birds. The hummingbirds are quite active right now, they’re on the feeders and flowers constantly. I was playing with my camera (Sports scene auto mode, Panasonic Lumix FZ50) and got some incredible shots today of this little female Ruby Throated Hummingbird and had to share.

I took 35 photos yesterday of random stuff I thought you might like.

My least favorite kind of animal prints, the ones on my windows.
Ouch. That had to hurt.

I’m not sure what this Blue Jay is doing.
It’s not his print on the window, so what’s up with this pose?

Apparently, whatever he was doing was private,
and I should not have been watching.
Oops.

Holy fragrant flowers, batman, can you smell this?
It makes my head all swirly it smells so good.

This little strawflower hardly smells at all - but isn’t it cool?

I planted 48 asters around my yard. They’re starting to bloom.
I wish they were perennial!

A pretty coneflower, new to my garden this year.

When this bunny saw me, he/she started tiptoeing through the yard.
Like it’s a noisy rabbit. Hah!

We’re not exactly city folk here, but not entirely country, either - so it’s not often you see a sight like this!

Two turkeys sipped water from the tray of the flower pot this morning as we drove by after dropping (sniff) the girls (sniff) off (sniff sniff) to go to church camp (sniffle, sob, sniff).

My hubby (Happy Anniversary, Hubby!) spotted them and thankfully they really didn’t care about having a car pull up beside them. They were busy getting a drinky drink. I thought you might like to see a little more detail, since they’re all wild and stuff - here you go:

Isn’t his feathering just beauuutiful? I want to print this photo and have cans of paint made to match his feathers.

It’s odd though, I’m guessing if you’re not familiar with wild turkeys you kind of have this preconceived notion of how they look based on all those “Tom the Turkey” images from childhood. I know I do - so when I see them I’m always thinking they must not be for eatin’, ’cause turkeys meant for eatin’ look like this:

Photo: KCKPLYS.com Miss Ima Turkey Goodie Can (linked to source)

Hm. Part of me thinks I should adjust this perception, and the other part of me thinks “nah, those wild turkeys probably taste all gamey.”

I walked into my living room to put my camera into Standard Hummingbird Photo Op Positioning when lo and behold, there was a stranger on their feeder. Good timing, I thought.

This cute little House Wren hopped around, posing for me in several positions. I wondered why he was there. Did he just enjoy the reflection in the window? Did he really think he was going to get nectar? Or maybe it was just a convenient and safe place to land while he’s still a little wobbly on the wings.

Who knows - I’m just grateful for the timing. It’s certainly not often you see something other than Hummingbirds - and ants - on a Hummingbird feeder.