Random image from my camera memory this morning, this house finch is feeding a bit of apple to his partner. It looked at first like he was feeding a youngin’, until she hopped around and got her own food – then they flew off. The lighting made it a bit like an intimate romantic lunch or something.

Survey says:
Some people are really grossed out right now.
Some people have an insane desire to start peelin’!
Some people are wondering if I’ll ever remember to put sunscreen on before I go out.

What say you?

New to our yard, this is a Red Breasted Grosbeak (identified through BDI). They’re a part of the cardinal family, have really awesome markings – and are highly skittish! I hope he returns and gets more comfortable so I can watch him feed and get some better images of him. What a neat bird !

Of course, I have more pics of our “regulars” to share. The Red Bellied Woodpecker spent a lot of time here yesterday and I got to hear him chat with a Grackle about who should be eating on our feeder. The Grackle won (grrr) and the Woodpecker told him off from a safe distance. He sounds a bit like you’d imagine a Whippoorwill sounds when he’s chatty. A couple more images of him, and of course another House Finch , because they rock my eyeballs!

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We made it through the weekend, although slightly damp and a little swollen – no worse for wear! We have the best looking trash in the neighborhood – topped with lovely plush carpet and padding, to boot!

(By slightly damp I mean soaked to the bone, and by a little swollen I mean walking around like really old people in dire need of hip and back replacements. Sucks, getting old.)

So here’s some of the havoc we wreaked, and we’re looking for a couple of contractors to finish what we started.

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This is along the side, I added river rock and a couple of roses. (There are five rosebushes there, you just can’t really see ’em yet!)

Want to see the rest of our yard?

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Guess what I’m going to be when I grow up? (heres a hint)

This is a Northern Flicker – he’s been making quite the ruckus around our trees lately.

I really paid attention to him the other day while I was out washing my car. I heard this monkey like call in the trees and stopped to try to find the source. I couldn’t, obviously he blends in pretty well with the tree bark and they stay pretty well hidden. I heard him again later and he was loud. I caught a glimpse of him on the tree in my neighbors yard, and then tried to identify him by his chirping and what little I saw of him before he flew off.

He’s got a mate, they call back and forth to one another. This morning he was really loud again so I knew he was nearby, and I snuck outside barefoot in my pajamas and got a couple of pics before he saw me. I applied a couple of filters to make him stand out a bit more. He’s a big bird – I’d say he’s about 12 inches.