Thursday, May 29, 2014

For the Love of Hummers ~

I am dedicating this blog post to my Grandmother....

She means the world to me and I love her very much....


We both share our love for birds.  Sometimes, I will call her and ask her if she saw this kind of bird, or that kind of bird, or I will say, "Can you check the bird book Gran", but one thing we know for certain is, we love our hummers.... and Gran always says, ''Make sure you put a little extra sugar in their water before they fly south.  It gives them extra energy to make their long journey".  So, that is what we do....


They are amazing little creatures.... iridescent powerhouses


This is an adult male....
He is called a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
but I call him ''Sweetie'' because he is exactly that....


Hummingbirds are known for their ability to fly backwards, upside down, and to hover. Few other birds compare in their ability to perform such aerial tricks. They also possess the fewest number of feathers ever counted on a bird.
Hummingbirds are known for their ability to fly backwards, upside down, and to hover. Few other birds compare in their ability to perform such aerial tricks. They also possess the fewest number of feathers ever counted on a bird.
Hummingbirds are known for their ability to fly backwards, upside down, and to hover. Few other birds compare in their ability to perform such aerial tricks. They also possess the fewest number of feathers ever counted on a bird.
Hummingbirds are known for their awesome abilities....!!
They can hover, fly backwards and even upside down....!!

I remember last year, we rescued a hummer.... That turned out to be a lot of fun!!  And, she had a cozy crib for the night... You can read all about her adventure right here !!!!

I am hoping one of these days, that I will be able to find the female in her nest.  I would quietly photograph her from a distance with her babies....That would be awesome!!

Until next time.... or as Gran J would say "Loads of Love" xoxo


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Duck Olympics !!

" Water Duck Race "

At the starting line:  "Lucky" our 1.5 pound call duck, and "Tony" our 10 pound Pekin/Mallard duck

ON YOUR MARK.... GET SET.... GO !!!!

Uh oh !! Lucky just stumbled !!
By the look on his face, it seems like he is fearing for his life rather than winning the race !!

Hey wait.... !! Look at Lucky go....he is back in the race !! .... It looks like he is running across the water....
Can he catch up ?

It's a race to the finish line and Lucky wins by a feather !!!!

Your race officials for the day !!!! (Three sweet chicks)

Monday, May 19, 2014

The Canada Geese Stopped By ~

A breeding pair of wild Canada Geese made their
designated rest stop in our pond this morning....



I was outside at the time letting our free-ranged ducks and chickens out of the barn when I spotted them. The female was very vocal when she saw me and our border collie. At that point, I thought they would fly away, but they didn't. They are sharing the pond with our ducks, Lucky and Squirt....


I managed to get a bit closer....


They swim by the rest of the ducks and chickens....


And, we cannot forget about Skittles....
he is our very friendly Barred Rock rooster!!


And there they go.... they will make their way to their nesting area and hopefully have a successful brood in about a month....


Saturday, May 17, 2014

Northern Flicker Staking His Claim

These two male Northern Flickers are battling it out for top spot this nesting season!!
Who will win?

Northern Flickers come from the woodpecker family and these ones pictured are also known as Eastern Flickers and some also call them Yellowhammers !!

And the winner is....
We are hoping for another successful hatch in the coming weeks and happy to have front row seats to watch mom and dad prepare the nest and take care of the nestlings !!


Monday, May 12, 2014

Yellow-Rumped Warbler ~ (day 2)

The Yellow-Rumped Warblers were feeding all day around our pond....and I couldn't pass up the chance to photograph these beautiful birds once again!!

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Yellow-Rumped Warbler ~

Adult male Yellow-Rumped Warbler (eastern "Myrtle")

The warblers are back and lots of them!!!! it is amazing to watch them catching the flying insects over our pond... they share their space with the tree swallows.... it is great entertainment and we are looking forward to another nesting season!!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Splish Splash ~

Getting ready for summer!

Our baby Pekin duck who we named ' Squirt ' was only a few days old here and having some fun splashing around in the water for the first time!!