Birds of a Feather...

...don't always just flock together.

I noticed the robins and the cedar waxwings liked to hang out in the same trees.

Sometimes the robins flew solo, though.

“The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off. Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off - and they are nearly always doing it.”

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Wrens have always been one of my favorites, and not just because they love to eat the insects around the house.

They are just so chubby and cute.

"Who you calling 'chubby'?"

A splash of cardinal red always brightens a gray day.

Add the backdrop of a blue sky and even the memory of a gray day disappears.

Sparrows aren't afraid of anything.

This one seems to be daring me to come closer.

It was pure luck that I came upon this couple in February,

and even more luck that I was able to snap their photo.

I was trying to get closer to the waxwings, and there these two were, right on my path.

I'm guessing they are a type of goldfinch.

(I'm grateful I have blog friends who will correct me if I'm wrong!)

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”

― J.M. Barrie

Cedar Waxwing Fever!

I lost track of time on Monday. 

The Cedar Waxwings chose Long Hollow for a little R&R, triggering my inner paparazzi.

It was a gray morning, and I stayed pretty far away so I wouldn't spook them,

so I wasn't sure if any of the hundreds of photos I took would be worth a dang.

Since I was expecting the worse, I'm pretty pleased with the results,

although I had to play with them in Lightroom quite a bit to bring out the color.

Cedar Waxwings do have amazing color. 

Bits of bright yellow and red and blue in odd places

 although I don't think you can see them in my photos. 

Just not enough zoom.

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”

― Robert Lynd

Stalking Sparrows

As promised,

more from the sparrow photo shoot.

He's so cute and fluffy, isn't he?

"Come on, lady, a little privacy, please! Can't you see I'm trying to eat?"

I guess I deserved that. 

Mexican Jay

Gonna find me a bluebird, let him sing me a song

Cause my heart's been broken much too long.

~Marvin Rainwater, Gonna Find Me a Bluebird Lyrics, 1955

Perfect Profiles

The creek at dusk is the place to be 

after a triple-digit summer day.

These mystery birds

were either having fun or fighting each other,

zipping through the air above the creek

dancing together in midair

 then landing for a few seconds.

They were so busy,

it's a miracle I captured any of these images,

but this one was a wonderful surprise.

Today I'm giving thanks to the birds for doing their part to keep us mosquito- and gnat-free!

What is joy? It is a bird...

This little guy posed for me outside my kitchen window yesterday. 

I can't remember what kind of bird he is

beyond CUTE!

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come."

-  Chinese Proverb 

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

and never stops at all."

-  Emily Dickenson  

Last week a wave of robins washed over the Hollow.

I was able to snap quite a few of them munching on juniper berries.

I guess we were just a stop on their journey...

The next day they were gone.

That's the second wave of robins we've had in so many months!

"Spring would not be spring without bird songs."

-  Francis M. Chapman   

"The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind."

-  Carly Simon

blue oaks

   leafed out -

    robins back

-  Mike Garofalo, Cuttings

"Be grateful for luck.  Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds.  And don't hate nobody."

-  Eubie Blake 

"I hope you love birds too.   It is economical.  It saves going to heaven."

-  Emily Dickinson 

What a sweet surprise to spot these Cedar Waxwings mingling with the Robins!

"To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds; one of them, of course, is the world of birds.  The garden is their dinner table, bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries."

-  Anne Raver 

Yesterday Tom reported seeing a raptor flying through the Hollow, bigger than a hawk but smaller than a Bald Eagle. 

Perhaps a Golden Eagle? 

I can only hope... and have my zoom ready.

"What is joy?

It is a bird

That we all want to catch.

It is the same bird

That we all love to see flying"

- Sri Chinmoy   




Contributed to