Wildlife

Don't try and play the childhood game 'freeze' with a squirrel, because the squirrel would win! This squirrel froze in place as I approached it - like it thought I wouldn't notice it - that makes me laugh =) I stood still for less than a minute and she continued on - she came over to our hose and took a nice long drink where it was dripping - smart animal . . . unless it's responsible for the drip in the first place ;) Doesn't that look like a nipple - I think she's a mama. If I knew where the nest was, I would capture (okay, kidnap) the baby for Jonathan - that would make him happy to have a squirrel as a pet - LoL
Awhile back, I was shooing away birds that I thought were pigeons from my bird feeders. About the 3rd time I saw them, I saw them fly into some trees. They always seemed to stay together in a pair - but then I heard them cooing. It dawned on me they were Doves, besides, why would pigeons be so far from the water? hehe I found that Dove's are easily startled, but I got a photo of one today.

Our state bird is the golden finch and we have lots visiting throughout the day, some are golden and some are bright yellow - once there was like 10 or more right on the feeder and it was cool - except they all flew away when I tried to get their photo ;)

I enjoy blue jays - although they are easily startled as well, they keep the crows away - gotta love that! I don't find them pesky at all. I feed them our old peanuts - they do eat from our bird feeders & take baths in our bird bath too. But this one scared all the finches away, guess it wanted some food too:

This woodpecker was a little skittish too, amazingly detailed:

I saved my favorite picture for last - we still have hummingbirds (I guess they start migrating around August 20th) and they love the flowers in our yard. It's super cute to watch them fluttering from each variety of flower. They get in our honeysuckle and it looks like the plant itself is moving.

Well, that was my day in a nutshell - between dishes and laundry, I just took a few photos. I suppose that's what mother's do, they constantly work and stop to reflect on those precious moments to enjoy the sweetness of their children's amazement . . . between the refereeing and exhausting moments - ha! Well, my kids weren't here today, so I found happiness in the wildlife in my own backyard =)

P.S. still jealous of the people who have hummingbirds land on their fingers! One day I'll find the time to learn that trick . . .

Bird Bath

Look what Fall did to my bird bath (of course I hadn't touched it in months and I could have chosen not to ignore its condition before this)

Rinsed:

Scrubbed & disinfected:

Painted:

I used this cool spray paint Rust Cap with a hammered finish - I love it again!

I put peanuts in it for the blue jays instead of water. I use shelled, stale (after they get that funny 'old' smell) peanuts - the unshelled ones leave a huge mess from the jays and squirrels. I have a 2nd bird bath, will try and paint that one too so the birds can have water again. The squirrels drink from it as well if I place the bird bath next to something they can climb on to reach it.