Is it a Canary?

Keaton spotted these huge birds (are they wild canaries?) on our feeder today (notice the Finch for size next to them) and informed me that they were just really big Golden Finches:
They were beautiful and I felt like I was in a rain forest or something ;) Oh, maybe that was just all the crazy rain we had off and on today!

There were 5 of them, but of course I couldn't get a picture of all of them before they were startled by me. Their beaks are so huge - I've never seen these in wild . . . and in Duvall, but the best part is they paid a visit at my house =) hehe

Since they were feeding with the finches, it must be in the same bird family. I filled up 3 feeders on Thursday and by Saturday night all the food was gone! Well, besides what was on the ground ;) The finches are feeding by the 3 dozen here the last few days!

Here Birdie, Birdie, Birdie

Since it was SO nice out, I sat on my deck and waited for some birds to do a fly by so I could take their picture ;) I was only out for about 15 minutes and I saw some golden finches:
This guy refused to eat out of the feeder while I was on the deck and would not let me photograph it either. Is it a red finch?

Then a very cool looking black bird landed on the suet for 1 second but it was a scaredy bird and flew away fast and never did come back =( I don't even know what kind of bird it was, nor do I recall ever seeing one before. I love the variety of birds we have here in Washington!

But, it's true, I really just wanted pictures of all the hummingbirds that are constantly flying around. I did get a couple of different species visiting in 15 minutes, so I thought that was pretty cool =)

I love this one - one: because it is a ruby red throat and two: because my camera cooperated ;)

There were 2 woodpeckers at the same time that landed on our railing, but they were scared of me too - and lots of opportunities to photograph the blue jays . . . but yeah, they're not exciting enough ;)

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 . . .