Backyard Glamour Shots

We sat in the backyard. Silently. Hardly moving. (That was after I told Randy to quit making noises to attract the cats.)

So ... if you think bird watching is a good time, are you officially old? Asking for a friend. 

From looking at a Kansas bird book, we think this might be a Nashville warbler. But we are willing to be educated by someone who knows more than we do.

OK, really, I'm asking for us.

Randy's bird house addiction is creating a new diversion. In recent years, he has added different birdhouses to the windmill tower in our back yard. Just this winter, he added two more. He selected a birdhouse and bird seed for his contribution to the men's Moore family grab bag gift at Christmas. And then he proceeded to select his own gift. Since no one stole the gift from him, he came home with the gift he arrived with. It was all part of his plan. (That's the red feeder below.) I carried it into the house. It was heavy. I made him carry it back out to the car.

Then, he bought another bird feeder that had been designed by a high school classmate. It's amazing what you learn about at your 50th class reunion. (That's the green spiral-shaped one in the photos.) 

We think this is a house finch.

That feeder was particularly popular on the day of our silent bird watch. Of course, it was the furthest away from our chairs. And ... I'm sure it was the superior design conjured up by Randy's classmate, Jim, and his wife, Rena. 

It's hard to see, but there are three birds on the feeder in this shot.

During the frigid, snowy weather, I'd watch out our back door. I loved the flashes of red against the white snow as the cardinals zipped here and there. But every time I opened the back door to see if I could get a photo, they'd fly quickly away. And, let's face it: I wasn't putting a lawn chair in the yard and sitting out in that weather. 

But, on these spring-like days, it's a regular bird banquet in our back yard. I was convinced that we wouldn't be able to set up our lawn chairs close enough that I could get good shots with my camera. But I was wrong. It took awhile, but I guess we eventually became "part of the woodwork" (so to speak), and the birds started arriving for suppertime.

 

I got excited when I saw the photos on my computer screen. It's always a little hard to tell what you have captured when you're just looking through the camera view finder. (Yes ... old. I admitted that earlier.)

I'd say that I could add them to my stash for the Stafford County Fair photography entries. But my bird photos never do well at the fair. We'll see how I'm feeling about trying again in July.

 

Female cardinal. We've had four pairs of cardinals in the backyard this winter. None of the bright red males flew in for their closeup.

 

 

I've gotten better cardinal shots throughout my county fair "career," so I know the cardinal shots I've gotten so far as not contenders. I don't think I've ever had a bird photo place in the county fair - no matter how good I thought it was.

 

However, one of the bird glamour shots will likely end up on a spring page of our family birthday calendar. 

 

It seemed not every visitor was a fan of my photography. One of our visitors feels similarly to me about getting their picture taken. 

 

I get it. I really do.

If You Build It, They Will Come

May 2021

"If you build it, they will come ..."

It's a dramatic moment in the classic movie, "Field of Dreams." We had our own "build it" moment last summer, when Kinley and Brooke visited the farm for a few days. One of our many activities included decorating bird houses.

Afterwards, Grandpa hung the birdhouses from the old windmill in the backyard. However, birds must have imagined a "No Vacancy" sign because none seemed interested in a stay on The County Line last summer.

Kinley's birdhouse met an untimely demise in one of this winter's windstorms. But Brooke's survived. And not long ago, Randy noticed that someone had taken us up on the offer of free lodging.

It doesn't appear that our visitor is the neatest housekeeper, since there are sticks and other paraphernalia sticking out of the sides and front.

We're not positive, but we think the visitor is a house wren.  (If someone knows for sure, please comment on their the blog or my Facebook page.)

I was taking photos of the birdhouse itself, when the occupant started flitting quickly among the trumpet vine that winds itself inside the windmill structure. The bird is small and has quite a singing voice. The Cornell Lab's All About Birds describes its singing as "rush-and-jumble song." It didn't seem very afraid of me.

Randy used the bird book that Jill and family gave him last year, but we still aren't sure about our ID. 

However, a bird watching website says that house wrens are common in Kansas. They have a short tail, thin bill, and dark barring on their wings and tail. Both males and females look the same.

The tails on our visitors seem longer than the photos showing the species. However, some of the information about house wrens seems to fit. Birdwatching HQ advices hanging a nest box in the backyard to attract the birds, since as they will readily use them to raise their young. The entrance hole’s diameter is not supposed to be any larger than 1 inch in diameter. By keeping the hole small, other birds can’t get inside to disturb the wren’s nest and babies. The website also says that house wrens are one of the only birds that will use a nest box hanging freely and not permanently attached to a tree or post.

We have added a bird bath in the back yard. So far, there haven't been many "swimmers" since the "pool" opened. 

The grape jelly buffet gets filled most days for our Baltimore oriole visitors.

Who wouldn't want to check in to our backyard accommodations?