Southern Living Yankee

I enjoyed spotting this speedy little bird hovering and darting around the cherry tree and zinnias today. Too fast for me to take a picture, so here's a composite from Wiki Commons. The bird is smaller than a sparrow but the best clue from the bird book description was that he looks like a miniature mocking bird. The tail sort of fans out, edged in white like a mockingbird. Really cute because it's so tiny. Bonus: diet = bugs! Blue-gray Gnatcatcher From The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds

Do you remember how shortly after I moved into this house a Summer Tanager started whacking himself against my windows? It started again today! But this time it's not the tanager, its a Great Crested Flycatcher. Maybe he's trying to eat bugs on my window, which would be good; but I think he's more likely trying to attack the reflection of himself! I think I'll look for some sort of non-reflective cling wrap I can put on the outside of the windows. Great Crested Flycatcher photo from Wikipedia, Author = DickDaniels http://carolinabirds.org   Mockingbird photo from Wikipedia, public domain Tom and I enjoyed identifying the flycatcher, and then we were treated with another unusual visitor! A mockingbird likes our cherry tree and was all over it this afternoon. Can't wait to hear him sing. :)

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker was hanging on my little window feeder this morning! Photo by Roy W. Knight, on Wikipedia  

We often see a house finch. To me he looks like a sparrow tinted with a washed out red. Photo by Kevin Cole on Wikipedia

A little gray bird landed in the crepe myrtle tree right outside my kitchen window. I'd never noticed a bird like this one before. It's so tiny! The bird book picture looks like this one from Wikipedia,  and says it's a Blue-gray gnatcatcher. Well, have at it, little bird. Stay here and eat all the bugs you can! Shortly after spotting the gnatcatcher  I heard the humming, and then I saw the flash of that ruby throat. Make that TWO flashes! At about 5:00 this afternoon TWO male hummingbirds buzzed the feeder that's been waiting for them. YAY! They're baaaack. 

In February I bought this bird feeder, two of them. The squirrels knocked down the first one and it broke. (I bought it on clearance at WalMart, 75 cents, no big deal). I put the next one up where I thought they couldn't get it. But, no.... they got it all right. Dragged it off to the woods and did unspeakable things to it. Elmer enjoys the flying food show. He could see the bird feeder hanging in the tree (before the squirrels got it, darn squirrels). And now he watches the birds in the window feeder and lets me know when the squirrels are close by getting really agitated. That's my boy, Elmer! Fang 'em!  I'm so proud of this picture! My camera's focus is automatic and it shot this one perfectly. These are chipping sparrows. I never realized there were so many different kinds of sparrows. They all looked alike to me, but now I'm beginning to tell them apart. These are probably the easiest to recognize with their auburn cap and the black line through t...

We have a lot of these--The Tufted Titmouse. They are the cutest little things. Dark-eyed Junco. I don't know why I think this one belongs up North. I wonder if it will migrate soon. Carolina Chickadee I started feeding birds in February and have been meaning to log the different ones I've identified---not that I've seen any unusual birds---but rather because down here in South Carolina everything's still unusual to me. Plus, this will help me remember their names. Of course everyone knows what a Cardinal looks like. Today I saw three in one tree, two males and one female. The males are trying to outdo each other with their singing.  This little cutie is the Chipping Sparrow I've seen others, too, but I'll post them later. I'll have to do this with butterflies too. I can't believe they're out already. Today I saw the state butterfly of South Carolina---do all states have a state butterfly? Its news to me! How about loo...

  Angry Bird had built his wife a nest in the bend of the downspout right next to our garage door. I could see her cute little head peeking out as she laid on her eggs. And when we opened the garage door I could tell it took everything she had to stay with the nest and not bolt away in fear with all the noise and vibration from the garage door going up and down.   But finally, she'd had it. She abandoned the nest. And Angry Bird quit thwacking my windows and disappeared! I wondered if the eggs had hatched so I hoisted a ladder up there. Four perfect little pale grey eggs lay in the twig and thistle chaff nest. I carefully took it down. It's been sitting on a shelf in the garage ever since so the eggs will dry out and not stink. After Christmas I'll find a place on the mantle for this gift of nature. It will be one of my prize possessions! 

It's June. (Oh, I know it's already December, but c'mon, humor me, I'm setting a scene here). We've just moved in. I'm home alone in this new land, surrounded by mounds of boxes that need to be unpacked. It's so quiet, so different . . . then THWACK!. . .THWACK! What in the world? I looked around. I wasn't sure where the noise had come from. Maybe a tree branch. THWACK!. . .THWACK! There it was again! Only this time it was more on the front of the house. THWACK!. . .THWACK! Now the back of the house. I went outside to look around but didn't see anything. After a few days of this. THWACK!. . .THWACK! This constant THWACK!. . .THWACK! I finally THWACK!. . .THWACK! figured it out. THWACK!. . .THWACK! But there was nothing I could do because it was a man-bird defending his bride from his reflection in our windows. He was faster than the speed of light. Everywhere. Front of the house, back of the house, front, back, front, back THWACK!. . .THW...