Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 23:52

I do love these early days of summer. 

The air still holds a hint of fragrance. The birds are still nesting and raising their young. The heat has not yet zapped us and made us lazy!

It's the beginning of a new season! The sun shimmers and we look forward with anticipation to all we have planned.  The weddings and parties and backyard BBQ's! Days at the lake or the shore. Early mornings and late evenings on the porch. Trips to places known and unknown. Memories to be made!

Summer usually means more butterflies. Sadly, I haven't seen as many around this year. Which made it all the more exciting to find a pipevine swallowtail sampling the blooms this week. These beauties are difficult to capture because they rarely stop! I think this is the first time I've ever captured their dorsal side!

It was late afternoon so the flower beds were in the shade. Otherwise, you would have seen the iridescence in their wings. My friend, Kim, raises butterflies and you can see her beautiful images here. 

One of the reasons I'm seeing fewer butterflies may be because the deer have been eating my lantana blossoms this year. The little buggers. I will be happy when we get our fence up! In the meantime, I've started using the deer repellent spray again. It's a good thing, too, because there are plenty of babies around this year. I found another one "hidden" in the grass just the other day.

It's always fun to watch the babies. Here is a shot of the Mockingbird twins I introduced you to last week. They are learning to navigate the suet feeder.

The Woodhouse's Scrub Jay twins are learning, too! They haven't adapted to the swinging basket quite as well as the mockingbirds!

The pretty house finches don't mind the swinging basket and they're happy to share!

Such a pretty bird!

I've been going through so much suet that I buy it in bulk on Amazon! I can't blame the baby birds. The gold-fronted woodpeckers get more than their share.

And I'm currently fighting with four of these rascals!

Don't let that sweet face fool you! These guys can eat a hole in my sock feeder faster than I can get out the door to chase them away! 

We've had a lot of rain but no one seems to mind. The black-chinned hummingbirds continue to feed through all but the fiercest of storms. Small and mighty wins the day!

What are you seeing through

your lens this week?

Have a wonder-filled week, friends!

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Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 9:52

Hello, friends. 

I'm a little under the weather, so I'll keep this brief and just share with you some of my favorite captures from the last week.

It's hard to be glum with the birds singing and twittering outside your window, so I've included links to some of their calls under each photo.

Songs and Calls

Calls

Songs and Calls

Somebody has a bald spot, lol

Songs and Calls

Somebody is grumpy because they're not getting all the suet.

Songs and Calls

My id may be off on the last two. They are either House Finches or Purple Finches. I'm going with the Purple Finch because the color extends so far down the breast. House finches tend to have color just on the upper breast and a lot of streaking down the front making them look like they're wearing little pantaloons.You can see one here to compare. They would have been easier to identify if I had some shots of his back as they are noticeably more colorful than the house finch. House finches are regulars here, unlike Purple finches, but these two may have wintered nearby and be passing through as they head north to their breeding grounds in Canada. Feel free to share your thoughts.

Also, I totally failed at the #shadesofwinter challenge this week. But if you head over to Lisa's or Kristy's you'll find lots of wonderful #wintershadow shots!

Have a wonder-filled day,

Sharing inspiration here:
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Saturday’s Critters, Life thru the Lens,
Wild Bird Wednesday, Our World Tuesday,
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Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 50:52

It's been a while since I've done a LTML post. The weather has been rainy and cold. A combination that tends to keep me indoors. 

With that in mind, here is what I've been seeing through my window these past few weeks.

Birds really thrive on suet during the colds months. It attracts quite a variety! 

Dressed in the colors of Christmas, the cardinal pair enjoy hiding in the persimmon tree outside my window. Sometimes, if there is not a lot of activity around, they will stay around for the entire day!

She's quite the lovely lady, isn't she?

He's a little harder to capture!

Always the clown, the Gold-fronted Woodpecker announces his arrival.

These little guys create quite a ruckus as well. As fast as they are, I have only a few clear pictures!

Bye for now!

Blessings,

Sharing inspiration here:
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Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 23:52

Last week's post was dubbed the front porch edition so I'll have to call this one "the bees and the birds."

These first two are for you, Floyd.

We have a red-tailed hawk, or two, in the area. I see them just about every day. More often that not, they're being chased by another bird. Usually the flycatchers, but sometimes the mocking birds. I've shared about these attacks before. It amazes me that the hawks don't just turn and chomp the much smaller birds. Maybe they just don't know they can. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful.

 

On this particular day, the flycatcher chased the hawk to the cell tower just to the south of us. I had to laugh as the little bird sat on one of the wires holding the tower in place and "guarded" the hawk for nearly half an hour!

We have more flycatchers than ever this year! I've counted five different kinds. The Phoebe, Vermilion and Scissor-tails are easy to identify, but these guys are giving me trouble.

At first I thought they were the Great-crested flycatchers, but now I'm leaning more toward the Ash-throated Flycatcher. Honestly, it's a problem I don't mind having.

I was thrilled to get a picture of the Mr. & Mrs. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers together. They almost always feed separately. This is the first year I've seen the female. 

The hummingbirds, however, were less than thrilled about sharing their nectar, and let the woodpeckers know it! This ritual now goes on every day.

Earlier this week I made a list of all the things that I love about summer. It's a very long list. Hummingbirds easily made the top three.

What are you seeing

through your lens this week?

Blessings,

Sharing inspiration here:
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Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 13:52

We've had some beautiful, sunny days this past week. But a strong north wind, 30mph gusts at times, has made it uncomfortable to be out-of-doors. Early mornings and early evenings, when the wind is calmer, have been best.

We have more bluebonnets on the property this year - and I'm thrilled to see that they are reseeding and spreading out! I'm doing a wildflower series on my instagram, if you want to follow me there.

The black-chinned hummingbirds are back. So far I have two males and a female. If anyone has an angry bird meme, this little guy would win the prize!

Defending "his" territory, no doubt! Of course, the female is as sweet as can be.

The neighbor's horses were back this week. Looking longingly at our green pastures.

I planted some geraniums, very early, Easter morning. And then played with the camera for a bit as the sun was breaking through the clouds.

It was a beautiful, blessed morning.

I like to play with light and focus, and just see how the camera responds - - what it captures. These are new leaves on one of my rose bushes.

As I mentioned, it's been very windy. A few days ago I noticed two large birds soaring high over the property. They were quite far away, but I could tell they weren't vultures. It's unusual to see hawks together, so I think they might be a breeding pair. By zooming in on a couple of the other shots, I think they are red-tailed hawks. I can't be 100% sure, but that is a likely bet.

I've really been enjoying the female gold-fronted woodpecker. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first year the female has been around. So my little male has finally found a mate! I'm hoping they nest nearby and I can report baby bird sightings soon!

I like this picture because you can see  how she uses her beak to forage down under the bark for bugs.

The wildflowers are peaking early this year and there are tons of butterflies around!  No complaints here! These common buckeye butterflies are especially fun to stalk and capture. With my camera, of course!

So, what are you seeing

through your lens

this week?

Have a wonder-filled day,

Sharing inspiration here:
Nature Notes, Through My Lens, Little Things Thursdays,
Bird D’pot, Saturday’s Critters, Life thru the Lens, Wild Bird Wednesday,
Our World Tuesday, Community Global, Photo Friday