For the Birds - A few more visitors

Guess who stopped by and peeked in the kitchen window... our house finch family! We were enjoying dinner the other night and Jon asked if the birds on the fence were bluebird babies. I was pleasantly surprised to see (who I assumed was) Carpo, Holly, and their three kiddos! The five of them watched us from the fence and snacked in the yard.

I have never considered myself a birdwatcher (except for during vacations to the jungles of Costa Rica and Belize), but ever since we started watching the nests, I have enjoyed watching the feathered friends in our yard. We have recently started to identify the different species that visit, and we are amazed at how many types of birds visit our suburban yard. A few times, I've been lucky enough to snap some decent pictures. Meet some of our friends...

We have a dead tree in our backyard. I was finally getting around to thinking about calling someone to take it down before a storm knocks it through our roof, but Allen noticed some woodpeckers that seemed to be living in it. We definitely have a nest inside the tree, but it is too high up for us to have been able to watch it like we did the bluebirds and house finches. We often saw the two parents out hunting bugs in nearby trees, and throughout the day we watched them come and go. Although I have tried taking pictures, most don't turn out very well because they are so high up or the lighting is wrong. Here are a few glimpses of our Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. The top picture is of one of them peeking out from the nest; the second is of one of them flying away as the other is about to enter the nest hole; the third is of one of the parents with the juvenile following it up the tree; the last is the juvenile (I think). I can recognize the song of these woodpeckers, but they "talk" a LOT more now that the babe is flying around.

This Eastern Phoebe shows up almost every night just before the sun goes down. The silly bird has a funny little hop, but it seems to enjoy the bugs that show up about the same time. It is usually at the back corner of the yard, and, yes, I've named "her" Phoebe, even though I don't know the gender.

These two Brown Thrashers have been around for awhile, but now we know their nest is somewhere on the other side of our fence. It seems we have a lot of long, juice worms in our compost pile, so they are here all day collecting treats for their little ones.

We have also had regular visitors to the hummingbird feeder -- green blurs on film, we are pretty sure they are ruby-throated hummingbirds. A pair of cardinals and a robin are here daily, and, occassionally (see below), the blue jays, cedar wax-wings, and tufted titmouse visit. There are several barn swallows that soar through the air overhead and even buzz through our backporch, but none have landed, that I know of.