An Ordinary Friday...NOT!

Every once in a while a day comes along when everything goes right. Last Friday was one of those days. I had to pinch myself to see if it were a dream.

Right off the bat, I’m standing by the window watching the birds at the feeders while drinking my morning cup of tea. There is a flash of red in front of my eyes. It’s hovering right there; “in my face” would be a more direct description. The moment every birder’s in the neighborhood have been waiting for—the hummingbirds have arrived! This beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird is at attention in front of the window. Each year this particular little fellow announces, “I have arrived” in this way. And then he flies around the window looking for human activity. I think he’s asking, “Where’s the feeder?”

Everything stops. I go flying out to the garage and retrieve the feeders, rinse them off, fill them with sugar water and out to their rightful “homes” the feeders are placed. It is within minutes the little fellow is back, as though conducting an inspection of the grounds, to make sure his orders has been carried out.

I raise Zebra Finch as a hobby. And about 2 weeks ago I got this picture of two babies two days after they hatched.

Today I glanced at the cage. The babies were bounding around the cage grooming themselves. It is always a joy to see the babies out in the world the first day.

Here they are... they look like twins! And the photo below is Beaker (Daddy) looking proudly on his chicks...

At lunch, sitting at the table and looking out at the backyard, an invasion, truly, an invasion of Rose Breasted Grosbeak occurs. Four beautiful males are on the pole feeder and two females are on two other feeders. I grab my camera and begin photographing these colorful birds. Hanging in this big window is our Canary, Maestro, who is singing his heart out as I shoot away. All of a sudden Maestro lets out a screech and jumps away from the window. A male Grosbeak has flown up and landed on the window ledge. He is within inches of my head. We both eye one another. He stays there for some time allowing many photos to be taken, up close and personal. They are such magnificent birds.
They are such magnificent birds.


Did I say... they are such magnificent birds!

It was a day of defending territory at the feeders and pond. The birds seem to be staking out their place. Bird fights could be seen wherever two or more were gathered. The pond was especially popular. Many birds were bathing. And everyone wanted this “one spot.”

The “Kissing Cardinals” were in the backyard so I could now get some good pictures when they “kissed.” That is a true love story all by itself. Another time for that story.

Watching a male cardinal taking a bath in the pond was hilarious. Maybe that should be phrased “trying to take a bath.” After three tries, flying away and returning he finally succeeded in getting wet and figuring out how to “bird bathe.” But there was a territorial battle to get “the bathing spot.” A sparrow was a pest and the cardinal challenged her a number of times for the bathing spot. The sparrow finally left (after getting her bath).

I've been trying to entice an Oriole to the feeders. Of all times for an Oriole to show up, right at the moment the cardinal had gotten the hang of this bathing thing. That was not a good time.

Then the female cardinal decided to bathe. When she flew to the pond she was interrupted by, of all birds, an Indigo Bunting! For the past two years I have been blessed with seeing this bird at the feeders; but it has visited just one day each year. And here he was… today of all days. And he was not going to be left out of the territorial battles.

No, it was not an ordinary day. After blowing the smoke off the camera and letting it cool down, last count of the number of pictures taken was a whopping 400+. It’s great to have a digital camera. Film-wise that would have been over 11 rolls of film to buy and develop. How much would that have cost? I don’t want to know. But with digital… you just hit delete on the pictures you don’t want. Why so many pictures? The territorial challenges and bathings are quite active and the best way to get “THE shot” is to hold down the shutter button and pray the picture you want is not the one between the two photos just taken.

All in all, it was a super day. The only picture not taken was that of the hummingbird. There will be ample time this summer. And I have a 4 Gigabyte flashcard in the camera and one in the case (oh yeah, high speed—300x).

This female cardinal has some parting words...

Even the "Bird Spa" is busy, #@$%%&*##.