A nature photographer’s images and stories of birds, butterflies, and other creatures from her backyard near Orlando, FL
December 18, 2010 - Another cold front passed through today, making our first day of Christmas break a very rainy one. We were cooped up inside all morning, then finally I couldn’t take it anymore and we went for a walk between showers. It was an unusually active walk (or maybe I’m already used to our Standard Time nighttime […]
December 15, 2010 - Santa visited tonight! Winter Garden always sends Santa around with a fire truck escort. Santa and his sleigh go up and down each street, and his helpers toss candy to onlookers. It’s a great tradition! Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Inside, we assembled cookie plates for family and friends. This year Rich outdid himself, with […]
December 13, 2010 - The cold temperatures of the past few weeks have caused some of our trees to put on a more impressive color display than usual. Rich drove along the 429 highway this afternoon and I took some pictures out the window. They were surprisingly clear given that we were going 65+mph!
December 9, 2010 - I finally got a decent shot of our neighborhood Wood Stork. Usually he’s far off on the other side of the pond. Tonight he was right up close. I had to use my flash to illuminate him, because the light from the sunset was already gone.
December 6, 2010 - I love living in a climate where I get rose blooms in December! (Hopefully they will still be blooming after it freezes tonight… :-p)
December 3, 2010 - Shrek the Shrike had no idea why I was standing underneath him with a big white lens aimed at him…
December 2, 2010 - Mum-mum gave me three Paper White bulbs as a birthday present. I planted them a few weeks ago and they are already blooming! I couldn’t resist pulling out the extension tubes and taking some close-up pictures of the first flowers. Someone was asking me the other day about why you should pay attention to the […]
December 1, 2010 - Mum-mum has been wondering what the differences are between Palm Warblers and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. Here they are, side by side…
November 29, 2010 - Tonight on our walk we noticed that one of the neighborhood ponds has more than just Mallards in it now. A flock of Lesser Scaups is hanging out there as well. You know they are Lesser Scaups instead of Greater Scaups because of the slight bump on the back of their heads. The black ones […]
November 24, 2010 - We saw these Mallards by the pond on our walk tonight. But perhaps more exciting was the Bobcat we saw crossing Stoneybrook West Parkway this afternoon! Actually it almost became very exciting, and not in a good way, because the stupid cat ran right out in front of our car. Rich hit the brakes and […]
November 21, 2010 - Goldilocks was pleased to eat lunch outside this afternoon and see at least eight Goldyfinches in her yard. A couple pecked at the niger feeder seeds, but most ate at the black oil sunflower feeder. It’s nice to have their cheerful little calls back in the neighborhood!
November 20, 2010 - The Red-Winged Blackbirds are almost a nuisance. They descend upon the yard in huge flocks, cleaning out the feeders in just a few minutes. They fuss at the other birds and make the little birds leave. Yet when they return in the fall, I always get excited, because it’s such fun to have birds in […]
November 19, 2010 - Rich saw the first American Goldfinch of the season in our backyard last weekend. Today we got home early enough that it wasn’t dark, and I got to see him. Yay! The “Potato chip!” birdies are back!
November 18, 2010 - The pond tonight was bright orange with the reflection of the setting sun. Two Pied-Billed Grebes made for nice silhouettes.
November 17, 2010 - …put those seat backs up and the tray tables in the locked position! It’s landing time!
November 16, 2010 - To get to the acorns on the other side!! Then they flew off into the setting sun…
November 15, 2010 - Tonight we saw this Loggerhead Shrike on our walk through the neighborhood. I don’t think I could have asked for better lighting conditions!
November 14, 2010 - Right on schedule, we had our first American Goldfinch in the backyard today. I wasn’t home (I was chasing otters at the Circle B Bar Reserve, more on that tomorrow!) … but Rich assures me that there was indeed a goldfinch on the niger feeder this morning. He stayed for several minutes at least. Yay! […]
November 12, 2010 - We haven’t had as many backyard visitors in the past few days, and tonight I found out why. This is either a Sharp-Shinned Hawk or a Cooper’s Hawk, and he had the audacity to sit on top of my bird feeder to terrorize my poor birdies!
November 11, 2010 - Squirt hasn’t quite forgiven me…I planted a bunch of pansies outside instead of giving them to him! I sure have a lot of nerve. Lowes has some fun multi-colored pansies, where each plant produces varying flower colors. I seem to remember mono-color plants in previous seasons. Too bad, Squirt!
November 10, 2010 - The Pied-Billed Grebes showed up in the Stoneybrook West ponds a few weeks ago. I finally got a decent picture — they are usually very very backlit by the sunset during our evening walks.
November 9, 2010 - Tonight the Belted Kingfisher made an appearance at one of the Stoneybrook West ponds, flying in circles over the pond before landing in a tree. The picture is not great, but it’s proof that our kingfisher does exist! The Yellow-Rumped Warblers were especially active tonight, and one even stopped for a few seconds on an […]
November 8, 2010 - The pond that used to never have birds is turning into our “treasure pond”! Tonight there were Killdeer, Pied-Billed Grebes, a Tricolored Heron, and this Blue-Winged Teal.
November 5, 2010 - We saw a Muscovy Duck on our walk tonight! He was hanging out on the sidewalk by the entrance to Rock Creek. At first I mistook him for a Turkey Vulture, then as I got closer, I made out the red marks on his face and realized who he was. I’ve never seen a Muscovy […]
November 4, 2010 - The mockingbirds are usually too busy hunting for dinner to take much notice of us on our evening walks. Tonight this one posed nicely for us.
November 3, 2010 - The Yellow-Rumped Warblers have definitely arrived! Like the Palm Warblers, it seems as if they arrived overnight — we went from seeing none to seeing tons of them hopping around in the evenings. Their evening call note distinguishes them from the Palm and Yellow-Throated Warblers around the neighborhood. This isn’t the greatest picture, but the […]
November 2, 2010 - The backyard is very colorful these days, with all the roses blooming at the same time. That’s the good thing about a good prune — it triggers a beautifully coordinated bloom cycle!
November 1, 2010 - On our walk tonight we saw our first-of-season Yellow Rumped Warblers. They were hopping high in the trees along with the Palm Warblers. We saw a Yellow-throated Warbler also. At the pond we saw a group of Mallards. They all took off as I watched. I like the contrast of the orange feet, blue wings, […]
October 28, 2010 - The days are getting shorter. We have to walk earlier and earlier each week in order to catch the good sunset light. This Great Blue Heron didn’t mind posing for us by the Pebble Ridge pond tonight.
October 27, 2010 - We like to make fun of our bird call CDs, where the announcer starts off the cardinal sound by saying that “the cardinal is a bird…” Goldy knows all about cardinal birds. She was very happy to welcome this one to our feeder, and she sat with her tail twitching as she watched it eat.
October 26, 2010 - Mum-mum and I have been talking about these hummingbird moths, so I tried out my new flash cord and took a picture of one tonight. They are hard to photograph because they do not come out until dusk, then they don’t sit still for long while they are nectaring. They seem very fond of my […]
October 25, 2010 - We’ve never had many squirrels in the neighborhood, probably because the area is an old orange grove, and the oak trees planted by the builder haven’t grown very tall yet. Last spring we saw a family of three squirrels together in our front yard a couple of times. But we haven’t seen any squirrels for […]
October 23, 2010 - The roses are starting to bloom again after I pruned them hard at the beginning of September. It’s fun to see the healthy foliage and the perfect blooms. I love the mixture of colors. The Floribundas have bloomed the fastest. The hybrid teas are starting to bloom, but they are not quite this colorful yet. […]
October 22, 2010 - It’s such fun to take walks in the evenings now, with the trees full of little Palm Warblers hopping around in the twilight. Carla said she’s been seeing Bow Tie hopping around their windows, too.
October 21, 2010 - It’s the most wonderful day of the year! Squirt has been dreaming of this day for the past six months, ever since he took his last bite of pansy back in the early spring. He’s been getting pretty desperate, too. I found this note in my car after work this afternoon: So we stopped at […]
October 19, 2010 - On our walk last night, we passed the pond and thought we saw our regular Anhinga diving for his dinner. We saw his two wings emerge from the pond…then we realized this was not acting like a bird…so I focused with the camera, and snapped the shutter just as a diver looked up, right at […]
October 18, 2010 - The strawberry plants from Mum-mum are fun to watch. The flowers turn into tiny strawberries seemingly overnight. Only about 10 days till pansies for Squirt!!!
October 16, 2010 - Goldy and I saw a House Wren in our backyard this morning. Our first of the season! Then I heard it making some interesting squeaking noises, and wondered what in the world was wrong with the bird. Nothing — the noises were coming from Pete’s garden shoes!! :)
October 15, 2010 - The clear cooler days make for some beautiful sunsets. This oak tree was gorgeous with the orange sun backlight. Then I saw the neighborhood Sand Hill Cranes drinking of a pond, which was illuminated by the reflection of the sunset. I didn’t have my split neutral density filters with me, so I adjusted the picture […]
October 14, 2010 - My roses are starting their fall bloom cycle after I pruned them heavily at the beginning of September. This one is ‘Memorial Day.’
October 12, 2010 - This is a cool set of stacked pots and some young strawberry plants. I can’t wait until it’s covered in berries! Thank you, Mum-mum and Dyeyo. :)
October 11, 2010 - The neighborhood Mallards were enjoying tonight’s sunset as much as Rich and I were.
October 10, 2010 - There are times when no amount of photographic skill makes up for being at the right place at the right time. This afternoon I was pulling into Stoneybrook West after birding at Circle B, and I saw a White Ibis on the sidewalk, eating a nice big frog. Luckily there was no one behind me, […]
October 9, 2010 - Mum-mum and Dyeyo are enjoying the return of the warblers to their backyard. Dyeyo and I took our cameras outside this afternoon to photograph some of the customers at Missy’s Diner. The hummingbird didn’t show herself, but the sparrows sure did! I was a little concerned when I saw the pictures of this House Sparrow, […]
October 8, 2010 - We always enjoy welcoming new visitors to our backyard. Today’s wasn’t precisely in the backyard, but he sure was circling overhead. There were two or three of these guys, circling high in the sky over the pond between Pebble Ridge and Fox Hunt. I put the camera into spot auto focus, aimed, and tried to […]
October 7, 2010 - Tonight I was going out to water the new sod when I stopped short, having just seen this cardinal hopping around in the flower bed right beside the door. He didn’t mind when I came back with my camera and shot a few pictures through the window in the door. I’m not sure if this […]
October 6, 2010 - Our neighborhood Yellow-Throated Warbler, affectionately called Bow Tie, isn’t appearing at our feeders regularly yet. But we see him periodically in the treetops around the neighborhood. As Mum-mum says, he’s being a “real bird,” and we likely won’t see him at the feeders while the insect population is plentiful. (With all the midge flies around […]
October 5, 2010 - This evening we noticed a Cattle Egret climbing on a topiary. We thought it was pretty unusual, then he reached in and grabbed a lizard! I had no idea that egrets ate lizards. Squirt wants!!
October 4, 2010 - We had a great walk this evening. We saw several Palm Warblers, a Yellow-throated Warbler, at least five Killdeer, a Loggerhead Shrike, a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, and we heard an Eastern Phoebe and a Belted Kingfisher. I really liked the bokeh in this shot of the Palm Warbler by the pond.
October 3, 2010 - Rich and I were happy to relax today after putting out 1 pallet of sod, 3 cubic yards of mulch, and 4 new sprinkler valves on Friday and Saturday! This evening I was outside connecting the microjets to the new valves (gotta love poly flexible pipe – it’s so easy!!) I saw Zorro, our backyard […]