A nature photographer’s images and stories of birds, butterflies, and other creatures from her backyard near Orlando, FL
April 20, 2009 - A new bird came to visit Goldy tonight – a Cape May Warbler! These birds mostly live in Canada and are only in Florida during winter migration, but we know that a group of them nested at Oakland Nature Preserve a few years ago. So we were very surprised – and excited – to see […]
April 19, 2009 - Goldy had an exciting visitor this afternoon – three ducks! They looked like they were getting a snack from the feast underneath the feeders. Goldy was glued to the window watching.
April 18, 2009 - The score is at least 10 to 1 in the Peter-vs-Beaky saga. The fake snake has ceased to scare off the stupid cardinal, who insists on repeatedly fighting his reflection in Carla’s nice shiny window. So the latest cardinal scare tactic is a new set of screens…good luck, Peter!
April 17, 2009 - ‘Angel Face’ is simply covered in healthy growth and blooms about to open. It’s fun to see it healthy each spring after a good pruning.
April 14, 2009 - My ‘Honey Perfume’ rose is doing so much better this spring! It’s blooming like crazy and has put out several new basal canes. I love the yellow blooms next to the bright red ‘Black Cherry.’
April 13, 2009 - Mum-mum loves her grackles, and even though I consider them the piggies at my feeder, I must admit that this one is kinda pretty, with the sun on his feathers.
April 12, 2009 - Happy Easter! I don’t think yesterday’s picture of the Cedar Waxwings gives the scene justice…there were so many birds!! Here’s another view.
April 11, 2009 - We had an impromptu birthday party for Goldy today when about 200 of her Cedar Waxwing friends stopped by to congratulate her on turning seven!
April 10, 2009 - Apparently I’m not the only one who’s impressed by the freshly cleaned fountain. This little frog took a break from bug-catching to pose for me…
April 9, 2009 - Here’s Peter’s favorite cardinal and his wife. Rich and I call him “Beaky” because he spends his life banging his beak against Peter and Carla’s back window! We think we saw where his nest is in a neighbor’s viburnum. Hopefully those babies will hatch soon and distract him…
April 7, 2009 - The front yard roses are really putting on a show right now! The yellow one is ‘Gold Medal’ and the red one ‘Hot Cocoa’. It’s amazing how fast they’ve grown…two months ago they were just bare canes!
April 6, 2009 - We saw our Sandhill Crane family again and the babies have grown so big already! It was just a few weeks ago that they were fluffy little guys, and now they are almost as tall as their parents. Their heads aren’t red yet, though.
April 5, 2009 - I was excited to see the first blooms of another new Spring 2009 rose – this is ‘Chris Evert’. The bright orange blooms contrast nicely with the bright yellow blooms of its neighbor, ‘Midas Touch’. I can’t wait until it’s full-grown. :)
April 4, 2009 - I think the goldfinches are migrating earlier this year than they did last year. I’m only seeing one or two at a time these days. This female in full breeding plumage was pigging out at our feeder. Happy Hatch Day, Pickles!!
April 3, 2009 - Today I had my first bloom from my new ‘Nancy Reagan’ rose. This is a rose I saw at Leu Gardens last year, and I liked it so much that I had to have one of my own. The colors are amazing!
April 2, 2009 - The roses on the side are all blooming and they are gorgeous!! It’s too bad the wind is blowing petals off as quickly as they open…but hey, we’ll take the rain.
March 30, 2009 - As Mum-mum put it, there are sure a lot of birdie hormones flying around the yard at this time of year! It’s fun to see birds pair off, though. This House Finch pair posed for me in the oak tree. Although I suspect Peter wishes that our young Mr. Cardinal had not found a mate…he […]
March 29, 2009 - The first of my new bareroot roses bloomed this morning. ‘Mr. Lincoln’ is gorgeous!
March 28, 2009 - All the roses are covered in buds, and in about a week I suspect the backyard is going to be full of color. ‘Peace’ started a few days early. The bright yellow and pink blended flowers are huge and look beautiful in the morning sun!
March 27, 2009 - It’s hard to believe that ‘Bee’s Knees’ was just a twig a few weeks ago. I worried that I had pruned it too harshly, but no, now it’s almost as big as the rest of my minis.
March 26, 2009 - There were great flocks of Cedar Waxwings flying all around the neighborhood this afternoon. I was out with the camera, trying to get some pictures, but the stubborn birds seemed to be camera-shy. But this little Palm Warbler didn’t mind my presence and posed for me quite nicely.
March 25, 2009 - The first of my recently transplanted hybrid teas is now blooming! This is ‘Double Delight.’
March 23, 2009 - The yard really comes alive around this time of year! Literally hundreds of birds pass through, the roses all flush with new growth, the grass is getting green again, and Daylight Savings Time gives us an extra hour to enjoy it all!
March 22, 2009 - The songbirds love the oak pollen almost as much as Rich’s allergies dislike it! Then in the afternoon we went to visit Missy’s Diner (a.k.a. my parents’ backyard!) They’ve had a Painted Bunting visiting for at least a month – lucky!!
March 21, 2009 - Flocks of Cedar Waxwings have been passing through the neighborhood. This morning our oak tree was filled with at least 50 waxwings, all doing their shrill whistle call! But when I looked at the pictures, I realized I didn’t just have waxwings in the tree…there were a few female brown-headed cowbirds in the tree as […]
March 20, 2009 - It’s the first ‘Bella Roma’ bloom that the insects didn’t completely destroy! I like springtime. :) Today Rich and I went to meet little Mathias Evan, the son of our friends Saidel and Jamie. He’s absolutely adorable!!
March 18, 2009 - It’s another pineapple on the way! (and yes, Ron, this one gave us a pineapple last year too!)
March 15, 2009 - Howietta the House Finch is looking for her husband Howie. Any sightings should be reported to Goldy!
March 14, 2009 - I think I know now who went around Carnegie Mellon on Pi Day enumerating the digits of Pi on the sidewalks, correct down to hundreds of digits… With very little sidewalk space outside our house, Rich had to content himself yesterday with baking a few pies. :)
March 12, 2009 - Squirt’s been enjoying all the goldfinches in our yard. They land in the crape myrtle right by his grill, so he sits on the grill and chatters his teeth at them “ma-ma-ma!!” Luckily the birds seem to realize that he’s on the porch and can’t bother them…
March 11, 2009 - I think ‘Mardi Gras’ is happy that I transplanted it! It’s sure blooming nicely. :)
March 7, 2009 - This morning we saw our Sandhill Cranes…and they had two babies with them!! Rich and I took the camera to visit mis papitos and take pictures of their backyard birds (they’ve had Painted Buntings and Orchard Orioles this week!) We didn’t see the oriole, but we did see a female Yellow-Rumped Warbler and a Northern […]
March 6, 2009 - Roses! My pruned roses are leafing out nicely and some of the minis are even blooming again. This is ‘Crackling Fire’.
March 4, 2009 - The bachelor male cardinal is in luck…we saw a second female cardinal waiting for him in the oak tree this afternoon. She’s definitely in breeding plumage! So where’s the nest going to be, guys?
March 3, 2009 - The male cardinals are definitely in mating mode these days. They sit in the tops of trees and sing for hours – “I want a wife! wife! wife! wife! wife!”
March 3, 2009 - ‘Mr. Lincoln’ and ‘Pope John Paul II’ make a good couple!
March 2, 2009 - A Downy Woodpecker was passing through the neighborhood today. He stayed until the grackles took over the oak tree!
March 1, 2009 - A front is passing through this morning and the poor little goldfinches were chowing down in anticipation of the bad weather. They had such trouble holding onto the feeders!
February 28, 2009 - Finally! After months of hearing robins flying overhead, they finally landed in our yard. There were several small flocks flying around the neighborhood this afternoon.
February 27, 2009 - Another new customer at our feeders: Savannah Sparrows! They were chowing down at the tube feeder by the porch tonight when I stepped outside and startled them. Luckily they stuck around in the crape myrtle for a few minutes, giving me time to get this picture (taken through the screen, at twilight, with flash…but hey, […]
February 26, 2009 - We keep hearing the eagles calling as they fly overhead. I’ve yet to get a really good picture, but I’ll post the best I have…at least you can tell it’s an eagle!
February 22, 2009 - …how many goldfinches can fit on the top of a shepherd’s crook?
February 21, 2009 - I’m not sure if it was just a change in finch food, or if the goldfinch migration is starting, but we’ve had many more goldfinches in the yard in the last few days. They are such fun to watch!
February 20, 2009 - Mum-mum and Dyeyo had a female Painted Bunting at their tray feeder today!!! She came back to feed at least three times while we were there. Mum-mum thinks that she’s actually a regular visitor. How neat! It figured that I hadn’t taken my camera today. :-p This picture of the female (foreground) and male (background) […]
February 15, 2009 - Meet Bow Tie, our Yellow-Throated Warbler who is wintering in the neighborhood. Every morning he comes to Goldy’s front window to steal a few bites from the feeders. He grabs his seed and flies to Peter’s palm tree to eat. He’s so pretty – his neat black and white stripes remind me of a man’s […]