Wednesday Wings and Others

Sharing some photos taken today in our "backyard" today. The internet went down for a while, so I escaped outside:-) We have a lot of birds and little critters coming through, but some of them are so fast, they've been a real challenge to photograph. I thought hummingbirds were hard! The birds hadn't been coming to our newly placed feeder, so we started putting some seed on the ground. As you can imagine, everyone has been enjoying it, and we're enjoying watching the activity!

A very handsome male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) who even sang for a bit.

Mrs. House Finch, who didn't mind my presence that much - the finches were the calmest visitors.

A Juniper Titmouse (Baeolophus griseus) before s/he flew down to the seed. These little birds are so cute, make such an assortment of noises, and move so darn fast! By the time my camera focuses, they're usually somewhere else.

This is the same Juniper Titmouse - can't believe I actually caught him/her so close!

Now it's a good thing these next two little critters are so darn cute. They've been eating my newly planted container plants, and once they've discovered they like something, nothing seems to deter them. I only use organic methods, and right now my garden smells like an Italian restaurant with all the powdered garlic and other spices. Whether or not I get any tomatoes will remain to be seen - I'll have to try to find some netting or something. Like I said, it's a good thing these guys are adorable and so entertaining to watch:-)

Uinta Chipmunk? (Neotamias umbrinus)

White-tailed Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus)

Still have some more subjects I'm trying to get good photos of, so stay tuned!