Back to the Birds!

Okay, I've been bad about blogging again, even though I have tons of photos to share. No excuses, just going to get back to it:-) So, here's a little bird journey to get things started again...

"Peek A Boo!" First is an Acorn Woodpecker peeking out of the nest hole. I could hear the babies inside:-) This parent kept a wary eye on me, though I couldn't get too close, because the tree was off the road and down a little incline. It's amazing that they can fit through such a small hole!

Next, "Snacktime" is a Lark Sparrow who landed as we were coming up the road - lucky catch for him and for me!

"Mrs. Bluebird", a female Western Bluebird we chanced upon. They're such beautiful birds, aren't they?

"Sun on My Back" is a Western Meadowlark. We think s/he is pretty young, judging by the feathers (which also look wet), and the fact that s/he stayed for so long with a car right alongside. This was actually on the opposite side of the road from me, so I was doing a contortion act to try and get some photos:-)

"Open Communication" - Believe it or not, as common as Scrub Jays are around here, this is the first decent shot I've gotten. They usually fly off at the least disturbance - funny, since they're such precocious birds!

"Tough!" - Last, but most certainly not least, is this Turkey Vulture. While Turkey Vultures are also common, they don't usually sit on the fence posts as we're driving past, lol! This one allowed us to get quite close. We think there was something they were dining on out in the field on the other side of the fence, so s/he didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, this was the wrong side of the light, but I couldn't exactly get out and change things;-) Still can't believe how this big bird is balanced on that post. Even more amazing, s/he was first balanced around a t-post on the wire - ouch!

Hope you've enjoyed this journey - stay tuned, more to come, I promise:-)

A Few More Birds

Thought I'd add a few more recent bird sightings. We've been seeing more birds on each drive. Haven't seen the precocious Western Kingbirds yet, but I'm sure they'll be fence-hopping again soon, too:-)

First up is this beautiful little bird, a Lark Sparrow. This was a first for us. It looks like they live in some parts of Cali year-round, and migrate through others - couldn't quite tell where the map cut-off was with our area. Also, it's not only taken from inside the car, but he was on the other side of the road; I was stretched across trying to focus and hoping he wouldn't fly off, lol!


The next is this little Western Bluebird. He was still a ways down the road when we spotted him, but this is as close as we could get. I think bluebirds are so gorgeous, I had to share him, anyways:-)


And last, but not least, for tonight - I forgot that I'd taken this Western Meadowlark photo on the drive before the photo taken in last night's post. He was up on a little hill, and I just happened to spot him as we were going past, so my mom did a quick stop and reverse. He knew something was up, but he didn't leave right away - yay! They always seem so much larger than I expect - very interesting birds. Well, face it, I find almost all birds fascinating:-)


It's pouring down rain right now, and supposed to continue for a bit. I looked at my photos from last year, though, and see that I started taking fruit tree blossom photos around the 25th. Crossing my fingers that I'll be able to start soon! If you knew how many blossom photos I already had, you might wonder why I'd want more. It's an addiction, okay? I confess, and I don't want to be cured, lol!