Busy Days
The past few days I’ve been busy with many things non related to birds. I had limited time to shoot pictures but incredibly, when I did it the result was very satisfying because in shorter times I was lucky to see and photograph some birds that I was interested to shoot.
The weather is still hot and extremely humid but gets cooler past midnight. The number of birds is quite high sometimes, all depends what groups of birds show up. The most numerous are the B.H Cowbirds followed by the Morning Doves. Only is quiet for a while when the sun is at the peak temperature. The birds keep coming until is dark at about 8:30 pm.
Two days ago I went out in the morning to refill feeders and I almost stepped on a Black Rat Snake (5ft long), it was stretched on the grass near the deck and did not move, I went in and got a wood stick with a coat hanger attached to the end and tried to lift the snake, it reacted and curled up, finally I lifted it and toss it in the bushes. I did not harmed it, they are not venomous and they keep control of mice etc.
Just another day in the jungle! 🙂
Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz -Avian101




I guess the black rat snake was interested in the birds? That was a big one! 🙂
I think the snake was after the Voles that come to eat the spilled seeds. I was more surprised by the weigh of it. Thanks Jet! 🙂
Absolutely beautiful… Thanks for sharing HJ.
Best wishes, Aquileana 😛
Thank you very much dear Aquileana! Hugs! 🙂
Glad you didn’t step on the snake even if they aren’t poisonous.
Thank you so much Susan! Very thoughtful of you! 🙂
Beautiful! We are starting to get some different birds traveling through our area. (Central Oregon) I love this time of year for birdwatching!
I wish I was there to shoot some pictures! Thanks Carolyn! 🙂
Lovely photographs, HJ! Thanks 🙂 …..and a SNAKE?!!!! You really are brave, HJ! I’m petrified of them…glad you are safe and the snake is safely back to where it belongs!
Thank you A.! Fortunately, I’m not afraid of snakes and I don’t want to kill them either. 🙂
So nice you are getting an indigo bunting as a regular visitor right now. I love them but they only stop briefly in my area during migration. You should have gotten a photo of the snake, but I guess he wouldn’t fit in with the bird theme. 🙂
Thanks for sharing Amy! The snake was an uninvited visitor. 🙂
That moulting one’s pretty stroppy ! and big ! S/he seems to be ruling the roost.
That’s a he, the male birds have black spots of new feathers. In previous post I explained what I observed, the new leaders of groups are taking over. Thanks M-R! 🙂
I am glad that the snake was harmless.
Yes, a couple of years back I saw a Diamond back, that one was very dangerous. I left it alone. They only bite when bothered. Thanks Tom! 🙂
Lovely visitors you have 🙂
Thank you Tiny! 🙂
Marvelosu captures, dear HJ…
Those blue birds on top made me think of your avitar (and Twitter’s ) 🙂
Wishing you a marvelous day ahead!!!
Aquileana 😀
You’re right! Thank you so much my dear Aquileana! I will do the best of my day! 🙂 ❤
The photos are lovely. What an enormous snake! We get snakes in our garden (grass snakes) but the biggest one I have seen is 3 feet long.
This was the longest I’ve seen in my backyard. Thanks for sharing Clare! 🙂
Those blue birds are such a magnificent colour. Moving the snake sounds like an adventure!
Yes their shade of blue is unique. It’s not that I wrestled an Anaconda! 🙂
Thank you dear! ❤
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