H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 598 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

Memory Lane

Tags: birds, Great Blue Heron, Memory Lane, nature, photography, photos of birds

Observing birds in their free lives need not necessarily be the into the wilderness, it could be in the comfort of your backyard, either way it gives you the opportunity to enjoy very delightful and heart warming moments such as the one that is the feature of this post.

There are about half a dozen Northern Cardinal families nesting within the area of my backyard. I see them at any time of the day, flying not only to the feeders but from tree to tree also chasing each other, there’s a kind of traffic out there, not counting other species.

Once I set my camera for a shooting session, anything that I see might become the subject of my photos, all depends of what develops from the activity of birds getting their meals.

In this case I saw a young female Northern Cardinal alone and looking very insecure until I saw an adult male approach her and I knew then that it was the father (Note that he’s undergoing molting). She signaled with the fast shaking of her wings (her wing feathers are not fully developed yet but she is able to fly). The whole process of feeding the child is illustrated on my Photo Gallery. I just hope that you like it as much as I did!

Photo Gallery

Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101

Tags: birds, nature, Northern Cardinal, photography, photos of birds

Water Park?

It was a good idea to keep a deep dish full with fresh water, because it serves two purposes, one is to have birds quench their thirst and two, take a dip and splash a refreshing bath.

When I see those birds going in the water and splashing happily it really make me feel good and happy for them, just like the ones shown on my Photo Gallery. They are Brown-headed Cowbirds having fun in the water!

Something so simple yet so comforting for the birds, I wish I could do more to make things easier for them during this heat wave that is upon us.

We got rain finally for just about three days but it wasn’t as much as we were expecting. The heat is back so is the high humidity! There’s nothing we can do about that!

I figure… that must be Nature doing some adjustments and maintenance!

Photo Gallery

Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101

Tags: birds, Brown-Headed Cowbird, nature, photography, photos of birds

Hungry Birds

From all the birds I get in my backyard daily, right now it’s the Brown-headed Cowbird the most numerous, there are more females than males. They are at the feeders at any time of the day, regardless of the weather temperature.

They usually fly in groups and it’s very obvious that they are organized and have a leader that it’s the one that orders when to move on and all the rest will follow immediately. Males are in constant competition among themselves to get females for mating (Reminds me of Spring Break!)

For sure they have a tremendous appetite at the feeders, capable of devouring a great amount of seed in record time. Just imagine of how a large flock of thousands individuals might do in a cultivated field. That’s a good reason for farmers not to like them in their farm crops!

Photo Gallery