Hummers, Black Caps and the Wet Look

Monday afternoon the Hummingbirds came a visiting our back yard. We now refer to them as the Hummers. Most of this week we have been entertained by their antics. One will come to the feeder and then fly off high into the tree, then the second Hummer will come to the feeder only to have the first one dive down and try to chase the second one away. This happened frequently this week.

Here is one of the pictures, hard to catch them sitting still.



This Black Capped Chickadee made a visit to our sunflower seed feeder and you can see the seed in its beak.



Out back at the bird bath a Robin looks kind of sporty with his wet head look. Seems like back in the 50-60tys some of the guys had haircuts like this.




After the fund of chasing around the back yard it was time for the Hummers to drink the sugared water for more energy. This time they parked a little longer for the picture taking session.

Friday Night on the town

We traveled to Funks Grove tonight to see the birds at Sugar Creek Nature Center on our way back home we saw a couple of police cars do a U-Turn a few minutes later another police car whizzed by heading South. As we started to get onto the Interstate the Southbound squad car had done a U-Turn and headed North. My wife commented that it was like watching the Keystone Cops. As we neared Bloomington we saw flashing red lights ahead of us. Since the police cars had red and blue lights we assumed it was probably an ambulance or fire truck. As we got closer we noticed smoke and a glow in the sky on the West side of Bloomington. Off of Market Street we found the police cars and the source of the smoke. These are a couple of the pictures I took from the scene.






Wife found this squirrel reclining as he ate, kind of relaxed don't you think?



While at the Sugar Creek site we were able to enjoy at least three hummingbirds. Getting a little dark at the time and they move pretty quickly but a couple of the photographs turned out so here they are.

Monday August 13, 2007 on the southeast edge of Comlara Park about 8:15pm the sun was beginning to set. The first three pictures are taken from a higher point than the last five pictures. The time is also closer to the 8:15pm. The final five pictures were taken a few minutes earlier from a lower point and trees closer in background.









This butterfly landed about 10 feet away from my window. The zoom lens did a good job capturing this guy.



A trip to Comlara Park brings us by several caged peacocks, this one didn't want to spread its tail. Starting to get dark that night so the pictures is a little dark.



This deer tried to hide in the woods, the picture is a little grainy, but it was somewhat dark in the forest and the sun was beginning to set.

Sunday afternnoon in August 2007

This and other Wrens have been busy out back this past few weeks. Sometimes they have an annoying buzz that sounds like locusts, but they are neat to see.





Here we have a male Cardinal, bright red.



This is a house finch, notice the red coloring, not all over the body like the male cardinal.



At the feeder, the female cardinal and the wren share a bite to eat.



This is an up close and personal picture of a young sparrow.



Do you suppose that this Gold Finch is praying?



As you can see the female cardinal has her own beauty, but not as glitzy as the male.



This Downy has obtained a sizable nut.



Just another view of the Downy



Even the Downy and the Sparrow share the nuts.

Look what showed up tonight!

Usually the ground hog doesn't appear when I have a camera ready. Tonight he was here bright and early and pretty close. I think he saw me in the window, but he wasn't in any hurry to leave until I tapped on the window and he made his exit.