A quail took over the Bird Buddy feeder to enjoy the birdseed.
A quail looking for birdseed that fell to the ground.
A quail walking among the backyard plants.
Mourning doves cooling off at the birdbath. I find it funny they often stand with their tails in water.
A Curved-Bill Thrasher on a bench. He’s the bully bird of the backyard.
This video shows the Curved-billed thrasher in action!
How is your week going so far?
Mrs. found a perch on one of the flamingos.
Red prefers the Beavertail cactus art.
The past few days have been stormy and wet! The rain doesn’t seem to stop. We were supposed to go to a friends’ house for dinner when my phone started blowing up with warnings.
Along with the scary words, a horrendous sound goes off.
I called our friends and questioned if we should cancel and stay home due to the phone warnings. However, we ended up going because it’s uphill a mile and there wouldn’t be any washes to drive through. The rain had stopped when we drove and the roads were drying up.
Unfortunately, the entire area was not that lucky. To date, four people lost their lives who were in their cars about an hour south of us. I don’t think these warnings should be taken lightly.
The roadrunner paid us a visit. He moves quickly and this was the only picture I managed to get.
House finch on the beavertail art.
A spotted a gilded flicker in the tree.
This house finch looks all fluffed up.
Have you had any weather warnings this early Fall? If so, what have they been about?
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My dear friend Red.
I was walking outside to photograph cacti on the side of our driveway when Red called. I was focusing on the cacti when I realized that Red was singing to me! I looked up at him in the tree and said, “Hey Red!”
He took off in flight for the backyard. I ran into the house, grabbed the bag of bird seed and found him waiting for me on the fence by our Bird Buddy feeder. I filled it with birdseed and stepped away, but not too far. Red wasn’t scared. He cocked his head this way and that, watching me. I sat on a bench close by, ready to take more photos.
Darn! I thought looking down at my camera strapped around my neck. I wish I had my telephoto lens.
I stood up slowly, walked back into the house to switch my lens to telephoto. When I returned, Red was still there. I was closer to Red than I had ever been before to take photos.
Here are some of the better pics of Red:
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5. A series of three photos
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I can’t tell you what an ethereal feeling it was to be so close to Red for yesterday’s photo session. I was shooting cacti and plants at different ISOs for this week’s photography assignment. Then Red showed up and I used him for my subject.
Do you have a bird or wildlife friend who you see often?
Which are your favorite photos of Red and why?
I got my first Cardinal visit to my Bird Buddy.
After waiting patiently from January until now for a new solar panel for my Bird Buddy AI bird feeder with a camera, I made the executive decision to take it out of storage, charge it up and use it without the solar panel roof.
I emailed the company and they said I should receive it this month. Until then, I’m enjoying Bird Buddy and have to charge the camera every four or five days.
I’ve written about Bird Buddy before. You can read those posts HERE and HERE if you missed them.
My son works for a crowdfunding company that helped raise money and marketed Bird Buddy. I think it was one of their more successful campaigns.
In one of my prior stories I wrote about my trouble setting up Bird Buddy. There was an awkward small space to plug in the charger or solar panel. I found it frustrating and I had to get my husband to help me. However, when I set up my 91-year-old dad’s Bird Buddy, he cleverly showed me you can plug in the camera before you put it inside the feeder! Duh!
This is a House Finch who can eat a lot of sunflower seeds!
Bird Buddy takes “postcards” (these two photos are examples.) There was an update to the software and now there are videos, too. It works with an app on your smartphone, identifies birds, gives details and you can play their songs and calls.
Here’s a video of a House Sparrow and Cardinal competing for the bird feeder:
What birds do you have in your neck of the woods? Which are your favorites?
