Herman....

Originally I was going to title this post "meet the neighbor(s)".

But this new neighbor isn't the friendliest guy around. Herman is our new neighbor, he lives in our garden most mornings and evenings. I am sure he goes to visit some girl at night because after dark I have no idea where he goes.

Whenever we are in the garden or trying to enjoy the roses he buzzes about our heads making these intimidating squeaking noises trying to stake out "his" territory. He is kind of pushy and bossy.

I think this is his brother Harry who does the same thing on the other side of the house....

I think these are all distant relatives who found out about the free buffet.....

There was some serious discussion here about cutting the line and waiting for your turn...but they were able to work it out.

I could sit in the yard all day (if there were more shade) and watch these little guys. They just crack me up with all their bravado for how tiny they are. Their battles over territory are so fun to watch. All in all I guess Herman and his entourage aren't such bad neighbors....

wordless Wednesday.....

They're back!

Every year we've lived in this house the Oriels come to back to nest each spring. There is a very old giant oak tree on the property behind us. This is "home base" for them. I am not sure how many pairs there are, but every year they are here without fail.
How do I know this? Early in the morning (and I mean early), especially for spring break, or summer vacation they are out flying from the big oak in the back.......

.....to this tree in the front! They aren't quiet either. There is a very distinctive chirp they have. Almost as if they are hollering to their friends, "hey, that family is still sleeping, let's get them out of bed!". Of course it doesn't help that our bedroom is right in the flight path............

.....plus the tempting little detours I have set up along the way. The oriels are not like the humming birds. They are very shy. If I am outside (stalking them for a photo) they will fly from tree to tree, or tree to fence, scolding me that I am in their way and I should move!.......

.....eventually hunger wins out and they will land and drink their fill from the humming bird feeders.....

.....first we will just see the males with their bright colors. Late in spring or early summer the females start showing up with the babies.....then they are off for another year. I will be busy now keeping the feeders full! This feeder was full last night so they are definitely hungry little guys!

This is the first bird I've seen this year. I heard him last night, but couldn't see him. Everytime I tried to go out to take a picture he'd fly away, so I finally took these thru our bedroom window!

buzz off....

I have several humingbird feeders throughout our backyard for my little bird friends. This year we have birds that have been coming to eat all winter, so I keep them happy and keep filling the feeders. We also have some unwelcome guests that showed up late in the summer. My guess is there is a beehive somewhere close by and the stinkin' bees are after a free and easy meal! The bees are pretty agressive and will buzz around the hummingbirds until they fly away. They will also follow me with the feeder! I HATE bees....they need to move away before summer when I will be out in the yard all the time!

Feeding the birds....

Every summer it seems our house is in the path of migrating humming birds. I love to feed them and watch them fight for their next meal as though it will be their last. The feeding frenzy is twice a day. Usually early morning (7am 'ish) and again in the early evening when it has cooled down a little. The chirping and squeaking noises the little hummers make wakes me up, there are so many of them. It is quite an endeavor to feed these little guys - at one point I was refilling the feeders about every other day and I have seven of them around the yard! The favorite feeder seems to be on the north side of our house where I have two feeders hanging on the fence and another two hanging on either side of the kitchen window. When Katie went to hang the feeder for me she was getting dive bombed by the birds they were so anxious to eat! We decided to experiment and see if she stood still if they would land and feed. Sure enough those little sugar addicts needed their fix!