White-Winged Doves in the Backyard

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/170 sec, ISO200
“White-Winged Doves” Cedar Park, 2020

This summer, our backyard deck has become something of a zoo, with many different types of birds, pesky squirrels, and even lizards. Most times, it’s pretty quiet, but at about 6 pm, it becomes a madhouse! I really love to see the small birds hanging out with the larger ones. It’s so fun!

Recently a pair of white-winged doves has been coming by for water and a bit of food. I haven’t paid doves much attention since they are very common, but they are actually very interesting! Not only do they move more slowly and gracefully than the other birds, but they have really nice markings, especially when they spread their wings.

I hope you had a nice day!

Broken Feeder

Photo info: OLYMPUS E-PL9, 42mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO800
“Carolina Chickadee” Cedar Park, 2020

Our antique-store mason jar bird feeder that we’ve been using in our backyard fell this afternoon and shattered on the deck. I think the screw-eye that was drilled through the base of the jar just came unscrewed due to the twisting of the feeder during bird activity. It’s all my fault because I didn’t keep an eye on it. Oh well. Luckily we have a few jars that fit onto the base, but I am unable to drill thru the base to re-attach the screw-eye. After a bit of thought, I used some wire to make a little harness which seems to be pretty strong. I really like this little bird feeder, and don’t want to get rid of it.

Truth be told, I ordered another bird feeder before I fixed the old one. I suppose I could still cancel it, but it is inexpensive, and I’m curious to see how it performs. I’m not sure if we have room for both feeders, but I’m sure I can figure something out. 😃

Blue Jay at the Feeder

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 135mm, f/1, 1/110 sec, ISO400
“Blue Jay” Cedar Park, 2020

Here’s a photo of the most frequent visitor to our backyard bird feeder. This blue jay loves to eat the black-oil sunflower seeds, and while I thought it might bully the other birds, it seems that everyone has a chance to get some food in peace. Even some mourning doves and grackles have been finding their way to the feeder! 😀

We have a second feeder in the front of the house too. It’s actually a clear plastic shelf-type feeder that is suction cupped to the office window. It took a while for the birds to find it, but every once in a while, the blue jay, black-crested titmouse, or cardinals will visit for a snack and a peek into the office while I work. I’ll try to get a picture next time, but there is some serious back-light, so it probably won’t look so nice. We’ll see!

I hope you had a good day.

またね~

Birds at the Feeder Lately

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 135mm, f/1, 1/320 sec, ISO3200
“Black-crested Titmouse” Cedar Park, 2020

I’ve been keeping our bird feeder stocked with food and it’s been getting a lot of use these past few days! The main visitors have been the Blue Jay, the Northern Cardinal, and the bird in today’s photo: a Black-crested Titmouse. It’s so cute! There are a few other types that have come by for a meal, but I haven’t had my camera ready, which I need to make a good identification. One other bird that I’ve seen around, which I was able to note the features of using my binoculars is the Carolina Wren. It’s also a really cute bird!

Anyways, I’ve been really enjoying keeping an eye out for birds at our feeder. It’s so fun! ❤️🐦

Birding at the Local Park

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/6.4, 1/280 sec, ISO200
“Brushy Creek Lake” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I mentioned in a previous post that I started bird-watching recently, which has gotten me a fair amount of good-natured ribbing from my wife and kids, but I’ve been enjoying it. Like photography, bird-watching is something that makes me a little more observant of the world which can only be a good thing. What’s kind of cool is that you don’t have to actively go out and make an effort to bird-watch. Even backyard bird-watching is fun! Of course, making an outing of it is excellent, even a short one.

Today I stopped by the nearby park for a bit to see if I could spot anything to add to my “Life list” (Pokédex). I did spot some ducks and a dove, but nothing more interesting that I could identify with any certainty. There’s always next time! 😊