New Visitors to the Garden

Wow, what a busy little fellow this guy was!  And what a beauty!  This is an American Redstart and is part of the Warbler family.  They winter here in the very southern part of Florida and this is the first time I've seen them in my yard.  (I'm so excited) 

There were two males.  I didn't see any females.  And they were zipping around under the branches and it was hard to get a shot.  

That was a couple of days ago.  I've been looking for them every day since and haven't seen them.  I feel very lucky that I caught them having a rest in my backyard.

Another new bird to my yard is this pretty little Ground Dove.    Not much bigger than a sparrow and they love to shuffle around - well - on the ground.  Funny that I captured this one sitting on a branch.  They're not uncommon, but they are declining in number.  They're found only in the southern states here in North America.

Just to compare - here's a Mourning Dove and you can see it has a completely dark bill, blue "eyeliner" and is a bigger bird  with no fine scaling around the neck and chest.

Also for comparison, is the Eurasian Collared Dove.   These birds are quite large and rather elegant looking.  They are, however, the biggest bully around, IMHO.  

Just one more feathered friend - this Common Yellow-shafted Flicker is not new to me or the yard, but I finally had a camera with me when I saw one.  

I'm just sticking this shot in here to show how pretty the yellow color is on the underside of her wing.

Well, I'm happy that the big Gardenia bush is finally blooming out back!

And that the Dwarf Gardenia bushes are blooming in front.

When I was out back, I knew I kept smelling the Magnolia grandiflora - but I couldn't find any blooms.  Then there I spotted it, clear up at the tippy top of the tree....  I knew she was blooming somewhere.  There's no other fragrance like it :)

I cut this Lantana way back and oh, it drives me nuts to see a plant all butched to the bone - but I know it can be a good thing.  Now it's full of lush new blooms that are attracting a lot of butterflies like this Zebra longwing.

Here's Miss Poppet, waiting for me to come back inside.  She's very good at making dog snot art by pressing her nose against the window and smearing it all around....

And here's Mr. Flash - he's ever so well mannered and would never dream of messing up the windows.  Both faithfully wait until I'm done taking photos or doing a little gardening.  But, now it's time for their walk, so we hope to see you next time.  Happy May!