Beautiful Indigo Buntings

Such an incredible blast of blue!  I absolutely adore these guys.  I do find them a bit hard to photograph as they are more skittish than most of the other birds in the yard.

This shot is from last year.  I don't even want to mention how many pics I have to take to get a halfway recognizable photo of one of these birds, Haha!  They are truly a challenge for me - same with the flitty little gnatcatchers.

The afore mentioned flitty little gnatcatcher.

The Painted Buntings are still in town.  I don't blame them for not going north or west or wherever they go, as it seems to be cold again elsewhere in the states. 

That's okay, they can stay here as long as they'd like!  I just bought a new bag of white millet and they love the birdbath, so we're set for a while now.

I haven't decided if I like this photo or not, but I found it kind of intriguing. I like to play around with capturing the light.  It was early evening and I liked how it highlighted this male redbellied woodpeckers profile.

Here he is in a brighter light.  

Well, I've always been basically a picture blog.  I don't offer any great gardening tips, because I'm not a great gardener (big cheesy grin)!  And now I'm discovering that I won't be able to garden like I used to due to my autoimmune diseases.  This last month has pretty much made it clear to me that I can't get out there and take care of things like I used to.  And in all honesty, I've been dwindling down since last fall.  I've recently had a rheumatoid arthritis flare like I've never experienced and I'm working on learning what I can do and what I can't.

The big gardenia and the dwarf gardenia bushes are all getting set to bloom.

So, I'll probably be doing mostly container gardening.  Which offers lots and lots of opportunities to try new plants and have beautiful flowers around.

There's nothing like having a big pot of fragrant jasmine to sit next to while I'm reading a book on the lanai.

And I can always give vegetables another go.  These little tomatoes were so cute, but unfortunately didn't taste very good.  I'll have to try another variety.

And I definitely can see myself turning into an herbal green witch of sorts.  

I think I'm quite a ways down that path already :)

Plus with all the cool visitors we have to the yard, like this orb weaver - there's always something to blog about.  

I get pretty excited over leaf patterns, Haha, but I'll consider it a creative endeavor to come up with blog posts about things I hope others will find somewhat interesting.  And still keep with a gardening theme.

Oh, how could I forget!  The orange blossoms have been perfuming the backyard all month long.  It's so wonderful!  

Thanks friends for having a read through my blog!  Blessings to all!  Be well.

Welcoming March

I haven't been around much online lately.  Every once in awhile I take a break and retreat to the land of no Internet.  It doesn't last very long - but it seems to work fairly well to refresh my strained brain and well, here I am, back online again. (waving and smiling)

I'm afraid I don't really have a proper post prepared, so I'll just leave you with some images of spring.  I hope they'll make you feel - well - springy!  Here's some purslane in pink.  Love their cheery faces.

Closer shot (just because I love the pink against the different shades of green)  

Pink Dahlia.  I have a feeling this may be a "pink" post...

Yeah, more pink.  But aren't these two a pretty pair!

Oh - surprise, here's some glorious white begonias.

And back to pink.  Maybe super dark, super hot pink or maybe I'd even call this maroon.  Certainly in that family, even maybe red.  Whew - whatever you want to call this color, it's truly flamboyant and a beauty.  Passiflora is one of my favorite flowers.  I wouldn't make tea out of this one though...  What? You've never had passiflora tea?  Well, it's one of my favorite teas too.  

If you're thinking of trying Passiflora tea, I'd recommend getting it from a reputable source.  It's delightful!  Grassy and earthy and beautiful!  And calming....

Okay, then on to more pink.  Love this cosmos!

Whoa, that's HU-GE.  And a completely gorgeous hibiscus.

More pretty pink

Can you get any more cheerier?

And just for fun, the classic Florida lawn ornament -the plastic pink flamingo!  Hope you're getting ready for spring...it won't be long!  Have a wonderful week everyone!  

The Great Backyard Bird Count

I'm getting ready to participate in the 19th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) that starts this week on Friday, February 12 through Monday, February 15, 2016.

What you do is to count birds in your yard for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as you'd like) on one or more days of the four-day event and report your sightings online at www.birdcount.org

You can participate from anywhere in the world.  Submissions help researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing and how to protect them and the environment we all share.  

The male Painted Bunting above, is a regular visitor to my backyard during the winter months here in south Florida.  I can never get enough of seeing their incredible beauty flitting around the yard.

The female Painted Bunting (aka greenies) get a bit cheated in the color department when compared to the males, but I think their beautiful greens are exceptionally pretty. 

This could possibly be an immature male that hasn't developed his colors yet, but I'm not sure how to tell them apart from the females at this point.  That is something I'm definitely going to make a point of learning about!

Another shot of the Greenie Painted Bunting.  She's got her beak full of suet.  Sometimes I see them at the sunflower seed feeder and I'm always rather surprised since their favorite white millet seed is always available in the yard.  It's always interesting and fun to observe bird behavior.

The Catbird is another favorite wintertime visitor.  I love the goofy calls he makes.  And yes, he does sound a bit like a cat.

If you happened to read my previous post, you'll know who this is and who it isn't.  It's unfortunately not Chirpy the Cardinal, but the young hotshot that took over his territory.  He is a handsome devil though.  Guess I should give him a name...any suggestions?

Just one more bird photo, this one is of the female cardinal.  She was in the shadows and I lightened this up quite a bit, but it's still dark.  

It was a bit cooler weather today and all the bird feeders were full.  Even the squirrels managed to hop on this one.  It's easy access for them though, since it's by the branches.  Oh, I don't mind - they like some chow once in awhile too!

Chirpy the Cardinal Update

A fellow gardening friend had mentioned my Cardinal bird friend Chirpy the other day, and I thought I would do a quick update for those of you that have had an interest along the way.

What a handsome lad :)  First, let me say this is not a sad story - I have no reason to believe that Chirps isn't out there somewhere enchanting some other bird feeding housewife with his sweet song and gentle nature.

"You have bewitched me, body and soul"  Well, I think that was attributed to Mr. Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice movie, not the novel - but I kind of liked it anyway.  And Chirpy certainly bewitched me!

Okay then, on with the story.  About two years after we moved to this property, I was sitting at the breakfast nook table having my morning coffee and heard this beautiful singing at my window.

Well, this was very charming I thought and when it kept happening each morning, I finally figured out - maybe I should get some birdseed and see if that's what he wants.

So, I took a measuring cup filled with black oil sunflower seeds and slowly walked out to him the next morning and amazingly he let me approach him and he started to eat the seeds. 

Well, the light bulb goes off in my little brain and I thought "hey, maybe he'll sit on my hand" 

Now, if you know about cardinal behavior, this is rather unusual.  There are a few species of birds that will readily sit on peoples hands or heads like the Chickadee (which we don't have in the area) and sometimes the Tufted Titmouse, which are two birds that come to mind.  

So I was completely surprised and filled with wonder that this gorgeous creature was so friendly!  

And I know - it was probably all because of the FOOD!  And not because he was some magical, loving forest dweller that came to visit me, Haha.  But, I do like to think of him in that way, because we did have a long and beautiful relationship that lasted for over two years.

He found himself a wife.  This is probably my favorite photo of Mrs. C.  

And they had a bunch of kids.  Here is a phone shot of Chirpy with three offspring as they have some lunch out back near the preserve.

In the two years they were here, Chirpy and the Mrs. had four broods with two to three hatchlings each time.  

Chirpy was a good dad.  I saw him many times catching dragonflies against the pool cage out back and also teaching his kids to do the same.  I'm always happy to know they weren't dependent upon me for food.

I felt honored that Chirps would bring in the little guys so I could meet them.

It was fun to watch him feed the kids and also his wife.

A couple of times, Chirpy Junior even came to the breakfast window to chirp for seed.  

This pattern went on for two years.  Even if we were gone for a couple of days, there, when we got home, was Chirpy waiting at the window for me.  

Then one day when I was out feeding Chirps we saw a red flash down at the end of the yard.  It was another male cardinal.  Chirpy went flying down the path after him and chased him away.

We saw the other cardinal once in awhile for the next couple of weeks.  Then one day Chirpy didn't come to the window any more.  This was the last photo I took of him on 2/23/2015.

This guy - THIS GUY - now patrols the yard.  Young, energetic and COMPLETELY different in every way, this new male cardinal ousted my beautiful zen friend Chirpy.

He's been here almost a year now.  Every morning at the break of dawn he starts slamming himself into the windows at his reflection, thinking he's got to fight off another cardinal.  

I hate to hear him do it, and he goes around to all the windows.  I tried a few tactics to keep him from hitting the windows, but none have worked.  I hope he doesn't end up hurting himself.

I see him at the birdfeeders and he does have a wife.  Gosh, I sure hope it isn't Chirpy's wife - aaaargh!  But I haven't seen any youngsters around.

He acts just like all the other cardinals I've ever seen.  Aloof, independent and flighty.  

It really makes me realize just how special Chirpy truly is.  Every day when I take the birdfeeders out, I think of Chirpy and wish him well - wherever he may be...

It's COLD here in the Subtropics!

Brrrrrr, we're forcasted to get temps in the low 40's this weekend.  I'm not really looking forward to that, but I won't complain too much because I do relish a chance to wear gloves and Uggs!  

However, it does means I've got to drag in the orchids - at least the ones on the lanai.

There's only a couple blooming at the moment, so the rest of these photos are from last year and before.

You know I'm enamored with this purple one...

This white Phalaenopsis is so pristine and pretty.

And I'm so fascinated by lime green blooms!  Beautiful!  

It's hard to choose a favorite orchid, but I think the Vandas are my fave.

This color was a surprise as I bought it unopened.




 

Sharing a spot with the hammock hook.

I think it's the root system that makes me giddy with the Vandas.  So jungle-like! 

And a photo from a few years ago when they were all magically blooming at the same time!  

If anyone is interested in my penpal and mail art hobby - I've made a post on my art blog about it here:  Backyard Jungle Art

Stay warm and safe everyone!