Serendipity

May 4th...up before the hummingbirds arrived One of my favorite birds is the hummingbird. I have loved watching these tiny birds for as long as I can remember, and the one thing I always do is get a feeder put up before they are due back from their migration south. They are a tricky little bird to get photos of, and my frustration mounted through much of May, as it seems like every time I tried...and "almost" got a photo...they were gone again. I think that what eventually helped was my being on the back deck, where the feeder is located, so often that they became accustomed to my presence.  But only if I didn't make any sudden movements. Finally...on May 20th, I managed to get my first shots of one, it was a female who didn't seem to be intimidated by my presence at all. She came often, as you will see in the following photos... May 20th, 5:42 a.m...I was ready with my camera! She moved around the feeder to another 'flower' Sipping ...

crow getting a late breakfast in the field behind the house With warmer weather here, I am now opening windows earlier in the morning to let the fresh air in and to listen to the bird song. However, this morning, the normal birdsong was interrupted quite abruptly by the continuous  (and aggravating)  cawing of crows. Normally, that kind of ruckus in indicative of some "thing" upsetting the birds, but this morning, I found that they were not behaving upset at all, just out in abundance...gathering in the fields, pecking at ground. Yet...all the while, sounding-off as if to warn all that this was their dibs and to stay away. This crow seemed more content to stay by itself, yet it would caw loudly every couple of minutes The crow above, seemed to be a loner and chose to dine alone as well. I watched it for some time, but no other crows came to challenge it...or even bother the rest of the field around it. (I keep wanting to call it a 'him'...