Bright Feathered Friends

We have had a great visit with Mom. She has been thinking the entire time about what she could get us as a house warming gift. When I suggested a deck bird feeder, her eyes lit up! We have a Wild Birds Unlimited just a few minutes away from the house and so I took her in there. She had a blast picking out things for our deck. We walked out with a deck "tree", a hummingbird feeder, an oriole branch and a bird feeder.

Taigen mounted it on Saturday evening and Mom's been waiting anxiously for the first birds to come. Imagine her horror when two fat squirrels decided to be the first guests instead. Grrrr. Don't mess with my Mama! No matter how much shooing she did or how many shoes she tossed, they always came back. I knew they would. So what could we do? We ended up taking off the tray at the bottom of the feeder. There's a dome over the feeder which prevents them from hanging upside down and eating freely. With the bottom gone, they cannot sit in the tray and munch to their heart's delight. We'll see how desperate or hungry they are.

We had an oriole this afternoon. We're a bit puzzled as to whether or not it is an Audubon's Oriole or a Baltimore Oriole. He seemed a bit too yellowish to be a Baltimore. Any help from my readers? He's pictured here on the right. (Note: You can click on the picture to see it in larger form. Just click the back arrow on your browser when you're ready to go back to reading the post.)

We also had two American Goldfinches; a male and a female. They were so pretty sitting up there munching and munching! I got several pictures of them. Shaylen named them Mr. and Mrs. Buttercup. Appropriate don't you think?

Mom has also seen two hummingbirds come to the feeder. Of course, they are gone before I can grab the camera and snap a shot of them. One day though, I'll be waiting for them.

The tufted Titmouse has been visiting as well as the chipping sparrow, but we were excited to see three new visitors today.