Birding from Home ☼ Backyard Birdbath Video

I hope you are all staying home and staying safe!

Here are a few of my backyard bird friends enjoying the birdbath...

Return Visitors

I'm happy to announce that the Black-chinned Hummingbird from a couple years ago has finally returned to our backyard!

Please forgive the quality of the photos as they were taken through the sliding glass door. (These photos from last time are much clearer.)

I love how that purple throat shimmers in the sunlight!

This feeder stand doesn't only attract hummingbirds either. The other day, I looked out to find a Western Kingbird hanging out on the perch...

 And, of course, the doves like it, too!

I can't wait to see who stops by next!

Backyard Bird Bath

My backyard bird bath has been seeing a lot of action lately! (I bet it has something to do with the triple digit temps!)

Here are a few of the birds that have stopped by to take a sip of refreshing H2O...

SNWR Auto Tour

Good morning! On today's post, we're continuing our drive through the auto tour at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge with a couple of my favorite pics of the day...

Snowy Egret

The grass might still be brown from all that summer heat, but the blue skies and patchy clouds provide enough color for some great photos of the refuge!

Eurasian Collared Dove

I saw this little group of Least Sandpipers fly in, skim the water of this pond and land to forage for food...

Stay tuned tomorrow for some birds of prey...

Too HOT To Handle

Greetings from sweltering, sunny California!

Guess what. It's been much too hot to go birding :(

Hanging out of your car window in the triple digit heat, looking for birds to take photos of on the refuge auto tour, isn't as fun as it sounds. So, here are some of my backyard birds to tide you over until the outdoors become bearable again.

Anna's Hummingbird

Savannah Sparrow

Western Scrub-Jay

Eurasian Collared Dove

American Goldfinch (at the wrong feeder!)

House Sparrow

Here's hoping that summer doesn't hang on until Halloween like last year!!!
~RV

Dove Love

Out of all the birds in my backyard, I think I like watching the Eurasian collared doves best. While the finches and hummingbirds are all in such a magnificent hurry, the doves peck around on the ground like they have all the time in the world. They seem so calm and gentle, much like their call. They methodically pick out the seeds they want and meander around to find more. And then, when it's time to fly away, they flutter away with the wind whistling through their wings like they're in a hurry after all.

Camera Ready

These doves posed for me like they knew exactly which angles were their best!

Changin' It Up

We bought a different brand of seed this week. It has bits of corn and other goodies mixed in with the sunflower seeds. I wondered if we'd attract some different birds with it, but I'm more than happy to see our same visitors in the yard.

The doves love the corn and I had eight of them today, all doubled up in their cute little pairs.

Later, I saw two Scrub Jays--at the same time! I've only ever seen the lone jay and the pair seemed to enjoy the corn mix as well.

Bath Time

I just love the sound of a mourning dove. I've mentioned them in my books before (a dove played a pivotal role in Wild Ice) and there's just something so hauntingly beautiful about their call.

I have a pair of doves who hang around in my yard every day and I could watch them for hours. This one posed for me quite majestically and I'm happy to add his photo to my scrapbook.

And when bath time rolls around, I'm there to snap some photos and watch the water fly...

Love is in the air...

These two Doves have been hanging around my backyard for weeks.

When they first showed up, he stood guard while she pecked around and had her fill of the fallen seed from the feeders. It's the cutest thing to watch how protective he is of her :)

And then the other day I caught them smooching!

Carry on, you two love birds, carry on.