A Young Bewick's Wren

The summer is half gone.  Tomatoes are ripening quickly.  These mini tomatoes are good for salad.

Early this morning, a young Bewick's Wren appeared with the sound of twitting.

For a quick second, it posed to look at me and then, ...

...swished into the wisteria vines.  

"See you later, Alligators."

(American greeting)

Air Show Day - American Robin

Once a year  there is an Air Show in town.  Many years ago, I used to go there, hanging around under the hot sun all day.  But no more energy for such; I now watch from my backyard Air Force jets swishing by with the high pitched noise with a tailing smoke.

My camera is out for repair due to overuse.  With my old little automatic camera, these photos surprisingly came out.

Completing the show with the stunning burst.

Look!  A bird next to the jet.

After the show, birds were happy flying around, knowing no more ear-piercing noise. 


Under the sizzling heat of the weekend, a young American Robin came to the bird bath.   He/she must be the one fledged from the neighbor's Robin nest not long ago!  You remember the sleepy face in the nest I showed you a month earlier?

(Photos taken by my older SLR camera.)

Just wanted to be with his dad on the bath.

Splash, splash...

"You wanna be the next?  The coolest in town, the best thing there is under the burning sun!  See you later."

Today's Catch - a Bug

An eggplant flower, tiny and purple, is in bloom in my veggie patch. 

Sliced eggplants taste delicious in miso (Japanese fermented soybean paste) soup.

This morning, Uncle House Sparrow was busy digging into the lawn and came out with today's catch.

"I got tired of seeds everyday at the feeders, so I caught this for protein intake."


Since birds in my backyard eat off a majority of pests such as ants, bees, wasps, cutworms, flies, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, etc., I do not need to use pesticides.  This way, nature is kept in balance. 

A Sleepy Time for a Young Wren

With the hot, bright sun, cucumber flowers are in bloom.  I can now harvest skinny Japanese cucumbers, delicious for salad.

Last month I have seen a young Bewick's Wren twitting in the morning sun.

It moves rapidly, but on the fence it stopped for a rest...

....for a quick, short nap. 

A sleepy time in the warm morning sun, zzzzzzz....

A Demanding Face -Bushtit

Bushtits usually come over to my backyard in a large flock of 15-20 during the winter months; in summer I rarely see them.   This month, however,  I saw them in a small flock of 5-7 with young ones.

                               Bushtit left:  "Yum, yum, yum."
                               Bushtit right: "Give me some, brother!"


I wish you a happy growing up season!

Diligence Pays Off - Heron and Eagle

A summer morning can be very pretty, especially when clouds scattered here and there at the dawn. 

But the day when we returned to the nearby wetland, it was cloudy all morning.   Don't you ever get discouraged with the sky condition, because you never know what birds you may encounter out there.

A Great Blue Heron waiting for us with its reflection on the calm pond

A Green Heron crossed our view.

A Bald Eagle perched on a dead tree.

Then it took off ...

 to higher...

Higher towards the tall tree where it always hangs around, often taking a nap on the branch.


See, you can have the unexpected, but exciting scenes waiting for you.  There are benefits for being diligent in whatever you pursue, be it a job or a hobby.

Vesper Sparrow - Another Summer Bird

Early in the morning, up in the still dark sky, the Venus was shining bright.

Down below, the dawn was approaching.

One or two birds, already awake, made short trills,  announcing the beautiful day.


Later in the morning I found one bird on one of the seed feeders.  As I came closer, it did not fly away and instead was enjoying the morning sunshine.

This is Vesper Sparrow,  a summer bird around here.  It looks like a House Sparrow, but if you look closer, you will find it has white eye ring, white outer tail feathers, and dark ear patch .  This looks like a young one with soft feathers showing.

The sunshine is cozy early in the summer morning.  Having the wings spread to clean out the feathers.

In the evening, I found the first red tomatoes half hidden in the vines.   And green beans, and the last batch of blueberries.