Summer Flowers #2

More flowers are in bloom as July comes near.  This year I have added more perennials for hummingbirds. 


Cardinal Flower

 

"This bright deep red is just calling me." 

 

Hot Lips

"This is my all time favorite,

blooming all summer long." 

 

 

Cape Fuchsia 

 

"So many red flowers to choose from. 

Sometimes it is difficult to decide."

Summer Flowers

The weather this summer seems to fluctuate too much between the rainy cold  and the sunny hot.   Despite the change in temperature, summer flowers are slowly beginning to bloom in my backyard.


Blue Salvia

Fuchsia

 Miniature Petunia

At this time, hummingbirds are busy drinking flower nectar and eating  bugs in the air, ignoring the sugar water for a while.

Hello Again

Amongst the little birds I saw during the coast range outing was a Purple Finch, a pretty deep pink colored bird.  Once in a while, one comes over to my backyard. 

"Did I see you before?"

"Here in the woods, I can visit with many
of my bird friends and dine at
the same time.  What a nice place!"

Unresistable Neon Blue

Up at the Coast Range restaurant, there are many bird feeders close to the back windows so that customers/bird watchers can enjoy watching birds while dining.

At my backyard,  I saw a Stellar's Jay a couple of times.  Being in the Western Scrub-Jay's territory,  Stellar's had a hard time then.  Ever since,  it has not returned to my backyard for a long time.

But in the woods, it is a different story.  A Stellar's Jay seems to dominate this surrounding.  Look at this confident look with the brilliant neon blue feathers.

"I am the master of this forest."

 

 

Loves to Wade and Swim under Water

The other morning we stopped over at a log cabin restaurant in the Oregon Coast Mountain Range, where we visited an old logging museum and watched the wild birds coming to the feeders at the back of the restaurant.

At a nearby creek in the back,  in the early morning darkness, I first saw a little dark bird wading and dipping the head in the cold running stream.

"Who am I?"

Since it was my first encounter, I looked through my bird book to figure out after returning home.  There he was.

"I am an American Dipper.  I like

to wade and even swim underwater

feeding in a clear mountain stream."

Raising a Family #2

In the summer time, the morning comes early.   Spotlighted by the rising sun, this new flower called "Monkey Flowers" looks so charming.

June is already the time for parent birds to start training their young ones on flying, finding food, etc.

This morning, I saw the Scrub-Jay baby.  He/she is as big as the parent, but still needs to be fed.

"Mummy, mummy, mummy, hungry!"

"I've been waiting for a long time...."

"Now I am good for a little while."

No Harassment in My Neighborhood

Early in the morning up on top of my front neighbor's fir tree, I saw one Flicker.  And then another one next to the right was moving slightly.


A Starling just landed above them as if telling the male Northern Flicker to back off from the other one, apparently being harassed.

And then the male Flicker noticed I was watching with the camera across the street.

Luckily grabbing the chance, the female Flicker on the right dived straight down away from the harasser.   Finally she got away from the distress.



For next couple of days she showed up at my backyard.

"Thanks a million for rescuing me the other day.  I was stuck up there not knowing what to do with that predicament."

"I told all my friends your place is the safe place to be.  Thanks again."

A Great Blue Heron at the Wetland

A Great Blue Heron is also a resident at the wetland.  When standing, they look like a statue and, when flying, look so graceful. 

 

Here at the reservoir, he was looking for breakfast, almost hypnotizing  a fish with those huge eyeballs.

 

"I thought I saw a fish down there."

 

 

 

"I'm off to another spot for better luck."

Raising a Family

In summer at the wetland, birds are nesting and raising the young.  When we went there the other day, we saw a couple of families.

A Canada Goose family

"Wait a minute, Mom. "

"Whoo, we finally caught up."

At the wetland, there are many nest boxes placed by the park service of the city.

A Tree Swallow Family (a summer bird)

Here is a mom watching over the nest.

Who's inside the box #10?

"I am a baby swallow.  Can't fly yet."

Fine Singers

Our neighbor's tall maple tree was cut down to 2/5 the height due to the middle trunk being blown down by the wind storm a month earlier.  Many birds lost a place to hang out where they could perch in the shade before coming down to my backyard.  Maybe, that's why not many birds come over lately?  Or they are just busy out in the fields. 

Whichever it is, today early in the morning we went out to the wetland nearby instead of waiting for them to show up at our place.


We found one busy singer.  Do you know who?  Someone with a grey eyebrow who loves to sing.

"It's me, a Song Sparrow."

And there was another singer nearby.  

"I am a Redwing Blackbird."

A female Redwing Blackbird was nearby watching.

Early in the morning it's fun to have a walk watching and listening to the bird songs.

A Female Black-headed Grosbeak

Now that the summer weather has arrived, the Black-headed Grosbeak took off for the north.  While he was here, I also saw a female grosbeak at my feeder for a couple of days.

She had such a sweet eye expression.

"I like your sunflower seeds. 

Munch, munch..."

"I am not as colorful

as my husband."

Take care and have a nice trip to the north.

A Summer Weather

For the coming week, the temperature will go up into the 70's or higher.  On a warm day, I often see a dragonfly coming out of nowhere. 

I used to see a brownish one all the time, but this time the blue large one appeared here for the first time.

Sensing the high air pressure coming this way, a female Rufous Hummingbird returned from somewhere.

"I'm checking on your blueberries."

Up high on a pine tree, anther bird friend, Cedar Waxwing,  was checking on the berries.

"I am by myself, pre-inspecting the neighborhood

for my family.  When the berries are ripen, we will stop over."

Sharing the berries with birds is ok for me since two of us can not even finish everything frozen thru the winter months.