Over the summer Justin and I have been able to enjoy watching adult birds teaching their fledglings how to forage for food. I felt incredibly lucky to be able to capture a sweet moment of a male house sparrow feeding his fledgling.
Initially I thought these two were fighting over the feeder and was absolutely delighted when I realized they weren't fighting at all!
The fledgling would pick at the suet herself occasionally, but if the male bird was around she waited for him to feed her.
We have had several fledglings trying to master the acrobatics of eating from the suet feeder. We know when they are at the feeder because it gets quite loud out there!
I've gotten some pretty interesting photos of these young birds trying to learn how to hang on!
Look at that beautiful extended wing!
We had a surprise visit from a Brown Headed Cowbird (right side), I don't often see those birds. We also had the European Starlings visit again with their fledglings.
The birds will gobble down a suet pack in just two days.
Starlings looking for dropped bits of food in the grass
Starlings have some pretty iridescent greens and dark blues
A Mourning Dove popped in for a little bit. I adore Mourning Doves. When I was young we had a nesting pair that built there nest in our Wisteria trellis. I could see right into the nest from my 2nd story bedroom window.
I took a moment during Thanksgiving day to get a few photos of my newest nephew while he was sleeping. He was right by a window so I was able to work with some beautiful natural light. One of the key things I've learned with the infants I have photographed is to keep everything looking light and soft.
Check out his big brother's newborn photos! Click Here
Since I was a little girl I have always enjoyed watching birds going about their day. Black-capped Chickadees were frequent visitors to our backyard. I loved their tiny round appearance
I also learned to identify them by their chirps as a child and would get so excited to hear them!
My in-laws have several bird feeders in their backyard and I have been enjoying bird watching again. Our apartment has no trees on the property so I don't get to see birds by our place much.
I will sit on their deck with my camera and just patiently wait for the birds to stop by.
The House Finches are the bravest and are not bothered by my presence at all, so all my best photos are of them.
Sometimes I have Nessa with me and they don't even care. She is a great bird-watching companion.
I actually thought these were originally Purple Finches at first but after reading up more on them I definitely think these are House Finches that I saw
White-breasted Nuthatch at the feeder. I used to call these "Nut-thatches" for the longest time.
They don't stop by the feeder for long. Just grab a seed and go.
I have spotted them in the trees after hearing them tapping for bugs.
One of the cutest birds I have seen are also the skittish.
The Tufted Titmouse birds are regular visitors but the slightest movements startle them.
I have to be super patient trying to photograph them.
This photo didn't turn out great but I thought it looked too cute
I'm proud of this photo. My patience finally paid off and I got a really nice photo
This photo however is more accurate to what I got from these little guys. I would slowly lift my camera, peer through the lens and snap a photo only to discover I was too late.
I have seen a few other birds but haven't gotten good photos of them yet. This is a screenshot from a video I took. That was the only time I've seen a Downy Woodpecker at the feeder. I have also seen a yellow-bellied Woodpecker one time but I didn't even have my camera that day.
I am enjoying spending time outside watching for birds and hanging out with Nessa is pretty awesome too. She is one cool puppy!
Do you enjoy bird watching? What bird are you excited to see?
Because we had such a wonderful experience last year we decided to go to Flamig Farm for another visit at the beginning of October. I decided to bring my camera this time instead of relying on my phone's camera.
We popped into the little gift shop to pay for admittance and some grain to feed the animals
Their senior farm cat was resting right on the counter. She was very friendly and so soft.
Even though it was gloomy out and overcast I did end up getting a little sunburned.
Not that it's a hard thing to do. I'm so ridiculously pale.
We took a peek inside one of the sled and carriage barns. They all looked quite old and well used.
I love all-black animals and this cow is literally the cutest cow I have ever seen. There were two other larger cows in this pen that were also black.
One of the four hundred chickens at Flamig. Most of the chickens were in a barn but several were roaming the grounds looking for bugs to eat.
While doing their bug hunting the chickens ended up scaring little kids half to death by moving. Between the sounds of animals the air was routinely punctured with the shrieks of terrified toddlers. I may have laughed a little bit...
There was a sign on this girl's pen saying she wasn't very good at the whole "petting zoo" thing yet... She enjoys food and fingers apparently. The staff are trying to discourage her enjoyment of fingers.
One of the prettiest chickens I have ever seen. Who knew chickens came in such stunning colors? Chickens may seem boring at first glance but they have so many neat patterns in their feathers once you start noticing.
We saw this hen display her tree perching skills
Not as elegant as your average song bird or hawk but she got up there!
The infamous Guinea Fowl.
Nature's little air horn. How does a bird with such a tiny head produce that loud of a sound is mystifying.
The goat pen was my favorite stop. I don't know why but I think goats are the cutest. They stalk anyone that they think might have food for them.
I was happy to see that the ducks had their kiddie pool upgraded to a small man-made pond. They seemed quite content.
I love watching ducks preen because they wiggle their tail feathers. It's absolutely adorable!
The highlight of our visit was meeting Junior the alpaca. He was born earlier this past year. Junior was very friendly and curious- and so fluffy!
Junior is also mischievous, He knows how to get out of his pen too. We saw him walking around at one point just going about his day after a grand escape.
My husband is 6 feet tall (182.88cm) and this goat made him look tiny.
How she isn't constantly hopping over the fence is beyond me.
She liked my husband...probably because he was holding the feed bucket.
We heard the donkeys before we saw them.
They were begging for attention more than food. We gave them lots of pets and head rubs.
This donkey seemed curious about my camera.
I almost thought he knew I was taking photos... he made such dopey expressions.
The emus were fun. They move eerily like a puppet though. It's as if a Jim Henson Muppet came to life.
I'm also still thinking "How are these things birds???" So big and gangly.
The sheep surprisingly were VERY vocal. I've heard sheep baa in person before but these guys and gals were so loud.
These piggies may not look very big in my photos but they were huge. They were also preoccupied in the pile of compost looking for bugs and food.
Spotted pigs are very cute in my opinion. Cuter than classic pink pigs.
Antique McCormick Farmall tractor sitting near the pig pen. I wonder if it still runs?
The ponies were across from the pig pen enjoying some hay.
This one kept stamping it's hoof to get our attention.
Looks like this 19 year old Shetland enjoyed some hay too.
There was a bench by the peafowl enclosure so we sat there for a while and just watched the birds doing their thing.
That blue is just stunning. I love the green hues too.
While we were sitting and watching the peacocks a couple Guinea Fowls were looking for bugs by us. They are not as good as chickens for clearing away the leaves to look for bugs.
They found some worms and kept scratching away.
A peacock with some of those long tail feathers left.
We saw a lot of fallen feathers in their enclosure
A beautiful white Peahen. One of the peacocks kept chasing her.
One of the Clydesdale horses.
So large but gentle. It made me feel insignificant standing next to these huge animals.
A photo of Justin because he is just too cute. He had spotted one of the farm cats in a barn window and was watching her.
The peafowl barn with the first hints of autumn colors in te trees nearby.
Before we left and headed home we stopped back by the gift shop and I enjoyed holding the baby chicks.
So soft and tiny.
I'm so glad we went back to Flamig this year. I hope to visit next year! I'd love to bring my nephews there too.
