New Birds

I was in my kitchen getting something to drink and I heard the strangest noise coming from outside. And just on the corner of my laundry room was this bird I had never seen before in my life. Then suddenly there were 2 of them. They were making this strange noise that sounded like they were saying "repeat" or something I couldnt figure it out. But with the help of a wonderful site online that I use and my bird books, I finally figured out what they were.
I couldnt get good pictures of them because they wouldnt be still long enough, hoping they will come back and I can get better pictures (man I need a better camera). Anyway....

My new 2 little visitors were Eastern Kingbirds. I have never seen any before, ever and so this was a first for me and they were so neat and cute. Just hope they come back, they were fun to watch.

Oh Heavens

I have seen it all now. I know that cats sit in strange positions, but this one just really cracked me up and I had to share it with everybody.
This is Diamond, my brat cat. He is usually always into something. And the one time he was actually behaving, this is what I caught on camera LOL

Beautiful Visitor

I was sitting outside on the porch, enjoying some cool breezes before it got too warm out there, and I heard this strange noise of some bird. With the winter birds starting to come in, Im hearing different birds than usual, but this was really loud and very strange. I looked over just in time to see a beautiful hawk landing on top of the telephone pole. He was just sitting there, pretty as you please, looking for a meal.
I grabbed my binoculars to get a closer look but I knew if I had grabbed my camera he would have been gone. Thats what I get going outside without my camera. It would have been a gorgeous shot too.
I have seen this hawk flying around a lot, he lives in the area, but havent seen him land on anything close by like that for ages. I was wondering why there were no other birds, squirrels or chipmunks nearby hehee...now I know.

New Visitor

I havent been able to get a picture of this new visitor because he takes off too quickly before I have a chance. It took me a few days to figure out what he was though. At first I was thinking oh no, Im going to get overrun with crows, but this guy was way too small to be a crow and besides he had white in the eyes a touch, like a white ring around each eye. And he was smaller.
Then I thought maybe a raven, but nope he wasnt "fuzzy" enough with feathers in the neck and on the beak to be a raven. So I looked all through my bird book and couldnt find anything. Well there is this website I use sometimes that you use a step by step to identify birds and its pretty neat, because it sure helped me figure this guy out.... its a grackle.
And its weird because they usually travel in "packs" or whatever LOL anyway, this guy is by himself, and comes around every day to eat, and he eats with the other little birds. So as long as its just him (as the females are a brownish color), I dont mind it.

And my carolina wrens have been getting quite comfy with my carpot...a little too comfy almost. I pulled into the carport earlier from going to the store and one of them landed on the wall by the car and just sat there with the running car next to it and didnt try to fly off. They sleep on the corners of my carport every night, had 2 last night up there in different corners...a friend of mine calls them the Blair Witch birds hehee They come up on my front porch, and into the carport. Heck I will be in here watching TV and hear the cardinals singing on the front porch.

Not to mention the hummingbirds, I will be sitting on the front porch watching everybody and they will come hover in front of me and just sit there or come sit on the railing for a few minutes. Some of the birds do that, its neat that they are learning to trust me, but if anybody else is around, they wont come up there. Soon my neighbors will be calling me Bird Lady hehee

I am saddened though as I have neighbors WAYYYYY down the street who have a cat they wont get neutered and they dont care where he goes or what he does, and he came down here last night and killed one of my doves. One of these days Im just going to catch that cat and take him off somewhere because it makes me mad. I mean I know its natural for a cat to do these things but not to my birds...

Been A While

I know its been a while since I have done any new posts. It has been a rough couple of months for me personally and just havent been able to do much here on the site.

But today I saw something I just had to share, and as always you never have a camera around to catch the event happening. I was sitting outside watching the birds and I looked up to see a red tailed hawk try to land in a cedar tree across the street, just at that moment, he took off and was flying hard.... because there was a very mad hummingbird on his tail LOL

This hummingbird had his tail all spread out and you could hear him chirping his madness at this hawk and he literally chased him off and came back to his tree. I have seen mockingbirds and crows and other birds chasing off hawks, but never in my life have I ever seen a hummingbird chase one off. It was as if he was saying "Come back and fight like a bird". It was very humorous, cuz you could hear him chipping his little mad hummingbird chips at him, they were flying by quite low. But as always no camera or video camera to catch the moment.

I have had many many bird visitors since my last post, and the baby cardinals are growing up big and at times there can be up to 50 birds out there wanting to feed, so it seems I will be needing to get some more feeders and seed for them. I am wanting to get some thistle seed and another tube feeder, and another hummingbird feeder. I think that should keep them occupied for a while.

I do hope to have some more posts up soon and hopefully maybe some pictures as well.

My Heart Is Broken

My heart is broken as I type this. It has taken me a couple of days to do this. My Neo has gone to Rainbow Bridge. He had just gone to the vet for a checkup and to get his nails clipped and see if his teeth needed trimmed. He had even gained 4oz and we joked that he needed to go on a diet. The vet said he looked really good and that I was doing a good job caring for him being as small as he was.
Anyone that ever met Neo just loved him. He was such a sweet little man. And I will miss him more than words can say. I dont know what happened, he was fine over the weekend, then Monday I walked by his cage and he was gone.
Everyone says not to blame myself, but I cant help but blame myself. Feeling that I could have done something different for him, or did I miss something. I have dealt with a lot over the past few months and feel that maybe I neglected him or something.
I know this much, I will never get another guinea pig again. I just cant do it because there will never be another piggy like Neo.

RIP Neo - Nov. 13, 2008 - Aug. 10, 2009

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Another Day & A Few Things

For the past 4 years, during the spring and summertime, around sundown and just under the corner of either my carport or front porch, a small dark brown spot shows up in one of the corners. And it stays all night long until the sun starts to come up. How he stays comfy on that tiny ledge I will never know. For the first year or 2 there were always 2 of them, figured it was a pair, and they stayed in the same corner snuggled up together, but one of them vanished one year and this little fella just kept coming back.
I remember one night going outside to take Dixie out to potty and there were 4 of them out there, taking up corners. I was starting to think that he was telling the whole population about my carport hehee, but I wanted to share about my little bird. I feel special that he feels safe enough to come stay in my carport every night.

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And yesterday was one of the neatest experiences I have had with my hummingbirds. A friend and I were sitting outside watching the birds come and go to the feeder as it had rained for like one minute out there but cooled it off to 78 and it was really nice out for a change. The hummingbirds were all chasing each other because they didnt want to share the feeder (which I dont understand since there are 8 holes on it so plenty of room for the 4 that come around LOL). Well Im sitting up on the porch in my rocking chair and suddenly one of the females scoots up to the railing right in front of me and hovers there peeking over the railing at me....then all of a sudden, she pops up over the top and sits down on the railing right there by me just sitting there looking at me. I dont know how long she would have stayed there if one of the others hadnt of come up there and chased her off. Then not even about 5 minutes later, she comes up again and sits on the railing, but the male came along and chased her off. I didnt have my camera ready but I know if I had, just moving it to try and get a picture of her that close she would have taken off.
But knowing that she will get that close to me know, I am considering putting the feeder up on the edge of the railing there one day and keeping the camera fixed on the feeder and see if they will come up there and eat and try to get some really close up pictures of them. If I am able to get some I will definitely post them.

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And lastly, my Dixie gave me the scare of my life yesterday. As you can see by her bio on the right here, she is 15 years old. She has bad arthritis and is on a steroid shot for it that helps some but she still has it, and then she's losing her hearing and all. Well anyway, when I took her outside to potty yesterday around lunch time, she didnt want to come back in, so I figured ok I'll leave her out here for about 20-30 minutes so she can roll in the grass and lay in the sun, since she's getting a bath today anyway. she likes to stay out there for a few minutes like that sometimes, and never had a problem before.
Well, about 25 minutes later or so I go back out there to get her...and she's gone. My heart just sinks. Times when she has wondered off, she has gone straight for the busy street down at the end. So I just knew I was going to find her dead with it being lunch hour rush. I walked down there first calling her name hoping she would come out from behind a shrub or something, but didnt see her and luckily she wasnt hadnt been hit that I could see. So i came back to the house and called my neighbor all upset about it all, and scared her cuz I said "Dixie's gone" and had her thinking Dixie had died instead of disappearing, but she was kind enough to be going out to help me look.
I grabbed my keys and headed out in the car, got to the end of my street at the busy road, and had dialed animal control to see if they had gotten her. And I look up and across the busy 4 lane street just in time to see her in someone's yard. I was so relieved to see her alive, I hung up with animal control and flew across that street to get her. I think she thought i was mad at her because she didnt want to come to me, so I had to talk baby talk to her. But i wasnt mad, I was terrified and relieved all in one. I got her in the car and back home safe. I was so scared I tell ya....I think some of my life span vanished just in those short 10 minutes I couldnt find her.

Well thats about it for today, Im hoping that something exciting will happen with my birds at least outside and hoping to get to the park one day to see whats going on with the critters there. And keep your fingers crossed that I can get some better close up pictures of the hummingbirds :)

Diamond & Pooter

Pooter's birthday was July 28 and I shot these pictures of her and Diamond. Rio wouldnt let me get his picture, he took off. But I had to show off my purty girl and my handsome boy showing his attitude LOL