Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bluebird Post

Bluebirds love to perch on posts or branches where they have a good view of the ground in order to see little critters to catch. Thus we have decided our bluebird loves sitting on top of the shepherd's hook outside our bedroom window because it gives him a good view of the ground below.

I finally got some photos today, which I will post below. My husband took some, too, which I have not yet seen. Our bluebird also loves to perch on the top of some metal stakes at the 4 corners of our hops garden, which is all freshly weeded and mulched and thus probably churning with easy to see and easy to catch yummy things to eat that it enjoys. Unfortunately, it will be even harder to get a photo of him on those posts from inside the house because those windows all have their screens on the outside, so the pictures will not be clear.

In addition, yesterday morning while waiting for the 'photo op' of our bluebird, I had an unexpected visitor to the oranges hanging from the shepherd's hook. I still have not seen any orioles eating them (even though I hear them singing in our trees), but while focusing the camera on the oranges hoping my bluebird would show up, instead a hummingbird appeared in my viewfinder and fed from the oranges. Unfortunately, I got so excited that the one photo I actually got is extremely blurry!! You can actually see the hummingbird on the right side of the oranges, but it is rather like impressionist art. :-)

These are not award-winning photographs except in my heart. Instead I feel like they are 'reward' photos for all the hard work and waiting to finally be here on the farm - at last.

(Photo: Blurry ruby-throated hummingbird to the right of the orange slices)




(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the hook with oranges)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the hook with oranges)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the hook with oranges - close-up)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeder with the sun shining on him from the east/left)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeder)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeder)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting in the mud at the bottom of the wall - I know you cannot see him!)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting in the mud - here he is!)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeder - outside our bedroom window)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeders - a better view)
(Photo: Eastern Bluebird sitting on top of the platform feeder)
(Photo: The tree next to the oranges where the bluebird likes to perch on the lower branches to eat what he just picked up off the ground)
(Photo: The wall where the bluebird likes to sit watching the mud below)
And just to show you that all things do often happen as they should, shortly after I wrote this morning that I had not yet seen an oriole at my oranges, I glanced out at them hanging on the shepherd's hook to see if my bluebird was there, and who do I see, but a brilliant flash of black and orange, yes a Baltimore oriole happily feeding on the hanging oranges. I had to look twice!! If I get lucky, I'll try to get a photo of that, too, and hopefully not a blurry one like my hummingbird feeding at the oranges.

"Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row"

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

5 comments:

Kateri said...

How lovely! I only saw our bluebirds briefly this spring. They appear to have nested elsewhere.

Uncharted Journey said...

wow, wow, wow ! Some great shots of the bluebird ! What a thrill.
thanks, Elizabeth

susan huff said...

What a gift to be WITH nature - thank you for sharing

Elaine said...

Hummingbirds, bluebirds & orioles -- oh my :-). Thank you for sharing the story & wonderful photos. Regular visits from your feathered friends are most definitely a reward you deserve.

Anonymous said...

Long ago my mother gave me a glass "bluebird of happiness" Now that she is gone it is one of my treasures.

We moved a few months ago and weren't able to get winter feeders (Michigan) out and how I missed the birds! But I never saw a bluebird in person.

Also a cancer survivor with now a possible (not confirmed) reoccurance, I was feeling down a few weeks ago and a beautiful bluebird stopped to rest a moment on our deck railing. Almost like a message to hold onto happiness.

Amazing how birds and bird song can lift our spirits!