Yesterday morning I was on the way to my boss’s house in southern Chester County to install a couple of computers. As I was driving along  a very rural section of Route 842, I spotted this just off the road to my right:

What initially caught my eye, other than the size of these amazing birds, was the fact that their heads weren’t red. I am used to seeing Turkey Vultures in this area, but these fellas were a first for me.  So I turned the car around and thanked our Heavenly Father that I had my camera with me for a change :) I pulled up on the opposite side of the road so I could photograph them from the driver’s seat (the road was straight, not winding, so I could see if anyone was coming – and more importantly, they could see me!)

In my excitement at this photo opportunity and the fact that I was able to get so close to them, I didn’t remember to get an exact count. But there were at least seven of these beautiful (yes, I said beautiful!) creatures surrounding their meal.

Unfortunately, some cars started to come up behind me and I had to move, only getting these two pictures, but at least I was able to keep them in focus :) One of the things I like most about birding is that if you keep your eyes open, you never know what you might see!

Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to photograph birds that I don’t get the enjoyment that comes from just watching them, studying their habits and listening to their beautiful songs (and I’m not that great a photographer, so it can be doubly frustrating!)

That’s why yesterday was such a great day. I had cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeder, and filled the seed feeders with a new mixture that included a variety of nuts. I decided to leave the camera inside while I sat out on the patio with just my binoculars, my field guide, and a Dachshund :)

To my great surprise and delight, one of the first visitors to the yard was a White-Breasted Nuthatch. Adriane had seen him once before, but this was the first time I had spotted one of these little guys in our own yard! He was on the feeder, grabbed a nut, and flew off to the neighbor’s cherry tree about 25 feet away. I got a wonderful look at him through the binoculars as he had his snack, then proceeded to “peck” at the bark while he haphazardly circled the tree in a downward-facing position (my assumption is that he was digging for insects below the bark). A short time later, he flew onto the fence post and sat there for about three or four minutes, giving me a great chance to just observe and enjoy the wonderful color patterns in his feathers, his unique compact shape, and more. Jesus did a wonderful job (as always!) in creating him :)

I also got to see (and hear!) our Ruby-Throated Hummingbird couple, as well as some Northern Cardinals, European Starlings, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, House Finches, and American Robins. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and their snack treats. I even got to hear our American Goldfinches singing for the first time!

This experience reminded me what I love about birding. It’s the beauty and enjoyment of God’s creation and not necessarily whether I can post a photo on my blog.  There will be plenty of opportunity for that in the future. Yesterday was all about the fun of it :)

Well, I finally got some photos of the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird family that visits us each day. The first photo is the female. I just love her little toes!

We were really laughing at some of her antics. There’s a ceramic wind chime hanging up on the patio that has small green birds dangling from the strings. Well, she was really buzzing around them for about a minute. I wonder if she thought they were other hummingbirds! Probably not, but we got a kick out of it anyway :)

Here are some photos of the male and female in relatively the same poses, so that you can see the difference. The male has the ruby-red throat, and the female has a white throat and a small white patch just behind her eye.

These next photos show them hovering over the feeder. Their wings move so fast I couldn’t even capture them with my camera (sounds like a great excuse to get a better camera :)

We got this feeder at Lowe’s for less than five bucks, and we fill it with a one-part table sugar, four-parts water mixture. So for a very low price, we get alot of enjoyment watching these little ones. They have never come to feed at the same time (maybe one of them is back at the nest “babysitting”). I think it would be great if they raised a family here :)