Morning, noon and night,
Much to my delight,
The suet, the seed and the water fountain,
Turn me into a binoculared spectator on the mountain.
Keeping an eye on the happenings out back,
These fine feathered friends sure demand their snacks!
Solitary warbler dressed in yellow,
Never the one to sit still and be mellow!
While dashing gracefully from flower to flower
Hummingbirds noisily assert territorial power.
A gregarious sighting any time of day
When a few dozen bushtits will join in the fray,
They cluster on the suet while busily chatting,
While a juvenile flicker is preening its wing.
Many a morning song sparrows serenade,
Then suddenly a shrill screech announces a bird of prey.
The juncos, the finches, the wrens and the thrush,
All of them scatter in a panicky rush.
It’s so quiet and eerie while the hawk is around,
Not even the aloof kinglet makes a sound.
Darkness sets in with the full moon so bright,
Illuminating the owl as it glides into the night.
The next morning when the sun rises again,
My fine feathered friends are back, even in the rain.
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Love all the photos
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thank you Donna. I always find lots of interesting reads on your blog.
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Thanks
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Superb post! I love your photos of those beautiful birds.
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Wow! Such beautiful photos to accompany such lovely words. Do you live in the country?
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I live in the suburbs, and our yard backs up to a small forest. We get all kinds of wildlife stoping by the yard. Deer, rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels and more. I don’t use chemicals and plant animal friendly plants. I love sit outside and watch it all.
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You are lucky!
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Oh, how lucky you are… I too would have loved such a back yard… As it is, the downstairs neighbor has a tree reaching my window. Different cries will get me there to see birds resting on the branches. I was really lucky once to see a type of hummingbird resting there, about a meter away from me 🙂
And only yesterday a type of a beautiful jay introduced itself too.
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Stunning pictures and wonderful words as well. Really enjoyed this post.
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Wunderbar!
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Your post adds beauty to my day. Gorgeous pictures. Glad to follow you.
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Thank you! Glad I could help
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I can almost hear you reading this in class … lovely photos. Were they all taken in your yard?
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Yes, they were all taken in my yard. It’s fun watching them. They all display distinct behaviors and I especially love seeing them bring their babies to the feeder in the spring.
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How sweet.
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You get such clear crisp photo graphs and very close, too. I really like the house finch female a little soft focused undernearh and the close up from under another bird, looks like a babe. I hope you submit photos to some birding publications. Now I know the bushtit. It think it live closer to the river than my yard.
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The female house finch is from Hawaii. She visited me early every morning on our balcony. The birds in the yard are most of the time not afraid of me. Especially the chickadees! They come right up to me and watch me fill the feeders. Since our neighbors to the right moved in with outdoor cats, we don’t get nearly as many birds! 😦
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Domestic cats are the number one cause of death to song birds in the US. I keep mine on a leash when outdoors because she is such a rapid killer and because she’s not very aware that she, too, is prey. I didn’t know house finches migrate to Hawaii. I have their cousin the Cassin’s Finch. Haven’t seen one for a month.
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I know! That’s why I’ve never been a fan of cats! And their owners who turn them loose! Plus they like to use my raised beds as a litter box. Unfortunately the owner doesn’t think it is a problem. So I will continue to try different tricks to keep the cats away. Not easy!! 😢
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