Dove digging for Seed......

The mourning dove can’t get to the see that is in the new feeder.  She would sit on the rail and gaze over to the feeder but could never get any seed.  I solved the problem by scatter seed on the deck and giver her the plastic container for mer.

The best way to get to the seed is just stand inside the dish. My zebra finch does this as he likes to eat inside of his bowl.  If he gets tired he just takes a nap with in the dish.

Cowbird and Sparrow.....

I have learned this birds name just a few years ago. The cowbird showed up at my feeders at the old place.  I have recorded this bird a couple of months ago at the deck.  I did discover that the female cowbird is one that I will never be able to identify.  The females markings are all spotted and has stripes just like a sparrow The are larger than a sparrow but I don’t think I will be able to immediately spot them.

I was feeling badly for the doves in our yard as they couldn’t feed at my new hanging feeder. So I put this plastic container out with seed for them.  I did have the doves come right away and feed from it.  Seeing the cowbird was a surprise.

First One.....

I remember planting it there last summer but I really don’t think I was aware of what color that it was. It was a healthy clump that I planted so it seemed to think it had been there for a long time. If I left any behind I will know where the source plant is located. This is one of the varieties that has very large blooms compared to the normal daylily size.

Reckless.......

A coneflower that is opening irregularly creates an abstract shape. I don’t know why it is doing this unless too much rain is a problem for them. We did get another two inches of rain to dampen the ground from the inch of rain the previous day.

Out to Lunch.......

The sparrows have various colorations pertaining to family line.  This is a younger sparrow with subtle colors of tan and brown. The  small one had to jump down one more level as he couldn’t get to the seed. I had to fill this feeder up again at the end of the day.

Red and Yellow.......

The red on the house finch is brighter as summer sets as is the yellow on the goldfinch is the same.  It has been interesting watching the young goldfinch growing out their pale yellow feathers. The young males are not turning color yet.

Des Moines, Downtown......

The tallest building at downtown Des Moines is the Principal building. It can be seen from miles around. We can see it as soon as we get to the edge of our city just four blocks out of our town. The building next to it use to be the tallest building in downtown. I use it as my direction landmark.  The hospitals are near there and of course you see that it sits at the edge of all the cities main streets. If I get it in sight I know how much farther that I have to go.

The building with the curved section is actually the opposite of another section just like it.  The curved glass is a half circle with the back of it being a flat square building.  There are things that blocked the whole view of the full curved front section. The annual Arts Festival was going on two major streets for a four block length. Artist from many stated around us were showing their works. By the time we were through walking the whole display area it had gotten up to 80 degrees F.

Late Arrival is Nesting.....

My front yard robin did finally find a mate.  Instead of using the old nest they made a new one in the fork of a the second tree. When I tried to take the photo I thought I had failed by only getting the back view of the robin sitting on the nest.  It wasn’t until I downloaded them that I saw the miracle of getting her looking around at me. It is an accidental shot that made me very happy.

Goldfinch vs. House Finch.......

The goldfinch doesn’t really discriminate agains the house finch chick.  The young one hasn’t started to change colors at this time.

There are so many more house finch chicks at the feeds as there were so many more pairs of parents that there were of the goldfinch.

Birds, Clouds, and Plants.....a Rut !!!!!

I need to expand my vision in my kinds of photos.  Here I share a story with a deck, deck railings and a planter that holds morning glory plants. The green table legs are of the table that I am using to shade the morning glory plants.  That spot seems to be to hot for them but the shade of the meshed top table works great to shade it.  This is what I see as I descend the deck stairs. I know the rut that I am in with the photos is that I have to keep dodging heat or rain. None of all of my glory vines have started to climb on anything.  Today we are going to have normal temperatures for a change and maybe I can get shots of other things.

Robin’s and their Young......

It has been so quiet at this nest the past few days.  I thought that the nest had been abandoned. I now realize that the two robins out in the yard were busy catching insects.  I never heard the birds when they were at the stage of chirping for food.

The rate of growth of the baby birds is so amazing.  I could see them being out of the nest in a couple of days.  This is the second nest that the parents had made as the first one sits about three feet over from this one.

Storms Move Through......

We really needed the cool down and the storms moving through did do that.  I was getting tired of wiping the fog off of my lens every rtime I went outside to take a shot.  More rain is coming and that is good.

Coneflower.......

The wildflower that is enjoyed in many cultivated gardens is the coneflower. I know I have white ones that are planted somewhere on this property. I will wait and see where they are growing. I have one more of this one unfolding nearby but this is the very first one.

Hosta World.......

I have brought many of my hosta plants to the new place.  I really don’t remember the names of the different varieties.  I did look though a garden book at the bookstore and found that I have every one of them that they described in the book.  I did not consciously collect them but I kept buying through the years ones that I didn’t have. One that I have was called “Sum and Substance” . I discovered by moving it around that when its growing conditions are perfect that it will put out very large leaves. I had the plant for a lot of years and it stayed small.  Once I had moved it into more sun and more space it exploded in size. It is so easy to dig and plant that I will take a survey one more time to be sure that I have moved all of them.

Visual Humidity.....

My first coneflower shot for the season.  It was so hot and humid that the camera just fogged over immediately. It does give it a special effect. Because of the bright sun and the heat I really couldn’t get a good photo of it. So what you see is what you get.

Success.....

The move of this hydrangea was successful.  It helped to get a big chunk of it off of the main plant. I have blooms on both the old stems and on the new sprouts from the base of the plant. Next year the shrub will be filled out into a good shape. Being a photo blog, I had to wait until I could get the right light to get the camera to focus in on the white flowers.  I took this in the afternoon with it being in the shade of the house. This old fashion foundation plant has a lot of history to it and its original source from a rental house up a block from me now has all shrubs and hosta ripped out of the ground with a gravel garden replacing it. I am glad I took a small start of it as I have it growing in two places now to keep the family of hydrangea going.

Little Birds......

I thought it was a sparrow but I can see now that it is a young house finch.  The pattern of the fathers on his belly makes ts so.

Flower Power......

The spike plant should be placed behind the petunias but when you see the whole picture it is placed all around the bed of petunias.

A Moment in Time......

Waiting... for the next rain to come.  The bench looks like it needs some adjustment as it leans and is disorganized on the one end. The slab of stone came from the old place.  The kitchen of the old place is made of the slabs of stone and three must have been some left  over when it was built a hundred years ago.  I found this piece buried in the yard. Actually. I think that when the basement was added under the old house during the 40s, they tore open a side of the stone foundation so one can get into the crawl pace of the kitchen from the basement. The iris looks like a strong specimen but I did not see any blooms on it this year.  Next spring it should bloom.

Before the Storm.....

The sun was setting to the left of this photo.  It reflected onto the bank of clouds that glowed like it was the sunset.  Within twenty minutes later we were having thunder and lightning. We again stopped the movie we were watching and went out on the deck to see the show in the sky. We had a mild storm throughout most of the night.

Larger than Life.......

My first time of seeing goldfinches was when I was a seven year old kid down on the southern Iowa farm.  Areas of the farm were farmland and timber.  Some of the areas were probably prairie as they were fields of clay soil filled with rocks. It had never been plowed. My dad would later clear some of that land by picking up loads of rock that had been deposited by glaciers hundreds of years ago. We would take hay racks and throw rocks onto the flatbed from the soil all around the rack.  My dad didn’t get much crop from those fields but some corn was better to have than no corn at all from that field.

The wild flowers were weeds and the grasses were tall but they really were perfect for the goldfinches. They could fly about to  get insects and seeds. The side of a clay hill and I saw these bright yellow birds flying around darting back and forth.The yellow with black wings made me think they were parakeets.  I would never imagine that my house today has two pair of these birds raising  their young.

Same Kind of Day....

It is a mild looking start for the day.  We can’t seem to beat the heat. Our mornings are sometimes cooler but it doesn’t take it long for the upper 80s to 90s.  We are sitting at 70s for our low this morning and 89 degrees F. is predicted. Heavy humidity everyday as if it is in the middle of August.

It Happens.....They Fly Away.

It never fails. One finds a cute shot with a bird on a post.  I took one shot and missed the top for of the bird so I snapped again and the bird was already gone.  I like the shot anyway because the weathered fence has great character and texture.  It has stood the test of time for 15 years and it has good design.

The Storm Clouds....

It took all day to develop and then it came.  It was one of the darkest storms with heavy clouds blocking out the sun. Lots of lightning and we had an inch and a quarter of rain. At the end we had a sliver of a reddish orange sunset. That was around 8:30 as the days keep being longer each day.

Healthy Glow....

Marigolds do like hot sun but they do need some regular watering to keep them in the game.  I like keeping the spots of color throughout the backyard to break up from seeing all that green. They look good also when it is hot and dry and they blend well with all the brown of dried out grass.

Casting Shadows.......

The evening sun causes great shadows.  The rhubarb and red twig dogwood are healthy as the summer weather sets in to encourage the growth.

It’s Monday.......

The petunias are looking healthy.  I will water them this evening keeping the growth guaranteed. The day won’t be a hot one to cause them any problems.

Nesting....

She and her partner made one nest about three spaces over and then they made a second one. I had to zoom in to get this photo as she is protective of her nest. The stairs to the deck is the very next space. When the eggs hatch I am certain that I will be able to hear the baby birds.

Shine on the Deck....

A welcomed rain going on this morning at our house.  My last trip outside last night with Barney was steamy as it was 85 degrees F. It took this early morning rain to cool it down.

Feeding Frenzy...

The  goldfinch pair have brought their hatchlings to the tomato patch to eat bugs. They were picking bugs and knats from the leaves and soil.  They also were attacking the marigolds that were placed around the edge of the bed. I couldn’t count them all as they were darting back and forth in a frenzy.