WOW! What great photos and beautiful birds! Yes, I would say you have plenty of Eastern Bluebirds are boy, I love their song. I have never seen a Painted Bunting in my yard but I hope to one day. The Mourning Doves make a nest in my front planter bed every year and sit out there and coo constantly. Leekle, I just love all of the pictures. Thanks for posting!

Carol in Jacksonville

I don't know if it is the new seed mix that I got for that feeder or the slowly maturing shrub bed the feeders are nestled in, both or something else entirely that drew in the Painted Bunting. But in case it was the feed, what I am trying right now is National Audubon Society Finch Festival mix that I picked up from Wally World. It was cheaper than straight nyjer seed and with the NAS 'brand', I felt safe getting it. The other feeder has straight Safflower.

As for the Mourning Doves, I think those three have been in my yard since I moved in. I'm no Jane Goodall where I can identify each one due to unique markings, but every morning and evening around the same times these three show up. Even before I started offering seed. There is something about this section of yard that they really like. They did disappear once for about a week, a few weeks after my very first application of Amdro Fire Ant bait. I did not see them in the baited area, but after that I started covering the bait with pots and wood. Then they showed back up. Not sure if they went on vacation somewhere or what, but I was happy to see them again.

This post was edited by Leekle2ManE on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 20:15

Thank you so much for letting us see these pics!

They're just pure joy for me, and I hope someday my yard can be so lucky.

Susie

Those are great pictures! They also remind me that I need to refill my feeder. I've had all of the birds in your photos visit my feeder except for the painted bunting. You're lucky to have one visit at a time you had your camera with you.

How lucky you are! I hesitate to feed birds here because of feral cats. I've never seen a blue bird in person! I've had doves, cardinals, mockingbirds, red bellied woodpeckers and blue jays show up at my bird bath but never able to get a photo of them.
Marcia

Carolina Chickadee:

Gray-Tufted Titmouse (letting me know what he thinks about getting his picture taken):

Mourning Dove:

This Mourning Dove was acting a little odd this morning. She came in for some seed and then seemed to beeline to me. When she got within 20 ft, she got detoured and went over to the watering pool for something to drink and a quick rinsing. When she was done with that, she climbed out of the pool and started making her way toward me again. But this time she kept stopping every foot or so and dropping to her belly. She would then extend a wing out behind her in a fashion as to say, "Oh no! My wing is broken!" This is regular behavior for a female that is trying to protect her nest. She will pretend to be injured to lure any threat to her nest away. Problem was, I wasn't near a nest. At least none that I could see. She continued to do the Walk, Drop, OH NO! about 8 or 9 times. She finally just got up and walked the last few feet to me and stopped right at my feet where she seemed quite content to just relax for a bit, at which time I snapped this close-up. She then walked back to the water pool, got another drink and settled herself into the pine straw, pulling bits and pieces of the straw toward her like she was padding a nest, though Mourning Doves don't nest in the open. I finally told myself I had things to do and got up to leave. As I left, she just kind of watched me, but didn't move, even when I passed only a few feet away from her.

I've seen the progress in your yard via updates, you have made it a nice haven for wild life. I have a lot of cardinals, mockingbirds, woodpeckers, and in the evening I have seen owls. Thanks for the pics.

Hi
i'm located in N. palm beach county and find the feeder dominated by the gigantic asian doves and squirrels lol always look forward to the Painted buntings they arrive on my birthday Oct. 2nd but are gone by late April. haven't seen a goldfinch,indigo bunting for several years. has been visited by parakeets, and quaker,senegal parrots . gouldian and spice finches .lol.. Interesting how the white wing, and mourning doves are crowded out by the Asian doves so I put seed on the ground
on the opposite side of the yard which means I get wild pigeons and a few rats lol. Also get regular visits by a couple of species of hawks which results in feathers everywhere lol
Congrats on getting pix!! I'm way to slow for that!! gary

Wonderful pix. Thanks so much for posting.

We have quite a few cardinals as well, though none have been all that cooperative with photo opprtunities. Same goes for our Blue Jays who mainly visit for the bird baths. I don't provide nut-based feed as the squirrels killed my native persimmon tree trying to get to the feeder and the nuts drew in a rather large rat that then went after my worm bin. I figured he was going into it for the veggie scraps, but I no longer have any worms in the bin, so I guess rats like worms too. He met the business end of a trap and was tossed into the field behind me where he became a snack for a turkey vulture.

I see Mockingbirds sometimes but they are more likely to be high up in the trees around my house than actually in my yard.

We have a breeding pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and sometimes I hear a Red-Tail Hawk. Sometimes the Red-Shouldered Hawks will divebomb the feeder area, but so far they have been un lucky. My neighbors tell me the Red-Shoulder pair often visit the Watering Pool in the morning, but I have yet to see them there.

Last week I had two occasions to witness two Bald Eagles in the sky. Their trilling call is unmistakeable. One of the times I saw them it looked like they were getting ready for the 'Courtship Drop', but I was on my way out and couldn't stop to watch for very long.

It's quite rare that I hear owls at night and I have yet to see one.

As for the pictures, I've started carrying my camera with me as I work in the yard. I got tired of snapping pics with my phone and having them look horrible. My camera isn't too great and lacks the ability to really zoom in, so I have had to cheat here. I adjusted the camera to take pictures in the highest resolution possible. When I upload them to my computer, I copy/paste the images into a 1280x720 template (which is a fair bit smaller than the image itself) and adjust the scale down until only the part I want is in frame. It's a bit more work, but the results are on par with my mother's Nikon w/ Macro Lens.