Thanks y'all ... it was fun seeing new and different birds and I didn't even realize Ospreys were in California.

Wow.... all fantastic! I have noticed this winter I am not seeing many different kinds of sparrows around like I usually do. How lucky to get to see up close the osprey's!! Osprey are very wide spread around the world, I think. Some migrate and some do not have to.

Backyard birds today.

Blue Jays are year round residents and have been coming around for peanuts lately:


Mourning Doves are also year round residents and a common daily sight hereabouts:


Northern Mockingbird ......................... and Palm Warbler are also year round residents:


Red-bellied Woodpeckers are also year-round residents and visit the feeders daily for raisins, peanuts and suet:


Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds spend the better part of the year here but are very abundant during the winter months when large flocks constantly raid the feeders!

I always love when I hear the first red-winged blackbirds in the spring/late winter. I have a few photos to unload. Managed to get a couple of blue jays!

plantladylin said:
No ID on these pretty black and white seabirds:

Those are Buffleheads.

@greene Thank you so much!

I googled and searched for Sea Birds, Southern California Sea Birds and San Diego Sea Birds and never found a match ... but my brain was foggy by the time we got home late Tuesday night and into Wednesday when I was sorting through my photos; I think I've finally adjusted back to the eastern time zone. I kept thinking, gee it sorta looks like a duck and lo and behold ... it's called a Sea Duck! Going to label my photos right now. Thanks again!

Summer is in full swing down here and each year we get the Superb Blue Wrens nesting in our garden. I took this through my living room window in December during mating season. This male is the resident stud in full breeding plumage. He'd come banging on the windows several times a day picking fights with his reflection and keeping the helpers in line. This family group returns year after year. Fun to watch their antics.


Now the chicks have been born and are flying around everywhere. Here is one hiding in my hibiscus yesterday.

Sunlover, that first one is really colorful, good shots! Here we enjoyed the first warm, sunny day in quite a while. I spotted a sparrow and a Lesser Goldfinch near the feeder.

Gorgeous Linda! I don't have any feeders set up, but I do have a bird bath underneath my weeping cherry, which they love on hot days. Maybe I should set up a feeder!

Patti, oh my the Blue Wren is gorgeous! I love seeing birds that are new to me so please keep sharing photos of the birds in your area!

Linda: Love the Sparrow photo, I saw a few of those birds when we were in California last week. The Lesser Goldfinch is really pretty ... we don't get those here in Florida.

Love seeing different birds!

Me too!

Got some good shots of Eastern Bluebirds the last couple weeks. They are coming to the suet feeder.

Becky, they are beautiful!!!

Becky they are like paintings! And your photo compositions are beautiful. Gorgeous little birds! I didn't know about feeding suet. Interesting!

I will be sure to try and post more photos. Bird life is abundant here.

All the photos are wonderful!!!!! Love that Blue Wren! Wowser!
Lesser goldfinch is great!
Our bluebirds never eat at my suet feeder --- I wonder why?

I never knew Bluebirds would eat suet either; the rare time I spotted an Eastern Bluebird in my Florida garden it was attracted to mealworms in the feeder but I never saw it near the suet. I just love those pretty little birds; when my youngest sister lived in Georgia she had Bluebird houses perched on posts in her yard and had a nesting pair each year.

Great birding yesterday at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, FL. The dike was crowded with birders coming in for this week's Bird Festival in Melbourne. A mixed group of Spoonbills, Great and Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, and Glossy Ibis were in a feeding frenzy, oblivious to the crowds only 15 feet away. Never seen so many spoonbills so close. Also big flocks of White Pelicans and Coots. Lots of ducks, grebes and mergansers.
Roseate Spoonbill


Great Egret


Spoonbill and Snowy


Reddish Egret


Glossy Ibis


White Pelicans


Coot


A Mockingbird with attitude

Barbara, what wonderful photos you got at MINWR!! This time of year is really perfect for seeing a lot of birds at the refuge. We used to drive down there quite often since it's only @ 30 minutes away and I think the winter months are the best for bird photography; not only our resident Herons, Egrets, Spoonbills etc. but lots of Coots, Pelicans and others that migrate south for the winter. Love those shots you got of the Spoonbills and Egrets! LOL, that Mocker sure does look to have an attitude!

with what Lin said. Fabulous shots Barbara!