ROBINS....robins all over the place...we're covered in robins......Spring is coming.

I saw the hawk hunting last night and it was almost dark. I was thinking the same thing about the cold and food.

Oh I am so happy to Lin's photo of Baltimore Oriole. I have started to stock up on jelly in anticipation of their return for the summer.

Claudia said:Oh I am so happy to Lin's photo of Baltimore Oriole. I have started to stock up on jelly in anticipation of their return for the summer.

Wish I had them here.

How do you put the jelly out? I have a bunch in the cupboard I could use, and we do see BOs in the area, and after the leaves fall, occasionally find one of their nest.

Eric, there are feeders especially for Baltimore Orioles: https://www.google.com/search?... but I just cut oranges in half and jam each half onto the end of a tree branch or the end of a shepherds hook. For Jelly feeders you could just place small, shallow containers with the jelly on a deck/porch railing or wire them up for hanging.

Eric4home said:How do you put the jelly out? I have a bunch in the cupboard I could use, and we do see BOs in the area, and after the leaves fall, occasionally find one of their nest.

I have platform feeders so I put small cat food dishes filled with jelly out on them. This show my very first set up. The small metal dish has jelly in it. The large plastic dish held orange halves. I also used the special jelly feeders. But I live where there are lots of raccoons and other critters so finally opted for the pole mounted platform feeders. That way I can leave the dishes out all the time. I have 2 of these. Both have raccoon baffles on them. Sometimes the deer will push out the screen bottoms if I have seed or corn on the platforms.

The robins like the jelly too and some will even dip their bugs in the jelly before they eat them!

Claudia said:The robins like the jelly too and some will even dip their bugs in the jelly before they eat them!

LOL, Grape Worms ... I can just picture a Robin dipping a worm in the jelly before eating it.

The robins are here en masse now too. Tons of them!

I never see the Baltimore Orioles.

Claudia said:The robins like the jelly too and some will even dip their bugs in the jelly before they eat them!

That is very interesting, maybe I should try putting some jelly out in the spring.

Aren't there candies that are jelly worms? They're sort of worm shaped? I wonder if the person who came up with that got the idea from watching Robins dip worms in jelly before eating them?

Ann, those would be Gummy Worms. I like the sour kind! Dad saw two Roseate Spoonbills the other day when he was driving home. He was in a school zone going 20 mph so he got a good look. I thought of another place I need to go to take pictures of birds. There's a bunch that congregate around this little retention pond by the Chick-Fil-A where I get lunch a lot. There are other businesses in there, too. I was in the drive-thru the other day and everyone had to stop to let a group of Cattle Egrets walk by. I tried to warn them they eat birds inside, but they just kept walking.

We drove down to Sebastian yesterday to visit family and somewhere in northern Brevard County I spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes walking alongside I-95 ... I was so scared for them as they do sometimes get hit by cars! They must not have much intelligence because there should be plenty of food for them way away from the interstate! A week or so ago we were driving and a Snowy Egret flew low across the road right in front of us; I really thought it was going to hit the truck! Gee ... I'd be happy living in a world with no interstate systems and vehicles that had a max speed of 25mph.

http://blasdell.wbu.com/conten...

This is the feeder I have, we only get a few sitings a year, but its worth it to me. Same with the crested flycatcher. I see them once a year..on the ground only, for about two weeks. What I love for some reason are the brown thrashers. They too mostly stay on the ground, every now and then one will come to the feeder and just throw that seed out.

This morning ... Northern Cardinal & Palm Warbler

I wish I had a camera to get bird pictures, I cant get close enough to make it matter, or its thru a window

I was always taking close ups of daylilies, havent even explored zooms

I'm not camera savvy at all and don't have the patience to learn a lot of the stuff regarding all the settings on my camera but I love being able to zoom in and take close up shots of butterflies and birds. I always wish that I could zoom from even longer distances but I'll have to settle for the distance my camera allows. The cameras with interchangeable lenses can get very, very expensive (lenses too) and I can't justify buying that type when I know I wouldn't take the time to learn how to use it. I wish I'd studied photography/cameras when I was young but I just get so lazy as I get older. I'm so bad ... I don't even have the patience to learn about my smart phone that my husband got me for Christmas; my little cheapy flip phone was fine and was perfect for me since I don't use a cell phone very often. He keeps asking me if I've taken the time to play with it and learn stuff about it.

Here's a few more photos from my backyard this afternoon.

Blue Jays and a picture of a juvenile male Cardinal that I took through the window:


Mourning Dove in the bare Crepe Myrtle tree, a male Red-winged Blackbird in Bottlebrush tree and Blackbirds and Grackles jostling for space at the feeders:

Pam, my husband love the Brown Thrashers too. We love watching them.

I have always wished I had followed my dream and studied photography. I really wanted to be a photo journalist. I would have loved to learn how to photograph landscapes. I can always see it in my head but can never translate it thru the lens. Love photographing animals, birds. Not so much people...... except children. Kids are natural.

Thanks for your response all.I think I will try and put up a covered pole feeder. That way I can keep some attached Ramekins out of the sun and rain and possibly attach a nectar feeder.
I can't get into my photo files right now but I have a photo of a egret at a Burger King drive up window in New Port Richey. The workers there said he was a frequent customer. There is also a large wood stork rookery located behind a shopping center there.