I have never seen so many cardinals in one place at one time! Never! What a great photo Christine.

I have 4-5 here, but not a flock of mostly males like you have there, Christine! That's really cool! (Literally. LOL!)

Hey all! I started a new post but it was suggested I share here, just wanted to share a few pics from the 2014 garden season in my "under construction" butterfly garden. Also providing hummingbird desires.

The first visitor I had on May 31, 2014


The one and only monarch i've seen anywhere in CT, in my garden on a dahlia I grew from seed

Becky, I Loved your video, the painted buntings are such charming birds. The only time I've seen them was at Huntington State Park in S.C. while there for a family camping trip. I've never seen them at my Dad's in New Port Richey and he lives next to a swamp and has a lot of cover in his yard.
Jason I also liked your butterflys and garden.
We have a lot of host and nectar plants for butterflys and are expanding our resources for them. One of my favs is the zebra swallowtail. There are a lot of paw-paws in our area, but none close by. I may have to do a little guerrilla gardening to remedy that and introduce some to the nearby woodlot. They do come for the nectar but only pass through.
I really must improve my photo files, I can never find the pics I want when I need them.

Jason and thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!

Your butterfly garden is absolutely stunning! There sure are a lot of caterpillars on the plant in that 7th picture!! It's always wonderful to see Monarchs since they are in such decline but I love the Fritillaries and Zebra Longwings too. I bet you are looking forward to spring and summer arriving in your part of the country so that more of those beautiful b'flies will stop by!

Eric4home said:Becky, I Loved your video, the painted buntings are such charming birds. The only time I've seen them was at Huntington State Park in S.C. while there for a family camping trip. I've never seen them at my Dad's in New Port Richey and he lives next to a swamp and has a lot of cover in his yard.
Jason I also liked your butterflys and garden.
We have a lot of host and nectar plants for butterflys and are expanding our resources for them. One of my favs is the zebra swallowtail. There are a lot of paw-paws in our area, but none close by. I may have to do a little guerrilla gardening to remedy that and introduce some to the nearby woodlot. They do come for the nectar but only pass through.
I really must improve my photo files, I can never find the pics I want when I need them.

I agree with Lin.

Wonderful pictures and keep up the good works. It appears you've got a great family to teach your love of nature and photography talents with!

jaym, thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures. Really like the cats on a stick!! Your yard is lovely.

I can't get photos partly b/c my camera doesn't have enough zoom capability & partly b/c the goldfinches are shy when I get too close & partly b/c it's raining but the goldfinches are going bonkers on the sycamore tree. It's covered in the seed balls & the little goldfinches are hanging on twigs & grabbing the seed balls & munching away on them. The "fluff" is raining down like crazy from the goldfinches actions.

Jason - Those are some beautiful butterflies in your photos! Welcome to ATP!!!

Ric - Thank you! I don't know how so many wound up coming to my yard. I am in a neighborhood, though there is woodland around me. I guess just lucky! They do love white millet seed and I use a Wild Finch seed mix in one of my feeders.

I'll tell my dad. maybe he can attract a few. His area is a natural habitat, so pulling in a few passer-byes shouldn't be hard.

Need some ID help. Are these Whooping Cranes. Notice all the bands. Out in the lake bed in the front yard this early afternoon.

They certainly are Dave!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's some info. :
http://www.bringbackthecranes....

And on this page you see a link where they ask you report sightings:
http://www.bringbackthecranes....

It would be really cool for you to report yours along with the photos. Those aren't just tags it looks like they have antennas for tracking.

GOOD JOB DAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice shots Dave! And, they sure look like Whooping Cranes to me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Here's the form for reporting sightings.
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/who...

They will LOVE you b/c you have great photos of the band color combinations so they will be able to pretty much narrow down which group these ones are from. Hey, maybe you even caught the 2 missing ones on film. Wouldn't that be ultra cool?!

WOW you hit the jackpot there Dave!! I have seen some before but they were in flight and being lead by one of those gliders they use to lead them on migration!!

Dave - You definitely need to report your sightings and photos. This helps the research team know where they are going and if they are still alive! I must say that you did indeed hit the jackpot of see them! Way to go!!!!

I have reported all band information, location of sighting and photos to the research team. I hope to hear back from them with some specifics on these two birds. They spent a leisurely day here with us and left about sunset. Hope they will be back. Made for a wonderful day. Thanks to all for the kind comments.

I am betting they will be back. Wonderful Dave, just wonderful.

Well the Whoopers were back again today. It seems that these are two males. The local Wildlife officer said there is a predominance of males in the Eastern population. One bird is the 37th bird hatched from 2007 and the other is the 20th bird hatched from 2013. They leave the immediate area or at least go out of sight about 1/2 hour before dark. As I find out more details about these birds I will share.