It was about the size of a Cardinal. Decent size.

Melanie, thanks so much for tagging me in this thread ... I've missed everyone's birdie pic's the past few months! We moved on May 1st and the past couple of months have been so incredibly busy with trying to get settled and then we got a new puppy last month ... I'm really feeling my 68 years!

Hemlady/Cindy ... great shots of the Heron and those Woodpeckers! We have the Pileated and Red-bellied here but I only seem to see the Pileated in Winter and Spring. I wish the Red-headed variety were this far south, they are so pretty.

Gleni, love those Plovers; the adult is pretty and those babies are so cute! Look forward to more pic's as they grow!

Elaine, must be the time of year for molting; I've been seeing a few Jays like that too ... they are so funny looking with their almost bald heads! The young Cardinal is so sweet, she sure does look like she's posing for the camera! I have too many squirrels and sure wish I could send a few someplace else ... they raid the feeders all the time and if anything is left at night, the raccoons steal it. I've had three suet feeders destroyed by raccoons since we've been here!

Melanie, how cool to be seeing the Chickadee!! I've only seen them a couple of times over the years; they are such pretty birds!

Christine, very cool Turkey Vulture; I haven't seen one of those in awhile!

Melanie, I don't have a clue where my bird books are ... and yet I know that they are around here somewhere because I remember unpacking them with a bunch of other books. I did puppy-proof the house before we brought Toby home so I have a feeling they are stuck in a drawer or closet somewhere. That beauty in your last photo sure does look like a female Summer Tanager though! For comparison, check out some photos here: http://www.audubon.org/field-g...

I'll upload a couple of recent bird photos in a few minutes ... gotta go take pup outside.

Yes, that's about the size of the one I had.

Thanks, guys! I tagged some of my bird friends on Facebook for consensus. But I'm pretty sure that's what I saw. Reading that it was in the same family as Cardinals made sense. They do have a similar build and beak. It was so unexpected! I read they eat bees and wasps. I hope that one sticks to the wasps! I like my bees. I actually don't mind the wasps except for paper wasps. Dad doesn't like yellow jackets, but I rarely see those.

Lin, I was trying not to bug you because I know you're still getting settled, but I needed your expertise. Plus, we miss you! Glad you miss us, too!

Melanie, it sure looks like the female Summer Tanager in my bird book, it's beautiful!

Great photos everyone!

Melanie, we're pretty much settled in the house now but the new puppy who is 3 months old has been keeping me really busy the past month; he's so much fun and really keeps us laughing. His potty training, leash training, night time crate training, etc. are going great; he actually scratches at the door when he needs to go out now so I don't have to take him out every hour anymore and when we put him in his crate at night, he doesn't cry anymore and sleeps a good solid 6 hours! This is the first puppy we've had in 40 years and although we debated as to whether we were up to such a young one, we are loving it. Our older dog is a big help since they play so well together; Bo keeps the pup occupied so that I can get things done around the house during the day.

I have a lot of catching up to do on the bird threads but I'll get there; I always love seeing pictures of the lovely birds from around the country and around the world as well as those in our own neck of the woods here in Florida!

We have a lot of Red-shouldered hawks in our neighborhood here in Sebastian and I've managed to attract Blue Jays, Doves, Cardinals and Woodpeckers to the feeders .... when I remember to put seed out. The squirrels are numerous and raid the feeders daily and the raccoons have destroyed three feeders since we've been here, actually tearing the metal apart! I really miss all the Herons, Egrets and other shore/water birds that we'd see at our house in Daytona but I'm sure at some point I'll be able to get out and get pic's of them here. We do have Sandhill Cranes that I spot walking around the neighborhood on occasion which I love. They have a very loud call but are such big, interesting birds. I thought I'd share a few photos from the past two weeks.

Red-shouldered Hawk




Blue Jay



Cardinal


Juvenile Red-bellied WP and Juvenile Northern Cardinal


Sandhill Cranes in a neighbors yard


Red-bellied Woodpeckers

Wonderful photos, Lynn! Good to hear your move is settled in. Puppies sure can be a lot of work, like having a toddler around the house again.

It must be funny to see such big birds walking around the neighborhood like those sandhill cranes. But, I guess if you see them all of the time, it's no big deal. They sure are cute.

I drove past two flocks of Sandhill Cranes on the way to Taco Bell. There were about five in each group. Also saw an Anhinga drying out, a Great Egret, and a couple Little Blue Herons. Everyone's out today!

Okay, I did say I was taking other bird photos so here they are.

Tufted Titmouse



Cardinal and Blue Jay



Blue Jay



Red-Bellied Woodpecker likes yelling at me, but doesn't like posing.



I have a Red-Shouldered Hawk, too!

Very nice Melanie!! I love the cute little Tufted Titmouse ... I've heard them chattering away at times lately but haven't managed to get a picture of one yet! Really nice shot of that Hawk!

at all the beautiful photos!!!!!!!

for Melanie's Summer Tanager female! I have some photos of ours that I simply haven't had time to post. You're getting really good with your new camera Melanie.

LIN!!!! It's GREAT to see you back! We missed you as well as your great photos.

Outstanding shots Lin & Melanie!!

I would just love to live where Sandhill Cranes or other big birds walk around the neighborhood!

female Goldfinch


(kind of looks like Melanie's)

There are four Masked Plover babies not three.

I still have to use the telephoto through the glass of the bedrooms' windows. I am not sure how tame the female is going to be but she certainly is touchy at the moment. She watches me even behind the glass. The male is reasonably tame and follows in my gardening to get anything I disturb.

They have amazing eyesight. The butcherbirds, the kookaburras and the magpies get zapped if they make a move out of line.

It looks like the parents are not going to bring the babies through to my front yard this year. There has been so much building and they seem to need a lot of open space to walk down and through. They appear very wary of ambush.










The babies are all legs at this age. They remind me of those early Star Wars walking vehicles.

Added: two minutes later they brought the babies through to the front yard. Lol.

This them passing into the front yard. Now I am going to be stressed out of my mind because this means they will go further and take the babies back and forth across the road out front several times a day.



A large honeyeater watches on: Blue-faced Honeyeater (taken through the flyscreen. Lol). A spectacular bird in its own right.

J, love the Goldfinch! I've only seen Goldfinches here twice in the almost 50 years I've been in Florida.

Gleni, I had no idea Honey Eaters were so large, love the pretty colors on that one! The Plover babies are just the cutest little things; I agree, all legs! I sure hope they stay safe crossing the roadway ... I'd be really nervous about that but I guess we can't change nature; hopefully cars will be aware and slow down or stop if they come upon the plovers in the roadway. I'm so happy when I see automobiles slow down and stop for Turtles and other critters in the road but it just doesn't seem to happen often enough.

Only photo I got today was late this evening as the sun was going down. I've been hearing the call of the Great Crested Flycatcher for a few days now. There was a pair of them on the power lines but by the time I got my camera and got back outside, they'd moved. I followed the call and spotted this one at the top of a dead tree:

They are so cute, Glenn and you got a closer look! Wonderful new avatar picture.

I agree, the colors are beautiful.

Awesome flycatcher, Lin!

Enjoying everyone's photos!

Our phoebe seem to have left. I was really enjoying watching them plus the were doing a good job eating bugs. Especially the tomato hornworms. Now I am having to do worm patrol every evening.

We are seeing female and young hummers a lot more now. The males will be leaving soon. Before you know it the winter birds will be here and time to put the suet out again!

Some bird humor from Facebook. FYI, I thought "Powerful Owl" was a joke name, but that's really what they call them! And like member Gleni, it also lives in Australia!

Yes Melanie, they are quite spectacular birds. There are several pairs nesting within the Greater Brisbane Area. Heavens knows what they are feeding on.

A friend of mine was photographing some recently.

http://sunshinecoastbirds.blog...