The Homestone

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Hummingbird Heaven on the Meadow

The forest around the meadow. The aspens leafing out.
Hummingbirds at the kitchen window.
We still have frost most mornings and had a bit of a snow flurry yesterday. We're enjoying lovely cool spring weather with equal parts of sunshine, wind, and rain. We have three hummingbird feeders at the kitchen windows. Each feeder is out of view of the other two. We've counted seventy to ninety hummingbirds gathered at feeding time. It's a spectacular sight and one we look forward to each year.
Our hummingbirds love this lilac bush. They use it for perching & resting, and waiting their turn at the feeders and use the branches for cleaning their beaks.
One little fellow settling in for a beak clean . . .
All done. and Lift Off.
Last year this lilac didn't bloom. Hard to say if it'll bloom this year but it doesn't really matter ~ these tiny, beautiful creatures are decoration enough.
Till later. From hummingbird heaven

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Bouquets of feathered friends

We had 6 inches of heavy wet snow just last week ~
The snow lasted just one day and gave the greening of the meadow a tremendous boost.
Although April showers don't really bring May flowers in our neck of the woods ~ they do bring bouquets of birds to our feeders and the branches of our trees. We are enjoying 'full on' birds these days . . . Purple Finches White Crowned Sparrows Yellow Headed and Red Winged Blackbirds Hummingbirds Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, hawks and owls and a Golden Eagle too. The first of our Grosbeaks arrived today .... and so it goes . . .