I always spend a lot of time watching the birds at my parents place in North Carolina. They have so much personality.

Last week when I was in North Carolina I spent a lot of time watching the birds around my parents house. This time the highlight was definitely the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, of which there are 4 frequenting the feeder. Very entertaining as they were almost always there, often chattering and fighting with each other.

Another highlight, babies! There were 6 or 7 Wild Turkey babies. And many juvenile birds coming to the feeder, plus a family of Bluebird’s with 3 juveniles out in the field, stayed too high for photos but I admired them very much with my binoculars.

And then there are bugs… lots of bugs. Lightning bugs in the field at night! So cool! And always butterflies in the garden.

I have moved and gotten settled into my cozy new apartment, so it’s back to business! I got my etsy shop open again with all the prints I have in stock and will work on making new stock  in the coming weeks. Check it out…

And here is a little Tufted Titmouse fledgeling I saw in the midst of moving a few weeks ago! There were a few chicks with the parents carefully looking over them and continuing to feed them as they flew from tree to tree. Absolutely adorable!!

Sometimes when you are taking a photo of a bird it decides to fly away, fluff it’s feathers, or do something otherwise awkward. When I come home and start going through the photos from a bird watching trip, sometimes I just say “wha…?”

So many birds at the bird feeder up in North Carolina!

Tufted Titmouse:

Goldfinch:

White Breasted Nuthatch:

Dark-eyed Junco:

House Finch:

jumping!

Downy Woodpecker:

Red-bellied Woodpecker:

I also saw Brown-headed Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Cardinal, Blue Jay, Pileated Woodpecker, Dove, Carolina Wren, and of course Carolina Chickadee. A Bluebird showed up a few hours after I headed back home! Maybe next time… It’s so much to see what will be there every morning.

On my last day in the North Carolina, the peach tree started to blossom. Spring looks like it’s going to be beautiful there! I wish I was going to be there to see it. Not to be too sad though, instead I will be enjoying the beach and the birds back home in Florida. Yep, there’s beauty everywhere!

That is an Eastern Phoebe I caught down by the river. Not too many birds down there, but there were some ducks on the river bank. I was trying to inch closer and they left in a rush as soon as they saw me. I waited for ages for them to return but they did not. I sure regret that I was leaving and didn’t have another day  to check back on that spot for them.

However, most of the bird action was up the mountain in the tree tops. I saw may of the resident birds: downy woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, chipping sparrows, goldfinches, robins, towhees, wrens, and mockingbirds. We put out bird seed and it didn’t take long (just a few hours!) for the chickadees and titmice to start visiting.