Molting

No, I haven't been on some wonderful vacation. I've been without internet access for two endless weeks. All is well now, with a new dish on the roof and a new modem--and it's much faster than before which may help with former blogging frustrations.

Anyway, now that I'm back I'll show you some of the pictures I took in the meantime.

Here are some birds losing their feathers in their pre-migration molt. Actually none of these will be migrating, but they still get a nice new set of feathers at the end of the summer. They don't look all that great in the process though.

Blossoms and birds

Just so you know that I do look at some things other than birds, here are some crabapple tree blossoms from our yard. We have three kinds. Then, of course, there will be a few birds too. And a neat view at the end. Click on the pictures to view them large.

I don't know the names of any of these.

I know most of you see goldfinches like this every summer, but believe me, we don't! Every day I take more pictures thinking this will be the last day to see them in this glorious plummage!

The suet/peanut butter mix is very popular at this time of year when there are babies to feed.


Even the female gold finches are turning yellow! This one doesn't seem to think much of my seed selection.

There is a brief time in our spring here when the live oaks don't have very many leaves. The new ones are just poking out and the old ones are falling. So it was a treat to look out towards the creek in the morning and see these rays shining through. Very atmospheric!