Robin

We have finally started seeing robins much more regularly! I'm always a little suprised at how much larger they are than the finches.

Baby Bluebirds & A Near Collision

The baby bluebirds fledged last week! I was there, and maybe a little too close. I was outside when I turned around and all I could see was a set of wings flying directly at my head. In super slow motion, I would turn and the bird seemed to re-aim at my head. Finally, I was able to get out of the way long enough for the bird to ram the side of my house. It was one of the babies. The next thing I saw was the mom and dad bluebird aiming at me. I got down on the ground, and the parents flew away. The baby was in the yard looking at me as if I was crazy! I'm sure that I looked crazy after all that screaming and ducking! I was able to get a picture of one of the babies a little later. He looks much cuter than the pair of wings flying at my head did.

Chipping Sparrow

Baby Eastern Blue Birds

The first clutch of eastern blue bird eggs didn't make it. We're not sure why, but a new nest was built on top of the nest with the eggs. We removed both nests, and a set of blue birds built a new nest. It could have been the same pair. The new couple laid 5 more eggs. The eggs hatched, and we now have baby blue birds! This picture was taken on June 25th, and now the babies are almost ready to fledge. I have seen the male taking away the little white sacks of debris from the nest pretty often. I'm hopeful that we'll get to see the babies at our feeders soon!

This is a picture of the female blue bird peeking out of the nest.

Indigo Bunting

Red Winged Black Bird

This guy has been visiting our feeder all summer. I love when he flies away and the red and yellow on his wings flash! The pictures are fuzzy, but he's still very pretty!

Royal Walnut Moth

The girls spotted this Royal Walnut Moth on our way in to Publix this afternoon. This moth is apparently the largest moth (by weight) north of Mexico. He was very big! He was also beautiful. The Publix employees named him Tiger. It was quite a treat for the girls to see it.

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Wasp on my Pea Plant

I was taking this picture of my pea plants when this wasp decided to get in on the action. It was so exciting to see this first little pea pod!

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Chipping Sparrow Nest

This Chipping Sparrow nest is in my neighbor's very young pine tree. The first picture is from a couple of days ago, and the second picture is from yesterday. They are so tiny!

We have bluebird eggs!!

Earlier this week, I saw a female bluebird go into the nest box on our fence. John took a peek, and there are 5 eggs inside! I'm not sure when the eggs were laid, but we'll be checking on them until little birds fledge.

We can clearly see 4 eggs, and the fifth is up close to the front of the nest. In this picture, we can just barely see the fifth one! I'm not tall enough to see in the nest, so I live vicariously through the pictures. It's just another reason I'm glad I married a tall man!

Monarch Caterpillar Pupating

I was able to get some pictures of the caterpillar pupating last week. This is the link to the pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QYs3Ldo5aqICw. The time that passed during the pictures was less than 5 minutes! Emma Rose was totally engrossed in the process and watched with me the entire time!

Monarch Caterpillar

Earlier this year, I ordered some monarch butterfly eggs for my girls. I wanted them to see the beginning of the life cycle for the butterfly. We had 12 eggs, and 4 hatched. One died the same day it hatched, and the next disappeared about 10 days after hatching. We ended up with 2 healthy caterpillars. Last week, they pupated! We now have 2 chrysalises hanging in our butterfly cage.

I took daily pictures of the growth of the caterpillars and posted pictures to my family blog. It just occured to me that this is the perfect place to share with you all, too! My girls loved looking at the caterpillars every day. My oldest was watching the last caterpillar pupate with me, and she thought it was pretty fascinating, too. It's a great science lesson for them!

I was able to take pictures of the second caterpillar pupating. I ended up taking quite a few pictures, and the time that passed during the picture series was less than 5 minutes. This was one of the very coolest things I have ever seen! This is the link to the pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8QYs3Ldo5aqICw.

I'm hoping that I am able to take pictures of the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, and that should happen next week. The first is due on Tuesday, and the next one is due on Thursday or Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The picture below is one of the chysalises in the cage. They are really beautiful!

Red winged black bird!

He has been enjoying the feeder!

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