Who's in my Garden--My World

I'm not an experience birder so when I do a bird post I have a guide by my side and the Cornell birding site on my browser. I am also not a programmer so I have had to totally redo this post to have it make sense.

This bird is easy to identify. The Western Bluebirds love to anoint my patio umbrella.

The Anna's Hummingbird has a bright pink head and throat.

Who is this cute guy? There are several red finches.

The brown cap and cheek indicates a House Finch.

This feeder has both cracked sunflower seed and niger. The little Lesser Goldfinch is attracted by the niger.

Who's this little guy, I don't recall seeing him before. Maybe I wasn't paying attention.

He's a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

The big guy here is easy to identify, a California Quail. I think the little one is a lark sparrow.

See more worlds at My World Tuesday hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Hiding in the Shadows

On one of our walks Hubby and I stood on a little bridge, looking to see if there were any birds in the creek below.
Turning around my eye barely caught sight of this hawk, perched in the shadows in the nearby willow. After downloading I tried to identifuy him. None of the hawks seemed right, none had banding like this on its breast, he was looking at me so I must have been viewing his front. Wrong, I finally realized I wasn't seeing his breast, it is his wing we see in this shot. He's looking over his red tinged shoulder.

He's a red shouldered hawk, brightened up here for better viewing. It was a neat experience to see him so close, about 15 feet away, in the wild.

Find more shadows at Hey Harriet.

Woodbridge Reserve--Sky Watch

As the sun set on the reserve it got too dark for birding or photography except, of course, for one last sky shot.



See more beautiful skies here. Skywatch Friday is brought to us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia. Many thanks to you all.

Woodbridge Reserve--Watery Wednesday

The reserve is a wetland and it is full of bird life. Visitors are kept well away so you'll want a spotting scope or good binoculars for the best viewing.

I didn't realize that I was looking at swans until I downloaded the photos. I look forward to returning and next time I won't leave the binoculars in the car!

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve is one of several owned by California Fish and Game. If you enjoy viewing wildlife I would encourage you to visit one if ever you are in the central valley.

To see more watery sites, click here.

Sandhill Cranes--My World

Two things California's central valley has in abundance; historic gold rush sites and birds. I told Hubby I wanted to go to Stockton, 60 miles to the south. He was perplexed, he never thought of Stockton as a vacation spot. It is if your a sandhill crane or if you want to see them in the winter.

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve is a few miles north of Stockton. The cranes fly in to the reserve each evening in great numbers. During the day they can be seen foraging in the surrounding rice fields. Bird watchers are asked not to approach the birds. Without a super telephoto at this distance the shots are not as sharp as I might like.
The birds call to there friends flying by "come join us"

"Don't mind if we do"

" Shall we dance? "


You can find more worlds here at That's my World, hosted each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Thank you all

I am overwhelmed with recognition. Storyteller at Sacred Ruminations and Lindy at Photoblog by Lindy MacDuff have each found me deserving of the best blogger award. My thanks to both of you!

Falling Shadows

Fallen leaves



Spent grass and twigs, blown by the wind

Cast their shadows as Apollo's chariot hastens to the west.

To see more shadows, visit Hey Harriet.