Birds and butterflies

Yesterday as I walked back towards our pond I heard the sweetest little sound. There are lots of bird songs in our woodland, but this was a distinct little tweeting, and when I looked toward the song, I was so happy to see that our tree swallows have returned to their gourd. I immediately went back to the house to get the camera to get their picture. They are the prettiest little birds. I think the female, looking out the door, almost looks like a frog in the picture, but she stayed there while her mate went for a flight. I hope we get to watch them raise their young again this year.

This little guy is a baby hawk! I have been watching the nest for several weeks as I walk to the mailbox each day, and his parents have been quarreling at me, telling me that I am in their territory. The nest is high up in an old oak tree, where the large limbs fork. It is made of large twigs and very obvious, as the leaves are not yet out on the oaks. The little guy was peering out, watching me, and waiting for his parents to bring the next meal, I am sure. (I don't want to think that it might be some our other birds, but such is the life cycle, I guess.)

We have bluebirds checking out several of our houses. This pretty bird can easily be seen out our bathroom window. The little birdhouse in the picture is not the one he is using, but he likes the perching spot. The birdhouse pictured is one for the wrens, which we hope to get. Our granddaughter, Katie Rose, helped us hang several houses last month when she visited us.
I know you think I must have done nothing except take bird pictures yesterday, but really we planted and transplanted about 30 small trees. We had received 11 flowering trees from Arbor Day, and that led to all the others we needed to move. Then we moved a large rosebush and trellis to where it will receive more sunshine and be more visible. At the end of the day, we both knew we had muscles that we had forgotten about. As we sat on our deck, relaxing and getting enough energy to move inside for some supper, We had a pair of wood ducks that flew into the trees. I went inside (wow! that took a lot of effort!) and got the camera and took the above shot. It was about 7:30 P.M. and not much light, plus the ducks were about 80 feet from us, so I wanted to share the shot with you. Normally, wood ducks are very fearful of people, and we enjoy watching them on our pond and flying in our woods.

While I was taking pictures of our baby hawk, I noticed this butterfly on my bluebells, and of course had to take some photos. He flitted around everywhere, and was happy to find some flowers. I saw 3-4 kinds of butterflies yesterday. Also our honeysuckle has some flowers opening up, which is a sign that the hummingbirds will be here very soon. They always love the honeysuckle blooms, and usually arrive in April. So much to enjoy on the journey. Today, we needed a break from all of yesterday's yard work, plus rain is in the forecast, so we came to Characters Bookstore/Coffee Shop to use the Wi-Fi and relax. Hope you are enjoying all the birds and beauty of spring.