The catbirds here have been eating the berries on the dutch honeysuckle in my front yard. There are usually a succession of berries here for them to eat. That was the idea, plant lots that would attract the catbirds and the other berry eating backyard birds.

Lin, your little bird is a fly catcher, hard to tell from the photo which one as there are quite a few that look similar, very nice shot.

plantladylin said:
I haven't taken time to get any pictures lately but we were in southern California last week and I did manage to get a shot of this cute little bird when it perched for about two seconds; I have no idea what bird it is:

Cute little thing!

Margaret: Thanks so much for the ID of the Flycatcher; after you named it I googled for Flycatchers in Southern California and I believe it's the Dusky Flycatcher!

Rita: Thank you ... it was the cutest little bird; there were a couple of them but they were flitting about in a tree and it was so hard to get pic's!

I'd really hoped to get more bird and butterfly photo's while on vacation and was disappointed that I didn't see very many of either! We have so many different birds and butterflies here in Florida and I really thought there'd be lots in California too.

I am sure there are a lot in California, just that they are not always were you need them to be.

I was out there in the month of July three years ago and didn't see many birds then either ... maybe more are around during the winter months.

Lin, that's great that you id the bird!

Maybe they spray insecticides in large areas where you visited? Just guessing! I go into a nearby city often, and it's depressing how little wildlife is around there recently. I come home grateful I don't live there.

This was taken through the glass doors that have reflective film to keep the heat out, so this Mourning Dove on the deck couldn't see me:

That is nice to be able to watch the birds when they think no one is looking!

It is fun!

Wow, August is almost over ... can you believe it? This summer is flying by but I do look forward to some cooler weather ... which probably won't reach us until November!

I've noticed that the bird activity has slowed greatly around here the past few weeks; maybe they're all staying in the trees to keep cool. My feeders sit full with not many takers (I noticed a couple of Jays yesterday and a pigeon) but that's been it for the week! At night the raccoons are raiding and knocking the feeders from the trees to get all the seed; I should try and remember to bring them in at night.

Anyway, this isn't the normal backyard bird that visits the feeders for a treat; but rather a Great Egret that was fishing out back a few minutes ago. He caught his lunch, ate it and then walked along looking for another fish:

Fantastic, beautiful shots, Lin!!!

sandnsea2 said: Fantastic, beautiful shots, Lin!!!

That Egret is so pretty.

I love those big water birds!
Mostly because we don't have the water here!

Thanks everyone! We do see a lot of Heron's and other shore/water birds here ... I guess because we are a peninsula and surrounded on three sides by lots of water, not to mention the inland waterways and all the lakes. I love watching and photographing the birds; small, large and in-between!

And you do an excellent job of photographing them!

We have long known we have a pair of red shouldered hawks here who had babies this year. We see hawks all the time & we hear them even more.

Well, today, there was a hawk on the ground under the pecan trees & 2 hawks screaming in the trees (I couldn't spy them) but they were making such a ruckus that I had to look to see what was going on. That's when I saw the hawk on the ground. But this hawk was HUGE! Got the camera & went back out to get some shots. It had gotten a squirrel. I guess the red shouldered hawks in the trees were jealous & trying to run this hawk off. My dh got upset that I was getting so close to the hawk & came out to "protect" me. You see, just last night he had watched "The Vikings" --- remember the scene where Tony Curtis sics the hawk on Kirk Douglas & Kirk looses his eye? This is all my dh could think about.
Here he/she is in all their glory. My goodness, such a magnificent bird! A Red Tailed Hawk light morph. You can't see the tail b/c it's hidden in the grass. If you look closely in the 1st photo; you can see the squirrel in the grass between it's legs.

Ann, wow that is so cool, great shots of that very large Red-tailed Hawk! I can definitely see it's catch there between it's feet! Re: the birds screeching in the nearby tree, do you think it could have been that hawks babies crying to be fed? Some birds, even after fledging will fly to where the parents are and screech to be fed.