Thanks Ronnie. I'm hoping maybe he'll decide to take a few days of rest here & maybe I can get a photo of him. We just had the bush hog mow the property yesterday so there are lots of exposed bugs which the bug eating birds are enjoying. Maybe Mr. Hooded Warbler will decide to hang around & fatten up for a while.

What a beautiful sight to see, Ann!

It was Christine.

wildflowers said:What a beautiful sight to see, Ann!

Ann, Congratulations on the sighting of that beautiful bird, wow that yellow is so vivid !! That's one I've never seen in this area before. My bird book says they inhabit swamps and moist pine flatwoods in the panhandle and northern peninsula down to Ocala and that during fall migration they can be seen throughout the state from July through October.

Thanks Margaret & Lin.
Lin, it's good to have an actual location instead of looking at a map of the state that has no county lines on it. Although i know where our county is, it still gets a little hard to see on the tiny drawings they have.

It's Saturday morning and I didn't have to work! Yay!

So set up my camera on the tripod looking through the back window of my house. Here is what I captured on the camera this morning:

White-winged dove:



More doves at the feeder:



My first sighting of a Painted Bunting: An unbanded male!



And a Bluejay drinking water from the ant moat of the hummingbird feeder:

Beautiful shots Beckie!!!
for the bunting!!!

But the best capture on camera was an exciting surprise!

I have been seeing at least 1 adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird for several weeks now. Don't know if it has been the same bird or several birds that all look alike. BUT ....

Here is his handsome self at the saucer feeder:



Another photo of the same bird:



I SAW the band on it's leg when I looked at that second photo, so I cropped and zoomed in the hummer's legs:



I could only see the Number "7", but one of the boys banded last Winter was this band record. Note the band# J31357 !!!! I am sure that it is the same bird and so is Fred Bassett who banded this bird at my house on 1/19/2015!



Here is what the bird looked like last Winter (photos taken by Fred):





This is a photo of Fred holding the bird near me and taking a photo of me and #7 !

Pretty cool Beckie!!!!!!
Well, little #7 looks a tad thin. I'm sure you'll be fattening him up in no time.

Fred's reply when I emailed him,

"Congratulations Becky
I agree it is your bird from last winter. Get him to tell you where he was this summer.
Fred"

Don't we wish we knew where this bird has spent time since he left my yard early last Spring!

YES! Too bad someone didn't report him.

One day we'll be able to take a piece of a feather & run tests on it & it will tell us exactly where he was within a 50 mile range. It will tell us what he's been nectaring on, what leaves & wood he's brushed against & how long ago & what soil particles got on him & just everything. Sort of like a DNA test only it will tell location & when at what location.

Oh Becky, what wonderful shots! That White-winged Dove is so pretty and the male Painted Bunting is gorgeous with those vivid colors! The male Ruby-throated hummer is a beauty too and that is so cool to have the same one back in your yard where it was first banded! Do the hummers stay around all winter or just pass through on their way farther south? I can't wait to move down there next May and see what birds I can attract to my yard!

Ann - I keep hoping the scientists can develop a teeny-tiny light-weight tracking device!

Lin - Some pass through and some stick around. I have no idea how many for sure pass through my yard. But this little guy hung around the entire Winter 2015. He was 1 of 3 that hung around and all of them were banded on 1/19/2015.

Wow, that is neat to have the same bird return to your garden. Beautiful shots all, Becky.

Thanks Ann, Lin, and Elaine!

I forgot to post the photo of the Red-bellied Woodpecker who was mad at the other birds perch in the platform feeder and above the suet feeder above him and was trying to bite them. He eats this hanging suet and the sunflower seeds in the platform feeder.

Oops! I posted this on the wrong thread, so am posting it where it should be ...here ....

Well, I saw the adult male hummer at the same feeder again, so thought I would snap some more photos of it since it was facing the opposite direction. (Thinking I could get a photo of the entire band numbers.)

Loaded the photos onto my computer and started looking at them .... only to realize that it is a different adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird!!! This one is not banded. Surprise, surprise!!! COOL!!!



I always suspect I have more than what I am seeing, but I was able to confirm it today!

I didn't even realize it was the wrong thread. Already gave you a thumbs up over-where ever it was.

Beautiful picture!

He is just so handsome ... love the WP shot too!