Low energy day, so I hung out with the birds.

Is this a Kinglet?  He's been flitting around with an identical friend at the suet feeder.

 

I have no idea how I was able to catch this photo, but I love the determination and direction of flight!

So, the kids are at school, my husband is at work.  I'm home with the bunnies, squirrels, and birds.  Not a bad morning for me, huh?  Just what I needed on this particular day.  So, here are the results of a little quiet time in the back yard.

Mama cardinal and black oil sunflower seed.

The last couple days, we've had anywhere from 6 to 10 cardinals, male and female, in the backyard.  I had no idea we had so many pairs in the area.  We hear the little "peep peep" sounds all the time now.

Male cardinal eating safflower.

Two female cardinals and a Carolina Chickadee in the middle.

I'm happy the chickadee has come back.  My son was sad when he went away for a while.  He's very cautious and won't feed if we are too close and he's the first one to fly when squirrels or too many birds come around.

Fat fat fat, but very cute cute cute!

 

I had to think of some way to prevent the squirrels from eating the black oil sunflower seed.  As much as I worried about spending $20 on a new feeder, I thought it would be the better bargain in the long run instead of letting the squirrels eat and dump bags of seed on the ground.  The cardinals took more than a day before they ventured close. So, I was surprised the shy chickadee gave it a try so quickly.

Chickadee trying out the new "squirrel-proof" feeder.

Female Towhee, the first time she has shown herself!

I'm so thrilled that yesterday the kids and I saw both Towhees yesterday and I was able to capture some photos today, even if not the best quality images.  They are so shy and stayed on the fence edge for a half hour before venturing down to the shrubbery.