Our Feeder





Convalescing at home. A CT of my chest on Friday confirmed what I sort of knew all along: I broke two ribs during that patient assault. In a way, it was good to get the news because the severe pain had been inconsistent with the injury. So I was given an additional week off from work. I'm under orders to do essentially nothing but sit and take walks. No lifting. No work. Instructions that aren't all that disagreeable to me except for the pain from this episode is pretty bad. I sleep in the LazyBoy; I can't lie prone yet. Sleep comes in three or four hour segments. I live on Norco and Ibuprofen.

 

And I've been sitting on our deck, taking photos of birds. It's a rough job but somebody has to do it. I sit in a chair all nice and still, even the dogs mimic me, and we wait for the winged ones to ignore us and come satiate their appetites.

 



 

I love the House Finches. Which is a good thing because we have a couple of families that have decided that our strawbale house is a good place to raise a family. The same has been true for Joni and me.

For a few months, in the summer, we are visited by the Black Headed Grosbeaks (and also Evening Grosbeaks). They've been visiting us in the summer for several years. We were worried that they weren't going to show up this year. But they did. Joy!

 

 

 

A Grosbeak watches me as I watch him. We wait until suddenly...

 

 

 

A Hummingbird comes to join us. The Hummingbird feeders have been very busy. My camera is a step up from what I had before, but it is still near the bottom-of-the-line variety. With the auto focusing feature (I don't know how to focus it myself) it is very difficult to get a Hummingbird in focus. They are quick and elusive. 

 

 

 

But with persistence, you can get a shot or two worth keeping.

 

 

But the Lesser Goldfinches are always here. And they are always welcome. They usually show up in clusters for the thistle. This guy decided that he was desperate enough to eat the sunflower seeds.