I may not live on a ranch or a farm with lots of animals, and all that excitement that goes along with having a lot of animals, but right here on my .25 acres I have lots of backyard visitors. Over the years, I have photographed many of them, and I wanted to share my secret friends with you. I tempt all of them to my backyard with lots of treats and incentives.
I’ll try to name all of them, though I’m not sure of some of their names:
Downy Woodpecker eating suet, a favorite treat for many birds.
Very nice birds sharing the feeder (which doesn’t always happen). There’s a purple finch on the right and house finches on the left (I think)…
Yellow Finch
Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)
Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal (year round visitors)
Mr. Cardinal
Hummingbird
Blue Jay
Bluebird
Food fight!
This squirrel getting in on the act too – so funny!
A black swallowtail butterfly getting the dew out of a Morning Glory.
An eastern box turtle also made its way into the yard for a quick visit and an even quicker exit.
A bumblebee in the sunflower… from last summer…
A monarch butterfly visiting the sunflowers (also from last summer).
There are some visitors missing – the mourning doves, starlings, and grackles. A pretty good showing nonetheless.