Sweet and Hungry Little Birds

My husband came home the other day with this old hummingbird feeder. He cleaned it up and asked me if I could find a recipe on the Internet to make the nectar for it. I googled around and found a few. Here's how I ended up making my nectar.

You will need:

4 cups of water

1 cup of sugar

Bring water to a boil, remove from heat. Stir in sugar until dissolved. You may add red food coloring if you desire. I didn't have red food coloring but I did have red crystal sprinkles and they were getting old so I just mixed  'em in. The little hummingbirds love it! It was hard to get a picture of one of those little buggers. They're constantly in motion and fast!

Hope everyone is having a nice week. Y'all take care.

Hugs,
Sharon

 

  More Hummingbird Feeders

Little Baby Birds

Hubby told me to look at the picture he took with my camera. All I saw was a bird nest with some funny looking triangles in it. After downloading it to the computer, lo and behold it was a couple baby birds.

Of course I had to go see them for myself. Their mother had built their nest in a snowball bush in the backyard. This bush is right next to the patio where we frequently sit during the afternoons.  I am always amazed at how close to humans some birds will build their nests. I had to take my own picture and I caught this hungry looking baby.

..."Welcome, sweet bird!" I fondly cried,

No danger need'st thou fear,

Secure with me thou may'st abide,

Till warmer suns appear.

--Charlotte Richardson

   

Feeding Our Wildlife--

DH and I feed the squirrels and birds that visit our yard. Here is a little squirrel dining al fresco at the squirrel table son Justin made for them a few years ago:

When I was a little girl, I remember my grandmother feeding birds scraps from the table such as bread, cake crumbs, extra pancakes and that sort of thing. Now, I do the same thing and often buy seed for them too.  But wait, the squirrels are gluttons and have invaded our feathered friends' dining facilities:

The other day I saw an oriole but it was gone before I got my camera in hand. It was the first oriole I've seen here and I really wanted to snap a pic. I'm keeping my camera closer at hand so maybe I'll have better luck one day.

Y'all have a great week!

Wildlife in the Suburbs :)

We're suckers for feeding the birds, squirrels and other wildlife in our neighborhood. On a tree by the driveway we have a squirrel cafe where the little critters can dine on corn we buy for them.  Here are a couple little guys chowing down.  I was hoping to get better pictures but they were skittish when they saw me with the camera.  The one on your right is a tiny thing.  So here they are:

Here is an overall view of the cafe.

Sorry about the junkyard-like house in the background.  This is where the neighborhood paparazzi lives.  He started taking pictures of our home and visitors again today.  He also called the police because one guest had partially blocked the sidewalk with his vehicle.  I did mention to the police officer that the car next to the red one has expired tags.  I'm really tired of this guy!

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A little bit closer view of the cafe.

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Here's the bigger of the squirrels at the Squirrel Cafe!

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Here's the little guy

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The big guy again

I Have a Mutated Rose Bush!

I have this climbing rose bush that has gorgeous orange roses. Well, it's supposed to have orange roses.  Last year, the early blooms were RED and subsequent blooms were orange.  This year, the first blooms were a  mixture of big orange and little red.  Hmmmm, the bush is crazy like the rest of us here lol!.  Anyway, here's a picture to check it out.

My garden with the exception of some garlic is planted.  The blue jays think I put out a buffet dinner for them.  I have to send the "babies"--Nellie Belle and Opi out to guard the veggies.  Right now, it's a challenge to see who will get the benefit of the vegetables--the birds or us.


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