Time "Flies"

Time has definitely flown by the past few weeks. I wish I had time to write about all our adventures. More birds keep showing up. They are getting used to us and allow us to take pictures without flying away quickly. Some I still haven't photographed yet. The hawk is growing more bold in watching over our yard in hopes of having a Sparrow breakfast.

The cool weather has brought mushrooms and several caterpillar chrysalis'. David killed a hog nosed snake today. Sorry, no picture. I'm beginning to think we need to get a Guinea or some other snake alarm. Ich! I wish I loved them as much as all of God's creatures.

Lilly had a "Nature Sleep Over Birthday Party". You can read about it on our other blog: twojoyfullylearning.blogspot.com. Zane is loving the bird "seeing". He chose a birding guide along with binoculars at Half Price books last week and spent an hour on our bed "bird seeing". The Lord is gracious. The kids are much more fascinating to watch than all of nature. I've included a slide show of all our pictures. Some were taken by every member of the family. Yes, they are all from our backyard. Enjoy!

Shadow Hawk

We've been found out! This morning I noticed the birds were considerably sparse. Then suddenly I saw a huge expanse of wings swoop down into view where the smaller birds are always pecking away at the seeds. I couldn't get a good view of the hawk (not sure what kind). I ran upstairs to get the best picture I could from my window. You can see the figure of a hawk in the shadows. We really need a better camera! Then, the hawks began calling to another. The birds were mostly gone all day until this afternoon. Some came to the other side of the yard to get a drink from the fountain. I did get a quick pic of Little Lady eating acorns high in the tree by my window.

Later, as a storm blew in we noticed this cute little woodpecker. We think it's a Downey Woodpecker. It's very small like the sparrows we see. He was feeding out of the hummingbird feeder, which the bee's have also found. The hummingbirds have a hard time shooing away the bees. But, when this little guy came in they all zoomed away. Maybe they'll all learn to share. As for the hawk.... I told the kids we all have to eat. Hopefully it won't be one of our little ones.