Backyard Bees, Butterflies and Birds

We’ve had lots of activity in our backyard these first two weeks of July. Bees and Butterflies are frequent visitors to the butterfly garden.

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds and Northern Cardinals are two of the birds we see every summer around our back yard. Snow Egrets are frequent summer visitors to the salt water creek. Roseate Spoonbills first started coming to our area a few years ago. I’ve seen them two years in a row now so hopefully they will keep returning each summer.

Shared with Lisa’s Bird Weekly Challenge: Birds Common in your area this time of year

More than one Bird Species in a Photo

Our Bird Weekly challenge this week is to show more than one bird species in a photo. The photos at the top of the page and this next photo were taken in the spring near Goose Island State Park in Texas. The Whooping Cranes and Sand Hill Cranes were in a farmer’s field every morning along with ducks and other bird species.

Whooping Crane, Egret, Ducks

We wandered around Everglades National Park several times and enjoyed seeing the many bird species there.

Tri Colored Heron and Roseatte Spoonbill at Mrazek Pond 2012.
Spoonbill and Egret at Mrazek Pond, Everglades National Park 2012
At Mrazek Pond, Everglades National Park 2012

Closer to home, I often see Wood Storks sharing the same space with Egrets, Herons or Ibises. This image is one of my favorites of a Wood Stork with an Egret perched on the same tree branch.

Wood Stork and Egret

Thanks to Lisa for her Bird Weekly Challenge: More than one Bird Species in a photo

Bird Weekly Challenge #27: Birds with Long Wingspans

The wingspan of the American White Pelican can be as much as nine feet wide. A single pelican is shown in the image above and the next image is a trio flying over the water.

American White Pelican

These are some more of of my favorite captures of birds with long wingspans.

Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly Challenge: Birds with Long Wingspans

Bird Weekly Challenge #14: Flocks

For this week’s Bird Weekly Challenge Lisa has asked us to show flocks of birds. The above image is of a flock of Roseate Spoonbills on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Flock of Great Egrets with two Spoonbills in Everglades National Park
Flock of Brown Pelicans in Coastal Georgia
Flocks of nesting Egrets and Wood Storks at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia

Thanks you Lisa. for this challenge. Her original post is Bird Weekly Challenge #14 – Flocks