Backyard Friends

The last several days, I've spent quite a bit of time out in the yard thanks to our falling tree. I've captured some photos of our little backyard friends and thought I'd share them:

This is a baby King Snake. One of the cats had him cornered and my neighbor put him in the tree so I could get photos of him. He posed quite nicely in this one!

After watching Mr. King Snake disappear up into the branches of the pine tree, I looked around for more cool things to take photos of, and I stumbled on this little toad. He didn't especially want his photo made, but I talked him into it. :)

I spent some time stalking the birds. This required sitting in a chair, with the camera turned on, and sitting absolutely still for a very long time. Captured this little Cardinal. He actually posed on that branch for quite a while, but he kept turning around. I finally got a photo of his cute little face.

I had quite a time getting the Blue Jay's to pose. None of them wanted a photo made and they'd fly away so quickly. But one brave soul finally got on the ground right in front of me and did a few little dance moves.

And last but not least, we have Mr. Squirrel. (Or maybe it was a missus...I'm not sure.) He played hide-n-seek around the tree trunk with me for quite a while.

Now you can see why it's never boring at my house. Between the dogs, the cats, the birds, the squirrels, the reptiles, and occasionally a groundhog, there's plenty to entertain us. In fact, I'd rather sit outside and watch them play over watching TV any day! :)

A family of Cedar Waxwings

I've been trying for weeks to get photos of these beautiful birds. Today, they decided to attack a couple of our holly bushes for the berries. And I finally got photos of these Cedar Waxwings...gorgeous little birds with a beautiful song! Click the photos to see larger ones.

#64 Hairstyle

I knew when I got this photo of this bird, the wind gusting through her feathers, that I'd use a verse or quote about hair. She was a sweet bird - loved to cuddle...or maybe she was just trying to protect herself from the wind! :)

This is a Salmon Crested Cockatoo. I've done a painting of this breed of bird before, but never had seen one in person. Beautiful....just beautiful!

InJoy,
Jai

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#64 Hairstyle Greeting Cards (Pk of 20)

The hummingbird returns!

Okay so the lighting stinks, but these are still fairly cool....he was three feet from me and I didn't even see what I was shooting...I just started pushing the button.

I got him! #19 The Hummingbird

Okay, so it's not the best photo in the world because I had to use the zoom and he was moving and so was I...but at least you can finally see one of these birds I've been chasing for a week! Click on the photos to see the larger ones so you can see him better.

These little birds are SO fast. I saw two fighting in front of the Hibiscus bush so I was aiming just in case they came back and one did. He was only there a second and then was gone like a flash.

Of course half the times I'm on the back porch (without the camera) they still come up to my wildflowers and "hum" right in front of me...almost as if they're saying "Ha ha...you can't catch me!". :)

InJoy, Jai

#11 The Poser, a yellow & green parakeet photo

Okay, so this photo wasn't shot on Dixie Lane...it was taken at our local pet store. This brightly colored yellow and green parakeet posed for Allyson and I. Looks like she's saying "Oh come on, you know I'm beautiful! Admit it!" What can I say...beauty comes in small packages. :)

InJoy,
Jai

P.S. Cards and prints of these images are available here and a variety of other products with this fine feathered beauty are available here. Stock photo available for licensing here. Limited edition signed and numbered 8x10" photo prints are available here.