May 4, 2014

Mom's Back

Sunday,  May 4, 2014

My mom had been visiting my sister in Idaho for several months and she arrived back in town last night (Saturday).  We got to see her at church this morning for the first time since she got home because it was late when she arrived back home last night and my brother-in-law who has been staying in her house, picked her up at the airport.  It is good to have her back where she belongs!  So many friends of hers at church this morning were delighted to see her.

Our Sunday School class went very well and we had good discussion.  Church was good with a very good sermon from our pastor and kind of an introduction to a series he will be starting after Mother's Day on the Foundations of our Faith.  Using the cable from the sound processor to the transistor radio that receives from the microphone on the platform, I was able to hear almost all of the sermon.

When we got home from church, Ron went out to start filling the bird feeders and the birdbaths and ponds while I warmed lunch.  I spotted some orioles so I took oranges out to encourage the orioles to stick around for a while.  Once we got inside Ron spotted this Black-bellied Whistling Duck cooling his feet on the fountain in the birdbath.

We had a relaxed lunch of leftovers and watched the birds.  Several of orioles had arrived in their migration north for the summer.  They are such a treat to see in the trees - flashes of orange and of yellow.  They enjoyed the citrus I had put out for them.

There was a lot of activity at the birdbath and I was delighted to spot this Green Jay getting a bath.

I set up my camera at one of the windows and continued photographing the Golden-fronted Woodpeckers making countless trips to gather food for their babies.  Again, I was delighted to be able to hear the babies in the hole in the tree as they told the parents to "hurry up with the food".

During one 30 minute period, I counted about 25 food deliveries to the nest.  These are hard working parents!

The woodpeckers would carry mouths full of orange back to the nest as well as the large variety of bugs.

They were so busy bringing food that sometimes they would meet at the entrance.  It was fun to watch them.  Usually they would take the food in and be back out the hole in less than 5 seconds.  Busy!

Mom and my brother-in-law came over for a while in the late afternoon so Jim could take photos of the woodpecker activity.  He is eager to see the babies before he heads back north for the summer.

 I spent most the the remaining afternoon watching, photographing, and listening to the bird activity in the backyard.

The orioles are such a treat to see.  Maybe if they lived here year around, we would begin to ignore them, taking them for granted, but I don't think so.  I enjoy everyone of them: Baltimore Orioles, Hooded Orioles, and Orchard Orioles.  There are other types, but those are the ones that were migrating through our yard yesterday. 

Another Green Jay or two were in and out of the yard late in the afternoon.  I think they have a nest in the yard next door.  

The evening was relaxing.  I read some, talked to our son and his wife in New Mexico, and watched a TV show.  I was too tired to finish this blog, and so it is being finished Monday.