Six Little Goslings

Surprise! The geese had goslings!!! Here are some pictures I took of the happy family:

Colorful Creatures: Sandhill Cranes & Canada Geese

Lately I have had the good fortune to observe Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese in action. They have been checking out the ponds on our farm. The geese in particular have been enjoying swimming in the ponds, and the Sandhill Cranes have been merely onlookers.

I was able to get pictures of both kinds of beautiful birds:

Sandhill Crane & Canada Goose together

Sandhill Cranes getting ready to fly

Sandhill Cranes in flight

Canada Goose

Canada Goose preparing to flap wings

A pair of Canada Geese

Happy Birdwatching!

All photos copyright 2012 Farm Girl Rosie.

Hummingbirds

In the past week, I've sighted three hummingbirds in our garden. Two of them hardly ever come by, but one female bird has been quite busy in bee balm, lilac, and rosebushes.

I think she must be inspecting possible nest locations. I read in Birds's Nests, by Hal H. Harrison (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975) that male ruby-throated hummingbirds do not take part in nesting activity, so it would make sense that this female hummingbird is searching for a spot by herself. She's been active in many places around here, I think this must be the case.

I'm very certain that she's not a rufous hummingbird, since she appears to have no spots on her chest, and the other birds I've seen her with have identical green coats. (Male rufous hummingbirds have reddish-brownish coats.)

Early Summer Sights

Early summer is always a beautiful time of year, and some of the prettiest things to see are nature's cute creatures. Here are some attractions I've been seeing lately:

• Swallowtail butterflies
• Dragonflies
• Bumblebees and honey bees
• Baby red squirrels
• Whitetail deer
• Birds, including
• sparrows
• red-winged blackbirds
• robins
• bluebirds
• goldfinch
• osprey
• bluejays
• vultures
• eagles

I also saw a large pink-and-white spider this morning . . . but it wasn't exactly a "cute creature." :-)