Birds and Butterflies - Rachel's Gardens

Two Days in May '06
Janet's note: I decided to photograph the different birds landing on our arbor outside the kitchen window for a day in May. I was so obsessed with the birds that it carried over to the next morning as well! I used my Olympus SP-350 Digital camera and cropped most of the images in the camera to get a closer view. This type of digital cropping causes the images to appear pixilated (grainy or noisy in film terms), so they are not enlargeable for this reason.

Scarlet Tanager	Ma & Pa Bluebird	Baltimore Oriole

Cape May Warbler

Red-headed Woodpecker

American Robin

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Northern Cardinal

Blue Jay

Downy Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

Taken same day outside the sliding door in the kitchen overlooking the back deck.

Indigo Bunting

Taken at another feeder on a different day - a quick glimpse of this rarity - he flew off before I could get closer.

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Tucker is watching me take photos from the kitchen, and waits patiently to go out.

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Baltimore Oriole

With my Olympus I was able to get close because the poor fellow appeared stunned.

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Baltimore Oriole

I put an orange beside him for energy. He was gone when I checked later.

Birds seen in our backyard:
American Crow American Redstart American Robin Baltimore Oriole Bay-breasted Warbler Black-and-White Warbler Black-capped Chickadee Blue-winged Warbler? Brown Thrasher Cape May Warbler Carolina Wren Common Grackle	Cooper's Hawk Dark-eyed Junco Downy Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird Eastern Towhee European Starling Gray Catbird Hairy Woodpecker House Wren House Finch Indigo Bunting Magnolia Warbler	Mourning Dove Northern Flicker Northern Cardinal Orchard Oriole Palm Warbler Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-headed Woodpecker Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-eyed Vireo Rose-breasted Grosbeak	Red-tailed Hawk Ruby-throated Hummingbird Scarlet Tanager Tufted Titmouse Turkey Vulture White-throated Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Birds at Rachel's Gardens 2007

NOTE: I've borrowed a Digital SLR and 100-300mm telephoto lens to take photos this spring. Makes a big difference in the quality when enlarged!

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Red-bellied Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

American Robin

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Fly away, Bluebird top view

Fly away, Bluebird bottom view

Fly away, Bluebird side view

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Male Eastern Bluebird

Female Eastern Bluebird

Bluebird Peeking Out

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Mourning Dove flying over pond

Fighting Robins

Red-tailed Hawk

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Blue Jay

Bathing House Finch

Dark-eyed Junco
on a rainy day

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White-throated Sparrow
cold, rainy day!

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Here's lookin' at you

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Male Downy Woodpecker

Wren song

Bluebirds on mealworm feeder

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Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Blackburnian Warbler

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Palm Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler

Indigo Bunting

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-headed Woodpecker and Blue Jay Trio

Female Baltimore Oriole

Magnolia Warbler

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Busy House Wren

There's something surreal
about this I that I like

Immature Male Baltimore Oriole

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Red-eyed Vireo

Magnolia Warbler

Northern Cardinal

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Flurry of Finches

White-breasted Nuthatch

Red-headed Woodpecker

The young red-headed boy who doesn't mind me singing!

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Bay-breasted Warbler

Downy Woodpecker surprised by Oriole at suet feeder

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Have we met before?

Female Baltimore Oriole

I bent the ladle handle over the arbor so it can hold grape jelly.

American Robin in our pond

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"Elusive" Indigo Bunting

I also call it the "incognito" bunting because it's hard to spot in the shadows in the trees! The large photo shows how dark they look in the shade. I've lightened the close-ups to show their color.

What's up Wrens?

Blue-winged Warbler? Or an immature Baltimore Oriole?

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Turkey Vulture

Hey, where are you going?

Hawk on our arbor!
"I was working on the computer and heard a bird screech outside the window..."
Click to read more

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Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker & Red-breasted Nuthatch
Peek-a-boo!

Northern Flicker

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Northern Flickers
You can really see the yellow and white of the tail feathers when they take off!

House Finches
All puffed up and roosting right outside the window

Can you see the
White-throated Sparrow?
Click to enlarge, then mouse-over to find him!

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Janet's note: I got a new camera (Canon XSi), and this is one of the first new bird photos I've taken with it using an Image Stabilization (IS) 70-300mm lens. No more tripod! :)

Northern Flicker
This is the same tree trunk that the Downy Woodpecker nested in last year - new hole on back!

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Note: I've tried my best to correctly identify the birds using "Birds of Illinois Field Guide" by Stan Tekiela, "Birds of Eastern and Central North America" by Roger Tory Peterson, and "Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America." If you see an incorrect identification, please email me! Thanks!

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Rachel's client supplied these butterfly photos. Some were taken at the home butterfly garden planted by Rachel:
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Monarch courtesy S. Smith	Monarch on echinacea courtesy S. Smith	Black swallowtail on monarda courtesy S. Smith
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Swallowtail on butterfly bush courtesy S. Smith	Swallowtail on echinacea courtesy S. Smith	Swallowtail courtesy S. Smith
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Other pond and garden wildlife at Rachel's Gardens
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Frogs in our pond - we enjoy listening to them at night	Q: Will we have tadpoles again this year?	"Stubby"
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American Bullfrog singing...	...and answering back	Whoa!
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Red-tail Fox behind our house	A: Yes, the tadpole's are back!	Our pond koi
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Eastern Chipmunk	Extreme Tadpole Close-up Rescued from the filter during cleaning & put in mason jar for a closer look. Rachel thinks it looks prehistoric.	Little Brown Bat Feeds at the pond and helps keep the mosquito population under control.
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Tiny Frog Our tadpoles are growing up! We're starting to find these little guys in the gardens.	Chipmunk in Rachel's shoe! Our cat Tucker brought a chipmunk in the kitchen, dropped it, & the chipmunk ran and hid in Rachel's shoe. Fortunately Rachel saw this happen!	Black Squirrel Arrived in Dec '07 just in time for visiting relatives to see!
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Opossum Decided to snack on some pretzel sticks on our deck during the last snowfall.	Raccoon Our teenager living under the deck!

Critters seen in (or right behind) our backyard:
American Bullfrog Black Squirrel Chipmunk Eastern Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk Field Mouse Little Brown Bat Opossum	Rabbit Raccoon Red-tailed Fox Shrew Weasel White-tailed Deer Woodchuck

I kept hearing a noise in the kitchen that sounded like rattling paper. Finally caught the squirrel in action, and he didn't seem to mind my presence, so I ran and grabbed my camera and waited for his return.