[ssmith]

Do your 'ducks' dive deep?

We watched a similar bird at Lake Sumter and a local told us they were Coots!!!

Now I had to make some comment to my husband about old coots!!!

[marantho]

We have a Morning Dove nesting in a flower basket right at our front door(in Village Santiago)...she comes back every year to the same nest...makes a few renovations and lays her eggs.
This year she has, so far, raised three broods...she is currently working on #3...each with two chicks. We have a sign on our walkway telling anyone and everyone not to come to the front door...we don't want her disturbed. That sign has been up since the end of April!!!!

[kittygilchrist]

I have a few butterfly plants back of the lanai and insect eating birds eat the pollinators that feed on them. My fave is an eastern kingbird that likes wasps...I watch the chase scene with fascination.

[Mimivillager]

Graciegirl, I love your picture. Don't know kow you got it there!

[PaPaLarry]

Nice description Gracie!!!! Can someone tell me where all the birds have gone (besides the doves and mockingbirds)??????? We used to have so many birds at the feeder, but no more.

[My Daily Run]

I was having trouble with red winged blackbirds in my bird feeder and they would scare all the cardinals away so I took out the premium wild bird seed and I put in safflower seed and no more black birds...I have so many cardinal...lots of babies and everyday I can see some of the males starting to turn red on their heads and breast. I have seen I think 2 different male adults (as one I think is much larger then the other) but I mostly see females that are brown with little red beaks and the babies are all brown except for the males that are changing daily with a little more red. I love them and I have my binoculars right by my side.

[buggyone]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

This beautiful place is a little like the formal gardens of Versailles, a little like the part in Snow White when she sees bunnies and butterflies and all kinds of birds and chipmunks and squirrels and mice and deer...but it also reminds me when I come back on campus after being away driving down the ordinary roads of Florida and then, when you enter The Villages, just like when it switched to color in the movie The Wizard of Oz, the color brightens, the music strengthens and everything around you is just so lovely and a feast for your eyes.

I am so glad I followed the yellow brick road and Oz is my year 'round home.

Gracie,

My wife really loved your description of The Villages and especially the comparison to The Wizard of Oz.

This truly is a remarkable place.

[redwitch]

Originally Posted by rayschic

redwitch..we have a family of cardinals that come to visit everyday. The three babies come first and then the adults right behind. The babies look exactly like the female adult except that the babies have a black beak and the mother's is red. So, look closely, they might be babies that you are seeing.

Nope -- females; beaks are bright red or orange. Maybe the guys are out doing their job?

Saw a coyote the other day. I'm used to Western coyotes, which are pretty scraggly looking. This one had beautiful full coat and tail, just trotting along, minding it's own business.

Now, if we could a few pachyderm sightings, the zoo would be complete.

[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by redwitch

Nope -- females; beaks are bright red or orange. Maybe the guys are out doing their job?

Saw a coyote the other day. I'm used to Western coyotes, which are pretty scraggly looking. This one had beautiful full coat and tail, just trotting along, minding it's own business.

Now, if we could a few pachyderm sightings, the zoo would be complete.

Dee, where was the coyote?

[looneycat]

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

Dee, where was the coyote?

errr, at city fire..

[gomoho]

Originally Posted by My Daily Run

I was having trouble with red winged blackbirds in my bird feeder and they would scare all the cardinals away so I took out the premium wild bird seed and I put in safflower seed and no more black birds...I have so many cardinal...lots of babies and everyday I can see some of the males starting to turn red on their heads and breast. I have seen I think 2 different male adults (as one I think is much larger then the other) but I mostly see females that are brown with little red beaks and the babies are all brown except for the males that are changing daily with a little more red. I love them and I have my binoculars right by my side.

Where are you buying the safflower seed? I saw some, but it was very expensive.

[Barefoot]

I didn't know that orioles love sugared water. I have a flock of brightly-colored orioles that have turned my hummingbird feeder into an oriole feeder, by pulling out the little filters.

[CFrance]

there are oriole feeders that you put liquid in that is orange colored. I'm sure it's sugar water just like the hummingbird feeder stuff. We put orange halves out on the deck in the spring--right now is the time in MI--and they eat like crazy. Then later on they go for the insects instead of the oranges. this is all West MI oriole info...

[blaZen]

You city folk crack me up!

[jimbo2012]

seeing & hearing lots of frogs here, bright green, 1-2 inches



Sandhill cranes walking around also, no mammals perhaps the construction around hillsborough trail is scaring them off.