Feathers & Flowers at the New Nest

Whew! We are finally moved into our new-to-us Florida home, since Thurs.Three days of unpacking, cleaning, and shopping trips later, I have tamed the kitchen -- figuring out what goes where is the hardest part; Yeesh! Or is it putting the blasted contact paper down?! Wouldn't you know, the very last sheet went psycho on me...But I do have lots of room to work with, including my very first PANTRY, oh Yay! It only took me four homes and 30 years to have one! We love this area; it has a forest-y feel with all of the pine trees surrounding the homes and area. Love it! The previous owner was a 70 y/o lady, and she left a multi-bird feeder and other yard gew-gaws, yeehaw! We're a bit overwhelmed by the large backyard but supposedly the sprinkler system (also our first) waters all the plants for us too. We have a large maple tree in back, and one in front, and much more...

Here's what I snapped yesterday outside at our new sanctuary.... 

Ah yes, we have No. cardinals! Mr. C is hard to miss....

The feeder has an anti-squirrel gizmo on the pole but

The squirrels have plenty to nibble on at ground level...

We have bright green anoles here, plus some brown ones too...

(We only saw brown ones at my BIL's house)....

This poor No. mockingbird is missing its tail!

Perhaps one of the 'hood cats tried to make a

Meal out of the poor fella...

Mourning doves are plentiful, like the mockingbirds...

This male red-bellied woodpecker is quite a messy eater....

I'll get all sunflower seeds for the other feeder...

Three guesses who's providing the squirrel feed down below...

This jovial toad-topped wind chime sits in the back

Of the back yard...for now....I'll move it closer

To the screened lanai some day so we can hear it...

The neighbors have a real tall magnolia tree...

They are planted all about town too...

At least, we think they're magnolias...

Oh lookie, we have a red bottlebrush tree....

If only it had blossoms...not sure why it doesn't

Unless the prev. owner trimmed it recently...

We have these around the lanai and 1-2 other spots,

Alliums or close to those....

We have the larger purple alliums out front....

Now this, growing wild in the Black Hills,

Is called Mt. blue-eyed grass...

Prev. owner called it something else...

Shirley left us a pedestal and globe...

I'll get a more colorful globe some day

And reposition the whole thing...

We even have two very small hydrangeas!

The other one is white...both appear to

Have been chopped down; I hope they'll grow

And fill out better...

Another shot of the woodpecker,

Having returned to the feeders

After my appearance scared it off...

We've got a couple of these funky split-leaf philodendrons...

They have real large, wavy leaves and "wavy" trunks...

I believe this is a salvia a.k.a. Mexican bush sage...

We even have a peach day lily!

We have a tall queen palm tree out front,

Which has streamer-type flowers....

There's one pine tree by our house,

on one side out front...

Many others all around though...

There's even an amaryllis on the side of the house...

(Below) Mrs. Cardinal is more shy than Mr. C but

I managed to snap her from the guest room window.

This and That...

How was your Christmas?

As usual, I'm glad it's over with,

But we did have a nice Christmas Day . . .

I haven't really been out taking photos

For several days, so now's a good time to

Post misc. photos...

One of the rest stops along I-75 in the Everglades

Is taken over by a bunch of black vultures...

Creepy, yes, but I managed to get a photo...

Speaking of creepy...

A real common sight

While visiting state parks or

Any nature area with a forest-like setting,

Are huge spider webs overhead,

With these golden orb-weaver spiders

Hanging out in their center...

From back leg tip to front leg tip,

A full grown GOW is about four inches long...

Did I mention that spiders

Are my least favorite creepy crawly?!

Moving along to prettier subjects,

The common primrose willow can be seen

Here and there...

Closer to home, about 3-4 blocks away in fact,

In a McD's parking lot...

I took photos of one of two cattle egret

That were trolling for scraps...

Of all the places

To finally see a cattle egret!

Even closer to home,

This little frog

Had to be rescued

More than once

From BIL Sam's pool...

There are many ducks in the 'hood

Thanks to the large ponds nearby...

They waddle by most days

Ru likes to give them

Bread scraps...

I did a post on my S Dakota Blog

Showing the pair of Eurasian collared doves

That were visiting the feeders...

These doves were first introduced to the U.S.

Here in Florida...

This one's on the street light out front...

We have mourning doves

In the backyard often...

The ibises are occasional visitors thru the 'hood...

We see a squirrel pretty much daily,

Skittering along the fence around the back yard...

And have put peanuts out for it...

The palm warblers are scarce visitors now...

 Boat-tailed grackles are super common...

But it was a unique sight when

A female grackle found a tiny snake

In the backyard near the pool.