BACKYARD PLEASURES

For the first time in my adult life, I'm entering the warm weather months living in a condo versus a single family home.  My backyard has always been a source of pleasure, and I'm finding that's true too in my condo.

At the back of my yard is this large stand of mature, evergreen trees and shrubs.  It's very dense and provides an excellent habitat for all kinds of birds and critters.  

During the evening hours, a couple rabbits have ventured from the safety of their tree habitat to explore the area under my bird feeders.

But imagine my surprise one day, when two mallards came out of the trees.  This female was leading the way.  I'm guessing she and her mate were heading to the wetlands and ponds in my neighborhood.  

But it's the birds that I enjoy the most.  This robin pecks the ground for worms and other types of feed.

Once the robin finds something to its liking, it flies to and disappears into this dense, flowering shrub.  I wonder if there is a nest somewhere in the interior.

One of my most common bird visitors is the mourning dove.  Unfortunately, they would arrive in large numbers, sit on the trays of my feeders, and swing there in the breeze.  They effectively blocked the feeders from all other birds.  They were also draining my large feeders every other day.

I had to switch my feeders to a squirrel-proof type, which effectively shut out the larger bird species and squirrels.  The doves still hang around, but are relegated to eating seeds that drop on the ground.

This handsome male House Finch seems to have found a seed that's nearly as large as his mouth.

I'm not the only one who is enjoying the backyard.  Gracie, my three-year old mini-goldendoodle, no longer has a fenced backyard, but she does have her thirty foot purple lead which is allowing her to explore her new surroundings too.