Azaleas in full bloom and animals are picnicing in our back yard

The azaleas are in full bloom - the hummingbirds love to land and check out the nectar of their blossoms.

To view any of these photos larger, just click on the photo.

Tuffy is the resident cat. His favorite window on the backyard is one of the chairs or the floor on the back porch. From there, he can see all the comings and goings of the birds and squirrels at the feeders. There is a new puppy next door - they haven't met nose to nose yet!

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We feed our birds year round, but it is always fun in the spring when those that fly south return for the summer...or even for just a little while as they head farther north.

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The squirrels share the squirrel feeder pretty well. One can go upstairs to the sunflower seeds and one can stay downstairs with the corn.

The hummingbirds are back and drinking like they haven't had any nectar for a while. This one let me get pretty close with my camera.

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The grosbeak come in the spring and then head out. While they are here we certainly enjoy their color. Look at how big their beaks are - makes it easy for them to crack into corn and seeds.

Here is a photo with a couple of male grosbeaks (the colored ones) and a female (the brown one). They are about the same size - just different coloring.

We don't see many blue jays here, but this year we've had several at our feeders nearly every day.

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We have lots of goldfinches now too. The wrens are back and starting to set up house in our two wren houses that hang on the clothesline. And, we finally have a pair of bluebirds that have taken up residence in our bluebird house. It was new and I understand that they don't like new wood for their homes. This is the first year they have taken up residence in the Brownings backyard.