Birthday for the birds

We have three bird feeders outside our kitchen window now and it has become the bird hot spot of the neighborhood. For birthday week Aaron got me a Peterson bird book so I can figure out exactly who is stopping by to dine.

Feed the birds

Temperatures actually crawled out of the single digits today so we went for a walk in Mendon Ponds Park.

They have bird watching trails where if you hold your hand out full of bird seed, chickdees and other little birds will come eat it out of your hand. This one is a nuthatch. He is looking at Aaron like "Is this all you got pal?!"

I loved feeding the birds. I feel like Snow White.

They tend to sneak up behind you. I could hear their wings fluttering on a branch behind me and then with a *fwap fwap fwap* one would swoop down onto my hand. Aaron may have jumped like a Nervous Nellie the first time.

Their little feet really cling onto your fingers and they are heavier than they look.

The best is when they take their time selecting their treat, picking through the selection of seeds in your hand.

Aaron got me a fisheye lens for Christmas and I took it along on our walk.

The squirrels were getting in on the handout too.

It was a lot of fun to try out.

Looking up.

Swiss Birds

As soon as we started exploring Zurich, I had suspicions that the Swiss had shipped in swans and strategically placed them in picturesque spots to up the visual appeal of their cities.

They were very willing to pose for photos.

Yes, thank you. That is very nice.

Ahhh. Now I see why they are willing to pose. Bits of delcious baked goods tossed to them on a regular basis.

A good photo made even better with the addition of swans.

Another bird encounter... a little more strange. At the top of Jungfrau... where it was cold and windy and blustery, we found these black birds hanging out.

They were pretty friendly. Posing for pictures and hoping for a handout. I couldn't imagine HOW they got so high up in the mountains! I watched them fling themselves from the Sphinx and plummet down into the white clouds. Nutty!

UPDATE: Turns out those birds at the top of Jungfrau are called Alpine Choughs. Thank you to Allycatz for letting me know in my comments!

Kitty TV

Aaron got Bonnie and Clyde a nice larger cage. They like the extra space. Stewie likes the view too.

My friend Maria on Facebook calls it "Kitty TV". So true.

Bonnie & Clyde

Friday night we took Aaron's mom to the little butterfly garden at Strong Museum. It's small but packed with butterflies, turtles, tortoises and birds. We really loved the little finches that were flying around.

We liked the butterflies but the finches really caught our attention. They made the area seem tropical and spring-like.

After talking it over Aaron and I went to a local bird shop and got two Society Finches. Bonnie and Clyde are the newest member of our household.

Hawaii flowers, birds & words

There were a lot of birds in Hawaii we have never seen before. Java Sparrow spotted at Diamond Head.

Brazillian Cardinal at Makapuu Lookout.

There were flowers everywhere in Hawaii. I loved seeing them in the leis.

The state flower of Hawaii is the Yellow Hibiscus.

There were a lot of hibiscus.

And Plumeria which smell so nice.

I liked to learn Hawaiian words, even though I was terrible at remembering them (esp street names)...

...and I loved how they were used everywhere.