Backyard Visitor

There are lots of hawks patrolling our neighborhood this time of year. This beauty was perched on a branch about 8′ off the ground on a recent sunny afternoon. You can bet the squirrels and chipmunks that frequent my yard were nowhere to be seen.

My hawk identification skills aren’t great but I’m pretty sure this is a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a look at the markings and coloration on the breast and belly.

Carolina Wren II

The Carolina Wren is another local favorite of mine. These little birds are curious and fun to watch. I wasn’t close enough to this one to get a tightly cropped image but I sort of like the colors and textures here.

On The Fence

On a warm December afternoon I took a little time to do some bird watching and photography. There were a couple of male cardinals hanging around the yard and I managed to capture this one sitting on the fence.

Dogwood Bloom

close up photograph of a dogwood bloom by Doug Couvillion

Late last spring I planted a dogwood in the backyard. By that time the tree had already boomed so I wasn’t really sure what the flowers would look like. All summer I faithfully watered our new tree hoping it would produce flowers this spring. Finally, a week or two ago my care for the tree paid off. It’s in full bloom and the flowers look great. This is a close up of one of the many blooms.