Recent birds on the "life list"

We've had some new feathered visitors to the cabin in the last couple of weeks, as well as one additional lifer from work. The big excitement was the painted bunting. Unfortunately, he was being somewhat difficult when it came to pictures. But we were able to get a couple:

Another addition to the life list is the brown-headed cowbird. This one is less exciting for a couple of reasons. Obviously, they are not as spectacularly colored as the painted bunting, but also because cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests!

The big excitement for me was identifying a broad-winged hawk. Unfortunately, I saw it at work so I was not able to get a picture, but you can see it here. (Or maybe I should say fortunately, since these pictures are better than mine!

And finally, a couple of regular visitors to the yard. Cardinals are here year-round, but the Indigo Bunting is seasonal.

In a cabin by a wood...

A few pics to show you our world:

Our Cabin.

... and a little bit of our woods.

No "rabbits hopping by" though -- our swamp rabbit disappeared (we think he was hit by a car).

Hummers

It's spring, and we're finally beginning to see some humming birds. Now that we have a front porch on the cabin, we can get up-close and personal with these fearless little creatures. They are increadibly loud when they buzz up to your face (or wonder if your ear is really a flower).

This little guy is busy guarding his flower. Humming birds are increadibly territorial, and really mean little guys. They are also hard to photograph as they move so quickly. And my camera is not the best...