Berries, Blooms & Birds

     Not sure how I became infatuated with birds but here I am talking about them once more, hee hee.  In our yard, er I mean garden, there are alot of blooming plants and trees...and when I say alot I mean almost everything blooms & berries at least twice a year.  This year our yard has almost reached it's capacity of quantity and with the quantity of plants we have hence the more wildlife we have.  So this year has been my "oh wow, look!" year.  Never have I seen so many birds thrive in our garden!  We have a brood of 6, yes six, mockingbirds that must be parents and offspring because up until this year only a breeding pair would staunchly protect our garden as their territory.  Now these six mockingbirds just absolutely love chattering all day, flying from tree to tree, singing on the telephone pole and chasing each other all around.  Along with the mockingbird clan, we have 6 orioles, yes six, that fly in our garden for some tasty treats.  Usually I see the orioles only in pairs, but not this year.  Oddly enough we normally have a gang of bluejays but there have only been a few in passing as I think the mockingbird clan chases them off.   There are always the wandering gypsy troupes of young ibis's.  Walking through yards, picking out lawn bugs & grubs, nere a care in the world.  Then we have a multitude of seasonal birds that come in throughout the year.  I can't wait to see who comes to visit this year for the holiday's, lol!

     So my thinking as to the shockingly high number of birds here is....food, water & shelter.  Yes all the main necessities in life a bird could ask for.  With that said, here is what I have noticed the past few months.....  

Our willow bustic tree's bloomed & the bee's pollinated the heck outta it! 

Then the birds ate all the willow bustic berries off
the entire tree in four days flat!  I don't think the tree was expecting that, lol.

We have three beautyberry bushes that load up on beautiful bright purple berry clusters all throughout the summer.  The birds absolutely love to sit & pick at the bunches of them like they were grapes on a vine.  Even the morning doves and the squirrels will muster up the courage to go to the end of the thin branches for these edible delectable's. 

Look at how many beautyberry clusters there are, gosh who wouldn't love to nibble on these!
Yup, all gone in a matter of weeks.

Next in our line up is the Jamaican Caper, the birds & squirrels eat the red sticky inside of the opened seed pods like it was candy.  Our's have just started opening last week & it's amazing to see how many times a day the birds go in and out of the tree.

Juicy sticky Jamaican caper seed pod burst open!

Unidentified bird in Jamaican caper

Another unidentified new bird in our Jamaican caper

The firebush is one of our local wildlife's all time favorites around here.  The bee's, hummingbirds, butterflies & orioles love the flowers, the mockingbirds & oriole eat the berries, the warblers like the bugs, the ladybugs love the aphids/mites, the doves love to hang out in it and I love to watch it all go down, lol.

Our firebush before it was knocked around by TS Issac.

One of many troupes of ibis's searching for grubs & bugs in our neighborhood yards.

Just a little berry tasting here for you at Casa Sheri.  Hope you enjoyed it!

What kind of berries and tasty things do your local birds like to eat?

Happy gardening and many best wishes,

Sheri

xoxo