The Hot Days of July

The lazy, hazy summer days of July bring plenty of entertainment as fledglings are fed and juveniles begin to figure out what life requires without mom and dad catering their needs.

Among the many juveniles in the last week is the Tufted Titmouse ...

Tufted Titmouse - juveniles

 American Goldfinch young do not have signs quite as obvious as other birds that identify the young (e.g. the pink at the base of the bill). But there has been lots of "chasing" going on, as young follow adults. This young bird did some wing fluttering and generally appeared a bit perplexed about everything ...

American Goldfinch - juvenile

Even young Blue Jays have an attitude that seems to say, "Well, I can figure this out!" - as did this young jay who studied the suet feeder from the nearby dogwood ...

Blue Jay - juvenile

... and then took a lesson from the topsy-turvy nuthatches to feed on the suet ...

Young Blue Jay feeds in nuthatch fashion

Evening Grosbeak families have had a very successful season and the young birds often outnumber the adults at the feeders. This youngster was even chasing off adult birds from his perch ...

Evening Grosbeak - juvenile

The bee-balm is in full bloom (early it seems), but no complaint from the many young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds working the flower beds ...

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

... the complaints come from the resident male Ruby-throat, who simply cannot keep up with all of the intruders on his exclusive domain. After several territorial flights to chase off these upstarts, he took this breather. He seemed to express his displeasure at the invaders - and the photographer - by sticking his tongue out ...

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A bonus to the summer bird seeding is the sunflower seeds that have been scattered on the ground - a few have managed to sprout and thrive, providing bright spots of sunshine in unexpected places ...

Add caption