I found this young female Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting quietly in a cedar tree near the nature center...she looked really shy and timid and I'm afraid I might have scared her as she climbed into a thicket of leaves trying to hide....
but the soft clicking noise of my camera soon caught her curiosity and she turned and gave me a peek-a-through look..saying, Hey lady..I'm trying to lay low here, be good and wait for Mom!!
...mean while Daddy Common Yellowthroat is busy finding those nice juicy worms...What a beautiful bird he is... as he perched in front of the silky threads of several spider webs.
...and baby Red-bellied Woodpecker has finally been successful at extracting a whole peanut from the feeder...Yea!! He worked so long to get this peanut!!
but the most exciting parents I saw this breeding season were the Yellow-breasted Chats...
I'm not sure which one is the Mom and which one is the Dad..but one was perched on my left and the other on my right with goodies for their off-spring!! Very cool birds, hard to catch with the camera as they are forever diving into the tall grasses....this particular morning they were extremely busy getting goodies for the screaming crowd in the nest so I had plenty of opportunities to get some shots. Oh, how I wished for a peek at those chirping babies.
and.. speaking of babies...ours is celebrating his 12th birthday....he's definitely not a bird but he is a bird-dog!! A Brittany Spaniel....seen here at 13 weeks...way back in 1997
Happy B-Day Sydney and may you have many more!!
....and lastly we have a Daddy raptor...well, no, not a real bird raptor but definitely a cool one ( the F-22) one I love to watch. We are off to, yet, another airshow, full scale this time.. and I won't have my computer with me..so I will be catching up with all of you when I get back. Good birding and enjoy the week!! 
