... Dude! Get off my back!!

The poor blue jay parents - they are being run ragged by their brood of teenagers, who appear to be six in number. Every time poor mom or dad comes down to get some suet or a peanut, the whole brood either follows them down to the deck, begging and fluttering their adult sized wings; or they chase mom and dad into the trees, begging for treats. Mind you, they are quite capable of feeding themselves - they are just hanging on as long as possible. I got some pictures of their extremely bedraggled parents earlier today before they decided enough was bloody well enough! Here you see two of the youngsters who were taking on the suet feeder. When things got too hairy with both of them trying to hang on to the feeder, this one just decided to hop right on the siblings back and give himself a leg up. By the way, the sibling wasn't liking it ... nope, not one bit.

Anyway, not the best technical picture, but as is often the case, I picked the shot that made me laugh - and this is it. Hope it makes you chuckle a bit too!

It rained all day today, and the temps dropped down to a cool (and wonderful) 68! So, I put on a fleece, grabbed a cup of tea and Big Daddy and sat under our gazebo on the deck to watch the show. And I wasn't disappointed. Chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers, jays (or course), Carolina Wrens, cardinals, hummers, and even a brown creeper (new life list bird for me!) showed up. There is something about the rain that always seems to bring the birds out in droves. I wonder if it is because there are a lot of little bugs and mosquitos out when it rains? Well, whatever, it was a non-stop show for me. I had to take a few hours out to work - gasp! - but then I was able to get back to the important business of watching the Bistro patrons.

If you'd care to see an assortment of bedraggled birds, check out my July 20 this 'n' that on Flickr. And, yes, of course, there are hummingbirds!!

Thanks for the comments and faves and stars on my hummingbird blip yesterday. It warmed my heart that it resonated with so many of you - I guess it is no surprise that Blip is filled with a lot of nature lovers. I was able to hand-feed them again this morning, and it was no less moving for me than yesterday's experience. I'm a lucky woman.

Well, people, it's Friday!! What's on tap for everyone this weekend? I'm chiling here at the "estate" since hubs is off racing this weekend. He checked in from the track this morning and said that he was having loads of fun and driving really fast. And, he hadn't yet run into anything. That's a bonus.

Happy Friday, blippers!