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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Hello, summer.

 Peach coneflowers.

Ugh - I can't believe it's August already. I don't feel like I've gotten a chance to get acquainted with Summer 2015, and it's practically putting on its coat and heading towards the door. Mark's garden was especially beautiful this year, so while I haven't been motivated to pick up my camera otherwise, I made sure to capture at least some of the flowers. I think the peach cone flowers above were new additions this year.

Bee balm.

Flowerbed.

Stargazer lilies.

Daylilies.

Hello, Mr. Cardinal.

And sometimes I like to pretend I'm a wildlife photographer. I noticed this male cardinal just having a grand old time flying about the lower part of the yard, so I stalked him until I got this shot. It wasn't the one that I wanted though. The little stinker refused to land on the fence post, so I had to settle for him perching on the fence itself.

Hummingbird in flight.

One of the things that I look forward to every summer is seeing the hummingbirds. This year, we had at least two or three visiting the bee balm at any giving time. I've tried in the past to get a photo of one, but it's difficult because they get easily spooked by the giant black thing known as my camera. This one is a little out of focus, but it's progress!

One ticked off hummingbird.

This one cracks me up - that is one ticked off hummingbird!  One moment, he would be busy feeding on the flowers oblivious to my presence, but as soon as he figured out I was there, he would zoom away, only to come back a minute or so later. We repeated this exercise at least ten times, so at this point, he had to be fed up with me bothering him.

Hangin' in the coop.

Now here are three ladies who are never shy around the camera! Pepsi, Poppy and Blossom have adapted well to their new coop. No eggs yet, but hopefully sometime this fall we will have that news to report!