Birds And Other Critters In My Backyard In Northeastern Pennsylvania.

I was fortunate to have traveled to New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago these past few weeks. I saw many  exotic  and beautiful birds and other animals on my trips. However, you don’t have to travel to a rain forest or the other side of the planet to see the beauty of nature. It can be found in your own backyard wherever you live, if you pay attention and keep your eyes peeled. I had a number of beautiful birds and other animals visit  my backyard these in just the past few days here in Hazle Township in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The brown thrasher shown here showed up for the first time on Monday. I have never seen one of these birds before. 

And the usual migratory birds have been visiting my feeder, including the colorful male goldfinches. They will remain here in my yard for the  entire summer. 

One of my favorite birds is the indigo bunting. This one made its first appearance at my feeders this morning. I love its brilliant color. I could watch it at me feeders all day. Unfortunately, it usually just passes through during the Spring.

As does the colorful red-breasted grosbeak. This male also made its first appearance at my feeders today.

I always hope one  of these two species would nest in the woods near my backyard instead of the pretty but obnoxious blue jays. These noisy birds scare off the other birds at my feeders and also steal their nest, destroying their eggs. 

The 

houses finches, 

and robins return and nest in my yard each Spring. 

The year-long residents, including the woodpeckers,

mourning doves, 

nuthatches, 

cardinals and 

turkeys are always present at my feeders throughout the year.  I am blessed to have them and doubly blessed to have the migratory birds return each Spring.

I also have other critters show up in my backyard, including a herd of about 10 deers who show up to feed on the corn and alfalfa I put out for them. 

There are always chipmunks, 

and squirrels eating the seeds left behind by the birds and deer.

 I also get red and grey foxes, raccoons, opossums rabbits, bats, coyotes and bears show up in my backyard. Just this past Sunday a young bear showed up at my feeders. I am in a constant battle with the many bears that visit my yard. They are always trying to get to my bird feeders. Many times they are successful, but this one wasn’t. I didn’t get a photograph of the young bear but I  did take this video I uploaded to my YouTube channel. 

I love to travel and to seek out the beauty of this small planet on which we live. I love to see new species of plants and animals and share them with my friends on social media and followers of my blog. But I am also happy watching the critters that visit my backyard every day. Here is a link to more photograph. Backyard critters May 8 2019. 

“Much of human behavior can be explained by watching the wild beasts around us. They are constantly teaching us things about ourselves and the way of the universe, but most people are too blind to watch and listen.” 
― Suzy Kassem