When the conditions are right (no rain, not too cold/hot, not a lot of bugs), I like to open the top part of the rear window, close the shutters, and take photos as if I am in a very nice birdblind.

Did you know that these common house sparrows are not native to the United States? They were brought in from Europe.

This little lady has been at the feeder all week. She is a house finch. I have not seen a male (they have red on them), which is highly unusual, as I usually see them in pairs.

This Carolina chickadee was really active today. They come from afar, grab a sunflower seed, then fly up into the tree , hold it with their feet, and peck it open. To get a photo, I focused on the feeder and just waited for it to come.

The white-winged doves like to clean up the seeds that fall out of the feedersl

They also like to hang out in the trees watching what's happening around them.

Every once in awhile, one will try to land on the feeder. They are too heavy for it, and they can't balance on it enough to get a chance to nibble on the seeds.

They either fly off in frustration or fall to the ground.

This one almost made it.

This one looks like he is possessed! I love the Halloween color of his eyes.

I should mention that when the chickadees and titmice look for that one sunflower, they throw a lot of seeds on the ground for the doves.

Here we see a tiny little Inca Dove. To put their size in perspective, that little orange ball is a nylon BB. Jared used to hang out in the yard shooting targets. When the ground cover dies out during an especially harsh drought-ridden summer, hundreds of his little BBs are visible everywhere.

These last two pictures are very poor quality, but this female cardinal is just too cute to leave off the post.

They have such strong beaks. They crush the seeds and eat them right then and there. None of that "hold it in your feet and peck it to death" like the chickadees and titmice.