For many, many years I have fed the birds and squirrels near my house. During spring and fall migration periods I will occasionally see some interesting species coming through and staying for a meal or two, but most of the time it’s my residents that I see out there. Momma and Poppa cardinal live here all year as do a number of others including this tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor). It was apparently very hungry a couple weekends ago, because even though one of my older dogs was wandering around out by the feeding station, it kept flying in, picking a seed, and heading off to eat it in a nearby trees. The residents are pretty used to me standing out there and watching them, but they don’t usually come down if dogs are in the back. I do have to say that after the dog settled himself in a nice sunny spot, the birds were more comfortable with coming to eat. I took these photos then, when the birds were hanging around a little bit longer.