The Holler’s Posh Summer Residents~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES


Just like all the best tony places, The Holler, while decidedly non-tony, has flashy summer residents, who live here only in the summer, and move on to their more expensively-agreeable tropical homes in the winter.
Grosbeak

But, unlike some snobby humans who move from their summer to winter homes, irregardless of whether the locals actually want them in either place, these summer residents are welcomed and appreciated by all The Holler locals….. meaning my small family.
(Please note the use of the word irregardless. My husband is adamant irregardless is not a word, but I, obviously, am disregarding this.)


The flashy-folks arrival at The Holler creates celebration, fascination, lots of, “What is this bird?” types of conversations. San Diego county and its rural environs, have more bird species than any other place in the continental US.
Hooded Oriole

I say, “Did you see? I think the first oriole has arrived?”
I was late in putting out the oriole feeders this season, due to being away on a trip, and I was worried the orioles would see this as irresponsibility on my part, which of course it was, and decide not to bless us with their summer presence. Thankfully they have decided to hang around!


My husband says, “I just saw another bird. It was big and black, has a mohawk and red eyes. What is this bird?”
Or, “I saw this new bird, it’s really yellow, not big, and has brown patches on it’s back and white spots. What is it?”


My son asks, “What is it with the hummingbirds? Why do they buzz around my face every time I walk outside? Don’t they know this could be dangerous for them with humans?”
This query is prompted because he hangs the oriole feeders for me which I can’t reach, but he can, because he’s very tall, and the hummers just surround his head while he does this. He repeats, while hanging the feeder, and trying to see through the buzzing hummer hordes surrounding his head, “Why are they doing this?”
I say, “It is because you are hanging the feeder a bit slowly, and the hummers really think you should hold it steady and straight for them NOW, so they can feed from the feeder directly, while you stand still and hold it there for them. They apparently think this is the sole purpose of your life.”
The hummers aren’t even supposed to be drinking from the oriole feeders since they have their own feeders, but hummers don’t listen to reason.
Western Scrub Jay


It is a bird summer resort here at The Holler. Birds sense, over time, who they need to fear, or can trust, much like like humans do, but birds, for good reason, are far better at this type of calculus then we humans are. Check out this little mowhawked finch-fledgling for example. He has a nest in a custom made bird box by our front door, where we come and go all the time. I have a visceral sense to not photograph wild bird nests because it can be terrifying and life disrupting for them if I get too close. But I gave in and decided to photograph this guy very carefully. And you can see the results. The fledgling, looked at me with pure baby-bird annoyance, but then, ignored me, and went back to sleep, while I took more photos.
Fledgling House Finch


I do think it is very nice of the wild birds to allow us to live in their Holler and be their personal servants and food and treat providers.
Cheers to you from The Holler wild birds who have learned that some humans are real suckers, but they can be trusted~

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288 thoughts on “The Holler’s Posh Summer Residents~”

  5. Wow, so beautifully captured, Cindy! Good to know SD had this many birds. They are lucky to have personal servants and food and treat providers. I can tell how happy they are. 🙂 <3

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    1. Oh boy, I would have to think about that. I take a lot of photos and start throwing them away immediately when I first look at them. Maybe out of 50 photos I might select 5, but then I take 50 more and select 5 and then narrow the ten down to maybe two or three. Photos of the same thing compete against each other in this constant winnowing process. This works with photos taken at home, but not as well when traveling, when I can’t take that many photos of the same thing. I am not sure but I would guess I post about 1% of what I originally take. No one has ever asked me this before and it is important to what I do. Thanks for thinking of it.

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      1. Thanks, Cindy. We less accomplished amateurs easily forget how much work goes into production of a few polished display images. Your percentages inspire me to get a larger memory card and shoot even more images than I do now! Thank you for the many hours you put in to give us bloggers such pleasure!

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  7. I envy your knowlegde about birds Cindy. I’m afraid I’m more like your husband, irregardless of any other characteristic then I am about to say, concerning his wisdom in naming birds. I can distinguish two kinds of birds: those who fly and those who float. Okay, to be honest, I do know the sparrow because it used to be the most common urban bird in my country (now it’s place seem to be taken by seagulls and, strangely enough, herons, who don’t seem to fish anymore but order there food at the fast food counter.) Hummers we don’t have, alas, but orioles we do have, althoug they are seldom seen. I find the picture of the red disclike thing and the yellow and black birds stunning! Are they eating organges? I wouldn’t want to meet the baby finch in a dark alley though 🙂

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    1. Laughing, my husband will love this comment! They are eating oranges and grape jam and nectar, which are three of their most favorites things, all provided for them in one feeding station, which is why they congregate and bicker among themselves in a most hilarious manner with lots of exaggerated head bobbing. They are so much fun to have here for the summer. Herons are ridiculous. They just park themselves wherever there is a food supply and stay like they were always around. We had a Great Blue who arrived at The Holler, parked himself, and stayed, gulping lizards like M&M’s. He was about 41/2 feet tall, and would creep up on me when I wasn’t looking, startling me. The first time I saw him through the glass french doors, I thought he was a dinosaur!

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    1. We have these handmade bird houses hanging around. Since there is an abundance of food and water for the birds, they breed multiple hatches. per couple, per season. This is clutch 2 this season. It has two very grumpy looking fledgling house finches in it. Clutch 3 is now in process~

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  10. What superb focus you get on your bird shots. That yellow Oriole is just gorgeous and so are your images of them.
    (if I put out more feeding stations or seed bowls, all I would get are more House Sparrows 🙂 )

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    1. Awww, thank you and yes, the finches are ubiquitous aren’t they! We have oak groves here and lots of open space so we attract a variety of species which I do enjoy. We get some odd exotics too which is always interesting~

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  12. Oh, I love your summer visitors and that baby finch is adorable! (I also use irregardless even if it is considered an inherently redundant and unacceptable word.) 🙂

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  14. “… am disregarding this.)” irregardless of what he says. My spellcheck just asked if “irregardless” should be added to my dictionary.
    Your beautiful feathered friends did not forget you! Lucky for you and us. It is your personality, of course, not the 24/7 soup kitchen, for they appear to have been well fed in your absence.
    Thanks again for more great pictures.

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  17. Fabulous pictures. My Aunt has Orioles at her place in Grand Terrace but not as many. They eat out of a humming bird feeder adapted to them by taking the smaller plastic yellow flower openings off and leaving them bigger holes to access the nectar. Beautiful Birds. Not so much your finch fledgling though, he looks a little ruffled. ~~dru~~

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    1. Finch fledglings look like Winston Churchill on a particularly bad day, and I say this with all respect since I greatly admire Winston and have my grandfather’s painting of him in my office. And how clever of your aunt to devise this method! 🐤

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    1. I can see them in the tropics chatting, “Well it is wonderful here, but I am feeling ready for our Holler summer vacation. We don’t have to do anything!” 🐤

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    1. Did your husband grow up in the midwest? Apparently this was drilled into students in the midwest. Irregardless of it’s status as a word, I like it! Laughing……..

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      1. No, he grew up in the northeast. I like it too, but he likes to correct me, or should I say remind me, that it is not a word. Maybe it is a feminine word… one more thing about us they just don’t get!

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    1. Thank you very much for not taking my hubby’s side in the irregardless issue! I am just disregarding all the people who are saying it isn’t a word, but my husband won’t and he will be very smug now…..

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    1. Yes, I had sent this to him but he persists irregardlessly (thank you for this iteration) I will add it to my repertoire. I think this proves irregardless is a word, he thinks it proves the opposite. I must say bloggers are lining up with him which will make him very happy, particularly since bloggers are such a wordy-wise bunch….

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  30. Any clues for hummingbird feeders? We have a standard plastic feeder and use the store-bought sugar solution, but have only seen 2 hummers in the last 2 months (we live in southwest Ohio). We get cardinals and woodpeckers galore, but few hummers.

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    1. I have a couple ideas. Lose the commercial mix. My hummers won’t touch it and it is too expensive. Mix sugar to water in a 1 to 4 concentration, 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water for example. While you are trying to attract new hummers do two other things, add a bit more sugar, only while you are trying to attract them, and a few drops of red dye to the mix, also only in the attraction phase as the dye is not healthy long term. The red attracts them, and they love the increase in sugar. Make sure your feeder is scrupulously clean. Scrub it with hot, sudsy water and rinse well, and change your nectar every two days if it is warm so it doesn’t ferment.
      Let me know how this works. Once you get a few more tasters, you should be on your way.

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  33. Pingback: Gorgeous post from: cindy knoke | Rethinking Life

  35. It is easy to see literally why you enjoy the Hollar birds. 🙂 They are beautiful creatures, and there are so many of varied kinds and colors to enjoy, and fascinating to watch, I’m sure.

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  37. Charming! It seems that we are both over run with tourists at the moment. Yet I prefer yours to the lot here. They are much more respectful of the environment and lovely to look at… xx

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      1. Birds and all of nature… I love people but one, two at the most, at a time and please limit the time. Warning, extreme introvert here… xx Actually a total INFP! But you may have figured that out already. 🙂

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  44. Dear Cindy,
    there is a bit of controversy about the word, “Irregardless,’ some say regardless is the better word to use, others say it’s not a word, that some Americans use it. So Cindy stick to your belief, is all I have to say. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  46. Nowadays a lot of animals and birds surrounded human are not bothered at all. It looks like they are at home and we are just guests here. I am pretty sure your photographing did not bother and scare this lovely bird at all.
    We had the robin’s nest under the deck for years. I made a lot of pictures an it was ok with them. Someday the raccoons destroyed it and after that we never see these birds build the nest at this place again.
    We are not their enemies. They have a lot of them in the wild.

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    1. Yes. I agree with everything you are saying. When you share space with wild creatures over time a sort of familiarity bond forms. The animals are used to you and visa versa. I love this more than anything else about living in the country with the wild ones.

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  48. Good morning Holler friends! There must be a very loud symphony of chirping around your place this summer. I’ve never seen so many on one feeder at once ! That’s just amazing. It’s like a keg at a frat house 😀 We are not graced with their presence in these parts so I had to look at that feeder with awe! Your hubby describes birds like I describe vehicles. I don’t know one from another and might describe an Alfa Romeo to my hubby as, “a small car, looks like a small bat mobile, red, two seater”. To wit any guess would be ok, because I wouldn’t know if he guessed wrong. Hey! Is it just me or does that baby bird look like Jack Nicholson in The Shining? xo K

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    1. Well I was thinking the baby looked like Winston Churchill on a really stressful day, but now that you mention it, the resemblance to Jack is pretty obvious. I guess I just didn’t want to admit we might have a homicidal bird here at The Holler. It is true what they say, Da Nile isn’t just a river……. Hugs to you dear friend~ <3 🕊️

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  49. That Finch’s expression is perfect — looks like you awakened him from a nap! Love the image of your son hanging the feeders and the hummers swarming around his head. By the way, I’m with your hubby on this one — it’s “regardless,” not “irregardless” (I know both are words, but I had an old teacher who drummed that one in my head!)

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