Camera unfreezes for the gnatcatchers

Preparing to ship my "frozen" Canon 90D for repairs, I began to remove the battery and it suddenly woke up.  For a week I had charged and exchanged batteries as well as memory cards several times during troubleshooting, as there are sensors in the doors which can malfunction and freeze the camera, but all I did this time was just touch the door to the battery chamber and the screen lit up! 

Luckily, my muscle memory had not been reprogrammed during the week I had to struggle with the weight and differing controls of the older 5D Mark II. Now it felt like putting on the old pair of hiking boots after developing blisters trying to break in the new ones.   

Good numbers of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers have migrated in. They are present in low numbers all summer, but I found the locals tended to be more reclusive than the visitors. I'm afraid that I overdosed on these cute little feathery "Birbs" (See: Birbs, Borbs, Barbs and Floofs):  "...Rule 1: Birbs are often (though not conclusively) small; Rule 2: Birbs are often (though not always) round; Rule 3: Birbs appear cute"

The wild Black Cherry trees are bursting with fruit. Last year they put out very little or none. The gnatcatchers visit the trees to feed on the insects attracted to the cherries:

The mast crop also failed last autumn. A heavy production of seeds and nuts takes a great deal of energy from the trees, so it is common to see alternating years of  paucity and plenty. The gnatcatchers are nearly dwarfed by the acorns of a Chestnut Oak: 

Resident Black-capped Chickadees eat mostly insects during the warm months and appeared not to eat the cherries. They joined the gnatcatchers to look for caterpillars and other bugs:

A small flock of Cedar Waxwings appeared briefly, but did not partake of the cherries:

A highlight was this male Indigo Bunting which attracted my attention by attacking the goldfinches that foraged in the clear-cut acres in the property out back. He is molting into drab winter plumage before migrating south:

Mourning Doves experienced a successful breeding season and have been very common back yard visitors:

An Eastern Cottontail rabbit hid nearby, almost out of sight:

A White-tailed Deer fawn frolicked on our side lawn:

The Hibiscus is now in full bloom:

Our kitchen porthole window framed the sunset:

There was a weird cloud formation over Hartford which suggested the approach of an alien space ship:

Clouds reflected on the surface of the swimming pool:

This week's header: Sunset on August 20:

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Nature Notes

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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