"Our conductor for today is Li'l Miss Ruby, and before she heads south for her winter residency in South America, she graciously agreed to lead our flowers in beautiful arrangements of In The Garden and Flight of the Bumblebee. Enjoy!" Ah one, Ah two, Ah three . . .

She doesn't have all of the flash and color of many other birds, but when this female blackbird took a perch on this white goosefoot plant facing the morning sun, I couldn't resist a capture. With the sun on her face and striking a pose, I say you look just beautiful!

A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird flits by and hovers face-to-face for a couple of seconds, as if to be saying, "Oh yeah, I put the ruby in the Ruby-throated my friend!" and then continues on with his business.

Love how the color of summer goldfinches just radiates through the evening air. And perhaps there should be a new Bond movie for those of us who love these birds: Goldfincher.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are becoming more active as August is here, and the days getting shorter, and they start getting ready for their big trip south. This female ruby gave me the side-eye last evening while darting among the flowers . . .

Indigo Buntings sure do love to sing among the sunflowers (swipe to hear their birdsong - sound on!), but they sure aren't always easy to find, especially if there is wind and the sunflowers are swaying to and fro . . .