Pretty pics from my backyard

[jenepherre]

It was a gorgeous day here in central California today. The birds were out singing - which my parakeets just love - and looking out the window, I noticed a rather unusual bloom on the top of a tree in our backyard. It's a palm-type tree, although Dad says it's a cypress of some sort, but I've never seen a bloom like this on it before. Before I put my glasses on, I almost thought it was a big cluster of garlic and thought maybe the neighbors were planning some weird Halloween party. LOL In any case, check out the pics for yourself. I put them on Photobucket because they let you view some EXIF data, which the nerd in me is really into.

Oh - the bird in the last 5 photos is on a different tree in the backyard, obviously. Can't remember what kind of tree it is, but I don't suppose it's all that important at the moment.

So does anyone have a more specific ID on the tree with the bloom? For that matter, does anyone know what kinds of birds are visiting me? I really should learn more about the birds we have here locally.