birds — Page 34

Flowers, Birds & Perspective

August 21, 2018 at 9:42 am by Claudia

A surprise this morning:

And there are two more buds ready to open. These roses bloom early in the spring and then, when you think they’re done for the season, more leaves emerge. Then flowers. Such a nice later-in-the-summer surprise.

Yesterday morning, we were sitting on the porch having coffee and I heard this amazing bird call. I looked across the road. Since I had brought my big girl camera with me, I quickly got up and took several pictures. He was way up in a tree and the gray skies made a dark background, but here he is:

A pileated woodpecker. I’ve seen them around here before. They are large birds. And noisy! See the two little birds to his left?

Now, a cropped, zoomed-in version:

And one more:

Pretty good for a dark and gloomy morning!

Edited to add: No, the leaves haven’t all dropped off the tree. It’s a dead tree.

Let’s see…I mowed a bit yesterday morning. Not too much, just the corral and the grass surrounding it. Ran errands. Cleaned. Read.

It’s been cooler; still humid, but much more bearable when it isn’t in the nineties. It’s cool this morning and gray and darkish again. We were just out on the porch and I remarked to Don that if we didn’t know what time it was, we would think it was early evening! I’m starting to feel the beginnings of the seasonal change. I cling on to summer as long as I can because I know that after fall comes winter. But this has been such a tough summer weather-wise, that a part of me will welcome the cooler temperatures.

My second Snow White egg cup arrived in the mail yesterday from Australia. She’s safely ensconced in the cubby cabinet. I’ll take a picture of both of them later today.

From my chair on the front porch, one perspective:

And another perspective:

I love playing with the focal point of a photo and depth of field. And I really love my new camera.

Thanks, by the way, for all your great supportive comments about the cubby cabinet. It was a chunk of money that I hadn’t expected to be spending, but, in the end, it was very clear to me that I had to get it. I will never see something like it again. It’s truly one-of-a-kind. I haven’t regretted the choice to buy it for one second. I pass it several times a day and I smile each and every time I see it. You guys are the best!

Happy Tuesday.

Good for the Soul

August 5, 2018 at 9:53 am by Claudia

It was foggy this morning and I love a foggy morning. It was also not raining. I opened the front door and could hear birdsong. It wasn’t the sound of many, many birds like one hears in the spring, but one or two birds with the most glorious calls. I went outside, sat on the glider and just listened. The calls were loud and very musical and, since it was foggy, the cicadas hadn’t started up yet, so I could simply sit and listen.

Eventually, I went inside for my camera because it was so beautiful out there that I couldn’t resist.

I felt calmer and more at peace than I have in a while. It’s amazing and wondrous what fog and birdsong and the beauty of the landscape can do for one’s soul.

The light just beginning to hit the maple tree.

Pokeweed, which has self-seeded in front of the house. I don’t want it there next year, but I couldn’t pull it now. The birds love those berries.

I heard the honking of Canada Geese and got this picture of them flying through the fog.

I saw a little bird fly onto a maple branch so I got up and moved closer. He, too, was singing a beautiful song, a song that seemed too powerful to come from that little body.

I managed to get this photo:

I love seeing that tiny bird in the midst of all the leaves and the lichen-covered branches, with the fog in the background. I was real happy with this shot.

A good way to start the day. To add to that, we were able to sit in the secret garden and have our second cup of coffee. We haven’t been able to do that for a while. Eventually, we had to come in as the mosquitoes are plentiful this year due to all the rain.

Today, I must mow. It’s supposed to get very, very hot this afternoon, so I’ll have to get to it this morning. And tomorrow morning. Because it’s going to rain again on Tuesday. Remember me saying that the rivers were alarmingly low? They’re full to the brim now. We can hear the rush of water from our front porch.

That’s a good thing.

Happy Sunday.

Random on Monday

July 30, 2018 at 8:22 am by Claudia

Random photos today, as I was too tired from mowing yesterday to do much of anything else. The grass was about 7 inches long in some places and it was still damp from all the rain. More today. As of tomorrow, we’re getting rain every day again.

The robin perched on this pole for the longest time. I don’t usually see that with robins.

Needs no explanation.

I’ve showed you Hickory Moth Tussock caterpillars before, but this one, along with about 50 more, was on some of the older milkweed the other day. They were fascinating to watch. I looked it up and found out that it’s a Milkweed Tussock Moth. In one night, they annihilated three leaves on a milkweed plant that had fallen due to a broken stem. Apparently, these moths and Monarch butterflies share the same coloring due to something in the milkweed plant. I can’t remember what it is at the moment.

We’ve seen the Hickory Tussock Moths coming down from the trees, rather like spiders, or rock climbers. They repel down. They appear suspended in midair, but they’re actually descending to the ground.

Calibrachoa blooming on the porch.

In the garden.

I am not one for animated movies as a rule. I was the kid who didn’t really like cartoons. But I’d heard great things about Disney’s Coco, so we watched it last night. Have you seen it? It’s simply wonderful! We were completely entranced and want to watch it again. It takes place in Mexico and centers around the Day of the Dead. Great plot, incredible animation – a truly beautiful movie with a powerful message. It’s on Netflix.

More mowing, some weeding, and some pruning are on the docket for today.

Happy Monday.

Flowers, Birds & Perspective

Good for the Soul

Random on Monday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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