Birds and Stuff

Meanwhile during the snowstorm. 

We spotted a bluebird!

The bird never turned around for me and I had to get this hind end shot.

I couldn't help myself.  I had to go out and mess around looking for some fun in the bright white snow.

I thought the guy who plows would have showed up, but he didn't. The snow was supposed to melt quickly. Under the white snow, we had dirty slush from the dust in TX I think. This is the second time we've had dust and dirt in our snow/rain.

I decided the driveway might be too iffy for the visiting Home Health person to go up and down, so we cancelled that for this week.  My 'Ru could handle the hill and the snow, but maybe not the cars they have for Hospice workers. Though, I did notice that three of them drive Subaru CrossTreks. 

While I let Charlie wander the yard looking for mice or voles, I thought it would be fun to 'shoot' this Pegasus on a snow covered stump in the yard. White on white.

The hood of the Subaru provided a nice ski slope for my minifigs. They enjoyed using it over and over again!
I wish I had their energy.

While my minifigs were playing, I heard a 'goose' like sound in the sky east of me. I looked up and saw swans! I've missed many opportunities this year to go watch the Eagles on the Mississippi or hunt for Sandhill Cranes and Swans at the KVR.

So, I was quite tickled to watch these guys fly overhead.

With nothing on my schedule, I waited for hubby's afternoon nap to take a walk.  Charlie is being such a good boy, but he does need some hiking time too to keep up his musculature and health.

We went east through my favorite woods and ended up in a round about way in the valley and then followed the creek back up to our land and up different trails to get back to the house.

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So the day before the storm we had this going on in our yard! I never really saw until I shot this series ... that Robins actually get airborne to dive into the ground! Like a fox catching a mouse under the snow!

Such a common bird, but still so great to see them appear to let us know spring is near...

The snow melted quickly and when I went out to check the meadow and the fence, I came across dozens of Cedar Waxwings.

The photo isn't great, but I didn't have a long lens ... but there you go. Birds are moving about and it is so pleasing to hear all of their songs again.

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I still have to get to the rest of the fun photos I am doing for the new minifigs that arrived from Aurora!

Here is a taste...

Springing up

I was really quite curious as to how the warmer weather was affecting things in the forest. I took a hike down to the Big Spring in the Valley where I usually can spot the first signs of spring when the Skunk Cabbage emerges.

Years ago, this was an easier hike. But the forest has taken over with briars and weeds. The land has been left 'feral' in the past 15 years. 

Charlie and I found the spring and it took a little bit of looking around but eventually we found Skunk Cabbage plants emerging just and inch or so above the leave debris.

The usual time for Skunk Cabbage to emerge in this

part of the forest is late March to early April.
So this emergence is about 3 weeks

early.

We also found Water Strider running back and forth across the creek. How they walk on the water is amazing!

It is hard to see the Water Strider in this shot, but you can see its shadow quite easily.

In the woods, things are brown and rather dull looking, however this is another time of year that the mosses really do shine. I love seeing them in the early morning or late afternoon sunlight. They are in areas that will be shaded later this year. The mosses will be hidden by the greenery of the briars and trees on this hillside above the Big Spring.

These aren't the 'best' shots of birds, but I did enjoy trying to spot this Junco inside a bush. It was a challenge. Charlie and I had to sit in the hayfield and stay still for a while so the bird would settle down too.

Robins were appearing everywhere and they were able to grab insects and even worms which I found very amazing for this early in March.

The whole reason to go for the hike was to look for Skunk Cabbage and some birds. I didn't do very well on the bird search, but here are some rather odd little birds.

This one was a difficult shot. Not in the way you think though. I put the Lego Bird in a nest that was inside a multiflora rose bush. In the natural world, this is a perfect spot for birds to build nests. No predators or even humans can get at the nest without being stabbed and caught up in all of the thorns!

We discovered more crocus flowers when we got home. So did the baby Lego Birds.

Spring is starting to creep into our area.

I wonder what it will be like? Friday we are supposed to have rain which we need.

Low perspectives

The woods look pretty dreary and uninteresting right at the moment, but I still believe there can be interesting things found.

I grabbed my Nikon with the Nifty 50mm lens and decided to explore. The challenge is to not have a zoom focus but a fixed lens where you have to really think about getting the shot you want.

The shot of the creek bottom shows exactly how 'uninteresting' the woods appear to be. The shot of the Skunk Cabbage shows exactly how interesting the woods actually are!

When I came back from the woods, I found some crocus blossoms in the yard along with daffodils poking their brave stems out of the ground. I laid down in the yard to take some shots. There I was wiggling around trying to find the right composition, what did I see?

A little bug of some sort climbing around inside the crocus flower.  I peered at it after I took the shot and discovered that is was a very small bee and it was covered in pollen.

Imagine my surprise. If I stand up, the crocus plant is nearly impossible to spot. If one were to casually walk near the creek and not keep an eye out, they'd surely miss the Skunk Cabbage.

I'd place a skull next to the crocuses so that I could see them from further away and not step on them.
I was also surprised to see that a spider had climbed onto the skull!

And then there was the lone yellow crocus...it was very hard to find.

Yesterday some new crocuses came up and I didn't get out until the evening to get a shot of them while doing chores.

The daffodills are coming up around them and soon they will be gone. The daffy's will be the next blossoms to grace the yard.

Meanwhile out in the woods, under the debris I was able to see the very tips of Leeks just breaking the soil under the leaves.

They will come out when the weather is right.

The Robins however believe it is spring. This one sang the night song to me just before the sun blinked out of our hollow.

Lucky for me he perched on the branch long enough for me to attempt a shot.
This fit in my low perspective as he was higher than I was??

Well spring is coming and I believe I can say that I am looking forward to it. It was with deep regret that I put my cross country skis away yesterday and stored my snow shoes for next year.