Eagle Watching

I did all of my errands Thursday morning that included picking up groceries, Charlie Food, and visiting the meat locker.

Phew. My purchases were expensive. It was a $200 day.  I noted that most gas stations were again in the process of changing their prices. This week it has floated up .10 a gallon and dropped .10 a gallon. 

It rained hard off and on all day with thunderstorms in the early morning and then again midday. The temperatures spiked with humid, muggy, and warm conditions at 68 degrees just before dark. 

I was worried about the sudden drop of temperatures to 28 overnight and how it would effect Mica our elderly grey mule who is prone to colic when there are wild temperature swings. 

However this morning, all of the equine kids are running, bucking, and farting. Fred, the eldest is pretty stoic. He is giving evil ears to anyone who bumps into him.

This is their typical winter morning routine anyway. Run, buck, and chase each other at dawn. 

All is good with the equine. The youngest mule is out chasing crows in the winter pasture. I wish I had that kind of energy at 6am!

Yesterday afternoon we had a visitor. We often get eagles flying or roosting in trees not too far way but this one was not far out the back door. The eagle carefully preened itself just before the storms hit. 

I grabbed my camera and stepped out into the yard and tried to take photos of it. It was hard to figure out what settings to use. The eagle appeared as a dark blob against a very bright grey sky.

Thankfully I have learned a few tricks over the years. I shoot RAW with my Oly -- [now called OM] -- and sometimes it can help save some of the information that the camera sees. In this case, I brightened the exposure and the shadows. 
The eagle at this point was just hanging out and preening.

Eventually the other birds noticed the eagle and a few Blue Jays decided to harass him. He was rather non-pulsed over it. I didn't catch it, but the eagle snapped at the Blue Jay when he got too close.

The Jay eventually sat in another tree and called out the eagle's presence to everyone else.

I had to move inside and shoot through the glass door when the rains came down hard.

Here, the eagle just looks ticked off at the pounding rain. When it let up, he/she just shook.

Soon the crows started to annoy the eagle. I've seen crows actually chase eagles before so I was really curious as to what would happen.

The eagle literally ignored them and they didn't actually dive bomb him at all. I figured the eagle would take off and fly away.

After hanging out for three hours, the eagle spread its wings and...

took off.

I'd waited for hours for this opportunity to 'shoot' him/her taking off. He landed in another tree close by and I was able to move to the porch and take one last shot as he left the second tree.

I was so tickled to have been able to watch this eagle from the comfort of my back door. And to observe him for hours. 

It was the highlight of the day. 

Tweet Tweet ~ For the birds

 Sunrise Saturday morning from the ridge. 

I went to watch the sun come up and not really to look around for birds, but somehow this one did catch my eye. The first shots didn't turn out because there wasn't enough light, but he was still in this tree when I went back home. The morning sun just gave me enough light.

I made some coffee and put in in a thermos and thought I'd sit on a bucket in one of the pastured areas and just enjoy the sounds of the morning.

I listened to cardinals, starlings, red wing black birds and robins. One bird sat in one of the Box Elder trees in the distance. It sat for what I thought was an unusual amount of time. These were the best shots I did get of him/her. I didn't dare move closer because I didn't want to frighten it away.

It was a Brown Thrasher! I have to admit, I just figured it was a very large sparrow at first, but if one can zoom in, you can see his yellow eyes! Wow! I sure was excited.

While I was working on the goat and pony fence under the tree that had been struck by lightening, these birds started a racket above me. They kept coming back so I grabbed my camera.

What punks! I know they are wood peckers but I couldn't tell if they were Downy or Hairy. They sure were noisy.

Is this the same kind? I sure don't know. But this one is noisy too.

But they DO like this old tree!

We are still seeing bluebirds nearly every morning. My photos of them through the window absolutely stink. 

So Sunday, I thought I'd try and 'hunt' them with the camera. 

It was hard to find a spot where I could sit quietly out of the winds but still be in the area where I'd spotted them northeast of the house.

I'm learning a new skill of just sitting still and observing. This is a good time to practice this skill. No gnats or no-see-ums yet to bother me!

Since we have seen bluebirds now both female and male for about 3 to 4 weeks, I am assuming they have a nest somewhere around here.

These moments are good for me. I get to relax my brain and just 'be'.

Allow Nature
to teach you
Stillness ~

Echart Tolle

Cold Day ~ Warm Porch Observations

When we remodeled our house, we added a porch on the south side of the house. It has a sloping roof and a concrete pad. It isn't fancy but extends out 10 feet and runs the width of the house.

In the summer the sun is high enough that I can sit in the shade shuck corn or clean veggies and enjoy being outside at the same time.
In the winter the sun is low and shines on to the porch and sunlight fills our house.

Yesterday with the temperature hoovering at 5 degrees F, I was able to sit out on a stiff back chair in my insulated coveralls and furry hat and be warm! The light wind was from the north. I had to wait for a delivery anyway, so I thought fresh air would be nicer than sitting in the house listening to the TV.

I decided to grab my camera and the binoculars and watch the birds. They weren't really bothered by me sitting on the porch and after I settled in, they resumed their activities.

I was surprised by the visitors I was able to see. The fawns below have come up to the south side of the old red shed to avoid the cold north breeze and graze in one of  Lil' Richard & Sven's summer pens. The other fawn decided to browse through my shady perennial garden for things to eat.

The north hillsides are deep in hard crusty snow and so the deer need to find south facing hillsides to graze. I was very surprised to see them in the middle of the day until I checked the forecast. When the barometer moves, so do the deer.

The mules took naps as did the horse. Some stretched out on their sides. Siera is in this shot below. A dragon Mule! 

She got up and shook. No, she is not pregnant. She is fat. She is such an easy keeper, I think if she looked at hay she would gain weight. I used to ride her nearly every day, but this past year, she has pretty much just been a pasture decoration.

The visit by the crows really surprised me. They are such interesting birds. 

This is a terrible shot, but this is also the reason I went out to sit on the porch. The Titmice birds were absolutely fun with their antics flying to and fro from the pines to the feeder. I wanted to 'catch' one with its wings open.

I kept trying but I kept missing her or his flights to the feeder. I tried rapid fire and always seemed to miss them taking flight.

I did learn that the Titmouse grabs a mouthful of seeds and takes it to the tree branches to eat. As does the Nuthatch.

Twice the Big Birds came through. 
Eagles.

We have two pair that hang around here and have a nest about a mile away [as the crow flies].

The Juncos and Titmice seem to get along just fine, except when they want to fight over the seeds on the ground.

I learned to recognize the Downy Woodpecker by the sound of its wings as it raced from one tree to another and swung low in front of the porch.

I finally decided to just close my eyes and listen to the sounds around me. I was warm, the sun was bright and the noises of the forest were pretty comforting.

I started to wonder why I've never been interested in birds before. I mean, I sort of was. But not like this.

I guess this is a good consequence of being sort of home bound.

Maybe learning more about birds and observing them isn't such a bad thing.

Nature seems patient, it seems I could learn this too.

White Eyes by Mary Oliver

In winter

    all the singing is in

         the tops of the trees

             where the wind-bird

with its white eyes

    shoves and pushes

         among the branches.

             Like any of us

he wants to go to sleep,

    but he's restless—

         he has an idea,

             and slowly it unfolds

from under his beating wings

    as long as he stays awake.

         But his big, round music, after all,

             is too breathy to last.

So, it's over.

    In the pine-crown

         he makes his nest,

             he's done all he can.

I don't know the name of this bird,

    I only imagine his glittering beak

         tucked in a white wing

             while the clouds—

which he has summoned

    from the north—

         which he has taught

             to be mild, and silent—

thicken, and begin to fall

    into the world below

         like stars, or the feathers

               of some unimaginable bird

that loves us,

    that is asleep now, and silent—

         that has turned itself

             into snow.