A new project

These photos were from about a week ago. I just haven't had much time to look through my 'stuff' with so much on my plate.

There was quite the racket outside on our Hickory Tree. I got out my long lens and figured out what all the noise was.

A young red headed woodpecker was clinging to the bark of the tree and 'crying' 'begging' and making a huge racket until the parent showed up to feed it from insects on the bark or from something it brought from the bird feeder 20 feet away.

Below is a young Grosbeak ????? Maybe???? I didn't catch it in the bird bath splashing around, but I did catch it in the pine tree shaking itself off.

This goldfinch was pilfering sunflower seeds. Actually, I planted them there so the goldfinches would come and eat them. They are fun to watch doing antics as they pick out seeds.

I imagine they may even reseed for me.

I had to remove the Oriole feeder a week ago. The oranges attracted bees. Not the nice kind of bees that I want near my porch. They are still around and I imagine they will be migrating very soon.

This was a lazy shot. I was watching out the window to see the bee activity when I thought I'd try a shot through the window and screen.

I like the 'soft' filter it gave to the blue bachelor button. It was like adding an Orton Glow to the photo without any post process.

So as I was going through my shots from over a week ago, I glanced up and saw our Grandbaby Rory on our Frameo. She was looking at a big beautiful purple flower.

20 years ago I made a little book for Ariel with drawings, colors, plants, and flowers. A very simple to read book.

At that time I just used a printer and then put the pages in a binder. It was a great project for me.

And boom.

What about one for Rory? Flowers, insects, and birds? Wouldn't that be fun?

I mean I could do it for myself too. I did little books for my other grandkids with the adventures of Morris who they interacted with quite a bit.

If nothing else, it would be a great project to put together as I am also doing one of hubby. 

I use Blurb as my project books for photos. There may be cheaper places to do it, but so far I've had really good luck with using Blurb.

Pretty Birds and critters

I took the bird feeder down a while ago when the DNR in our area notified the public regarding the Avian Flu that was in our state. However, this little tub is my boot tub where I rinse the mud off from my boots before going on to the porch.

I'm kind of anal about keeping the porch clean. 

We were having our morning coffee when I spotted some color on my porch rocks and the boot tub!

I was lucky to have my camera right next to me and I had removed the screen from the window to take shots out the window this winter so I got some sort of clear shots of these guys!

They are Yellow-rumped Warblers that migrate through our area and head north. 

Chalk this up to another bird I've never seen before.

The one below should be either a Hairy or Downey Woodpecker. All the woodpeckers love this tree!

Here is Sven, the goat in the new little lot that he is supposed to work on cleaning up. He seemed more concerned about the new area and where I was going than eating.

And here is my 24 yr old red mule lazying about:  

Sunshine.
Yes she is wooly! The mules are just starting to shed.

Deer. 
This one looks pretty thin. The hot wires are on my side of the barbed wire fence that separates my pasture with the neighbor's pasture. He rarely maintains his fence so I put up a hot wire to keep my guys from going through to his side and getting caught in the barbs.

Our littlest mule used to jump the fence and browse on the neighbor's land and then jump back when he wanted to be with the rest of the herd.

At 37, he doesn't jump fences anymore. Poor old fella he is running out of teeth but no one makes dentures for aged mules. He is really starting to lose weight. His comparison to human years could make him about 105 years old. 

Well, that is the farm report.

Nothing too exciting here. Cold weather and cloudy. 

I worked on the fencing back in the woods. Clipping back multiflora rose and briars is not a job for those with faint hearts or those who don't have heavy gloves.

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

For the Birds again

The sun was so warm yesterday afternoon, that I could sit on the porch and watch the birds at the feeder. They flit between the feeder and the pine tree and Hickory. 

What I didn't realize, is that I'd learn about bird habits and how they interacted. Generally I glance out the window and admire the birds I do know. It is fun to watch them come in, eat and leave.

So I watched. This guy is a bully as well as the Flicker.

He/she chases all the other birds away. Bully!

The Juncos seem to be more sociable. They even let other birds sit on branches near them. 

There are certain times that everyone seems to want to feed at the same time.

The cardinals are morning and late afternoon feeders. I generally see the lady cardinals before the sun shines into our hollow in the morning.

The male cardinals make their appearance and always stand out. He didn't really go to the feeder but seemed content to watch all of the other birds.

The Nuthatch would hit the feeder and immediately go to the pine tree where it would run up and down the bark.

The Tufted Titmouse is fun to watch also. He/she takes the seeds from the feeder to the tree and it appears that she tries to break it open on a branch?

She/he was really quite entertaining. My step daughter told me that she puts out peanuts for her Titmice. 

I never thought much of photographing them either and did NOT realize exactly how hard they can be to photo! There is no way I got decent photos easily. The ones here are a few I picked out of many, many others. Thank goodness for the ability to delete the crappy ones!

I am so proud of myself for being able to sit for one whole hour and just watch.

I'm the kind of person whose feet need to keep on moving unless I am asleep.

Well, I got the driveway and turn around areas shoveled out with the skid steer and I did not run into anything.

I dislike that machine and like it also.

If I ever had my choice, I'd get a little Mule or UTV type thingy to attach a plow to and push it around.