Good Thing It is Summer or his tongue would stick to the metal. Be honest, who did that when you were younger. Had your tongue get stuck to a metal pole. I did, on the playground during recess. They dared me and I went ahead and tried it. But I barely touched it, I was only stuck for a few seconds. I never forgot it, good thing we get a little wiser as we get older.
Good Thing It is Summer
To Go in Search Of is a synonym for looking up. Which I am doing all the time. Sometimes we get so focused on just looking a few feet in front of us or what is in our hands, we forget to look up. To go in search of the Light. It is every where, it is stunning at times to see the Light shine through objects, nature.
It gives a new perspective on what I am looking at, with the light shinning through the leaves, I see every vein, the heart beat of the leaves in front of me. With a sparkle of light at the tip of one leaf below, as if it is saying, ” Now you see me”.
To Go in Search Of
Have a Wonderful Weekend
White Pelicans on the Mississippi, well I am not any where near the Mississippi River this year and I do miss seeing these beautiful birds. Luckily I have plenty of photos to look back on when I want to take a look at these magnificent birds. So I thought I would share some of my favorites today.
White Pelicans on the Mississippi
Male and Female Hummingbirds, here are two of the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. The male is the first photos here perched on my hummingbird feeder. They are so friendly, they sit so close to us when we are out on the porch enjoying the day.
And this one is the female, she does not have the bright colors on her throat area, but still is sporting some beautiful green feathers across her head and back. I so enjoy watching these little things.
Male and Female Hummingbirds
Duck Duck and Duck, I have not seen many ducks or geese this year so far. But, then again I have not gone to any lakes this past week or so. I will have to be getting out there again soon. It has been pretty quiet around my place right now with the birds. They are sitting on nest I imagine.
Duck Duck and Duck
Originally Called Decoration Day, from the early tradition of decorating graves with flowers, wreaths and flags. Memorial Day is a day in remembrance of those who died in service. It was first widely observed on May 30th, 1868.
In Memory OF
What a Conundrum Amidst , trickery I tell you. Well, I have been watching these two birds for a couple of weeks now. Thinking they were purple martins, but because of a fellow blogger who commented on my last update about these birds, I have been tricked by these little Tree Swallows. He mentioned that they looked like Tree Swallows, so I started to investigate and by golly they are.
They fly like a purple martin and they have pointy wings like one. Their blueish, purplish sheen made me think they were purple martins. But you can see the difference below in the two birds. Now they both eat lots of bugs and are fun to watch fly. But, Purple Martins live in colonies and Tree Swallows like to be alone, just the one pair.
Purple Martin Tree Swallow
And the Tree Swallows like to have the whole house to them selves and will chase off any other birds. I noticed this week, that the female was picking up nesting material and putting it in every apartment in this house. I thought to my self, ” How nice of her to furnish the other apartments for other birds, or she was just confused which one she wanted”.
Well, I have read about how to discourage them from taking up resident here, I will be lowering the house and taking their nest out so that maybe they go find a tree to nest in. Being they are called Tree Swallows. 🙂
At the end of the day, I learned about a new bird I have never seen before and a rainbow came out in the evening as I sat on my porch watching nature in my back yard. Have a great weekend.
What a Conundrum Amidst
A Few of the Newbies Here, This first photo is some type of moth, its wings look a little tattered, probably from the long flight to get here. Ya know, I hate it when people accuse me of lolly gagging, When I am quite clearly dilly dallying today with my photos. 🙂
My niece posted that phrase and I thought it was funny, I do tend to dilly dally and I like it. 🙂
This one here below actually has the prettiest color blue wings when it is flying. But it moves pretty fast, so I could not get a good shot, but I think its antenna’s look pretty cool.
Red Breasted Grosbeak stopped by for a visit this week.
And of course, the hummingbird is buzzing by me every day now. You can always here them coming towards you before you see them.
A Few of the Newbies Here
Nature in its Smallest Form, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, material world of Creation. It is often taken to mean the “natural environment” or wilderness, wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention.
Nature; the Natural Beauty of life.
I don’t see rainbows very often and this one came out late in the evening after a little rain we were having, right before sunset.
Nature in its Smallest Form
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds have arrived, coming from as far south as southern Mexico and northern Panama. Since hummingbirds lead solitary lives and neither live nor migrate in flocks, an individual bird may spend the winter anywhere in this range where the habitat is favorable, but probably returns to the same location each winter.
Some will skirt the Gulf of Mexico and follow the Texas coast north, while most apparently cross the Gulf, typically leaving at dusk for a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles, which takes 18-22 hours depending on the weather.
Hummingbirds are carnivores, nectar is just the fuel to power their flycatching activity. Ruby-throats begin moving north as early as January, and by the end of February they are at the northern coast of Yucatan, gorging on insects and spiders to add a thick layer of fat in preparation for flying to the U.S.
The initial urge to migrate is by the shortening length of sunlight and has nothing to do with temperature or the availability of food; amazing that nature follows the Light. The sun, moon and stars, they have a purpose. Amazing how it all comes together as designed.
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds
They Are Back, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, it is so nice to see them again. 3 of them today at the feeders. I will have more information on them tomorrow.
Purple Martin Update Part 2, last week we put up the Purple Martin House and the same day we had two visitors stop by to check out the new apartments. Both of which are males, the males have the purple sheen to their feathers.
I was so surprised to see visitors the first day. They are so much fun to watch, very acrobatic at times. Now they only came around in the morning and would sit on top of the house. Then fly around the fields, appearing to just be checking everything out and they would leave in the afternoon.
Now this week, another Purple Martin has arrived. My husband and I are making up stories as we watch what these birds are doing. We figured they were starting to like the apartment complex and decided to invite the mother in law to check it out. But after viewing the photos, I see all three are males, which are probably scouts and young males at that. They usually have to leave a colony and start a new one elsewhere.
Everyday they stay a little longer. Watching what we are doing as well. They are used to my dogs and they really do like having us around. They have figured out that people keep predators away, just by being out and about.
Now there is fun news for next week. We put up another bird apartment house, to try and have ample room for a colony to eventually live here. But the exciting news, today a female has arrived, with her mate and I believe she likes the place.
Have a Wonderful Weekend
Purple Martin Update Part 2
Light of the Morning Sun, the start of a new day, which can show us things we thought we would never see. Pure beauty of creation, a reflection of you and me.
Light of the Morning Sun
How Small We Really Are, the night skies have been amazing these last couple of weeks. Yesterday morning I decided to try something different. I drove out to a lake to view the Milky Way, a place where light noise almost doesn’t exist. I went out there at 3:00 am. When I turned the light off on my jeep, I was stunned at what I could not see.
I could not even see my hands in front of my face it was so dark, I had my hand on the side of my jeep and then I looked up. These photos only show a small glimpse of the millions of stars before my eyes. I did have a flash light with so I could walk to the edge of the lake and set up my camera. You could see the Milky way with your eyes, I felt so small. I can’t even wrap my brain around the thought of how big the universe might be. But I did not feel alone, His presence was bigger than what my eyes and heart could see.
I did take video also and put it on my You Tube channel so if you would like to see it, this is the link; The Milky Way and Shooting Stars. It is a little longer than most of my videos because I talk about the settings I use on my camera as well.
I only have about a 3 hour window to view the Milky Way which allows me to take about 70 photos and the videos are only a few seconds long because of the long shutter speed needed to capture the lights of the stars. I use a 10 second shutter speed for video with a DSLR camera and 30 sec shutter speed if I am using the go pro camera.
This photo below is blue hour when the sun was starting to shine its light over the lake.
How Small We Really Are
After the Long Winters Nap, the lush blanket that covers the earth we walk on is coming alive with so many colors and new life every where I look. I look for the tinniest little plants along the path in the woods. Plants that I have never seen before because they are so small.
The dandelions are seeding out already with their little umbrellas that will carry them to start new plants. I watched someone make dandelion honey the other day. It looked very easy. I may have to give it a try.
After the Long Winters Nap
Shooting Stars & Milky Way, this month has been quite the show in the heavens. There are so many shooting stars and the moon is not out as the Milky Way passes over, so the night skies are lit up even with out a camera. If you get a chance head on out and take a gander.
I took these photos last Wednesday, I knew I would be able to see the Milky Way between 3 am and 5:50 am. So I wanted to try some light painting also. I parked my Jeep at the South end of my driveway and set my alarm clock. I opened the door at 3 and I could see the Milky Way just to the front of my Jeep. So by the time I got my camera set up it was right over top of it.
Light painting is when you take a light source and just shine it on your subject when the surrounding it dark. Your camera then picks up what ever you shine the light on. So much fun.
Now this photo below was taken from a go pro camera facing North. The two lines across the photo are shooting stars flying pass my camera. To get this photo below, I used the night lapse mode on the go pro and shot about 70 photos and stacked them on top of each other in a program called StarStaX. This is how the stars travel when you look north.
I will be putting a video together this week to show you the results in video mode.
Shooting Stars & Milky Way
Cyber Space or Print, the internet has become a great place to share photos, I truly enjoy looking at others photos as well. One really gets to see the world from folks taking shots of their own back yards. One of my favorite blogs from across the waters is called; Aussiebirder He shares the most colorful birds I have ever seen. They have quite the variety over there.
I sometimes wonder what will happen to all these photos floating around in cyber space, if the plug is pulled one day, do they all just disappear? I know I have had photos on my phone and my phone crashed and the photos are gone.
Now, I don’t save all of my photos, I do have external drives that I save some of them on so I can revisit them when ever I want. But it sure is different from back in the day when I would sit down with my Mother and get the photo albums out. She loved doing this, she could tell me who everyone was in the older photos. It was a walk down the streets of history listening to her talk about the old days.
I have gotten back into printing some of my photos now, I don’t want to always have to open a computer to see them. I have 5 different frames that I just change my photos in to change the scene. I send my photos to Walgreens via the internet, 😉 and they mail them to me. That is the nice thing about technology.
Have a Great Weekend
Cyber Space or Print
Colors to Brighten Your Day, I put two post on yesterday, oops. So here are a variety of colorful flowers on my front porch. We still had frost this morning so I have to put these plants inside every night. But I think we have turned the corner on frosty mornings.
Colors to Brighten Your Day
The Light in Their Eyes, Oh how I love to see these birds so close. I see the reflection of the clouds in its beautiful eye. Birds have been a part of my life since I was a child, I never get tired of seeing them and now as I am older, I see their beauty even more trough the light in their eyes.
The Light in Your Eyes
The Dark Eyed Junco, a pretty little bird that is part of the sparrow family. All these years I thought this bird was called a Rufous. I looked it up today and it doesn’t look anything like a Rufous. I don’t know where I came up with that one. The internet told me, I will blame it on that. There are over 35 species of sparrows also.
They are seed eating birds and prefer eating from the ground, they scratch the ground like chickens do. I have so many around here this year. They are a cheery little bird to me.
Grrrrr, I love it when they look like they are giving me the stink eye. 😒
The Dark Eyed Junco
Rivers of Living Water, Will Flow from Within. It is a wonderful time of year to stroll though the forest, it is not to hot and the mosquitos are not out yet here. I have found a couple wood ticks on me already. (video below)
The moss is heavy on the trees, with a beautiful green color that matches the surrounding forest.
Rivers of Living Water
Flowers on the Porch, I am seeing a pattern here of choosing purple and yellow flowers. These are some flowers on my porch, I so enjoy having a few flowers in baskets near by. I have not planted any seedlings yet around the yard. We keep getting frost every night.
The yellow flowers are Begonia’s. I did get a water tester for my plants this year. I tend to over water them and they don’t do so well. So I use the tester a lot to make sure I only water them when the soil is dry.
I do have this one plant with the most interesting colored leaves, I don’t know what they are, but there are always so many different colors of plants like this at the green houses.
Changing Colors at Sunset, a colorful sunset to end the day with. It was pretty cold again last night but I have noticed the sunsets are becoming more colorful again. It was 28 degrees last night, so I had to go out and cover a couple plants in the yard. After this weekend it will start warming up again.
Have a Wonderful Weekend
Silhouettes in Nature, amazing what one sees when you look really close at something as simple as this photo here. Everyone sees something different. For me, I am peering into the heart of the Tree of Life where it was placed by the hands of Light.
That is what I see, when in reality it is the end of a trees life, but always the beginning of a new one when you look through to the other side.
Silhouettes in Nature
Bold Splash of Colors, well I finally have some wild flowers blooming in the yard. Yes, the dandelions are always the first flowers I see. But I can’t complain because it is nice to see the color. I had to add a couple more splashes of purple today as well.
I did buy some hanging flower baskets yesterday, so I will see what kind of photos I can get with those. The sun might come out tomorrow, but it will be below freezing again tonight. So I have to cover a couple plants outside.
The Most Visible Wavelength – Purple is the most powerful visible wavelength out of all of the colors in the rainbow. Purple can symbolize many things, but to sum it up in a few words, purple represents strength.
The spring wild flowers have not arrived yet, but I bought this little plant the other day, it was a tiny little plant for one dollar. I did not know anything about them, I went out to the porch today and the most aromatic floral scent was coming from this little plant that had decided to bloom over night.
It is called the Hyacinth. A very strong, easy to grow plant, but. Yes there is a but to this beautiful flower, it does have a toxic substance on the bulb below the soil. You should ware gloves when handling it and keep it away from any pets or children.
It draws you in with its floral aroma and the striking beauty of its colors, but always be aware of what is dressed in such beauty. It is a lesson in life for me to not just agree with everything I hear, but to find the facts and truth myself to make my own decisions.
I Am a Landlord Now, that is what they call you when you put up a Purple Martin House for the birds. We use to have a house for them when I was a child. My grandfather built one and we always had birds in it. So my husband put this one up for me 3 days ago and we are already getting visitors.
According to my research, having a Martin house is like being a land lord. You have to make sure no other birds try to nest in it. It has to be in the right location and the right height to attract them. In the spring this breed of bird sends out scouts to roam the landscapes looking for houses for the colony. Over the years these birds have figured out that they want their houses to be close to human houses. Because humans keep predators away, like racoons, cats, larger birds.
Usually two will come by and check out the house and the location. So yesterday our first two came by for a visit and today they came back for a second look around. One sat up on top surveying the landscape.
The other one was peaking inside the apartments to see if they were up to par. They are particular about their housing units. They like a 6x6x12 room, ours are 6x6x6. We will see if they want to rent the apartments or not, it is free rent for them. 🙂
They are such a pretty bird and they eat lots of bugs. We will set up a second house once they start living here. In the fall one has to take the house down and clean it and have it ready for them again next year.
The Common Grackle, doesn’t appear to be so common. They are like a beauty in disguise. Most days they look like your average black bird. As if they were created to make one stop and really look at this bird, to not just take them for granted. Wait for the sun to come out, when the Light shines on this plain bird, amazing things will happen before your very eyes. It is like seeing a rainbow for a few seconds and then it is gone.
Have a Wonderful Weekend
I Out Rank You, the Red Winged black bird has the stripes on his shoulders to prove it. As the two of them seem to be arguing. With the third bird listening intently. (video below)
TEN HUT! Ready for Duty
Portraits of the Wood Duck, this is my first year seeing the Wood Duck and it is quite amazing to me. I took all of these photos through a window so they are not extremely clear. But it still shows the detailed color of this beautiful bird. As if he was painted by hand, to create such beautiful lines, curves and color. Nature, wildlife, truly amazing to witness such extraordinary beauty to me.
Portraits of the Wood Duck
