A FEW BIRDS, A FEW FLOWERS, A SQUIRREL

These are birds taken from the deck at the back of the house.  All are daily visitors.  The Cardinal was the first to show itself.  

I have seen more American Robins up in the trees than ever before.  I only ever used to see them hopping around on the ground in the springtime, but the last couple of years they have stayed longer and pick a branch to sit on.  I'll often look up to see one staring down at me.

The Blue Jay call to their families, and a few minutes later they arrive.

This one looks young.  I saw another trying to get its parent to feed it earlier, but was being encouraged to feed itself.  The lessons of life had begun. 

A crow always visits during the day, to see what seed we have to offer.

On this particular day there were no others. Some of these photos were taken through glass and screen.  They give an interesting effect.

The female Cardinal turned up soon after the male.

She really is a pretty one, a lot of beauty in her  more muted colors.

Another American Robin on my neighbor's fence post.

My last bird is a Mourning Dove.  Their soft cooing first thing in the morning is my favorite alarm clock.

Lastly, a squirrel was once again chattering and urging us to go inside. The weather was perfect, warm but without humidity, and we had been sitting outside on the deck longer than usual. After we left three others joined him at the birdfeeder.

There has been a bear sighting not too far away. There were photos of it hanging over someone’s fence, stretching to reach their bird feeder.  We are in a heavily populated area, so this is unusual. I saw the photos on our neighborhood app. I think it may be time to stop filling the feeders for a while.  I suppose with staying at home longer than usual, I have been delaying it.  When the warmer weather arrives, I know they have enough food in nature, so our friendly neighborhood bear 🐻 is a good reminder. 

My neighbor's peonies always look stunning.   There are lots of our roses in bloom also. This was one of the better photos I was able to get below.

May you all have an enjoyable day, and thanks for visiting.

  

A FEW FLOWERS AND PLANTS FROM OUR GARDEN

How are you all?  I hope everyone is hanging in there, and that your days are going well.  

As you can see by the date on my laptop, I started this post on the 22nd.  This was the screen shot on my laptop that day.  More often than not I like the ones that appear when I turn it on.  They change every few days and come courtesy of the laptop company.  They show very pretty scenes around the world.  I enjoy my lessons in geography as my curiosity gets a reminder that it is a good thing to learn.  I always find out about the place shown with the snippet of information they provide.  At first I thought this was the Arches National Park in Utah, but I looked closer and read that the area is called the Spitzkoppe and the description reads, "A group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia.  The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres above sea level.  The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains.  The highest peak is about 670 m above the floor of the desert below.  A minor peak - the Little Spitzkoppe - lies nearby at an elevation of 1,584 m.  Other prominences stretch out into a range known as the Pontok Mountains."  Fascinating, and now we know.  One day I am going to make a post just of these screenshots.  Wildlife is also shown.

Our morning (on the 21st) started early at 8.00 a.m. when an electrician came around to fix one of the lights on the front of our house.  At first I thought it would be a much longer and harder job, but it was all done in less than half an hour.  Nice young man, interaction all conducted at a safe distance. We will get him again if we have any more problems, but I hope that won't be for a while.  

As soon as he left we delivered a couple of bags of food to a friend of ours.  We have been making meals and putting one aside for the freezer, and I had a couple of these for our friend.  It was good to see her but we did our part and kept several feet away on the doorstep.  Unfortunately a chilly wind cut short our conversation, but we sent air hugs and were on our way.  

And who is this handsome lad?  When we got home the phone rang and it was our son.  I asked him to send us a photo as he was out on his morning walk. Mum always asks for a photo. We are definitely a photo-taking family.  This was our reward which was designed to make us laugh. I am always asking him if he is following all the guidelines when he goes out.  This proved it.  Yes, I tell myself,  I know he is 40 but he's still our kid, and more often than not he turns around and asks us if we are following the same guidelines in a very stern, authoritative voice, and we assure him we are, and inwardly smile.  Roles tend to get reversed these days.  Turn around is fair play.  His glasses were fogging up because of the mask which his Mother-in-Law very kindly made for him, and for us.  I asked if I could share it here.  He doesn't mind at all, hard to tell what he looks like with that mask on anyhow.  The three of us had a nice long conversation until he got back to his place.  Usually our daughter-in-law joins him but she was busy that day as, like our son, she is working at home.  We talk most days and never run out of conversation.  I guess you could say we are talkers!  

A couple of days ago and needing a little fresh air after a few days of rain, we took a walk around the garden.  It was still very chilly and we weren't out there for long, just enough time to take a few photos of the plants that were blooming.

This is called Evergreen Spindle according to my plant app.  In the Netherlands they call this plant Spilboome, meaning a spindle tree.  Since the Dutch make spindles out of its timber, and also that this is native to Japan, it is now called Japanese Spindle Tree.  Maybe if we have any Dutch or Japanese blogging friends out there, they can verify the information.

Next comes an Evergreen Azalea, a species of Rhododendron.  

Not much other information except that its scientific name is Rhododendron indicum.  I love its pretty red color.

The following pretty white flower bloomed for the first time this year.  We didn't plant it, it just appeared.  It is called Black Haw, a species of Viburnum.  Also known as Blackhaw Viburnum, Stag Bush or Sweet Haw.

On the ground underneath is a carpet of pink blossom petals from a neighbor's tree.

I loved its pretty white blooms.

Its botanical name is Viburnum prunifolium.

This holly tree has been here since we moved in.  We get it trimmed every year and it is way above our heads now.

The plant app says it is Chinese Holly, also known as Horned Holly or Burford Holly, and its botanical name is Ilex cornuta.

Two collages to add, one of the flowers in the back...

and the pink Azaleas are blooming in the front garden.  

We decided to sit out on the deck for a while, knowing that it wouldn't be for a long time as the hour was getting late. It was still too chilly, but we felt the need for some Vitamin D and at least the sun was still shining.  

We were late giving our backyard wildlife birdseed, mostly sunflower seeds as we are running low.  I sat waiting for Gregg to join me when a squirrel ran helter-skelter down the branch used to jump onto the rail of our deck.  When he realized I was there he stopped as though he had hit an invisible wall.  I got the full, head-on glare as he chirped and chattered furiously, staring me down with tail flashing in that squirrel way of agitation. I know I got the royal telling off for being there.  How dare I!  After letting me know in no uncertain terms what he thought of me, he headed back up the tree and went round the other side.  I pointed him out to Gregg and we both looked up amused.  We could see where he had perched to wait us out, barely making out the tip of his tail.  No sooner had we closed the sliding door behind us, he - or she - scrambled down and made a feast of those favored sunflower seeds, probably still muttering under its breath for making the wait far too long.  Our back yard friends have trained us well.

Thanks for visiting.  I do hope your days are enjoyable and passing quickly.  

FROM THE ARCHIVES...A LITTLE DIPLOMACY GOES A LONG WAY

On these days of sheltering in place, I am enjoying going through old posts.  This one is from a very hot day in July 2013.  And so we begin.

Yes I am still feeding them. The squirrels are delighted, though I haven't bought any peanuts for a while, just sunflower seeds. There is a bit of a mess outside on the deck right now.

This little one seemed a bit out of sorts that day.

Oh dear!

And diplomacy too. Look at his tail Mr. Chipmunk, isn't it a fine looking tail?

He's thinking about it.

Now here's a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It never fails after eating a healthy helping of seeds, for the squirrels to collapse on the deck rail in such a pose as this. But then don't we all sometimes feel the need to nap after a bigger than normal meal?

And let's not forget to put out a cool, fresh dish of water outside for our furry and feathered friends. They need it at all times, but especially in very hot weather. 

And as I remember how hot it was that day, I could do with a little bit more heat.  Won't be long now.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your week.

BIRDS ON THE BACK DECK BUT FIRST...

This is an illustration I found at Pixabay.  You may remember me mentioning the site before.  Sandra at Madsnapper told us about it in one of her blog posts quite a while ago.  I go to it frequently as I enjoy not only browsing through their wonderful photos, but several of my signature graphics come from there. I put them together in a program I have called Paint Shop Pro, adding my name and a few other details if needed, tweaking the design if I need to tailor it to see if it will look better to my eye, generally playing on the program until I have something satisfactory.  I get so focused an hour or two have gone by without me realizing. The picture above appealed to my love of wildlife, and I thought I would share it today.

I have been enjoying my own wildlife this week.   The Robin stayed up in the tree for a long while and I took photos.

I was able to get a bag of bird seed.  Not too long after I had replenished their supply, the second bird to show up was the Goldfinch.  He seems to be getting the beginnings of his bright yellow summer plumage.  Added note: Anni from Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin' said she thought my Goldfinch might be a female with more muted colors.  Thanks Anni! 

A male and female House Finch was sitting up in the tree waiting.

Quite a look you have there Mr. Finch!

A White-throated Sparrow paid a quick visit...

as did the male Red-headed Woodpecker.  You can just about make out his claws hanging onto the edge of the deck rail.  Another collage with a few other poses...

and another male House Finch flew down for his lunch.

The next photo is the last one of the birds, this time a male Cardinal and a female House Finch.  They seem to be quite comfortable in each other's presence.

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, and a squirrel was busy gathering leaf material.

Their home is in a tree in our front yard.  She is on the branch of a tree in the back garden in this photo, which gives her easy access to the roof of our house.  She scurries over the roof which leads to another overhanging branch on the other side, belonging to the tree in front, which she uses to scurry up to her nest.  We're going to have to get the trees trimmed this year, at least so that these little darlings don't have access to the roof anymore, and can't dig a hole into our attic to take up residence next winter! 

Added note: 4-18-20

I had an invite to join Anni's link at I'd Rather B Birding'.  If you have any bird experiences and would like to join in, you can add yours at this link here.