Wednesday, December 15, 2021

THIS AND THAT...

I have just eaten breakfast.  On a weekday I usually have a bowl of steel cut oatmeal, with a tablespoon of dried chopped dates, a tablespoon of chopped pecans or walnuts, sliced banana (not this morning as I need to buy them on the next shopping trip), or another piece of fruit, and topped with half a cup of oat milk.  On the weekends we splurge a little.  Something with eggs (poached eggs on toast is a favorite with both of us). What's your favorite breakfast?  I am always looking for ideas.  Do you have time for breakfast?   Many of us are so busy that it's hard to fit it in.  

I had a lot of photos in our camera that I hadn't downloaded in a while.  These photos are a variety over the last couple of months. 

This Turkey Vulture was at Green Spring Gardens at the beginning of December.  Gregg took the photo.   I liked the dark contrast of the bird with that pretty blue sky.Another of his when it got very breezy, and the leaves were falling like rain.  
It was beautiful!  And some of the leaves were the size of dinner plates. 
Gregg's foot is next to a magnolia leaf.
Gregg likes to take candid photos.  Here's one of me walking up the hill.  We only visited the pond that day.
I took the photos in the squirrel collage with our other camera, not the trail cam.  I thought you might like to see the one I use (below).  I get a lot of enjoyment out of it and position it where I put the seeds.  You can see it on Amazon here. There are many to choose from, depending on what you are looking for.  

Added note: Ginny's of Let Your Light Shine told me in her comment that this camera is no longer showing.  Thankfully there are many others to choose from.  Thank you for letting me know Ginny!


Lately I have been thinking of buying an additional cam, to put on one of the trees on ground level, to see what night animals we might get.  I was toying with the idea of getting one with a wifi.  The cam I have now is described as: "Flagpower Trail Camera 16MP 1080P Hunting Game Camera with Night Vision Motion Activated IP66 Waterproof 120 Detecting Range Motion Activated Night Vision 2.4" LCD IR LEDs 32 GB Memory Card."
Everything stops for birds.  Whatever I might be doing inside, when I see furry or feathered friends, I stop and grab the camera.  By the time I'm finished I have forgotten what I was doing originally, and usually put the kettle on for a cup of tea.  I sit down and watch the birds for a while, and after I have finished with my tea, I remember what I was doing and start again from there.  This is how she rolls these days!  I have about ten cups of tea during the afternoon and yes, I am joking.  Above you can see two Goldfinches and a house finch.  These were taken when the weather was warmer a couple of months back.
A few weeks' ago, my sister-in-law let us know that the International Space Station would be doing a pass over the East Coast.  I didn't think I had a hope of seeing it, my eyes not being very sharp, but I said why not?  The weather cooperated and the skies were clear.  I strained my eyes and after seeing some dots said, well, maybe that was it!  But truthfully there were so many planes coming into Washington-Dulles Airport, it's anyone's guess.  I did take a moon shot which came out so-so, a bit washed out.  I am always very impressed with Ginny's Let Your Light Shine moonshots, and a week later I took another that pleased me more.  This was on a different night, and the stars were aligned, so the old saying goes.  I should get more practice when the moon is fuller.  I used the one below for my post yesterday, with the saying.
The next photo is of a male Downy Woodpecker that stayed on one of the rails out back, in that position, for 10 minutes.  My thought was that there may have been a hawk flying around.  There were no smaller birds in sight.  I haven't actually seen a hawk in months.  
The other thing that has been happening around here in bird-land, is that the Mourning Doves have been flying into the patio door window.  This is a new thing.  All bounced back off in flight and none landed on the deck.  At first I couldn't figure out what the marks were on the glass.  When I looked closer, I could see the outline of a few feathers on each side where a bird's wings would have been, their oils had transferred.  I washed the window and the next day there was the same outline.  When I was sitting in my spot looking at the doves lined up on the deck, I actually saw one fly towards the glass with a bit of a thump, but it flew off again immediately and didn't seem the worse for wear.  I also put a small Christmas tree next to the door.  Could they try to be landing in that?  I suppose anything is possible!  There are decals on the shopping list!

That's it for today's post and thanks so much for stopping by.  Enjoy your day! 




51 comments:

  1. Lovely post Denise.
    The last moon shot is lovely, have taken a few good ones myself in the past.
    For breakfast I always have the same, tea and toast with a tiny bit of vegemite on it.

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    1. Thank you Margaret :) I'll have to take a look. I have never tried vegemite though have heard a lot about it. You've spurred me on to add that to my shopping list :)

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  2. Gorgeous photos. That second moon shot (something I struggle with) is spectacular. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you Sue, I know of those struggles with moon shots. I was happy this one turned out :)

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  3. Thank you for the compliment! Your moon shot is beautiful! your particular camera is not available on amazon right now, it must be very popular. I was surprised to see that they do not cost very much, and are quite afforable!the Magnolia leaf is enormous! We have had quite a few birds smash into our windows. We rarely see bodies, but then there are a lot of cats around. I love the photo of you walking! I make breakfast every morning. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, eggs, breakfast pizza on a tortilla or french bread, mini omelets in a muffin pan, micwowave mug pancakes, hash browns topped with eggs, breakfast sandwiches. I have a plastic keeper the size of a shoebox filled with breakfast recipies.

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    1. Genuinely intended Ginny, I always love your moon shots. I am very happy with my cam but did not realize it is no longer for sale. I will have to add that to my post. Thanks for all the great ideas on breakfast too :)

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  4. Love all the pictures. I occasionally have birds fly into my windows. It's always sad to see them laying on the deck stunned. I take that as a good excuse not to clean my windows...lol

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    1. Thankfully I haven't had the smaller ones go into my windows for a long time. In fact, this is the first time I have had a problem with the doves. Thanks Ann, I think this is the best of excuses not to clean windows :)

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  5. Yep,we put decals on our front storm door. Thankfully it's the only window that is not covered with hurricane shutters. But the birds could see the yard's tree in the reflection.

    I enjoyed your photos. That is one HUGE leaf. And the photo of you walking up the hill gives me a "face" with a name!!

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    1. Thanks Anni, glad you enjoyed. Decals it is then! I don't put too many personal photos on here, but my dear other half likes to see me on my blog too :)

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  6. Some mornings it'll be a sandwich or two. Others it's oatmeal.

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    1. Thank you William :) Oatmeal is favorite of mine.

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  7. Very nice photo of you. I like your coat. As for breakfast, I usually have Ritz crackers with flavored cream cheese on top of each cracker plus 2 glasses of iced black tea.

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    1. Thank you Gigi :) That coat has been all over the place with me. It keeps me very warm in the colder months. I like Ritz crackers, putting cream cheese on those sounds very nice.

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  8. Your breakfast sounds delicious and healthy, Denise. Mine varies from yogurt and fruit to a smoothie to a cereal. I also enjoy poached and soft boiled eggs and alternate as well. If we had a deck that deckcam would be fun and it's understandable how distracting it can be as far as getting other things done. It would be too much fun watching the squirrels and birds that visit. We have had birds fly close to our 5th floor windows and there are decals on them now for the holiday season. Hopefully, the ones you plan to buy will discourage the doves from crashing into the windows.

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    1. Hi Dorothy, thank you for the ideas on breakfast :) All sound very good to me. I am watching the birds as I type. We have Grey-slated Juncos out there right now, and I am also drinking my morning cup of black coffee after eating my oatmeal. The doves have not tried to land in my Christmas tree the last couple of days, thankfully! I am wondering if it was one particular dove who has finally figured it out. Meanwhile the decals will be a good visual :)

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  9. it has been years since a bird hit our living room windowm but two have done it in the last 2 weeks. one we think was a hawk, it was big,neither was hurt, they flew off. we both eat a big breakfast, i eat 1/3 of my calories for the day. my least favorite breakfast is what you had, i had oatmeal with raisins and walnuts for breakfast this morning, i force myself to eat it once a week. I do better if i have bread of some kind, now the toast, or crepe or bread is gluten free and don't care for it like i did, I eat the crepe 3 times a week because i can hide 2 eggs in it and don't know they are there. i find it hard to eat enough protein, and eggs is the best way to get it.

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    1. Interesting about the hawk Sandra, glad they were none the worse for it. Crepes are a favorite of Gregg's, and I think I will suggest that for breakfast one day. I usually make them thicker than a crepe and thinner than a pancake, the way my mother always made them (only on Shrove Tuesday which is a tradition in the UK). We were always very excited to see her toss those :)

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  10. Gorgeous photos. These days I have been having a small muffin for brek, bran or oatmeal. Eggs over easy on occasion

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    1. Thanks Christine, and all those sound good to me :)

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  11. Breakfast. candid shots, birds, trail cams and space. That post covers a lot of good stuff. Winters I have hot cereal and summers cold cereal. I just noticed that my grocery store has no cornflakes or rice crispies at all!

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    1. Thanks Red, I hope you get your cereal on the next visit :)

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  12. hahahaha, clean windows, they can be trouble!!

    we eat something every day for breakfast, but the food itself varies!! my favorite is buttermilk biscuits with scrambled eggs and bacon. i buy the biscuits frozen and we often get bacon from ducan donuts and save it in the frig for the next day. their bacon is so good and it makes putting the little sandwiches together a breeze!! i make coffee cake too and we get muffins at the food store and toast them.

    the picture of the vulture is awesome!!

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    1. They certainly can :) All your breakfast foods are making me very hungry! They all sound delicious! Thanks Debbie :)

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  13. Yummy breakfast and lovely shots.

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  14. I love your trail cam photos of the birds. I have been thinking about modifying my gopro clone for bird feeder watch purposes. It has a motion sensor and I would get both birds and squirrels.

    That second moon shot of yours is outstanding!!

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    1. Thanks Yogi! Happy you enjoyed them. Great idea on the gopro and look forward to those photos.

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  15. I love this kind of post. I stop for birds, too, if there happens to be any within shooting distance. I may try putting out food again. It has been a while since I have seen a starling. I would not mind a few. I always throw some on the ground for the squirrels, too. But once a starling comes it is not long till there are 30 or 40 out there and the food is gone in no time.

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    1. Thank you Rose, a kindred spirit where birds are concerned. I think there are a few of us on here :) I always enjoy yours :) It's amazing how many of those starlings congregate. I remember seeing thousands of them once in a field long after harvest time. They were an amazing sight.

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  16. The magnolia leaf is very big! My breakfast consists mainly of cold or hot cereal. Sometimes I have eggs. Bob makes eggs most mornings, but so don’t feel like having eggs when he eats (very early). I do enjoy going out sometimes for dinner and having breakfast entrees at that time.

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    1. Hi Linda, we were surprised at the size. Thanks for the ideas on breakfast :)

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  17. I did enjoy seeing your photographs, such a wonderful mix.

    We always take time to enjoy a cooked breakfast and always something with eggs, they are so nutritious.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Sp glad Jan and thank you! Eggs are very versatile aren't they? We enjoy them. All the best to you too :)

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  18. Such a fun packed assortment of photos and topics, Denise! Bird photos always make me happy. Those mourning doves appear to hit windows at our home as well. On Thanksgiving Day we were all sitting in our Florida room and a hawk swooped down to capture a dove, but missed! I was happy for the dove and we all couldn't believe our eyes! Since I've been eating low carb we most often have an egg casserole that has cheese, bacon or sausage in it. I make it in advance and we have it before our walk. Making it every four days makes it easy to just reheat in the microwave.

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    1. Happy you enjoyed Martha Ellen, and thank you! I'm happy for the dove too :) That must have been startling! Your egg casserole sounds delicious!

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    1. You are very welcome Cloudia, happy you enjoyed :)

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  20. Hello, Denise
    I had oatmeal this morning. Wonderful photos. Love the birds, the moon captures and that big magnolia leaf. Take care, enjoy your day!

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    1. Thank you Eileen, for your comment and for telling me what you had for breakfast. I've found it very interesting reading yours and everyone's comments about breakfast :) You take care and enjoy your day also :)

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  21. I love my trailcams. I'm down to two, with one wrapped for my birthday!
    Lovely mix of photos!

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    1. Hi Jenn, thank you and I love your trail cam also. You take wonderful videos of your local wildlife :) A wonderful birthday gift for sure :)

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  22. Beautiful images and a reminder that I really need a new camera in the near future! Your clarity is excellent. I love breakfast, too -- my favorite is eggs, sausage and toast but I love a good egg strata and we enjoy it at least once a year (on Christmas morning.)

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    1. Hi Jeanie, I was happy to find this selection of photos I had forgotten to download. Some days my hands are steadier than others :) Your breakfasts sound delicious! Thanks for sharing them :)

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  23. Great photos. I love the candid shot of you walking up the hill! Breakfast is hit and miss around here. We enjoy oatmeal. Egg scrambles are something we have in a pinch throwing in all sorts of veggies, sometimes adding breakfast meat of some kind, topping it with some cheese and avocado. An easier version of an omelette. :) Have a wonderful day!

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    1. Thanks Ellen and your breakfasts sound wonderful too :)

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  24. Thanks for all the comments everyone. They are always a fun read and I enjoyed reading about your breakfast choices :)

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  25. We eat breakfast every day but I only cook something two or three times a week. Regular is toast and peanut butter and fresh fruit -- citrus or melon OR a fibery cold cereal with berries. I'll reheat leftovers some mornings and usually make oatmeal once a week (with the "fixings"... sometimes the caramalized banana recipe you gave us!). Sunday is usually actually cook something with eggs -- guacamole toast with poached egg; scrambled eggs or omelets with veggies and cheese are favorites. We also like English muffins with cream cheese and salmon occasionally. (That counts as cooking at breakfast time ;>)

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    1. Hi Sallie, your breakfasts sound delicious! Thanks for sharing those :)

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