SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER - LOUD?

 

Blue Jay had his say!

But so are you my dear Blue Jay. The experts say your calls can be very loud, and can sound like a scream, especially your alarm calls which alert everyone. So good for you Mr. Blue Jay! 

Another hero! Well done my fine feathered friend!

He would have had his answer, but Camera Lady tripped over the Froggy Zen Master. After many utterances which raised Zen Master's eyes to the ceiling, he thought it prudent to leave and let her practice more Zen on her own.

But first he left her with this, "A Zen state, also known as mindfulness, is a state of calm attentiveness where one is fully present in the moment, free from excessive thought or attachment to external stimuli. It's about being aware of your surroundings and inner experience simultaneously, allowing you to respond consciously and effectively. This state can be cultivated through practices like meditation and mindful living." And he then said, "You have a long way to go. More practice!"

And that is how it goes on a Saturday Morning at the Bird Feeder. 

WALNEY POND - A FEW PHOTOS FROM 3-12-25

We park our car on the right-hand side... 

and walk across a wooden boardwalk to get to the other side of the pond. This is another place I have shared many times over the lifetime of this blog.

If you carry on and go over a small bridge, there is a trail that will eventually take you to the visitor center. Normally we turn left and enjoy our walk next to the water. There are new shoots of Yellow flag iris showing in the shallows.We took the photo of the beaver lodge below our little friend here as we were making our way back to the car, which looks a bit torn apart, and is actually a dozen or so feet away from the previous location. There was also a wire fence preventing access to a water pipe I noticed. You can see this delightful animal below, a photo taken from a previous post. 

I wonder if the park people are trying to discourage them from damaging any of the trees, but that's what I thought last year? And then we saw beaver swimming into the middle of the waterlilies. Hopefully we will be seeing the same later on. We were a bit too early today I think. Fingers crossed! If you would like to see that post of our North American Beaver, click at this link.

We were welcomed by a pair of ducks. They started swimming towards the center of the pond when we appeared, and there were several tortoises resting on a platform nearby.I liked the patterns in the water that the ducks were causing. The sun was shining in the wrong direction and reflecting off the lens but I was happy to get these.They and the tortoises seemed to be enjoying the sunny and warm weather, as we were.We sat down on a couple of the benches and always like to read the plaques put there. There were new places to sit I noticed.

Some of the messages are very touching. There are donations you can make to the "Honor or Memorial Park Bench Program." The price of each 6-foot bench is $1,500, all made of recycled materials. You can get a personalized plaque installed up to 3 lines, 42 characters per line, I read. More information about this program is here.

This is one of the two overlooks. I see people who enjoy looking into the water, some with fishing poles. I didn't see any fish today though. We usually look when all the waterlilies are blooming and there are many here, but not yet.

I will leave you with a couple of photos of "ducks, beautiful, comical things." 

F. W. Harvey was so very correct. I have his poem which you can read here, but you can see all three verses at this link. I didn't realize there were others, only having seen the first.

I was so very happy to see the ducks today, and the tortoises of course. I am hoping we will see the North American Beaver next time.

Thanks for taking a look, always appreciated. 

Have a great day.

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER - A VISITOR

And that’s how it goes on a Saturday Morning at the Bird Feeder.

NATURE IS...

Can you see it? 

"Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again, until suddenly we take the hint."

 ~Robert Frost~

HUNTLEY MEADOWS CONTINUED...

 

It was a day for conversations. Not ten feet into the park a little boy ran up with an insect box showing two colorful frogs inside. They were hard to see because there were fresh leaves inside. He chattered away as his mother came up behind him and whispered quietly, "They aren't real, just toys." I smiled and listened to the dear child telling me about his 'frogs'. The insect box was real and I told him how wonderful his frogs were. He said his mommy was going to get him more and I told him what a wonderful mommy he had. His sister came up behind him, maybe two years older, and started chatting also. 

They were with another lady and her two children about the same age. The mommies looked similar, sisters perhaps, and all were smiling. What a wonderful thing they were doing for their children, to introduce them to nature at such an early age.

I noticed a spider's web and snapped a photo.

I found this plant very interesting. Checking with my plant app I was given two dogwoods, Red osier dogwood and Silky dogwood. I am not sure which is correct. They aren't the dogwood I am more familiar with. You can check the link on their names to see what I mean.

This is the same area where we saw the Canada Geese and their goslings. Every time we visit, the water level is different due to the beaver dams, which were always very visible. The last couple of times it has been on the drier side. One of the photographers told us that the park people had told him the beavers have moved to the west and took their beaver dams with them. The lodge that I have become used to, near a bench we always sit on, is slowly disappearing back into the mud. They weren't discouraged, they just upped and left!  We were sorry to hear that as we have loved seeing the beavers over the years, along with their intricate engineering skills. Maybe they will move back. I will always remain hopeful!

One constant is the frog! Thankfully they are still around! All you had to do was look at a damp, muddy area and there they were, occasionally obscured by twigs and reeds. 

What we were actually seeing was the American Toad.

They are found throughout large portions of North America but are not generally present in the southern states. This is what I read anyhow, and perhaps our southern bloggers can agree or disagree on that. American toads shed their skin every couple of week or so while growing. They can also eat up to 1,000 insects a day!  

This Snapping turtle was a bit shy!

There were lots of dragonflies in the area. I came across a few settled on the boardwalk. I am still very much a novice on identifying many things, dragonflies are on top of the list. I believe this is a male Common Whitetail Dragonfly.  If you are more knowledgeable, please let me know if I am incorrect. I would rather know than not.

Below is a female Common Whitetail Dragonfly. The Juvenile males are very similar but their wings are more like the male above, whereas the females are more like this. You can go here to see what I am talking about. Anyhow, it was fun to read about them.

This isn't a very good photo but it looks like a female Red-winged blackbird. It is easier to identify the male...

and here he is. I took more photos of him because he was right on the sidewalk as we were walking towards him to go back to our car...

and a collage of the same bird. If you click on this link, you can hear its distinctive call. 

I think I will stop here with today's post, and will share more photos another time. Thanks for looking and I wish you all a great day!

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - MEADOWLARK GARDENS CONTINUED...

We are making our way down the hill and looking up you will see the greenhouse building.  I am not sure its proper name, but it contains many plants which we have yet to explore.  On its left you can just about see the chess set I showed you in this post.

And a little more clearly here.

In my last post I mentioned the couple who were having some professional photos taken in one of our favorite spots.  We were sitting across from them, seated underneath the cherry blossom trees.  We always enjoy sharing in others' joyful moments, even at a distance.  It was a lovely scene!  This is Gregg's photo and I like the fact that he caught the branch in sharper focus than the couple, giving them their privacy.

Here's another!

It was a lovely day and the turtles were out sunning themselves. We noticed several green bags floating on the edges of the pond. Whether these were for the turtles themselves I'm not sure. Perhaps something to do with cleaning the water in the pond also.

  Whatever their purpose, the turtles certainly seemed to be making use of them.  From what I read at their website, they are Eastern Painted Turtles.

These pretty blue flowers are called Glory-of-the-snow, also known as Boissier's glory-of-the-snow, Lucile's glory-of-the-snow, with a botanical name of Scilla lucillae. 

Not the clearest photo but it will give you an idea of what it looks like close up. It gets its name because it blooms so early in the spring or late winter.  Like snowdrops, you may see them poking up from the snow.  They are grown from bulbs and they tolerate full sun to partial shade.

One last photo for today of the Common Hyacinth, also called Wild Hyacinth with a botanical name of Hyacinthus orientalis. Another heralder of spring.

A shorter post as it is getting late. I will share another next week sometime.

Thanks for visiting and I hope the weather is treating you well. I've read that some of our northern friends are still getting snow. 

Take good care of yourselves everyone.