Daily life in the lives of our backyard friends, in short ten second videos. If you click on any of the red lettering, it will take you to a website where there is more information. (As I don't subscribe to YouTube I don't have any control of the advertisements/videos that they show at the end but otherwise, enjoy the main part and ignore the rest if need be.)
When I downloaded the photos from the deck camera, I was surprised and delighted to see that we had been visited by the American Goldfinch. This is another bird that I hope will come back.
A small finch with a short, conical bill and a small head, long wings and short, notched tail. It is smaller than a Tufted Titmouse. I read all this at the link in red above.
"One thing is certain, and I have always known it. The joys of my life have nothing to do with age. They do not change. Flowers, the morning and evening light, music, poetry, silence, the goldfinches darting about." ~Mary Sarton~
A lovely poem that I found.
He often in the trees did sing, With lively notes light as wings, And to all the other birds he brings Happiness and delight. His song as lively as his yellow hue, The bird I know is never blue, Unlike the somber birds that flew Around during the night.
The Mourning Dove with its mourning call Does call a call, the saddest of all And the wind does blow, and the rain does fall And the skies aren't blue.
But the Goldfinch sings an upbeat song So that all the chipmunks scamper along And the sparrows search for the iron lung Of the once dull bird they knew.
But now that spring has come to the fields,
The Goldfinch has laid down his brown winter shield
And now a yellow coat he feels
Around his happy heart.
And all the birds say, "sing again!"
And the Goldfinch chirps for all his friends
And they all erupt in a happy blend
Of music, and of art.
~Telemachus~
And I thought I would show you this, one of my gifts from our son and daughter-in-law for Mother's Day. I love it!
Beautiful flowers from Gregg, along with a pretty card which is on the mantle shelf. This card from son and daughter-in-law.
Thank you My Darlings! My Mother's Day was very special.
Have a great day everyone, and thanks for stopping by.
The temperature reached the high 60s yesterday and it was very sunny. We went back to Huntley Meadows and though we would have liked to have seen more birds - we saw a few - we did find this Great Blue Heron after a long walk. We met a gentleman taking photographs who said he thought there would be a lot more birds in about a month's time. I was very happy to see a few Red-winged Blackbirds, hearing their trill first, one male Wood Duck, and a few more Coots. It was also a lovely walk. I will write a longer post next time and share the photos we took. In the meantime here is a video (just over three minutes long) where we shared a few things about our walk.
A few photos and videos from the deck cam out back. This is a male Brown-headed Cowbird with a Mourning Dove behind him. I've noticed that they don't seem to mind sharing the birdseed.
The female Cardinal makes an appearance in the next photo. It seems like she is checking out the camera.
In the video you will see the Cardinal pop in and in the background there is a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Blue Jay that flies in.
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I added this photo as I liked the pretty feather pattern from the back.
Another video showing her back feathers.
Here's her mate. I get a lot of Cardinals visiting every day.
They are a bright little bird with lots of personality.
Only four short videos for you this time. I lengthened them a little bit to 10 second segments. A crow, squirrel, dove and squirrel and a female Cardinal.
I can't guarantee what other films are advertised at the end of each video. I have no control of that so won't recommend any.
Hopefully you have enjoyed the birds and squirrels I have shared today. A little microcosm of what goes on in my backyard.
Many of the birds in this post are House Finches, but there is a female Cardinal finally, Dark-eyed Juncos, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and a Red-bellied Woodpecker, either in a photo or video.
I have to say that I am getting so much enjoyment from the deck camera. It gives you a closer peek into these birds that visit every day. I have seen a Carolina Wren but haven't gotten a real good view yet. One of these days.
I really did think he was hibernating. Today, when I checked the deck cam there he was. I have not seen him since the weather started cooling down, but the recent elevation in temperatures - it got up to 60 degrees F. yesterday - he must have gotten a little confused.
Today it reached 71 degrees F. I expect he will be back again tonight.
He's welcome for a couple of nights or so. I expect once the temperatures go down again he will return to his den and continue sleeping through until spring.
I know they can be a total pest and you have to watch out for rabies, but I have such fond memories of my first sighting of raccoons. It was when I had lived in this country only for a few years. I had seen them on TV growing up on Disney shows, the kind that had been given voices. When we were in Monterey, California, at night they used to climb the trees up to our back deck when we lived in navy housing. Along with our son and other kids in the neighborhood who were around three to five years' old, we all used to lie on our tummies with chins cupped in hands, studying them. It was our very own nature picture show. Raw eggs still in their shells had been rolled out before their arrival, and we watched as the delicate little paws of each raccoon grasped them and gently bit off the top of the egg. They licked the contents clean and their tiny fingers swirled inside the shell to make sure nothing was left. A story I have told before in the lifetime of my blogging. But I think of those first sightings every time one appears.
Bye-bye you little rascal. Go back to sleep until springtime. There will be plenty of natural food for you to eat by then.
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Below are four mini-videos. At the bottom of each video the date information and time is incorrect. My batteries ran out and I forgot to reset the camera before putting it outside, same with the photos from the other day. The photos and videos were taken yesterday, during the night and this morning.
This is a video I took yesterday as we looked out our sliding window/door. We opened it for just enough time to show you. The snow was coming down fairly heavily. Just looked at the clock and at 11.48 p.m. it is still snowing. Our son and daughter-in-law sent us these photos also. They have new parkas and were trying them out, and new snow boots. They are taking a trip soon and need to be prepared.
Gregg was out when it was light and was shoveling the driveway. I showed him the advertisement of two local young men/college age students who are earning extra money to do just that, and they have all the equipment. He prefers to get the exercise right now, as was our next door neighbor and a few others around here. I am unable to help unfortunately. Too many falls on icy surfaces that have left their calling card even now. Still waving that phone number around just in case he needs it tomorrow.
Now onto this weeks recipe. I am revisiting an old one, great comfort food in this weather. It is one that I make every year, generally after Thanksgiving. I had a ham bone in the freezer which I thawed out overnight, along with pre-prepared dried beans left over from another dish and also frozen and thawed overnight. A nice easy meal.
Recipe as follows: from mum-in-law many years ago.
Put 1 lb. of dried navy beans into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Pick out any bits of grit or dark beans.
1 finely chopped yellow onion
6 peeled whole cloves of garlic
3 carrots, grated
2 ribs of celery, diced
Seasonings to taste, if used
Pour the beans into a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Carefully pour back into the strainer and rinse again.
To the saucepan add the beans, one finely chopped yellow onion, 6 peeled whole cloves of garlic, 3 grated carrots, 2 diced ribs of celery and a large meaty ham bone. Cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for about two hours.
Take the bone out of the pot, remove any meat and cut into small bit-sized pieces. Put the meat back into the pot and discard the bone.
Season to taste.
When I learned how to make this bean soup years ago from watching my mother-in-law, she used to tell me her favorite seasoning was Lawry's Seasoned Salt and also Lawry's Seasoned Pepper. I have been using both when preparing various meals ever since, and though I don't use a lot of salt, I always add a little and more pepper. I would use your own seasonings if you already have a favorite, and only use enough for your own taste.
I also made a cornbread and served it with the soup, but a slice of crusty bread would go very nicely.
Today I am posting six videos from the deck cam. The racoons have gone to bed for the winter, and no other night creatures come and visit any more. The birds are enjoying their feed, and I do scatter it on the deck rail to entice them closer to the camera. At this time of the year the birds tidy up for me, and if not then the rain does a very decent job. And then there's always the broom! The birds flit in and flit out sometimes. You will also see a squirrel. These only last a few seconds. I have been wondering about making them a little longer if that's possible. I haven't really investigated that too much. If they were any longer I think I would have to buy hundreds of batteries. Also I have no control on what videos you will see at the end. I wish you didn't have to see any of those but there may be something that might interest you. I won't be recommending any though, as I am never sure what you will be seeing. They change from viewing to viewing. Hopefully what you see here will bring a few seconds of smiles.
A few more photos my nephew took when we were in Denali last month.
This was our bicycle chaser. If you missed it you can read that story by scrolling down at this link. And over the hill he went.
The following photos are of a mother and cub digging at the side of the road, either for roots or grubs? I forgot to ask as there were lots of excited people on that bus. They hadn't long awakened from their winter hibernation - the bears too - and must have been very hungry. Sorry, I could not resist that little joke.
I could not believe that the bears were only a hop, skip and a jump away from us. No one asked to get off the bus! I doubt the driver would have allowed us anyhow, or at any time for that matter, this having taken place after the bicyclist incident.
The smaller bear didn't seem that much smaller than his mother and I wondered how old he was. I read that cubs stay with their mothers for two to three years. You can read more information here.
These videos are not that great, especially in the third one as I took a very good minute or two with the bar on the window but I wanted to show the cub making its way down the hill as he sank into the snow. These videos were all taken with my cell phone.
