Stop?

It's been almost a month since my last post.  Part of the time, I was away and it would have been difficult to post.  But that's only part of the reason I haven't posted.  I've been thinking about stopping, or perhaps I'll continue posting-- but only once and awhile.

Northern Mockingbird

Lately, I've been having a hard time being motivated to do this, even though I have enjoyed it very much.  

So, I'm not saying I'll never post again.  If I come across a really good morsel I might post.

Limpkin with a snail.

I might not be able to resist posting Monarch photos come next September.

If I have a new idea, I might take a stab at writing about it.

Otherwise, I may just go hide in the vegetation.  I've often thought about becoming a hermit.

Four Wilson's Snipes... yes, really.

I might dance off into the sunset.

Or close my eyes and slink away quietly.

Who knows, I may find I want to come out of the muck to post regularly again.

There is the possibility of a new project I'm thinking about working on.  New things in life can be good.

My first Yellow-throated Warbler

Whatever I decide to do, I hope it will soar...

so I don't have to scurry away!

Common Ground Doves

Either way, I want to thank my readers for being a part of this blog.

Whether you perched in the tree tops and let me know you enjoyed it, or flew in once and awhile and were part of the silent majority...

Rare Whopping Crane in the midst of other water birds.

 ...thank you for reading!

Red-bellied Woodpecker... flying away.

Under Grey Skies or Blue, the Trees are Fabulous!

Beauty in My Father's World this week is all about one thing... the TREES!

Where I live, the first week in October is usually the peak time for fall coloration.  Our abundance of trees means we spectacular scenery in the fall.  My family traveled from our home in northern Pennsylvania to southern Pennsylvania for a family birthday party yesterday, and we decided after the drive that the prettiest trees were right here in our own little valley.  Of course, we might be a little bit biased!

Last Saturday morning I went on my usual birding walk, but I kept getting distracted by the trees!  Even though the sky was grey and rain threatened, the trees were gorgeous.

I usually walk down by the swamp first to look for ducks and such.  I did see 6 Wood Ducks, but I only got photos of trees!

Standing in one spot, looking north:

And from the same spot, looking south:

The grey sky probably made the colors look brighter.  The next patch of trees is exceptionally pretty every year.

A few of the trees were already loosing their leaves, but that just expands the view.

I did see quite a few birds, too, one of which was this Belted Kingfisher.

With the variety of colors, it would be hard to pick a favorite.  I love the yellows of this next patch...

but the maroon one in the next photo is a beauty, too!

One of my favorite trees is the maple at the south end of the beaver swamp (on the right in the next photo).  It has such a graceful shape that it looks pretty in all seasons, but it's at its finest in the fall.

My bird/tree walk continued up the hill, giving us an overview of the hillside behind the swamp.

Notice that even some of the White Pine needles turn yellow and fall this time of the year.  

That's it for my 'grey day' photos, now here are some from a day when we had blue skies overhead.

Here's a panoramic photo taken from along the road in front of our home.  By the way, the road is actually straight... the photo just makes it look like it curves.

And finally, the tree that wins the prize for the best variety of color on one tree:

I hope you enjoyed our trees and that you have some pretty ones in 'your neck of the woods' too!




 

The Big Picture and Little Pleasures

Every once and awhile I do a post about the 'big picture' to show you what the scenery looks like around here.  This week seemed like a good time to do that again, since we've had some really beautiful weather.  But then a few 'little' things popped up this week, too.  So I decided to show you both.

I'll start with the 'big picture'.

I don't think I've ever shown this particular view before.  That's Elk Mountain in the distance.  This field, the farthest one from our house, is a good place to watch for white-tailed deer in the evening.  

Another favorite viewpoint of mine is from an opening between two fields.

The hills are just starting to get some color.

If you are in the woods though, it still looks pretty green.

Of course, I'm always enjoying views of the swamp, especially when there is a pretty reflection in the water.

One tree on the hillside is ahead of the rest in turning red.

The old dock is too rickety-looking for me to venture out on it anymore.  I wouldn't mind much if I wound up in the water but I don't want to dump my camera.

Now, for the 'little pleasures' of this past week.   First, I've had several sightings of our young Cardinal.  He's hanging around with his father.

While he has been in the crab apple tree near the bird feeder, I still haven't seen him on the feeder, but I'm very happy he's doing okay.  In fact, he's starting to look pretty sharp... though he needs to grow a few more feathers in his crest.

Another little pleasure from the week was that we still had some Monarchs around.  The next one looked very beautiful on the Goldenrod flowers.

I was happy to see a little group of Lincoln's sparrows passing thru on their migration.

But I was happiest of all to see the next little cutie!

This red-breasted nuthatch appeared at our feeders on September 24th and kept coming all afternoon.

I had fun taking its photograph and watching it enjoy the sunflower seeds.

We don't see them very often here.  In fact, the last one that we had at our feeders was in January 2009.  

During the fall and winter, they like to eat the seeds of conifers and are one of the irruptive bird species when those seeds are in short supply.  (Click here to read an interesting article about that by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

One winter we had a red-breasted nuthatch coming to our feeders that would eat out of our hands.  How I would love to have one stay around this year, but this one must have just been passing thru, as I haven't seen it again.  Of course, another one may come around (there's always hope!) and I'm thankful that this one visited, if only for an afternoon!

Meanwhile, we have lots of other birds at the feeders.  I enjoyed the simple pleasure of photographing this female red-bellied woodpecker showing her red belly... and seeing that she was smart enough to figure out how to get a seed from the 'small-bird only' feeder.

Now, time to feed the other hungry critters at my house.... 

Don't these faces give the message that it's time for me to stop writing this blog post and get them each a doggie biscuit?

Good-bye Summer '16

According to the calendar, yesterday was the last day of summer.  Nature's calendar is not always so precise.  But,  while I was looking thru my photos from this past week, I was feeling somewhat nostalgic about saying good-bye to summer.  

Would this be my last photo of a Painted Turtle this year?

Nice little flower, too!

The swamp was looking a bit like fall, even though we haven't had enough cool weather to make the trees and plants really start turning colors yet.

I doubt it will be the last time I'll see a great-blue heron this year, but you never know.  Oh, you didn't see the heron in the photo above?  He's in there!

Our 3 'yard hummingbirds' left, and for several days the garden was very quiet!  Monarchs were flitting around the flowers but they don't make any noise.

Even when they are in competition with bees.

Then on September 17th, I heard a familiar noise and saw a hummingbird.

I figured that one would be my last hummer for the summer.  (You knew I'd get one more photo of a hummingbird on the blog this year, right?!)

This little red squirrel appeared on September 21st to cheer me up from my 'summer's-almost-over blues'.  What a cutie pie!

This red squirrel still has its summer stripe!

And smart, too!  It was a warm day so he ate his end-of-summer picnic in the shade of the bird feeder.

"Thanks for the yummy lunch and cool shade, too!" 

My late-summer walk down by the swamp revealed more changing colors.

These Winterberries will be appreciated by the birds after the weather turns colder.  

Now, there's something to look forward to-- maybe I'll cut some to put by the bird feeder and see a Pileated Woodpecker eat them like last year. (See my post about it here.)

The Winterberry bushes are loaded with berries now.  These shrubs (which are actually deciduous hollies) love wet spots like along the edge of the beaver swamp. 

I'm not sure I like the name Winterberry for them, as they obviously have berries now, and it's just the beginning of Fall.  We'll enjoy Autumn before we think about Winter!  The bright red berries do stand out more in Winter when there is snow on the ground, of course.

Well, that's it for my 'good-bye' to Summer.  However, I do have one more photo to show you.  It's my 'Fall hummingbird'!  After an absence of hummingbirds since the 17th, we had a ruby-throated hummingbird at our feeder on both the last day of Summer AND the first day of Fall.  Now, that's something to enjoy in both seasons!