downy woodpeckers in training!!

post #88

fledgling practicing patience

    

     Today's post just has to be the series of photos I took Thursday of a downy woodpecker feeding his chicks, near our bird feeder.   This fascinating event was not expected!  We have witnessed other fledglings over the years, but never downy woodpeckers.  I start with the photo I took first after realizing this activity was going to continue for awhile. 

Dad (Mom?) doing food prep

Don't forget I am RIGHT here and hungry!

Bon appetit, mon petit

Hey, I'm here too!

In fact, now we are BOTH waiting!

delicious

Then, the next morning, there was more feeding going on!  I don't know whether this is a different fledgling or whether red feathers appeared overnight.  Does anyone know the answer to that one?  Could feathers grow that quickly?  I have learned this weekend that bird parents teach and care for the fledglings for a couple of weeks.  However, over the years, we have observed that the intense training near the bird feeder is very short and much too easily missed.

fast food

The back story: the experience of doing these photos was enhanced by having my visiting-from-afar granddaughter with me throughout.  I may have a few shots here that are not as sharp as I would like but I really loved talking with her about what was happening, in a fledgling sort of way.  She is a patient kid, and all the comings and goings kept things interesting for us both.  The light happened to be good -- early morning clouds -- and the bathroom we were in had a pretty clean window.   The glass didn't interfere too much plus it kept our conversation from being intrusive.  Of course the birds were mostly focused on food, so they took no notice of us.  All in all amazing.  I am thankful.

O and P, for the alphabet book

post #87
     This week we have a special guest, who has learned her alphabet well and is using it now to read some words.  She is visiting us on her own for the first time, staying for a week of wonderful days, so this posting will be short but very happy!  
     As for the weather, it is a super hot day even though I am including a photo of our outhouse in the snow.  We needed an outhouse briefly 35 years ago, and still having it upright makes us feel we are ready for any emergency....Also it begins with an O, so what is not to love about it today.

O             orchid            oaks         outhouse

 

a favorite orchid --  a pink lady's slipper

 

OUTHOUSE, seen from upstairs and inside!

P                      path                       pond                     puddle                             

a path in the woods

   

 our pond, and weeds

people in our pond

a puddle in the neighbor's driveway

  

    Well, I better quit for now -- while I am ahead.  As usual, I will be adding more photos to all the alphabet posts as I get the chance to do so.
     I am wishing everyone a safe weekend.   I am tempted to add "and mind your Ps and Qs...."

an interlude for some reflection on the tornado in West Liberty

post #87
     Greetings again this weekend!  I've decided to devote this post to a link for a YouTube video of a rap song that includes footage of nearby West Liberty, Kentucky, right after the terrible tornado that devastated the town on March 2, 2012.  My friend Bobbie forwarded this to me two days ago.  (I posted some of her tornado photos on this blog soon after the storm.)  Thanks so much again, Bobbie.

The title is Trapped in a Tragedy.  This is the link.

For those interested in what progress has been made in West Liberty, here is a link to a recent article by Tom Eblen in the Lexington Herald-Leader. 

I do hope you have time to watch the video. Then next week: O, P, Q and R!!

Now on to M and N, in eastern Kentucky

post #86
    I have had a pensive week, but I also got carried away by M!  But, finally, today, I am sharing some of the possible photos for M and N as part of the draft of Appalachia, Bluebird, Creek.  A reminder: the words in italics are ones I have added to the original suggestions from George Ella Lyon.  Not every word has its photo yet.

M m            mailboxes              Mauk Ridge                mayapples                   mist 

Can you find the second mailbox?  If not, see below, under N.

morning mist, on Mauk Ridge (A)

        

mist, across the road, on Mauk Ridge (B)

mist in the mountains

morning mist, in May

morning mist, on meadows

mist after the storm, at sunset

       (I guess it is no mist-ery that I love how mist transforms where I live.  Of course it also provides health to the forests, but it is so lovely to look at.  And to photograph.)



N n                 neighbors                  nests                 nuts                 

where our neighbors live  (see mailbox photo!)

 

NUTS,  after the feast

black walnuts

   And, to be added later - two nests, from Counting on the Woods.  Thanks for hanging in here through the whole alphabet!  As George Ella writes, only 26 letters but Zillions of reasons to love the Appalachian Mountains.

Mother's Day distractions

post #85
       Steady rain all day today, and the chance of thunder, which meant caution with the computers.  We have lost one or two to lightning over the years, so, when in doubt, we unplug.  Also, on the way home from town just now, I was stopped in traffic for an automobile accident ahead of me that took quite a bit of time to sort out.  It is a reminder of what could happen to any of us. 

      I have had a different sort of day than I expected to have, including not being able to complete the post for this week.  I look forward to a better blog day soon!  I do hope this Sunday has had good parts for everyone. 

      I took this photo today, and, appropriately, I am calling it "a leap of faith" --  the squirrel makes it from the walnut tree to the willow tree once again! 

    
      Lastly, I can't help wondering if this a mother's day photo or not....

Back to Appalachian ABCs

post #84
       Back to the book!  Today is I, J, K, and L.   So I am searching through the photos I already have to provide some possibles.   'Tis more of a time consuming task than I would like to admit, between the distraction of remembering where and when I was at the time of the photo -- i.e. telling stories to myself --  and my imperfect labeling system.  I do know I am not the only photographer to let the number of photos get ahead of the sensible filing of them.... though the truth is I do take advantage more than I should of having a decent visual memory.
       Please note: I took the lettuce photo away from the G section to use here today, and I put a different photo in G, for garden....Remember that the section words in italics are ones I have added, with photos, for later discussions about the book.

 I  i         Iris               Ice

iris

ice, on the pond, and the photographer too!

ICICLES, a favorite photo, taken by John Flavell

J  j                Jack-in-the-pulpit          jeans

K  k                  killdeer                     kitchen knives

  

                       [My slide of Killdeer eggs, from Counting on the Woods, is not filed correctly,
                         so I have not found it yet.  I WILL FIND IT EVENTUALLY, then scan it to
                         digital and post it here.  Please stay hopeful.]

kitchen knives

 

 L l           lady's slippers           leaves, leaves, leaves             lettuce

yellow lady's slippers, deep in the woods

pink lady's slipper

leaves nearby

tobacco leaves

Maple and Vine leaves

leaves in autumn, out the back door

leaves in spring

lettuce, in the cold frame

    As always, suggestions are encouraged and appreciated.  I hope others are also thinking about what photos they would show were their place to be viewed through the alphabet!  

a botanical interval, in New England and Appalachia

post #83
    I just can't resist.  It is April, after all, the greatest growing month of all. Two of the places where I have been recently have to be shared here before summer takes us over.  So next week I will continue with the alphabet, but today it is NEW ENGLAND and APPALACHIA.

    Last Saturday I visited my sister Robin's favorite place near where she lives, THE GARDEN IN THE WOODS, located in Framingham, Massachusetts, and run by the New England Wild Flower Society.  She's one of their lecturers, and this was my first time to be there.  I hadn't planned to take my camera, because it was sunny and the middle of the day, but, as usual, I appreciated Robin talking me into it.  They feature rare and endangered wild plants, some of which my sister also has in her home garden.  I took the mile long walk while she took part in a training session there about the newly completed digital database that covers all New England plants! 

I was fascinated by the pairing of skunk cabbage and American False Hellebore (Veratrum viride).  I grew up with skunk cabbage in our neighborhood swamp in Connecticut, but I never noticed Hellebore.  The texture on these leaves intrigues me!

Couldn't resist the Appalachian in the name.  I plan to research this soon.  (Appalachian barren-strawberry)

The leaf of the bloodroot plant grows after the flowers have finished.

I've never seen these charmers before, but I went for the artistic view, and now I can't read the signage!

This sign works better!  The mottled look of the leaves covers up somewhat for the sunlight that can so easily make plants look washed out mid-afternoon.

       Any questions about the New England photos can be answered by Robin.  Any at all!  I expect to have a few more precise titles soon.
      When I returned home to Appalachia a week ago, I knew I would have missed many of my April favorites.  So yesterday I precariously sat in one place near our first waterfall and took several photos of different things I saw.  Four of these "seeings" are next.  I love doing that.  I see so much more playing with my camera than if I just walked by.  And the variety invariably astounds me.  Again, I was there when the afternoon was no longer cloudy, so the sun is a challenge for the photos.
      Thank goodness for Aprils every year.  And for treasures in our lives.

behind me

where I came from

the waterfall the stream goes over

right above me -- a photo I need to switch to black and white!

the log bridge on the way back to the house

a bit steep, back near our second

waterfalls....