BACK AGAIN!!!!!

    Hello all -- so glad to be back!!!  There was some big Google Glitch, so I haven't been able to post anything for a few weeks.  I missed "visiting" with all of you, even though I am now posting biweekly -- after more than 12 years of posting mostly weekly.  The world continues to need our attention and our care. I hope everyone is able to seek truth and share kindness.

    Today is February 3, and there is a chance that the impending ice storm will cause electricity breakdowns around here in northeastern Kentucky.  Therefore I am going to put up some January photos and get this published sooner rather than later!

 

outside my window -- Christmas tree doing double duty now as bird sheltering

 

going to get the mail, late

The cardinal is the Kentucky state bird.

brief moment caught just before dark

THREE PHOTOS BY Rebecca W.:

signs of a beaver covering over his or her tracks with that handy wide tail

testing the log but wisely not going the whole way across -- oh, to be ten again!!

Sideway Road curving uphill...

the sun trying to get through

    There are more, but the images by me are all within walking distance from my house, at all times of the day. And this weekend may be full of winter as work, in many locations, and not just winter as fun and beautiful. 
    I will plan to do the next post on FEBRUARY 13, if Google can keep its act together. Be safe, vaccinate for the sake of the health of our world, thanks for not giving up on me and my blog! 

caught in the act, with birds

post #479
          I started preparing this post around noon, but it turns out there's more to it than I realized.  So I took a break to work on my tax prep since I'm meeting with my great preparer at noon tomorrow, in Grayson (near the favorite lake surrounded by cliffs that have often been in my photo stories.) Now it is the evening, and neither task is completed. BUT I just happen, at least, to have some photos to share.
         Last week's thoughts about seeing lead me to this week's thoughts about the dynamics of relying on seeing things in order to realize the opportunity that comes my way.  In my former house, I often felt like I was in a nest, looking out, seeing what ever came to visit.  Birds were usually willing to alight outside. They were particularly drawn to the black walnut tree whose branches hang over the deck. The bark is great for holding a seed, but also there must be something safe about the spacing between the branches?
         As today I gathered together photos of various bird visits, I was amazed all over again. What a privilege. I don't have a reason to be a bird photographer, and I don't have any special lenses or expertise, but the birds appear anyway. I drop everything to make a photo, if it happens that the light is right. It has to be, or I can't take photos through a window.    
         I start out being disbelieving, and then turn grateful, and throughout feel darn lucky.

bedroom window, with a tripod, trying for "two birds, daylight's words" for Counting on the Woods, thank you mourning doves for being able to hang together long enough for me to make this photo!!

I believe this is a fledgling red-bellied woodpecker, in the walnut tree.

Mama cardinal, from the kitchen window

a molting goldfinch on the artwork on the deck, through the sliding door

Fledgling behavior is a good time to record since there is coming and going from the same spot.  Next week I will show the whole series of photos I made from this dad's efforts to feed two offspring.

         

In my experience, this fledgling feeding behavior doesn't last long. Quick learners.

           I want to end this week's post with two photos I made at a friend's farm nearby. The bird is not particularly Appalachian, but he does add a lively dimension to the farm yard! They are just as noisy here as they were when we visited India many years ago. 
         These photo stories of my bird encounters will take up the next two weeks! I'm not just "winging" it. 

I believe the real action and showing off is behind....

but the way he gets his head to stay still with all that shaking going on behind is far beyond my skill set!!

        Now back to finishing my tax prep, can't wait to do more of this next week.