World Bird Wednesday

A beautiful day was upon us, and we took a ride to the harbor looking for ducks. I was hoping that after all the hunters left some of the cool ducks would return. These Mallards were close to home on the way to the harbor.

There wasn't very many but I did see a few pair of Buffleheads, and a few Common Mergansers.
We are enjoying all this mild weather. Would you believe one of my laying hens had gotten the idea that it might be Spring, and wants to "set" on eggs and hatch a family. When this happens, the hen ceases to lay, and presto no eggs from her for a while till she gets the message it's NOT time yet.

Click on over to http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see more birds.

Snowy Tuesday

Still not traveling much to get new pictures. More everyday birds, and I have a ton of Blue jays, and they eat A LOT!

Plenty of Mourning Doves, and this one looks a bit nervous, but I haven't seen the hawk in several days.

There are more House Finches than anything this winter, and this little gal is so cute.
Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone.

Macro Monday

Since we burn wood during the winter months, I often see some interesting Lichens on the logs we have.  I saved this one out for pictures, and now it will go in the stove to help us keep warm. It reminds me a bit of undersea Coral.
Happy Monday everyone. Click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see lots more close-ups.

Sunday

I'm afraid I don't have much to add today. The weather has been yucky, and we haven't been out much, but the backyard birds are still here to provide entertainment.
Above is the same Red-bellied woodpecker I posted last Wednesday, but this morning I was able to get a shot at her underside to prove that these woodpeckers  really DO have a red belly after all.
Have a great day everyone.

Weekend Reflections

Well, here it is another gloomy day off the Southern shores of Lake Erie. Although we live 25 miles from the lake itself, we are affected by it's weather conditions living in what's called the "snow belt" When the winds are from the Northwest, and the temps are just right, and the lake waters aren't frozen, we could be in for a dandy storm, BUT this winter has been so different. Most of the winds have been from the South bringing with it warmer weather, thus limiting the vast amount of snow we usually get, and the lake still hasn't frozen. To date we are 100" below last year. Of course we all know how tricky Mother Nature is, and this could all change in an instant!
Happy Weekend Reflections, and if you'll click on http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com you can see what a cool meme this is and what a great job James has done with it.
This picture is in the same area as my header..

Skywatch Friday

This weather has been so different this winter and after it rained most of the day, suddenly around 4:30 the sun as it was beginning to set in the West appeared, and I saw this rainbow in the Eastern sky. I hurried out to snap a couple pictures, and just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. My camera lens got wet, but I wanted to get pictures, because rainbows in the winter are somewhat rare.
Have a great day, and click on http://skyley.blogspot.com  to see lots more sky shots.

Gloomy Thursday

My goodness, what a gloomy and dreary day. Heavy clouds, rain, and even some light fog. A good day to stay indoors and clean out some cupboards in the computer desk. I found coupons in there from 2005! Not good, but I did make lots of progress, and even made more room. Yea! Not any birds to speak of either..Wonder where they went?
The above picture is French Creek that runs behind our house, and was taken up stream about 2 miles.

This picture of a young doe was taken last winter near a corn crib where you can almost always see a large herd of deer plus wild turkeys feeding from all the corn the farmer puts in this crib. However this year is so different. We've been by this area many times and haven't seen any animals at all.I could understand that during hunting season they stay away, but now that it is over, they never came back. I have noticed the loss of any wildlife this winter. No turkeys, no deer, and not very many hawks either.Certainly strange.
I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

World Bird Wednesday

I had a pair of Red-bellied woodpeckers all last winter, and 2 days ago the female showed up at my feeders. I haven't seen the male yet, but I'm still waiting with camera in hand. They are spectacular birds, and I'd really like to see where they are nesting.

Another cold and gloomy day here, but no snow in the near forecast. This has been such a crazy winter, not that I'm complaining. In case you wanted to know, last year on the 25th of January we had received 167.5" of snow, and as of today we have received 66.5".  For the most part the roads have remained bare, and we're saving money on buying diesel fuel for the tractor that snow blows our driveway.
Do click on http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see lots more bird photos, and visit with Springman.

Tuesday

I'm late in getting this posted because I had no Internet all day and all night yesterday. How frustrating!! I spent a good share of the day on the phone with various techs after I changed the password in my wireless router and from then on everything went downhill! Nothing worked! Too many techs giving me instructions on what to do, and then disconnecting me from them, and having to go back and of course talking to a different person and  having to explain the whole issue over again. What a pain! Somehow in the process of all the instructions that were given to me, a few of the settings on the computer got changed and I had no Internet connection. At 9:30PM I finally gave up and went to bed..Finally this morning at 9:00 I reached a tech that I could understand and that was smart! He had me back on line in no time.
I don't like to complain, but I have this thing about talking on the phone to representatives that don't speak clearly ( I really prefer to use chat rooms. At least they type so I can understand) and who don't give correct directions.
There! I got that off my chest. Any one else run into this problem??  Thanks for listening....
We've had a huge flock of Starlings hanging around lately. I don't remember them here this late in the winter, and thankfully they don't visit my feeders.

I have LOTS of Blue-jays too, and they scare all the other birds away, but I still love their gorgeous color.
It rained all day yesterday and we had VERY high winds. So much snow had melted too. Can't complain about that.
Hope everyone is having a great day.

Macro Monday

It was a beautiful day Sunday and we took a ride to see if there were any trains running. We were lucky to see this Norfolk Southern freight train about 30 minutes after we found our parking spot.

This particular train was traveling East and pulling some tank cars, grain hoppers, and empty gondola cars. Traveling at 55 miles per hour, it was heading towards Buffalo, New York.

A close up shows the Thoroughbred logo that the Norfolk Southern railroad is famous for, and if you look closer you can see the engineer on the left behind the window, and the conductor on the right. The engineer "drives" the train, and the conductor is the "boss".
Do click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see lots more close-ups.

Sunday

While driving through a neighboring town last week, at a stop light I noticed this kitty sitting in the window of this apartment. I'm wondering if it wants outside.

The local ski resort Peek-n-Peak, is excited for all this snow. They still make some of their own.

It makes for some cool pictures on the slopes.

Also on the tree branches at the top of the ride.

At the bottom of the hill, this stream is nearly frozen. Guess what? The temps near mid week might reach 50 deg. Can you believe it?
Have a super rest of the week.

Weekend Reflections

Here it is the weekend, and I have posted this cutie before, but with all the crazy weather we've had lately, I just haven't seen any reflections.
If you want to see more, just click on http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com

Skywatch Friday

This was the sky a few days ago in the late afternoon. With all the crazy weather we've had, one never knows what to expect from day to day.

It really was a pretty day with temps in the 50's, but later in the evening rain moved in, and now we have 8" of snow on the ground and a temp of 10 deg.

More snow coming for tonight, and at least the ski slopes are happy.
Click on http://skyley.blogspot.com to see more sky shots

It's Thursday

Is this really January? Yep complete with Crocus emerging in my flower bed.. What they really don't know winter has a long ways to go yet.,,,

For sure winter is here, with extra Cardinals around.It's not difficult to spot them in the woods..

A closer view and you have to admit they are spectacular.
Have a great rest of the week.

World Bird Wednesday

Just another couple pictures of the ever present Ring-billed gulls.
I like to practice the inflight shots.

Hope everybody is having a great week. Today heavy rain, 50 deg., high winds, and now 30 deg, and snow! How crazy can it get.
Click on over to http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see lots more bird shots.

Just another Tuesday

Well, the snow arrived with a vengeance all 14" of it, and we had a beautiful day yesterday, lasting until noon time today, then the clouds rolled in and now it's raining. Yesterday we had -11 deg early in the morning, and this afternoon 36 deg. What a crazy winter. More snow coming Wednesday.
  Here are a couple shots of our granddaughter Jalyn and her snowman/lady. It's so cute, just like her!

Finally she added gloves, and it was complete.

Keeping a watchful eye on the entire project was Fuzzy. She just loves the snow, and would much rather stay outside. She's a tough old girl, once beating up on a big English Mastiff that strayed too close, but hates thunder and gunshots, and then she'll run and hide!
I hope things are going well for everyone. Have a great rest of the week!

Macro Monday

Even though I've posted this picture on our other Blog Woodynook View Egg Farm, I thought I'd show a close-up of my favorite egg color. This egg is layed by a Copper Maran. Their eggs are a very dark brown and have a variety of black spots.
Click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see lots more close-ups.