World Bird Wednesday

Earlier this week we were along the Lake Erie railroad tracks at our favorite train watching spot when I saw two Eastern Bluebirds resting on the telephone poles. Not used to seeing these guys this time of the year, I'm wondering if they know something about this winter that we don't... No snow on the ground either. I observed one of them fly to the ground, pick up an insect- looked like a grub- and then land on the pole again.

This Bald Eagle was found sitting along the banks of French Creek about 1/4 mile from our home. I'm very glad they stayed around here this winter.
Click on http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see what Springman has done with this cool meme.

It's Tuesday

Can you believe it, another beautiful day! Night temps 24 deg. Day temps in the 40's. Now here are a couple shots you don't see in February very often. First I've seen lots of buckets on the trees to catch maple sap. Sap runs when the night time temps are below freezing and the day time temps are above freezing. We've had some like that lately.

Then it's amazing, but everywhere you look there are plenty of clothes hanging on the clothes lines. I love that smell of fresh laundry after it's been dried outside.. But in February?

I spotted this big Eagle this morning about 1/4 mile from our house. I'm glad they are sticking around this winter.

I wanted to show you this egg that our son Steve got from one of his hens last Saturday. The egg on the right is an extra large, and the one on the left is as big as a duck egg! That must have hurt! LOL It was a BIG double yolker. Granddaughter Becca had it for breakfast.
Happy Tuesday!

Macro Monday

It's Monday again, and here are 2 flowers I have blooming right now in  my greenhouse. The first one is a double purple violet.

This next one is a beautiful yellow and orange Orchid. The flowers measure about 2" across and have no fragrance.
Happy Monday everyone. Another snow less day for us. Cold but sunny and we'll take it.
Have a great day, and do click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see more close-ups.

Sunday

I don't have much to add for today. It was a cloudy day when we went for a drive to Lake Erie, and Presque Isle. Some fog too limited picture taking, but I saw 1000's of Coots. I don't ever remember seeing so many together. They were everyplace. I even saw a man in a boat fishing out on the bay. Something rare for February.

This is one of my barn cats Azrael, and she loves rolling on the ground for attention. A fierce hunter, she keeps the mice and Chipmunk population under control. My other barn cat Maggie, is very old, and spends most of the day sleeping in the hay loft, but never misses dinner. You can see her picture on my side bar.

Not that I needed any more Orchids, but for my birthday I just had to have one! I don't have this particular color, and it's called an Ice Orchid. To water it, just add 3 ice cubes to the pot once a week. What could be simpler?
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week-end.

Weekend Reflections

Taking a ride up to Lake Erie looking for ducks yesterday, we drove by all the houseboats still floating on unfrozen water, making for a cool reflection. This winter in our area is certainly different, but so far NO complaints. Of course I'm not an ice fisherman. They are NOT happy this year..
Click on over to http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com to see lots more reflections.

Skywatch Friday

This picture was taken earlier this week at a pond in the neighboring town. It was a beautiful day, and so far because of the mild weather, the Canada geese have remained in the area. As of today we have no snow on the ground except some in the ditches where the snowplows have been.
Happy Skywatch Friday everyone. Click on over to http://skyley.blogspot.com to see lots more sky shots.

Gloomy Thursday

It started out raining yesterday morning, but we had planned a trip to the Kinzua Dam to look for Bald Eagles that had been spotted there recently hunting near the base of the dam, and I'm glad we went because the weather cleared up, and although we saw no eagles, it was a beautiful ride. This dam was constructed beginning in 1960 and is located about 12 miles from my hometown of Warren, Pennsylvania. When I was growing up, there were many times the Allegheny river over flowed it's banks, and flooded our town. My parents had a cottage along the river about 5 miles below the present dam sight. Before the dam, the river used to freeze enough that we could ice skate on it. In 1956 in the early Spring ( March) there was a quick snow melt due to heavy rains which resulted in a massive ice jam on the river below our cottage. The water rose at an average of an inch every 30 minutes, and eventually there was 18" of water inside the cottage. It took many days of cleaning all that mud and silt before we could stay there again. The cottage was built up off the ground but had a "crawl space" underneath and the chunks of ice that got trapped there didn't melt completely till June!  

Across the road from the dam, the cliff has lots of trees, and even some big rocks that occasionally break loose and fall to the road below. As you drive along there are signs warning of falling rocks, and some do get quite close to the actual roadway!

This is the lake above the dam. Lots of recreational places, boating, fishing and camping.

On the way home I drove along the same river to the spot where I saw the Mute swan family last summer. Only the parents remain. The locals had told me that all the cygnets ( there were 6) had disappeared, mostly taken by Muskies or turtles.
  Well, gone is the brief sun we had yesterday, and back to the gloomy days of winter, and no snow now to complain about... Take care all.