World Bird Wednesday

It's Wednesday again, and for this week, we'll look at our old friend the European Starling. I fortunately don't have very many this year for they can clean you out of food in a very short time.

One of their favorite foods is suet. I keep lots of it available, and the Starlings will take big mouthfuls and in no time it will disappear..

I know Valentine's Day is almost gone, but did you ever notice the heart pattern on this guys feathers. Pretty cool..
Click on over to http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com to see lots more birds, and the wonderful job Springman has done with this meme.
If you have time take a tour over to our other blog Woodynook View Egg Farm to see the strange egg we got this last week. You can click on the side bar picture of the chickens.

It's Tuesday

We got 10" of snow over the weekend and then today was beautiful. Go figure. More snow coming tonight.
Anyway I had no new pictures to show you, so I'll take you back to last June when we went on a short train watching trip to Gallitzin, Penna. This is the wonderful B&B we stayed in. On the deck you can watch trains 24/7 if you want. It's fantastic!

From the deck you can observe the trains coming and going from these famous tunnels through the Allegheny mountains.. The workers on the left are cementing up the old tunnel to keep kids out since it is no longer used.

Across the tracks is a train museum with a beautiful flower garden.

Gorgeous lilies

These are called "pushers" and help long trains up through the mountains.

We saw LOTS of trains too. This is strictly Norfolk Southern territory.

The area has some of the most wonderful sky shots ever! Have a great rest of the week.

Macro Monday

It's Monday again, and I have several Orchids blooming right now. This is one of my very favorite, and the blossoms will last for over 2 months. It doesn't have any fragrance though.

Click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see lots more close ups.

Sunday

It began snowing around 3Pm Friday and as of 7PM Saturday we have around 8" of snow on the ground and mounting. Welcome back to winter! It's going to get close to 0 deg. tonight too and the wood stove keeps the house so warm and cozy.
For the past few weeks due to the lack of snow and cold weather I haven't had very many birds, but that all changed today. The birds have been here is great numbers.

Mrs. Cardinal is always so gentle looking. I usually have at least 7-8 pair sticking around for the winter, but so far only 2.

Then there are the Blue jays. At one point this afternoon I had 9 of them on one feeder. I put out a couple handful of peanuts on the feeder tray and they were gone in minutes.

"Come one come all. Lots of good food here".

Of course I have many many House sparrows too. Large flocks of them this year. Mr. Cooper's hawk made an appearance too, but once again no catch.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

Weekend Reflections

This picture was taken out behind our home on the overflow from French Creek back when we had a bit of snow. It is a cool place for the ducks to rest for the night too when the creek has high water.
Click on over to http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com to see more reflections.

Skywatch Friday

I took this shot last week on a day when we had some sun, but not much warmth. There were some pretty cool clouds too. We've had more sun than usual this winter, and it is SO welcome. Our snow is all gone, but some is predicted for Friday night and Saturday..
Happy Skywatch, and click on http://skyley.blogspot.com to see lots more weather.

Gloomy Thursday

Back on Lake Erie, there continues to be plenty of water birds to photograph. Here we see a Herring gull. Below is another one and a Coot just taking off.

Along this portion of the beach you can always find so many Canada geese.

I'm not sure why these birds don't mix, but it looks so funny with the gulls on one side, and the geese on the other. They probably don't speak the same language. LOL

This is an area where we always used to see deer and turkeys. Not so this year. I'm not sure where they all went, but this group was the first we saw in a long time, and then they decided to leave.

Another gloomy and really cold day. The weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny and warmer. I'll take it.