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.

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!