Ducking and Diving

Watching all the different birds return to the area is a special treat in the springtime. My brother, sister and I send each other updates on birds we've seen. 

Diving ducks have been active in the harbor Piper and I frequently walk by in the morning. The hooded merganser above brought a tasty tidbit up to the surface. She was really busy and it was hard to get any picture at all. 

The bufflehead above sailed along in the distance, diving and then popping up in a completely different spot. 

I loved getting to see the hooded mergansers together. I was delighted to get a photo with both male and female in the frame. They're beautiful, don't you think? 

Red-breasted mergansers are much less common than the aptly named common merganser, so I was happy to see this fellow out enjoying the early morning calm.  

It's odd. Some mornings, there are ducks, geese and swans everywhere and other mornings the harbor is deserted. I don't know if it has to do with the weather or the food supply or what, but it's always an adventure to see who might be around. 

Field Notes

This post doesn't have much of a theme, except that all the pictures were taken during an early morning walk with Piper through the field Baloo claimed as his own and explored nearly every morning of his life up here - I still think of it as "Baloo's Big Field", though Piper is laying her own claim to it these days.

We heard the clacking of this sandhill crane and it landed across the field from us and went stalking through one of the wet areas looking for breakfast. 

I noticed this pine cone nestled in a bunch of cedar needles and loved the textures and soft colors. The play of light and dark on the bleached cone is an interesting contrast to the rusty needles.

Red-winged blackbirds have been staking out territories. When they sing their songs, they fluff up their feathers and the red and yellow epaulets on their shoulders expand. This fellow's brilliant colors caught the morning sun's rays and shone so brightly that every female must have been impressed. 

 

Okay, so the chickadees may be year-round residents, but their spring songs are always welcome (especially when they push the season a little and remind us in February that spring is coming, in spite of all evidence to the contrary). They're also really cute!

Yes, It's Another Frosty Morning

It was crisp and in the twenties when Piper and I hit the trail yesterday morning. Hoar frost once again coated everything and the rising sun made the field look ethereal.  

I wish the pictures could really capture how the light shines through that crystalline coating, but the camera simply can't do the effect justice (or at least my limited photographic skill can't transfer it to pixels).

This little sapling looked like a natural bonsai tree with diamonds in place of leaves.

Meadowlarks were undaunted by the chill. They balanced on the tips of pines and poplars to sing their beautiful serenades to the sun. 

Well, really to the girls and the other meadowlarks as they staked out their territorial boundaries, but you get the idea. This fellow was so cooperative that I had a chance to take dozens of pictures of him and a couple of them even turned out pretty well, in spite of being a little bit backlit. I liked both of these attitudes and thought they were worth posting, even though they're similar. 

Goose, Goose, Swan!

We had ducks in the last installment, so I thought I would move on to some different shoreline residents for today's post. The larger varieties!

Canada geese have started nesting and there will soon be strings of goslings paddling along after their parents. 

Swans are also sailing along in the shallows and, while I haven't located their nest yet, I am certain they are setting up housekeeping, too. 

This pair didn't seem the least bit concerned by me walking along with Piper and stopping to take pictures. In fact, they both snuggled in for an early morning snooze. (I loved the glass calm water and reflection in this last photo.)

It's a Paradox

 Or, maybe just a pair of ducks. 

The mallards are either nesting, or searching for places to settle in and start their little families. 

I love seeing them shining in the early morning sunlight. The iridescent feathers look almost like polished metal, they're so brilliant. 

These two were snoozing on the shoreline just at dawn as Piper and I walked by. 

Mother Mallard is doing her morning yoga, or ballet exercises. She has excellent balance and perfect form. Such grace and poise!!

Celebrating a Whole Year!

Believe it or not, it's been a year since I brought Piper home to be part of my family. She's a sweet little dog (well, little in comparison to Baloo, anyway) but I will admit that she's an odd one. 

She loves to run full tilt, and occasionally plows right into something. I think she knocked herself silly at some point along the way. (This picture was obviously taken a few weeks ago, with the snow covered ground.)

Like Baloo, she loves to scoop up snow and eat it (and quite frequently grabs a mouthful as she's dashing by at top speed). And mercy! Can she levitate? Yes, she can! She jumps amazingly high straight up from a standing position. It makes me laugh every time. 

She has that one ear that just wants to stand up all on its own, but she looked pretty sitting among the blooming snowdrops this morning. 

Piper loves all the people, but still isn't comfortable around other dogs and she really hates loud noises of any kind. She's quirky, but we're learning how to manage her idiosyncrasies. I'm a bit odd, myself, so I get it. 

On the whole, I think she approves of her new life with me -- at least she looks pretty comfortable most of the time -- as long as there isn't any thunder. :)

C,mon, Spring, Spring!

It's been a really long winter and I keep thinking about the old Beatles song, "Here Comes the Sun".  Spring has been reluctant to arrive around here - in fact, it was snowing on Wednesday. I'm so ready for sunshine and warm breezes!

While we wait, I'll post a few pictures I took of birds along the way. The titmouse and chickadee above did an amazingly good job of sharing the peanut feeder. 

This house finch couldn't face it, either and just tucked her beak under her wing and took a nap. 

This goldfinch looks a bit disgusted with the late snow, too. 

The house finch looked a little more alert and hopeful, but was quite appreciative of the cracked corn I toss out for the ground feeders every day. 

And I loved this sweet junco with snowflakes on its back. As soon as it moves, they'll all fall off, but it's adorned with diamonds in this moment. 

I have a few pictures to share for a special day tomorrow and I'll be back to celebrate that with you. 

Also, many thanks to Sheila and BetsyLee for checking in with me to make sure I was okay - I appreciate it a lot. As the song says, it was a "long, cold, lonely winter". Bring on the sun! Piper and I are ready.