Landscape Architects

This winter brought a lot more snow with it than we've had for the last several years. As a result, the deer have found browsing for food more difficult and they've gotten quite creative. 

Several of them have been visiting my yard regularly and they've been trimming the crab apple trees, nipping the yew back and munching flowering trees and shrubs. 

Unfortunately, they also knocked down the burlap I'd wrapped around the arbor vitae to protect them from predation and have munched a hole through the branches -- again. 

It turns out, they have a slightly different idea of landscape architecture than I do. Between the deer and the rabbits (who have girdled all the burning bushes), I think I'm going to lose some trees and shrubs this year. It will be interesting to see what happens as the weather warms up and things start to leaf out and bloom. 

 

Even so, I have to admit they're beautiful and I do enjoy seeing them. I'm just glad it's starting to warm up and they'll be able to find something other than my yard to eat. As landscapers and yard workers, they leave a little something to be desired. (Grin.)

More Frosty Morning

Happy Valentine's Day!

It seemed appropriate to start Valentine's day with a little bouquet of frost flocked rose hips the birds haven't eaten yet. I mean, roses are a big thing for Valentine's Day, right? 

A nosegay of curly dock with hoary crystals adorning the stems also seemed appropriate for the day. Most of the seeds have been collected - probably by field mice and voles (maybe taking them home like sweet treats for their sweeties?). 

How about Queen Anne's Lace seedheads covered in ice?  

My favorite may be the red sumac berries with white, frosty accents. They'd make a beautiful Valentine bouquet, too. 

Sunrise painted the undersides of the clouds with pink and gold. 

Finally, a tiny, frosty nest stood out in this autumn olive, without leaves to camouflage its location. Somehow, it still looks cozy, even though it's very cold outside. 

I hope your Valentine's Day is cozy, too, and filled with love. Piper and I will find a way to celebrate the day together. It's always good to celebrate!  :)

Dawning Wonder

Piper and I have been going out on our morning walk before sunrise and enjoying watching the world come to life as the sun begins to lighten the sky. 

One of our recent early rambles was absolutely magical. 

Temperature and atmospheric conditions came together perfectly to create a frosted wonderland, with hoarfrost coating every twig, bough and stem. Even old weed stalks became things of beauty. 

It was hard to photograph well in the twilight, but where the world is usually adorned with browns, grays and evergreens against the backdrop of snow, on this morning, all was coated in crystalline white. 

I took quite a few pictures and am disappointed they didn't really capture the effect very well, but I hope they convey a little of it. I'll post a few more in a day or two, showing a few closer views of the frosting. 

The other bit of magic was actually seeing the cloud cover break up for a short while as the sun turned the horizon golden and a few crows flew in from their rookery to look for breakfast. Sunshine is rare here this time of year, so every glimpse is a treat! It quickly clouded over and snowed another four or five inches, but it is winter, after all.  

Playing with Piper

Things are pretty quiet around here, so I thought it might be fun to take you on a morning walk with Piper. We usually start out before sunrise, so the first picture is fairly low light - but typically high energy.

Piper doesn't seem to mind that the snow is up to her shoulders and enjoys getting out for a romp. If I run even a few paces, she chases after me, overshoots and then I can run the opposite direction and have her dash at me again. 

Running full tilt is a bit more of a challenge in these conditions. (I love the flying ears in this picture.) It's a good way to tire an active goofball of a dogster. 

She's always nosing around to see what is hiding beneath the blanket of snow. 

And Piper often sees (or hears) things in the distance that escape my dull, human senses. 

Here she is, mid-leap. She has to really kick off with her back legs to make it through the snow, but she bounds up into the air and lands several feet ahead of where she was - then does it again...and again. Ah, to have that kind of stamina. 

Titmice Toujours!

I do always love watching the titmice. They're charming, beautiful and an absolute hoot to watch when they're feeding their youngsters and teaching them how to fend for themselves. The young ones fly after their parents in an airborne train. If you ever have the chance, stop and watch them for a while. It's very entertaining. 

They tend to be difficult for me to photograph, because they are quick, shy and prefer to stay out of the limelight. I can sometimes catch one trying to decide which peanut to extract, but they don't dither for long, so if I'm not already snapping pictures of other birds nearby, I'll miss it entirely. Sometimes, I just have to stay focused on the peanut feeder and wait for one to come back for another helping! Yes, that's what happened here.

This one, however, perched in my miniature lilac bush and spent more than a second or two observing the goings on in the rest of the yard. Isn't it beautiful? For some reason, the big, round eyes seem more pronounced than on other birds, making them look so sincere - and sometimes a bit like a cartoon caricature.

Speaking of caricatures, I'm thinking that one of these poses might just have to find its way to a block of Tan-Z Kut for a little carving session. I carved one of these beauties a couple years ago, but the subject bears repeating. :)

 

 

Deer, Oh Dear!

There's a lot of snow on the ground at the moment. Piper has to take great leaps when she gets off the trail, because she's buried up to her shoulders (she still loves taking a run, though). So, the deer are out looking for things to eat.  

This young doe came into my yard with several of her buddies and continued working on trimming the shrubbery around my house. 

She looks pretty satisfied with her gardening efforts, doesn't she? 

This last picture is one I took a couple weeks ago down on the family property, before the snow was knee deep. You know how much I love catching a good action shot. This young buck took a dash across the field and I captured him mid leap. He has forked antlers, so he reminds me of the old fiddle tune, "Forked Deer" that I play on the mandolin. My brother reports that he's shed his cute little forked antlers at this point, but he'll grow bigger ones next year (and this year's spike boys will become next year's "Forked Deer"). 

Looking for the Bright Spots

Winter can get to feeling long, gray and dismal, especially when the sun doesn't come out from behind the clouds for weeks at a time. I actually appreciate the snow, because it reflects and amplifies any light that filters through the gray skies.  

I also really appreciate the birds that add some color and life to bare branches. Cardinals are particularly delightful. They are living splashes of brilliant crimson, orange and gold against a backdrop of stark white snow and dark branches. 

They are some of the first to rise in the morning and some of the latest visitors to the feeders in the twilight. Piper and I frequently start our morning walk before the sun comes up and it's always a treat to see the cardinals begin to emerge from their hidden roosts. 

I thought this female cardinal was particularly lovely. I admired her perky attitude and the rosy blush on her breast feathers.

Perhaps they aren't all that uncommon, but they're still uncommonly beautiful.