Sharp-eyed, Sharp-shinned

This hawk was calling, crying, complaining and otherwise expressing discontent with the world. 

It did, however, perch overhead and allow me to take a few pictures (although the brightness of the sky behind it makes it harder to see detail). 
 

With feather markings obscured, deciding if it was a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk was more difficult. Cooper's hawks have a more rounded tail and head, so the squared-off tail and flatter head brings me in on the side of sharp-shinned. 

I could be wrong - identification can be tricky, especially in poor lighting, looking into the sun. In any event, it was pretty special to see it so close and still, even it it was scolding Piper and me.  

Brown is Not Boring

There has been a song sparrow nest at the harbor boat launch for several years. I always look forward to seeing Monsieur Song Sparrow perch in the treetops and sing songs about his territory and the benefits of being his mate. 

His personality is so much bigger than his size and his distinctive song brightens my morning walks, first with Baloo and now with Piper. 

In addition to his fabulous singing voice, he's also quite handsome. His markings and color variations make him nearly irresistible. He's anything but a plain little brown bird. 

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.

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.