Absolutely Super

I'm sure everyone has already heard about last night's supermoon.

 
For our evening adventure, we all piled into my brother's truck and went to the highest spot we could think of that would give us a clear view of the eastern horizon.

One other group of moon watchers joined us on the hill to see the incredibly dramatic moonrise.
 

We were sort of surprised more people hadn't gathered for the event.

After all, this kind of a supermoon won't happen again until 2037.

It was amazing to see how quickly the moon cleared the horizon.

The new camera did a nice job of capturing the moon's detail and beautiful color (the atmosphere really did turn it orange close to the horizon), but it tended to make the surrounding sky darker than it actually was whenever I zoomed in on the moon.

The picture above is a more accurate with respect to light level.

If you missed last night's show, you'll have another chance tonight. The blue moon will rise in my area at around 9:00. We're thinking about heading back out to watch all over again. It was well worth the effort. 

Humming the Tune

There was early warning that there would likely be more hummingbird posts. 

 

Sure enough, I couldn't resist taking way too many pictures of hummingbirds. I chose a few of my favorites to share.

And I do mean a few - I think I must have hundreds of hummingbird pictures at this point! (I just love the tiny curled toes in the picture above.)
 

 
They're just irresistible little emerald jewels. (I think her watchful postures are very cute.)

 

 Not to mention, so much fun to watch.

They're such active, nimble, feisty creatures with such amazing capabilities, especially for their size, that I can't help but admire them!

 

 

Baby Boy

I always love the baby cardinals. They look just like their parents in shape and size when they start joining the adults at the feeders. The difference is that they are brown and have brown beaks until they molt and get their adult feathers.

 
This young fellow is starting to change his plain brown suit for the bright red we all know and love. His beak is just beginning to turn orange, too, but it's still mostly brown.

 
He looks pretty scruffy at the moment, with loose feathers sticking out and new feathers coming in.  Check out the little, red short leggings he's wearing.

He's very sincere and earnest, don't you think?  Not to mention seriously cute!

Raspberry Gymnast

I allowed wild black raspberry canes to take over a chunk of the deck behind my house and one of the resident chipmunks has done some amazing gymnastics to reach the berries I apparently left behind after foraging for breakfast treats.

 

It would climb out onto precarious perches and stretch full length to pick a berry, sometimes having to adjust position several times to avoid falling. Once a prize was in hand ... or paw ...  it would sit on a chair edge to enjoy the juicy delight.

The lovely pink lipstick staining its lips as it munched along made an excellent fashion statement.

It was fun to watch the acrobatic maneuvers and the obvious pleasure with which the rewards were consumed. I couldn't begrudge the the enterprising chipmunk a few berries - the entertainment is a wonderful treat, too.

The Lady and the Lace

I'm back with the Queen Anne's Lace again today because I just couldn't resist the little visitor on this flower. 

 
I know, I really am easily entertained, but the bold, bright red and black against the delicate white lacework just made me smile.

I hope it gives you a little grin, too. Sometimes the adventures of the day are small wonders. :)

Pepe le Pew

On a recent evening around sunset, I had an unexpected visitor in my back yard.

This is a skunk kit from this year's litter.

It's very fluffy, cute and small.

It nosed around the bird feeder for quite a while, looking for sunflower hearts the birds might have dropped or digging for grubs.

I enjoyed watching it, but I'm not that sure I want to have one hanging around my yard.

When it was startled by any noise, it was *very* quick to raise its tail. 

Nope. Move along, little buddy, I can do without your signature Eau de le Pew!
 

Commuters, Continued...

I know I published hummingbird pictures in the last post, but I have been loving watching them as they visit the butterfly bush blossoms.

 

 

The flower is in focus here, while the hummer is just a little blurred as it sips nectar in the background.

The emerald feathers on her back positively shimmer in the light, though she does blend in with the greenery surrounding her.

Hummingbirds are just the most amazing creatures, hovering in place while teasing nectar out of each blossom in the cluster or zipping around in a blur as they chase off interlopers. 

Don't be too surprised to see more hummer pictures along the way - I've taken a lot of them while watching their antics. I hope there will be a few more photos that showcase these little beauties well enough to share.

Captivating Commuters

The southward migration of hummingbirds (and other birds as well) has begun. This means there is an influx of hummers taking advantage of flowers and feeders all along their flight path.

 
Every now and then, they will find a place to alight and guard their flowers, while taking a break from aerial jousting matches.

I don't know - is this one sticking her tongue out at a competitor for her nectar, or is she licking her... lips?

I can't even imagine the amount of energy expended by these tiny powerhouses. They seem to be in motion almost all the time and their rest breaks are very short, especially since they fly into attack mode at the first sign of any territorial intruder.

A brief pause for preening is essential from time to time, though. 

I haven't had very many hummingbirds this year, but the migration and the blooming of my butterfly bush have coincided and finally attracted a few of these feisty little sweeties. They are so much fun to watch!

Bugs for Breakfast

On my way home from my morning walk, I saw this robin on the road ahead of me.

 
When he saw me coming, he flew up into a dead birch tree to keep me from stealing his breakfast.

It looks like he caught a cicada or some sort of large beetle.

He kept a wary eye on me until I was well past his perch. I tried to tell him he had nothing to worry about, since I was quite sure I wouldn't find the bug in question nearly as delectable as he did.  He didn't seem to believe me.

Pristine Pili-Pala

Quite frequently, the monarch butterflies I see fluttering around have seen some rough days. They often have chunks missing from their wings or look like the scales have gotten blown off as they've been buffeted by the winds of life.

So, I was particularly pleased to see this beautiful butterfly looking like it was newly emerged from its chrysalis.
 

Its wings were brilliant orange and free from wear and tear. I was also taken with the soft fur along its abdomen.

Monarchs seem to be a bit scarce this year, so I've been celebrating every sighting!!

Oh! And the title of today's post? Pili-Pala is the Welsh word for butterfly, in case you were curious.

 

Dressed in Velvet

These two handsome bucks were keeping an eye on me as I went through the woods on my early morning walk.

I never quite managed to get the smaller fellow in focus, try as I might. There were too many layers of branches in my way and I still haven't mastered the manual focus mechanism on the new camera. 

I had better luck with the larger deer.

I even managed to zoom in just a tiny bit closer. I'm trying to figure out how to do a carving of this guy. I love the way he's peering at me through the branches. 

They watched me until I wandered on and I saw them again in deeper brush farther down the trail. I was glad they didn't consider me too much of a threat during their morning browse. 

Back Yard Bluster

This little sweetheart and his mother have been coming around from time to time for a visit in my back yard.

While there, they have a tendency to take advantage of many tasty goodies growing along their way.

 
It's a good thing that they're so cute, because I'm still pretty put out that they've managed to chew most of my hostas down to the ground, eat every single leaf off the hollyhocks and destroy most of the daylilies (they wait until the flowers are getting ready to open and eat them before they can bloom - they must be sweetest at that stage of development).

I'm not sure what caused them to go on alert. Whatever it was seemed to be in my neighbor's yard. The really cute part was that the little guy started joining his mother in stomping and chuffing to let everyone know there was possible trouble brewing. I'm not sure he really knew what the blustering and blowing was all about, but it seemed terribly important to be part of it all.

After a few minutes of sounding the alarm, they finally trotted off to find cover. It was fun to see the youngster learning the ropes of being a proper deer (even if that did include garden destruction).

 

Inspiration and Outcome

I'm preparing for a couple of art shows and have been working hard on getting some new designs ready to go. (This is particularly important, since tomorrow night's show opening includes a carving demonstration -- by me! I wanted to have a number of designs to choose from for the demo, so that what I carve will be easy for non-carvers to "read".) 

I was up carving until the wee hours of the night last night and thought it might be fun to share the outcome of my efforts.

First, the inspiration for the carving. I've been looking at these beautiful Queen Anne's Lace flowers for the last several years and thinking it would be a fun challenge to try and do a print of one of them. 

Several days and many hours of carving later, we have the first two proofs. I did one in black and one in green. It will be interesting to see which ends up being adopted first. :)

I think that each of the colors has a very different feel about it.

The black might be a little more dramatic, but I really like the green. As I said, it will be interesting to see the reactions - I find that my impressions are quite often very different from the general populace. That might just be the result of seeing a lot of the world in terms of positive and negative space!

Now that all the art is safely at the gallery, it's time to make sure all my tools are sharp and pack everything to take in for the demo -- including the magnifying lamp...

Wild Cam Wednesday

 Three different trail cameras caught this beautiful bobcat out hunting. 

 

Usually they only prowl around in the night or at twilight, but we have at least one out looking for something to eat at all hours.

Here it is again, over a mile away from the first camera, by the wood duck pond (at least, we were hoping for wood ducks - they didn't choose to nest in their box this year).

This picture really captured the muscular, tough guy attitude. If I were a bunny, I'd be hiding and afraid to breathe!