I’ve given up any idea of convincing myself I do not live in a wild animal park. Sometimes I think it is ridiculous that I enjoy the backyard as much as I do, but understand what I’m saying: I’m not traveling nowhere to see all these creatures. All of them, except the one heron – the black crowned night – and the moorhen, have shown up in the backyard. I…
Playing with the new camera on a day when it is grey and rainy seems like it should result in some excellent learning experiences. But I don’t think it did. For right now, the Nikon D3300 and I are getting to know each other. Here are several familiar scenes/activities reproduced today with this device. Starting at the boring end and crescendoing near the pinnacle (of an almost flat day!). Aperture:…
My new approach to wild animals is this: I will speak their names and wait for them to show up. Without even trying, that is what has been happening. In the last month, it happened with the stork, the spoonbill and the blue heron. Just a couple days ago, I was asking about a wood duck. From searches online, it seemed the little pied-billed grebe might be a juvenile wood…
There is, indeed, rain. The rain torrents and abates. And does it again. We have had so many inches, it seems like summer around here. The sky has disappeared and there is only a low hanging slightly fuzzy light grey blanket above. And a darker grey sheet beneath. It is wet. Today might be the first since the rains started that I have seen no sun and no blue anywhere…
Continuing the wintry weather, the backyard go thoroughly soaked, though it was much warmer. It is about the same as the previous four winters we’ve lived here, but this has surely been the most enjoyable. I do wonder, though, where all the wild life goes when it is this soggy out. The raccoon and deer as well as the birds. The ducks seem ok with it. They move off the…
It was freezing last night. In the morning, the grass was dotted with frozen sections. They looked like early fall snowflakes on the ground. I donned several layers of clothes and went outside, and sat on a cushion to wait for the backyard to come alive. I particularly wanted the otters, but they did not show. Yesterday’s exciting account is still not written. Soon. As I waited in the…
We’ll start here. Did I ever tell you about this snowy egret and tri-colored heron that hang around and hunt together? Several weeks ago I started noticing that both these birds showed up at the same time each morning in that little bay across the way. I would photograph them just on the basis of their being birds in the backyard. After several days, it dawned on me that they…
It is more than halfway through my 30 day challenge. I’m not entirely pleased with the quality of my writing, and will be rather relieved not to have to do this everyday. Yet, I feel like the obligation is useful since practicing a skill means improving that skill – usually. So, it turns out that what I enjoy most about this challenge is being able to take note of both…
A big reason we moved to this house was the backyard. For obvious reasons. That was four years ago. Over the last six months, I’ve grown in my appreciation not just of the beauty of the vista, but at the idea that I share this space with so many others. Occasionally, I feel like an intruder. I am that, unquestionably, so I think of the feeling as a good thing….
I injudiciously chased down these two while trying to appear not to be doing so. They hang out a bit further down the water from us, because there is an old woman who feeds them. The white of the female is a bit boring, but I do love the look of the male. The colors are so varied. I remember my first encounter with mallards. It was a DIY quilted…