Tag: Birdwatching

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little bluebird of happiness

I’ve been posting a lot of pictures lately. I’ve enjoyed the Daily Post picture challenge of the week, and then got excited about posting daily with a photo lent reflection. Both challenges have been fun, and they’ve made me look at things with an eye for the camera lens. Unfortunately, that default almost resulted in my missing a delightful scene this morning.

I was doing some cleaning up in the kitchen after my breakfast, and I happened to look through the small pass-through window above my sink and out through the large window in the next room. I have a perfect view of our garden which includes a birdbath at the end of a little path out to the yard. I noticed there was a lot of activity in the bird bath, so I grabbed my cup of coffee and stood at the window to watch for a moment.

A big fat bluebird was perched on the edge of the bird bath. I’d never seen bluebirds come so close to the house, so I stood for a moment watching closely to make sure it was, in fact, a bluebird. Sure enough, it was!

I got so excited! I have a running joke about bluebirds with a friend, and it was like a little gift — to think of her and send up a brief prayer of thanksgiving for our friendship. I was tempted to look for my camera to capture the bird.

And then I stopped myself. Did I really want to walk away from this delightful little moment? What if the bird left while I was looking for a camera or my phone?

WHY AM I LIVING MY LIFE IN CAPTURED PHOTO OPS INSTEAD OF LIVING IN THE MOMENT?

It took an effort to stay, but I’m so glad I did. I finished my cup of coffee while the bluebird repeatedly dunked iteself into the water. It was so sweet. Dive, pop up, shake the feathers, dive again.

I would have missed it if I hadn’t come to my senses.

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it’s Tuesday! what’s inspiring you today?

he's a pterodactyl
he’s a pterodactyl

I got out of my car and freaked out a little bit because I had the feeling that my neighbor’s gigantic pine trees were cracking and falling down. Let me tell you how creepy that was — the trees are very tall, and falling branches around here kill people.

I looked up, trying to scan the tree tops for the offending branch getting ready to annihilate me, when I caught sight of the culprit.

This is the biggest, baddest woodpecker I have ever seen. And he was going to town on the branch. Going to town.

I admire his tenacity. Peck peck peck. Going to town.

I’m inspired to get back to my keyboard and do the same. Peck peck peck.

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I’m no birdwatcher, but…

Is this a Cooper’s Hawk. In my backyard?

John and I were enjoying coffee in our living room this morning. It’s a beautiful day to be outside, but we weren’t quite ready to go out there yet, instead just enjoying the sunshine streaming into the room. A slight breeze was moving the trees and casting an occasional shadow, so we did a double-take when something swooped by the window.

John shot up and went to the window and called me over. There was a hawk in the roses. It must have been hunting the rabbits that have recently over-populated our backyard. The hawk then flew up and perched on the roof of our deck, and then took off to a dead tree just beyond our property.

He was still there when I came back with the camera, and then he flew right back into our yard.

 

Holy smokes! He hid in one of our trees, watching, dare I say it, like a hawk.

Ha ha. I crack myself up.

So, what is it? Anybody know if we’re right? John says it’s a Cooper’s Hawk. Google images says maybe.

I say, ask the internet 🙂

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