Winter Conditions in Bird Alley

Its really hard to imagine that soon (I hope ) that I will be able to walk throuh Bird Alley and replenish my bird feeders with bird food. The feeder pole shown above has a feeder attached to it, but who could tell?It was there in the fall. it is buried under the snow!!!! The next picture shows the story of what has happened in Bird Alley. Here you can only see the wire to the bird feeder that is attached to the tree branch. Another story of a 'buried in snow' bird feeder.


This old cast iron water pump, shown above,a marvellous buy at a yard sale for $2.oo is not really used as pump but is standing on a 2x6 for decoration, and it doubles as a bird feeder when I sprinkle bird food in its spout, But Not this winterthough, the snow is too deep to get to it!

This blue house bird feeder above is no longer serving its purpose as a bird feeder ,but doubles as a shelter: for yesterday morning I saw a Tree Swallow sheltering under it I seldom attempt to venture into Bird Alley anymore as you can see from the picture above showing the partially opened gate there is so much snow. Too much!
These feeders in our back yard stand empty too!. Maybe next winter I should invest in a pair of snowshoes, but no, hopefully we don't have another winter that is as snowy as this one has been. I know spring will return for it happens every year? "Please hurry Spring. " I am waiting for you with open arms and have high hopes of greeting and feeding returning birds!

mostly black grackle for photo hunter

Today's photo hunter theme of 'mostly black ' provoked another memory trip to my photo archives. This is not a current photo , although the Common Grackle is often the first returning migrating bird I see at my feeders in the early spring. Probably 'I will have my first Grackle sighting in March. May it be soon! This photo shows an almost completely black Grackle with a whit tail feather. This is not a usual sighting. What fun it is to scan a large group of birds looking for something diffrtrnt among them. My camera clicks with joy at such a unique find.

For more photos on this weeks theme of "mostly black'' just click on Photo Hunter or you many click on the icon in the side bar. My thanks to tnchick for hosting this site. Happy Photo Hunting to all!

Moving Deer for Thursday Challenge

My photo archives are a source of pleasure and memories. I have a lot of white tailed deer photos and the theme of this week's Thursday Challenge is "movement"; and I knew if I looked through my old photos I would find some photos of a deer photographed in motion. The picture displayed here is one of a male deer running into someone's yard after having crossed the highway. The beautiful set of antlers on this deer was a bonus! Seldom do I see a deer with antlers.

'movement', is this week's photographic theme for Thursday's Challenge. To view more photos posted on this theme, or to join in on the fun yourself, just 'click' on the highlighted name.

Spring Silhouette for Photo Hunter

When I saw that the theme for Photo Huntert today was 'silhouette'; I immediately thought of this picture I had taken in 2007. I had named it 'Budding Spring. I had filed it under my warbler bird groupings as I took it in an area where I find warblers each spring. You can see the swollen buds on the twigs and branch ends. It was taken in May 2007, just before the leaves came out. Won't it be wonderful when the leaves come out again? We have more snow forecast for our area again today. It has been a long , snowy winter. Enough already. I am winter weary!

For more photos on this weeks theme of silhouette' just click on Photo Hunter or you many click on the icon in the side bar. My thanks to tnchick for hosting this site. Happy Photo Hunting to all!

A Robin sighting for Ruby Tuesday.

"Was out shovelling snow and the robin made a guest appearance in a nearby tree. February 7,2011"(Roger in Aidrie, Alberta)

My guest photographer, Roger . has done it again! He's taken a photo of a surprising bird sighting at his home location. What sight could be more heartening than seeing a Robin while shovelling snow?

Robins are red, winter skies are blue.

This picture makes me think of spring!

How about you?

Please send a few down our way, Roger. We are in the midst of another snowfall this morning and we had just gotten our driveway plowed out yesterday from our last recent snowfall, and we need an encouraging sign of spring!

Got photos with red want to share them?To check out other postings on Ruby Tuesday just click on the Ruby logo on the side bar or here:http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/. My appreciative thanks to Mary/the teach for hosting this meme

My Cat's yellow Eyes for Mellow Yellow Monday

Happy Monday to all. To view a wonderful variety of yellow-themed photos from other bloggers around the world, just click on the link belowmellow yellow

I thought this was a perfect mellow ywellow pose against our yellow living room wall: Shakey, the cat looks quite thoughtful and sweet I think.

A stsnd of pines for scenic sunday

An old barn, Its beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Enjoy.

Shown above is a beautiful stand of tall, straight Pine trees. I have often thought it would be nice to walk among these trees and take pictures while standing within them. That is one of my photographic goals for this coming summer.

Scenic Sunday:a meme of beautiful scenery. To learn more about scenic Sunday please go to:http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/ or to post your own contribution, please click on the link within this post

Early morning sky for Skywatch Friday

Perhaps if I had of gotten up earlier I might have seen a more colourful sky when looking out my dining room window.The sky appears to be soft and gentle today in appearance. This was taken at 8:51 a.m. If you enlarge the photo and look at the upper center you will be able to see three crows flying by. I have cropped the photo and inserted the three crows flying by below.

A happy skywatching to everyone today!

My thanks and appreciation to those who host Skywatch Friday. To learn more of this meme which features skies from all over the world please go to http://skyley.blogspot.com/. A Happy Friday to all

Red breast of s Common Redpoll for Thursday's Challenge

Common Redpolls are the most frequent sighting at our feeders this winter. This one pictured above seemed to be putting on a show as if hanging upside down while holding on with one foot. I wondered if its foot was stuck among the vines above which are interwoven across the upper part of our pergola. But no disaster prevailed as it soon flew off to perhaps perform at another location. On with the show!

Red is the theme of today's Thursday's Challenge. To enter your own red-themed photo or to view what others have posted, please click on the small picture of my photo posted hereon the right hand column to find out how to contribute.

Bohemian Waxwing for World Bird Wednesday

The cinnamon under tail which id's this waxwing as a Bohemian Waxwing can easily be seen in the above photo.And the source, , of the bird's attraction (the red berries) can be seen in the photo as well. This bird is featured on the header on this page as well. This species is a beautiful bird and always is a special sighting to me as it is not an often occurrence. Got snow today? We are waiting for it to start piling up later on today. Happy Groundhog day!. Let's hope for optimistic news regarding the prediction of spring's early arrival this year.

Want to view posts of birds from all over the world? Then drop byWorld Bird Wednesday by clicking on the icon on the right hand sidebar of this page. You are sure to enjoy the many fine photographs posted there by interested and interesting bloggers.