Tuesday, February 28, 2012

White-tailed deer for Outdoors Wednesday







Outdoor Wednesdayhttp://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ is a delightful meme that invites you to share the outdoors with others. The theme encompasses the outdoors, a topic within the theme of your choosing. to learn more of this meme or to share your view of the outdoors please click on the 'outdoor Wednesday' logo on the right of this page. Happy Wednesday outood gathering to all

G is for gusty for ABC Wednesday round 10

Its been a really snowy, blowy gusty day as is illustrated by the blowing snow off the rooftop of this old barn. We had a light soft snow last night and it is blowing around somewhat today.

My appreciation and thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt's Place for hosting ABC Wednesday Round 10. To view more ABC Wednesday posts via Mr. Linky please click :http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/
Have a great day everyone.

Monday, February 27, 2012

An old red barn window frame and a Robin Red Breast for Ruby Tuesday 2

How delighted I was this afternoon to find that another Ruby Tuesday meme has been established under the name Ruby Tuesday 2. somehow Tuesday's were lacking without have a place to connect with a Ruby Tuesday meme, when the original Ruby Tuesday meme closed. Thank you so much Magical Mystical teacher for hosting this. And shortly after discovering this meme a beautiful American Robin flew into our bird watching area, which we call Bird Alley. Welcome beautiful red breasted bird!
Tomorrow is the day to show off your beauty on this Ruby Tuesday blog.
This wonderful old window frame was found yesterday on an old barn.

Old window frame of faded red paint , faded from absorbing sunlight and the weathering of multiple seasons and of toilsome winter storms.
You are a treasure to behold with your wholeness intact.
Your glass has reflected many farm memories over the years,
now all is idle

Ruby Tuesday 2 meme features photos with red of any subject. To contribute to this meme please go to;
http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.com/
or just click on the Ruby Tuesday 2 badge at the top of the column on the right hand side of this blog page.

A Waxing Crescent Moon

I am constantly searching the sky every evening to find the moon. I haven't seen it recently since the last quarter of the old full moon. but then, surprisingly early last evening around seven p.m. my husband spied it from our pantry window, in the western portion of the sky. I more often find it in the eastern sky in the evenings and often my first early morning glimpse will be from my pantry window in the west. huh? this waxing crescent moon seems to have really rearranged my expectations. but research this morning has lead me to searching the to find the moon in the eastern sky just after the sunrise. I haven't found it yet in the eastern sky this morning but apparently that is where to look to get a glimpse of it. I'll keep on looking. My independent moon studies project is getting interesting! the present moon is waxing, getting fuller as it heads towards its ultimate fullness of a full moon on March 8th., which I eagerly look forward to.

have a great day everyone and remember just after sunset tonight look in the western sky. Happy moon watching everyone!

A window Reflection of the early morning sunrise for Mellow Yellow Monday


We do not get a good view of the eastern sky from our house:We have few windows on that side of our house and our neighbour's big house and a huge Pine Tree blocks the view from our living room window. However this morning I noticed a glimmer of colour in the sky and from our back sunporch when I went out trying for a clear sky view I glimpsed this beautiful, yellow coloured sky reflected in a window. Lovely! What to post for mellow yellow Monday this morning.? Problem solved: an early morning sunrise in the east. Thank you window!

Got pictures with yellow that you would like to share? Why not post them on Mellow Yellow Monday, a delightful meme that focuses on the colour yellow?Just clink here:http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/ to access this meme

Sunday, February 26, 2012

zig zagging into Spring for Scenic Sunday

A zig zag river of fresh water makes it way along on the frozen surface of the Oromocto river.
Each year immediately after Groundhog Day,( no matter what the groundhogs forecast) I start searching daily for signs of an early spring. I have already had my robin encounter ( what can be a truer prediction of spring days than to gaze at a beautiful robin Red breast?, I have seen mating behaviour of two blue Jays, ( one feeding another) and the branches of the redwoods are getting redder and the willows are starting to yellow up with their spring awakening and the birches are developing a rosy glow along the roadsides. On Friday I saw a river of fresh water on the frozen surface of our river. there have been reports of flocks of Canada geese having been seen and someone saw a redwinged blackbird earlier this week. I am eagerly awaiting the sound of a squeaky gate squawk of a grackle outside my window soon???? I hope so. Can any anticipation be sweeter than that of the delight of approaching spring..
One of my early spring rituals is checking out this body of water shown above. It is open water now!!! this is where I often have my first sighting of Common Goldeneyes each spring. I shall check here each day for the next while. I mean spring means ducks doesn't it?

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.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Red Squirrel for Camera Critters


I was quite elated yesterday morning when I saw this little Red Squirrel on a tree branch mistakenly thinking that this squirrel sighting was an early sign of spring.
However I was mistaken. Accordingly to Bernd Heinrich in his book 'Winter World , Heinrich states that Red Squirrels can be active during any month of the winter. It is in the periods of intense winter cold that they curl up in underground tunnels to protect themselves from the overpowering cold of the winter season Now that I think about it I have seen Red Squirrels over the winter while driving down country and woods roads, sometimes a lucky squirrel will dart across the road to reach safety on the other side. That is why I call it a lucky squirrel as it often maneuvers to safety. An early sign of spring or not I found this sighting yesterday very refreshing

Camera Critters is a meme that features critters, any kind, any size. To see more of this meme please click on the CC logo which can be found on the right sidebar on this page or please click here.http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 24, 2012

Early Morning sun for Skywatch Friday

Sometimes the day starts out just right as I had thought it would when Iphoto captured this bright sun through the tree branches outside of my window yesterday morning. but the brightness didn't carry through as the skies turned gray and overcast as when I snapped this picture below of a crow at a high sky view location. I wonder if its open mouth suggests a protesting weather complaint such as I felt like uttering as the rain fell..My thanks to the hosts of Skywatch Fridayhttp://skyley.blogspot.com/ for continuing to host this very popular Friday skywatch meme. If you would like to post your own photos or just enjoy looking to see the photographic offerings of others, please scroll down this page and look upon the righ hand side to click on the skywatch logo to go to the meme. A happy Friday to all.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Two for thursday challenge

"Never ignore the commonplace!" that lesson was reinforced to me today. This morning while having the theme of 'two' on my mind for this week's Thursday challenge theme, I saw only Blue Jays outside my window. I thought "why not?" as I raised my camera. and look what I caught!!! Wow! One Blue Jay feeding another!! You can see the bird seed in the beak of the Jay on the right while it was attempting to place the seed in the beak of the other, on the left. Blue Jays, You are so beautiful today! I am so happy that I took your picture. a mating ritual?? Yes, I think probably so. I have read in my research that the male of a bird species will bring food to the female, thus proving to her that he is capable of proving food to her and their future nestlings.

and on the same day I had taken a picture of snowbirds ( Snow buntings)on overhead wires; Two of them! actually I had cropped the snow bunting photo above to have a picture of just two of the, but it worked out nicely.

Two of anything, 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.

Monday, February 20, 2012

a touch of siskin colour for Mellow Yellow Monday

No, this isn't a recent photo as I have not seen any Pine Siskins all winter, but I do miss their presence. they are delightful little birds and their streaks of yellow are a welcome stimulating touch of 'winter sunshine ' when they do appear.

Got pictures with yellow? Why not post them on the mellow yellow Monday meme by connecting to this link. http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/ Or You can click on its icon found on this page in the right column by finding it by scrolling down this page. If your plan is not to post a photo, then perhaps you will just want to enjoy all of the yellow contributions posted there

Sunday, February 19, 2012

A colony of gulls

Or they could be referred to a a 'screech' of gulls. I enjoy 'collective nouns'. they have such apt defining in their descriptive naming.

swirling, whirling gulls,

colonizing the parking lot,
a COLONY of gulls.
While wasting time in the city today waiting for the opening time of a drugstore. I had asked my husband to find me a flock of pigeons. I wanted something to take pictures of. Instead he found me this large COLONY OF GULLS!
We think most of the gulls were greater black-backed gulls, but in downloading and editing the pictures I noticed a couple or so gulls mixed in with the group which had gray wings.
Perhaps there were some Herring Gulls mixed in with the group as well?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Another Robin Sighting today!


Although my favourite pond where I often sight ducks in the spring is ice covered. Memories of past pleasurable sighting memories draw me back to that location. Today I had another pleasurable sighting there, a Robin!. Near the shore of the pond a wild apple tree grows. Which has the roundest red belly in the photo above? the Robin or the apple? The tree is still full of apples hanging from it. That is where I saw a Robin this morning, in this apple tree!!.
This was my first view of the Robin in the tree this morning..
If there are still hungry Robins around I think this location might be an advantageous photo opportunity in future days. I shall follow up on it!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Mourning Dove




Monday, February 13, 2012

A Happy Valentines To All

The heart-shaped designs on this beautiful Calico Pennant Dragonfly occurred naturally in nature.
There has not been any photo editing or additions made to alter the appearance of this magnificent dragonfly!
What a wonderful surprise feature this beautiful winged creature of the Odontra order had to offer!
Nature holds many amazing surprises for us indeed!
This photo was taken at Geary, New Brunswick, Canada, on June 19, 2006

A saved swallowtail treasure for Mellow Yellow Monday

I was so pleased to have found this dried Swallowtail butterfly, which I had forgotten about. It was in a covered blue container along with the remnants of a 'beautiful blue 'Robin's egg that I had found last summer and I probably had saved these nature treasures planning on sharing them with a grandchild. Today I am sharing the swallowtail with you. The details on this butterfly are so clearly defined. It begs one to get out their drawing pencils and pencil crayons, or watercolours, or permanent black marker for outlining. This activity would be a perfect escape to summer on this wintery day with a projected wind chill of -35 C forecast; here in the cold Canadian northeast. One can dream can't they while holding or viewing this tangible proof of halcyon summer days.

Got pictures with yellow? Why not post them on the mellow yellow Monday meme by connecting to this link. http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com/ Or You can click on its icon found on this page in the right column by finding it by scrolling down this page. If your plan is not to post a photo, then perhaps you will just want to enjoy all of the yellow contributions posted there

Saturday, February 11, 2012

An Eagle Sighting

Yesterday was just like a spring day! the sun was shining very brightly and warm. There were pools of water created from melting snow along the streets and the sky was a beautiful blue and its spaciousness was like an invitation for flight. I was lucky to see this Eagle sighting.
In the morning when we left home to go shopping for groceries in a nearby community about 28-30 kilometers away, I had a hopeful feeling of maybe we would see something special! We were almost to the town of our destination when I suddenly realized I had forgotten to take my daily morning medications. So,I said to my husband, "We have to go back home to take my pills" and so we did after a bit of discussion related to my neglect. Just as we were leaving the secondary road and turned onto the highway that goes past my house my husband saw it, the Eagle!! soaring high in the sky! It was so beautiful and majestic.! I took the pictures from the cab of our moving truck. I only had my smallest zoom lens on my Canon Rebel. a Canon 55-250 mm. IS. But it was sufficient:with cropping and using the sharpening and lightness features on Photoshop I am able to post these photo results this morning.

The head and tail of this Eagle looked so white and clean, it might have been an ad for a laundry detergent.

Eagle Power
laundry powder with the strength of an Eagle's flight,
it will keep your feathers both clean and white


the white of eagles seen are not always so crisp and sparkling white looking.
Just look at the dingy scruffiness of this eagle portrait that I had taken a couple of months ago in December, 2011. Just look at that white ???? tail! in the photo above That bird needs some 'Eagle Power Powder' to launder its tail to make it 'as white as snow.



Its a day of softly falling snow here today. I have a good book that should take care of the rest of the day. hope everyone has a great one!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Moon Watching for Skywatch Friday


This has been a week for enjoying the full moon which occurred on February 7th, but if you look closely at the photo above it is evident it is losing its fulness or roundness on its right side. this photo was taken at about 6 a.m. this morning, Atlantic standard time.
However , this losing of its fullness is not evident in all of my photos. This photo above; taken later in the morning, after my morning cup of coffee and internet searching, email checking activities ,ushered a bit of early morning moon beauty into my camera lens. Isn't it lovely viewed through the branches of our old tall maples which tower over our driveway and house?

Skywatch Friday is a long standing meme where sky views from all over the world are posted at:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/Why not participate as well.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Red Geranium Blossoms And Memories For Thursday's challange

Actually a better and more apt title for this post would be" My Winter Regret! "Each year in the late summer or early fall , in the past we have brought our geranium plants inside from our outdoor flower beds. This year we did not and how we regret that. This winter we have not been able to enjoy the glorious reds of their wintering blossoms. We shall not make that mistake again! this post is a re post from 2010, and when I learned that the theme for Today's Thursday Challenge was red I thought of geraniums and searched for a post with red geranium pictures in it and this is what I have found, thus the re post today.

Thursday Challenge is a meme which offers a different theme each week. This week's theme is red. To join in on the fun you can find this meme at:http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html


Bringing summer inside is always part of my plan when digging up the geranium plants from our summer flower bed. I rescued two of them but left a third in our garden, for no particular reason. When our rains have stopped and it starts to dry a bit I will check to see if the third one is still surviving in our flower bed. They are quite hardy plants and so I will not be surprised at how it is faring, although we have had some pretty heavy frosts last month. I transplanted this geranium in an old bean crock, although I would have preferred a large size stewed tomatoes can with the wrapper still on it. Maybe if the remaining plant is still surviving in the garden I will pot it in a tomato can. Why a tomato can? Early memories of my grandmother include seeing geraniums potted in tomato cans sitting on her kitchen window sill.The heat from her kitchen wood stove accompanied the setting for comfort on those long ago winter days when I would spend much time visiting with her in her home. The geraniums would become very tall and gangly at her windows, their beauty accented by the summer greens of Gram's wall paper of intertwining ivy wallpaper. I think that wallpaper pattern was always on Gram's kitchen wall. When the paper needed replacing, Gram always seemed to choose that same pattern over and over again.
Placing my potted geraniums at my window brings about constant memories of my Gram. (Myrtle Alice Nason)