Contemplating Woodpeckers

 
"Woody Woodpecker". Size is about 16-19 inches for adults.
     This is a male Pileated woodpecker. He has a red cheek stripe,; the female looks the same but no red cheek stripe.

I love the 'laughing' sound of the Pileated when it's flying through the tree tops. That is how I usually spot them, or of course, by the jack hammer sound when they are drilling for bugs. They fly erratically with a swooping motion, much like "woody woodpecker", the cartoon bird. But recently I was putting a dish in the sink and spotted motion through the window from the corner of my eye. I stopped and stood like a statue using only my eyes to cut left and see a pair of pileated right there on the pink dogwood not 10 feet away, gobbling berries ! As you can see from my photo, they are large heavy birds about crow size and the berries that were left after the song birds gorged were far out on flimsy branches. I cautiously slid back from the window and rushed for my camera. I set it up then slid slowly into view hoping to capture both together, but the female was very skittish and flew, while the male was focused on the prize. That's the one you see here. 

I had seen them in the tree several days prior, but never managed to get the camera in time before they spooked. I would stand still with camera poised for so long that I'd cramp, and had to stop, and of course that's when they would appear again, and I never could get a picture. You really have to have perseverance if you want to get a good picture. I feel lucky to have captured these ! 

We try to leave rotting and dead trees standing as long as they are not in danger of falling where they can hurt anything.They draw in so many birds and actually other creatures that find homes in the rotting wood. All the woodpeckers love these trees and the Pileated will actually make its home in a hollowed out tree top. Owls , squirrels and flying squirrels just to name a few use these trees. There is a whole food chain going on with them. Spring is coming, and the beginning of new life is evident all around me. We try to keep our land as natural as we can without it becoming an eye sore, trying to balance natural and esthetically pleasing areas. We do have beautiful birds, and another blog will showcase another species ! Bring on the birds!

Spring ! exhausting...

   Why does the warming sun and bursting flowers of Spring make us feel the need to make changes in our homes ? Is it just me that starts to see that the walls needs painting...and the porch does too. The deck needs to be power washed... and the house does too. The yard needs raking and replanting and...and...and.
   Spring is exhausting.

 Is it just me ? Have my eyes been shaded by the lack of sun  throughout the winters gloom?
 These windows need washing. The curtains certainly need to be cleaned, or maybe I just need new ones.
   






I guess it is natural
because there are a ton of old branches down on the lawn that Mother nature discarded, and the healthy limbs have begun to sport bright green leaves. On the ground, the winds are trying to blow the crinkly brown ones away so that the new spikes of grass can pop up. The birds are sloughing off those old drab colors and eye-catching 'Crayola' feathers are emerging. The sun has discarded it's cataract and now shines with renewed intensity. All of nature is putting on a show that makes our breathing deeper and our hearts happier.

Weeping cherry

Goldfinch starting new plumage

  Cardinal on weeping cherry

This  Cardinal is in a Red Bud tree. I wonder why this  purple bloom is called a red bud? It sure does make the cardinal look orange.

 All of nature is doing its very best to show off. Easter is close now, and the colors I remember as a child of our painted eggs and our  Easter Sunday  clothes are reflected in what I see around me. Pinks, yellows, purples and pale blues. I remember one Easter my new dress was a robin's egg blue. I had a new white hat (kind of like the shape of a 'pringles' potato chip)… it clamped on the sides of my head. On the top in front were some pink and yellow flowers with  a bright yellow and black bumble bee on one flower. I had a new pocketbook too, but I don't remember it. Probably black patent leather with matching shoes, and I'm sure I had white gloves as well.

I remember waking on Easter Sunday to our painted eggs and chocolates and other surprises in our hats that were turned upside down and filled by 'the bunny'. Then it was off to church and home to a huge Easter dinner. I remember a lot of preparations for that Sunday, which included cleaning and dusting, etc. 

Yes. Now I do remember..Spring is exhausting !

Goodbye Penny

These are my last photos with Penny, our beautiful Australian Shepherd. She was a special girl.

It's almost April. I have been to Myrtle Beach with Bob in February and Florida this past week. I stayed with my cousins in their condo in Gulfport. They have a little dog named Abby, who is 10 years old, the same age as Penny when I had to make the decision to keep her going on needles and  pills and things she hated or let her be free of pain. She hated all the pills to the point of hiding from us. I truly knew she was unhappy, in pain and sick, but she rallied again and again throughout the 2 years she was sick...for me.In the first part of November I said goodbye. I am finally able to write it all down.
 Penny is buried out under the magnolia and peach trees with her dog sister Belle, and our last 6 rescue cats. Each passing of a pet is traumatic for us, but Penny was the hardest for me. Maybe it was because she was our last. Like the last child that leaves home. I hope she's running and jumping with Belle and all my beautiful animals that have enriched my life and left me with an aching heart.
 Goodbye sweet Penny.

Where's Fall?

Penny in leaves.

  These pictures are both of a typical Fall day. Some color in the trees and brown leaves down. But there's a brightness about them ! Oh, it must be sunshine ! Where the heck is our typical Fall ? We have morphed from sticky hot and rainy summer right into cold damp winter. I for one am disappointed. I love Fall. I love the bright blue skies and the crisp clean air. I love walking on the dry scrunchy leaves; love wearing my Ugg boots and jeans and a big 'ol sweater. I sooo enjoy hot coffee in the cool mornings on my porch, with the rays of sun heating my feet, then legs and body as the sun comes up. I'm missing Fall. I have my cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg and oranges simmering on the stove so it smells like Fall. I hung my Witch decoration, and put 2 pumpkins on the porch. I have done my part. I expect  Mother Nature to play fair and give me my Fall. Everything is grey, including the hot tea I am sipping to try to warm up. October is almost over, and then November will be upon us with its bare tree limbs and grey skies, dead grass and lack of flowers.
  It's a good thing I have The Patriots, great books and good tv programs to send me into those dreary days ahead. I do like baking also, but when I bake , I eat more. I like my own baking. Need to get my stained glass and jewelry stuff out. That has no calories.
  Oh fickle winds of Autumn, blow our way and give us a few weeks of Happy Fall.