Raindrops...

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow
May the soft winds freshen your spirit
May the sunshine brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you
and may God enfold you in the mantle of His love
(an Irish Blessing)

(iPhone photos - 10/20/09)

You Should Have Seen the Sunrise!

Sunrise - Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 8:10am
This song says it all - enjoy!
(iPhone photos)



If you can't be with me next time, go out anyway, and take someone with you ;)

Cornell Lab site

I'm sure this site has been around a l-o-o-o-n-g time, and I seem to have a very vague recollection of it being mentioned in a blog or conversation in the past year; but, I just discovered this fabulous site last night! Whoo-hoo!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology -
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1200

Last night I finally figured out the differences between the house sparrow vs. Harris' sparrow and the house finch vs. the purple finch. The finches, in particular, have confused me - they look so much alike --- that is, until you see them side by side!
Here's an example: Go to the home page. Type purple finch in the search bar. When the page comes up, (Warning! You could get lost in all the interesting information on that page, believe me!) scroll down to "Field Marks" and "Similar Species". There are lots of photos to scroll through there, but the great feature is, you can click on "Similar Species" and two large windows will pop up on the page - like this:

From here, you can scroll through the photos of either window and compare! There are photos of the birds in different seasons, male and female, and a description on each photo. By the time you go through these photos, you should have a much better idea of how to distinquish between those tricky little look-alikes!
Regarding the finches, I learned that the house finch, though its reddish color may be brilliant, is red only on the head, down the front, and sometimes a fleck of red between the wings just above the tail; whereas, the purple finch is practically red/purple all over! Its wings are tinted red - the house finch's wings are just browns and cream.
This is only one feature on the site! There are lots of photos, maps and information regarding habitat, life history, and behavior. There are sound bites of songs and helpful videos for successful birding.
If you've never been to The Cornell Lab site - Go! Now! ;) and have lots of fun!
(Disclaimer: If in my excitement I am in error about what I think I've discovered, please let me know?) thanks ;)

Artisitc Expression

Artistic expression fascinates me! I think I'm more amazed and curious as to how the artist came up with the idea, than I am with the piece of art itself!
Take, for instance, this first photo. It was taken in a coffee shop (with iPhone) - a simple white painting of a feather. It looks like the wind is blowing it apart, but, if you look closely, you will see that the bits of feathers are birds!

I took this second photo (again with iPhone) in the SeaTac Airport. It is made with thousands of tiny piece of metal; each hanging from a string (or wire?). Every one of the pieces that forms the eagle, is a little bird; and every piece that forms the fish in the eagle's talons, is in the shape of a fish! Unbelievable!

And yet, nothing that man makes compares with the awesome creation of life by the hand of God. I haven't seen many birds at my feeders in a long time, so yesterday, I took down all my feeders, cleaned and filled them. Today, there were so many bird visitors again! There were finches, chickadees and juncos flying around the yard, swooping in to land at the feeders and slipping into the hedges. THEY are a work of art that keep my heart in constant wonder as to how God came up with the idea that resulted in His artistic expression - of little birds! ;)

Hello Everybody!

It seems like forever since I've posted! Life is full!
I want to welcome those who are new followers ;) I will be visiting your blogs soon. Blogging is such a wonderful idea! I've met great people who are so generous with their experience in birding - I've learned so much in the last 11 months and have enjoyed admiring the photography displayed by the writers.

It's been foggy and rainy today and there has been much on my mind. I was going about my business - you know, daily stuff like cleaning the kitchen and taking out the garbage - easy things to do with your mind on auto-pilot. When I stepped out onto the porch with the garbage bag, I found this incredible surprise!

I called Wild Birds Unlimited to see if they had delivered it - did they deliver it to the wrong address? The lady laughed and told me that it was a gift for me from a lady who'd bought the bag of seed and asked for it to be delivered to ME! Needless to say, I was amazed!
So, I want to thank you - whoever you are - for being so thoughtful and generous. I hope you are blessed in return!

Full Moon Tonight

Panasonic Lumix Digital
hand held, unedited; slightly cropped

Lost for Words? or Lost for Birds?

I feel badly that my blogging has been so sporatic lately. Part of it has to do with the craziness of life these days and feeling a little lost for words (or is it "lost for birds?").

I've written about sunsets, the sky, trees, flowers, and Mr. Kitty; but there have been very few bird posts. A few house finches still come to the feeders - the rare gold finch, but no chickadees, and not even sparrows!

There are plenty of birds in the area because I can hear so many different songs, some of which I don't recall hearing here. When I go for my walks or get the mail or stand out on my deck, it seems like the trees are filled with birds - but I don't see many of them.

So, I thought I would jot a short post to let you all know that I'm ok, but I don't have much to write regarding my Bird Sanctuary.

I am enjoying my English 101 class and doing well, so far. ;)

The world around me continues to glow with the autumn sun and fall colors. I wish autumn days were longer; in fact, I wish the autumn season was longer!

I hope you are enjoying your yard and the area where you live and watch birds, and that your feeders are full and fluttering all the time! :)