Happy Thanksgiving to all

May your Thanksgiving day be filled with
pleasant, warm moments
which will turn into
lasting memories...
treasures of your heart

Big Rain - Big River!

It was a gorgeous afternoon when we went into Walmart. Twenty minutes later, the sky had completely changed!

We've been having a lot of rain the last couple of weeks. A couple of nights ago, it poured with winds gusting up to 50 mph! When I was driving home from Walmart, I noticed the river was very high, so I dropped my daughter off at home and drove back to get pictures of the river before this next storm comes!

I barely got the last shot when it started to rain. By the time I ran back across the bridge to the van, it was pouring! I was drenched! --- but, so happy!

Feeders and Sunlight

One of the few things I did today (after recuperating from a night of battling a bug?), was to fill up the tray feeder. It seems the birds prefer that feeder and there's not as much waste. So...should I get another one?

Anyway, while I was out there, I heard a significant fluttering in the trees behind the garage. At first, I thought Tinkerbell was hunting; but she was only a few feet away from me. Then I saw lots of birds flying out of the trees in that area and a second later....a beautiful hawk or falcon! ! ! It took my breath away! I don't know how it got in and out from behind the garage, but the take-off was spectacular! I'm sorry to say - no camera and no identification - it all happened so fast. :(

Meanwhile, I have a flock of juncos right now, plenty of house finches still, a few gold finches and the rare sparrow - so I'm filling the feeders regularly. It's fun to see all the activity out there again.

I am thinking about moving the feeders across the driveway. If you look at past photos, you will see, that especially in the winter, the sun rarely hits the feeders. They are only 6 feet from the house on the north side. Across the drive, the sunlight is there almost all day. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? Initially, they were positioned to be part of a sanctuary I was planning - but my plans have changed and the dream won't be coming true - at least for now.

What IS that Masked Bandit???

Sorry for the poor quality photo - but I didn't want to scare it before getting a shot - and my hunch was right. I took the photo from in my kitchen - zoomed in with the Panasonic Lumix - not fancy. As soon as I got the first shot, he took off.
I've looked in two bird books and can't find it! I even looked under "racoon bird" --- you're laughing now, I know ;)
Can anyone identify this bird?
Have a wonderful Sunday!