Wild Bird Wednesday

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Yesterday I went for a short drive and took some pictures. The bird pictured above was one so tiny I had to include it in my Wild Bird Wednesday. It was so tiny and my zoom lens was maxed out that I still couldn't get a good identification shot but thought it clear enough to still share... Happy Birding~

If you'd like to hear this bird's song you can take a listen to the video I posted in my sidebar. Anyone knowing what it is please feel free to let me know in the comments.

Update: Thank you to Chris Rohrer and TexWisGirl for giving me some suggestions on what this bird is. Looking both suggestions up I found it was the blue-gray gnatcatcher. It's a new bird for me. 

Nature Notes

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Walking along a worn path at our local nature preserve I came across this beautiful flower. I'd love for someone to identify this flower as I can't find it in my field guide or online, so far. I'm sharing at nature notes today if you'd like to join in...

Sunday Sketches_bears

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The movie Bears was the inspiration for this weeks Sunday Sketches. Haven't had the chance to see the movie yet but really want to watch it... Here's a link to the photo I used to draw these bears... I didn't add the grass as I was afraid I'd mess up my sketch. Happy Sunday Sketching~

glistening locket

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bursting cattails snatch
red winged blackbird on its tip
glistening locket

Shared @
Camera Critters
Saturday Critters

Random 5 Friday

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Sharing this short video of five images taken at my local nature preserve Wednesday. I've added the track autumn breeze from my Atmosphere Deluxe Software for added enjoyment. Hope everyone's having a great weekend...

Great Blue Heron nests

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May 2012 a friend of mine took me and another friend to a place where she'd found eight great blue heron nests. The pictures shown are not taken at a nature preserve or a zoo. They are on someone's farm that my friend knew. We were able to walk all around taking pictures. Sometimes the great blue herons would stay in their nests and other times they took flight. But they always came back to their young. We were also able to see the young peaking out their tiny heads. What a great day...

Shared @
Wild Bird Wednesday

Cardinal in Flight

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Here's another shot of mr. cardinal at the fence. He was perched on the post when... as pretty as you please... he took to flight just as I snapped my camera button. See him watching me? There's something about this photo that makes me smile even though I didn't capture the exact shot I was after. I'm sharing him over at Nature Notes today... hopefully he'll make everyone over there smile too.

Cardinal

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Around 7:30 pm this cardinal and a female came to my bird feeder. He kept flitting around so I was able to capture different poses. Here's one of the photos I really liked from his shoot. I might share another one for Wild Bird Wednesday so don't forget to come back and see what other poses mr. cardinal shared...

Besides a male and female cardinal being at my bird feeder last night there was a mockingbird, red winged blackbird, mourning dove and two different sparrows. Yesterday morning I woke to find four goldfinches and three mourning doves at the back feeder. I think the mourning doves are a mother and her two babies.

Shared @
Camera Critters
Saturday Critters
Good Fences

Random 5 Friday

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1. Last Sunday a friend from church didn't have to work that day. She made it to church & bible study. We then had lunch together with her sister and my daughter. Later that afternoon I sat outside in the warm sun and wind listening to my new cd Devotions with Priscilla by Priscilla Shirer. I only made it through five tracks but they were very good. Looking forward to finishing the last seven tracks.

2. My husband and I had planned to go see Duck Hunter Shoots Angel tonight but I misplaced the tickets we had. I'm so bummed over this as I was looking forward to seeing this play. I'm sure they'll show up sometime. We'll just have to pick a different play to watch when they do...

3. Two white dogwoods and one of two washington hawthorn trees didn't make it. I'll be replacing them within the next month or so. Otherwise, all my young trees have blooms on them now. 

4. My young adult daughter has been fighting the stomach flu/ virus since yesterday evening. She's doing some better now but still needs rest, food & fluids.

5. Birds I've been spotting at my feeder and around my yard: goldfinches, grackles, starlings, red winged blackbird, cardinal, sparrows, robins & mockingbirds. What have you seen at your bird feeder lately?

Red Bellied Woodpecker

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Spotted this red bellied woodpecker at our local nature preserve last week. He was foraging for food in a different area than the northern flicker. I think he's trying to listen to the click of my camera, don't you think? Happy Wild Bird Wednesday...

Purple Dead Nettle

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Purple Dead Nettle is an invasive plant (weed) that's scrawled across fields here making for a beautiful scene as far as your eye can see. I spotted this one at the nature preserve last week. It's a herbaceous flowering plant whose flowers and leaves are edible. Purple dead nettle also attracts bees who take the nectar from its flowers for food. It can easily be mistaken for Henbit whose flowers and leaves are similar to those of the purple dead nettle.

Shared @
Nature Notes

Sunday Sketches_bighorn sheep

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The January 2014 issue of Popular Photography had a bighorn sheep on it's cover. He was the inspiration for Sunday Sketches. I tried to find a link for the cover photo but couldn't so I'm posting part of the cover below for comparison only...

Northern Flicker

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Spotted this northern flicker at our local nature preserve Tuesday. Happy Weekend~

Linked to:

Camera Critters
Saturday Critters

Random 5 Friday

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1. Cleaned and filled all my bird feeders with a variety of different seed, fruit, nuts and suet yesterday. Got some trees and shrubs soil to place around my young trees because the ground settled around them to much this winter. Since losing three of my young trees I also went searching for some replacement trees.

2. Tuesday night my family and I went to see God's Not Dead with a friend from church and her family. Had a great time... great movie.

3. I've long been in search of a good photography app to add text to my photos.Today I bought Path On. It allows you to draw a straight line on , circle around or a line over your image and then type your words. From what I've been able to assess it's easy to use and you can adjust the font size, color, spacing and shadow among other things.

4. Received the nicest gift from a dear church friend and her family last Sunday. They bought me a cd Devotions with Priscilla by Priscilla Shirer and a book Jesus Lives by Sarah Young. i've already loaded my cd onto my ipod so i can listen anytime day or night and I plan to read my book after finishing Praying for Purpose for Women by Katie Brazelton. Praying for Purpose is the best prayer book I've read. I highly recommend it to any woman who wants to grow closer to God in prayer.

5. Made plans with hubby for our family to see the play Duck Hunter Shoots Angel next Friday. It's performing at our local opera house downtown.

Here's a link to Random 5 Friday if you'd like to follow along...

Circled Openings

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Tuesday I needled my way around the nature preserve's pond of screaming frogs protesting my presence and entered the woods. There a red bellied woodpecker foraging for food posed for my camera.  I can hear what sounds like an owl on the other side of the woods whoing. Five turkey vultures above head circle in and out for something only they see. I continue walking around seeing trees and bushes blooming green. Robins hide in the thick of briars and bush flitting anxiously from one log to another as I pass. Upon a new path is a thick bush with sunlight passing through it's circled openings. When I leave I spot a northern flicker searching the ground for food. The bathroom holds a few surprises of its own. There's a wasp sitting along the toilet lid who allows me to take him on a white carpet ride outside. He flies into the sunlit afternoon after a small pause. Ladybugs have filled the skylight in the bathroom as well as other spaces but I don't disturb them.

immature bald eagle

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open wings thrust you
forward from limb, open air
immature bald eagle

reaching

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In this stillness

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I've watched colleged winter thaw of ice
along our side of the farms.
Grackles and other eastern birds flit to
one side and then the edge.
Their tiny lungs filled of
spring song. These...
these uncaged songs mapped
by memory's territories
live somewhere beneath blue skies and a
habit that holds my blue- gray
eyes... still. It's in this stillness I'm headed
towards an open field and a lone oak.

Napowrimo day 5: The challenge was to write a Golden Shovel. The last word in every sentence is another person's poem word for word. Instead of using someone else's poem I used one of my own haiku called gray headed oak.

in the whisper of me (haiku)

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she stands forbidden
in the whisper of me, there...
mother's destiny

My first haiku for April's National Poetry Month. Inspired by my iphoneart of the same name: In the whisper of me. 

in the whisper of me

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Bonnie over at Pixel Dust Photo Art has a meme called Photo Art Friday. April's theme is: quirky selfie. I decided to share my 'In the whisper of me.' It's a photo taken with my iPad and retouched through iPad's photography apps.

Random 5 Friday

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1. Been fighting a head cold since last Wednesday. Last night was the first time I could say I was feeling some better. Sure hope that continues...

2. Finding my voice (poetry) is out of focus lately. I hope April's National Poetry Month will spur my creativity along. So far my voice is still quiet, sigh...

3. Looking forward to getting outside more when the weather permits. I want to practice swiping (taking blurry pictures on purpose) and slowing my shutter speed down enough to make softer pictures of water, sky or movement. The latter might require the purchase of a neutral density filter.

4. Excited to spend real time with my hubby this weekend. We were separated for a month and a half because he had job training in Japan, Jan 19- Mar 1. Upon his return we both had scheduled and unscheduled events to attend. This is the first real weekend we've had to go out and be a couple again.

5. The first of March I had the pleasure of taking a Tony Sweet seminar and was the winner of a 10 photo critique from him. He gave me so many good tips on how to improve my photos. I'll forever be grateful to him. Now for winter to release its grip of spring so I can get outside and practice what he taught me.

Thursday Textures

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Here's our second Thursday Texture. It's my hope you'll join me in taking a picture with your cell phone or iPad and combine it with my texture. Once you've created your image using the texture come back Monday to post links to your creations in the comments. Important note: textures will be made with iPad's photography apps not photoshop software and sizes may vary...

Rules:
... download texture for use with your image
... photograph something in nature
... come back Monday and post your creations

Photography Club meeting

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Even though I woke to a cloudy morning the temperature outside is already 71 degrees. I hope this continues throughout the day because I have my photography club meeting tonight. We're planning on going out to the lake for some shooting and I'm thinking the warm weather will bring out the birds, at least. Going out to the lake will also allow me to practice what I learned at a Tony Sweet seminar last month.
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