The Call of the Wild...

This morning after two different trips to the school I sat at my kitchen table enjoying my 1st cup of coffee.  I make a pot of coffee everyday the same way but some days it tastes so much better than other days.  Today was one of the those better days.  It's slightly dark and overcast outside as it is still drizzling with remnants from an overnight storm.  I watched this visitor for a while happily munching on our dandelions.

 I realized it was so noisy outside and this time it wasn't the sounds of renovations or pool pumps on overdrive as neighbours open their pools for the season. No it was noisy with birds.  They seemed to be happily singing at the top of the their lungs.  There was one lone voice though that could be heard above all others.  Distinctive but for my untrained bird call ears I have no way of knowing what type of bird it was.  It really reminded me of my childhood though. Instead of commercials for pop and fast food (well, of course we had those as well) but in addition to those we had these commercials from the National Film Board of Canada. One minute informational vignetttes on our wildlife.  There was a distinctive opening which the bird call reminded me of.

I'm not sure exactly sure what programs I would have been watching to see these - Mr. Dress Up and the Friendly Giant would have been commercial free.  I doubt very much it was being picked up by the american affiliates while I was watching episode after epidsode of The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch (those were good years!).  I definitely saw them all though...the beaver, the chipmunk....over and over.

Some pretty anemones in the garden.  One of my favourite flowers.

----

I'm quite pleased with the new template in terms of picture size.  My old template was quite narrow but I am now able to increase the size of my pictures.  Which I love!

Also, thanks so much for the comments on my new banner.  I think I'll keep it for a while.

Summer Fades to Autumn

It is feeling much more like fall today.  It's still a decent 18 degrees but it's cloudy and raining on and off.  Within a couple of days leaves have fallen and you can hear them crunch underfoot.  We've quickly gone from summer weather to more of what you would expect for fall.  We still haven't had the heat on yet although I'm sure that's just around the corner and I'm still wearing sandals and capris.  Quite quickly I'm going to look out of place, not to mention chilly.

Last weekend we were still enjoying our garden in sunshine and t-shirts.  I loved having a moment to watch the birds and I love the unexpected fall blooms.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

In My Backyard

Well there was quite a bit of commotion outside my window a few minutes ago.  A slight bang on the window, the sounds of wings flapping and such.  I went to the window and looked out to the ground below the birdfeeder thinking I would see a bird that had been stunned by his misguided flight into our window.  Instead, there was nothing...until I looked up at the fence...and this is what I saw.

Wow isn't he spectacular.  I think it's a peregrine falcon or maybe a hawk but I'm not actually sure. 

  Maybe someone knows?

Anyways, quite a treat to see so close up and he was quite accommodating to stay while I ran for my camera and snapped these pictures.

Bon Voyage!

I wanted to make sure to post my last photos of Annie and Oscar's family. It was such a short time from when we discovered them in our tree to hatching, growing and the inevitable flying away. I certainly enjoyed our time together.

They grew up so fast it was hard to keep up!

By May 18th the biggest of the two babies took his first flight and landed in this nearby tree.

By May 19th, one day later, they abandoned the nest. Here is the last view I had of the larger baby. He sat perched on this chair for a good hour before he flew off.

Now luckily enough they do visit our yard frequently. I have only seen one young one at a time but they are so similar looking I have no way of knowing if it's the same one or both at different times.

Anyways, I wish the best to Annie and Oscar and their young family. It was awesome how they let us become a part of their life for a few short weeks!

Bon Voyage my friends!

Song Birds

"...for you there'll be no more crying,

for you, the sun will be shining,

And I feel that when I'm with you,

It's alright, I know it's right..."

excerpt from "Songbird" written by Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac.

I've had a fascination with songbirds for a while now. I'm not sure why. Maybe I connect to their sweet, optimistic songs.

A few years ago I heard "Songbird"for the first time performed by Rosie Thomas. It is one of my favourite songs and I love this version, by Eva Cassidy.

Let your emotions soar with this pretty little necklace.

In My Backyard

This afternoon I was outside on the patio taking pictures of my jewellery when I noticed a mourning dove sitting underneath our bird feeder. It's a pretty common occurence for us to see this but this time I had my camera in hand.


When I was younger I thought they were called 'Morning' Doves, made perfect sense I often saw them in the morning but when I later learned it was 'Mourning' I always had a strange appreciation for them. Their sombre cooing sound always made me feel a bit sad for them and their propensity for just sitting on the ground always made me a bit worried for their safety.
You wonder if these birds are just so naive that they think they are safe there, confident that they could fly away if danger arose or just hopeful of the world and it's surroundings around them - a trust in the world that they will be safe. Be safe little bird.