For the Birds and Remembering

What's dumb and pretty and struts around with a feather on its nose? Only a mourning dove could be this lovely and this dopey. After her preening session, she carried that feather around with her for the next half hour - possibly longer but she flew away. For all I know she has it still.

Now this is a very smart bird. Her name is Lucy and she belongs to Frank. I've never seen her walk around with a feather on her nose. She does however walk around with a question in her voice. That question is "Wanna peanut?"

Now don't be fooled. Lucy isn't really offering a peanut. She's hoping upon hope that her repeated offers will convince one of us to get one for her. As you can tell by the victorious look in her eye, she's usually successful.

One afternoon, while sitting on my front deck, I noticed the goldfinch high atop a tree branch a couple of houses away. Frank's nifty 100-400 lens allowed me to take this shot from where I sat.

Much closer to me, but in Frank's back yard this time, this lovely little chickadee flew in to dine at the birdie café. Frank sets seed out every evening for them to enjoy and she's about to fly down to partake. I like the way her feathers are backlit by the sun.

One evening, at my local pond, this mallard struck a lovely pose, bowing its head as if in silent remembrance. I didn't realize it until I noticed the date upon scheduling this post, but I find this to be a fitting image with which to end this post on September 11 - ten years after.

This was a scheduled post.

Season's Beauties

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." ~ Maya Angelou
Elusive little creatures, these butterflies are. It's an honour when they stop long enough to be photographed.




"They tell us that plants are not like man immortal, but are perishable—soul-less. I think that is something that we know exactly nothing about." ~ John Muir
These ferns caught my eye because they were growing in a circular pattern and the inside which contained a different plant, reminded me of a basket.




"I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful." ~ Pete Hamill
This goldfinch looked so pretty posing on the branch. It was taken through the glass on a windy day.. hence the lack of clarity. Still, it's a handsome little bird.




“It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.” ~ William Carlos Williams
Pretty little flowers which are popping up all around.



"Some people are uncomfortable with the idea that humans belong to the same class of animals as cats and cows and raccoons. They're like the people who become successful and then don't want to be reminded of the old neighborhood." ~ Phil Donahue
Walking along the creek one afternoon, Frank pointed out these raccoon tracks on the shore.




"Green, the color of growth, or surgent life, enwraps the land. New green, still as individual as the plants themselves. Cool green, which will merge as the weeks pass, the Summer comes, into a canopy of shade of busy chlorophyll." ~ Hal Borland
Late afternoon sunshine illuminated these elm leaves.





"By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower." ~ Rabindranath Tagore
More delicate flowers to please the eye.




"My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle."
~ Henny Youngman
Warm summer-like afternoons nudged us to enjoy our respective drinks. A Kronenbourg 1664 for Frank and a Woody's Mexican Lime for me.

Wings and Furry Things

A couple of weeks ago, Frank and I went on our first fishing outing of the season. We went to a pond which we visit each spring, and where we usually encounter one of the area's sweetest residents. She's a lovely white and grey feline who has learned to recognize that fishing rods mean she might soon be lucky enough to dine on a fresh fish dinner.

On past visits, this feral beauty has been visibly pregnant and she's made it quite clear how urgently she need to obtain nourishment for herself and her growing babies. For all we knew, she may have been expecting another litter this spring, or perhaps she just knew that she needed to get her meals, and to hoard some of them when she could.

Shortly after our arrival, she came out from the shelter of an abandoned building and made sure we were aware of her presence.




The fishing wasn't spectacular where we were so after a while, we crossed the road and made our way behind the building, where we knew we'd be able to catch some chub for her.

She met us out back and waited patiently.


It wasn't long before each of us had several tugs at our respective fishing rods. One by one, we unhooked several small fish, killed them swiftly and brought them to our hungry friend.

At first we couldn't get too close to her and had to toss them her way.

After a few feedings, she decided she would swat them out of our hands and eventually she gently took one chub right out of Frank's hand, as seen in the small inset image at the start of the page.

We later moved on to a different area and spent a pleasant afternoon watching birds, clouds and bobbing floats. We went home with no fish, fewer worms and a few fond memories.

Below are a some photos of a few other creatures which we encountered over the next few days. I hope you enjoy them.


Bunnies are beautiful critters but I don't think they rank too high on the intelligence scale. Frank pointed this cutie out to me. It must have figured that standing stock still meant that he was invisible to me. He allowed me to approach fairly closely without twitching a muscle.




Finally, when I stepped over the too-close line, he hopped a full six feet away, and stood still once more - his back to me this time. Silly wabbit!




Another not-too-bright but beautiful creature is the mourning dove. In his current and very amusing post, Frank agrees with me about this bird's IQ. Go ahead and read his entertaining tale about a mourning dove and a chipmunk. I don't mind waiting till you get back.





A far more intelligent bird is the crow. If you doubt that for one moment, have a look at this video and you'll see what I mean. There's a 30 second commercial before the crow video begins.




Perhaps this guy was off to his workshop in order to craft the right tool for a job.




These American Goldfinch are still coming into their breeding plumage and appear a bit patchy before sporting their full summer gold.




And speaking of gold, look at the beautiful yellow patch on this white-throated sparrow's head. He has a curious expression rivaled only by...




.. this beautiful male cardinal. Ever watchful and calculating, this guy made sure I didn't come any closer while his partner helped herself to the feeder nearby. A bunny could sure learn from these birdbrains.

Back soon with more photos.

Spring Bling

“And the day came when the risk to remain in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” ~ Anais Nin





“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.” ~ William Shakespeare





“Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson





"Let a thousand flowers bloom and we'll see what flourishes.” ~ Clara Hemphill





“Here and there you'd see a tree that was budding or grass trying to grow. There was hope.” ~ Carolyn Hunter





"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." ~ Aesop





"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." ~ Chinese Proverb





"Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best." ~ Henry Van Dyke





"When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck." ~ Richard C. Cushing





"To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also." ~ Igor Stravinsky





"Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath." ~ Michael Caine





"If you keep your feathers well oiled the water of criticism will run off as from a duck's back."
~ Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards

Golden Opportunities

“Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such” ~Henry Miller

For me, photography is a small series of golden opportunities.

I miss many of them. I can tell you of many instances when a moment presents itself and immediately vanishes - long before I can find my camera, much less get the setting right and snap a shot. Sometimes it's a sight seen from the car, too close to the road to capture a shot as we speed by - long passed before the thought fully registers. Other times, a bird lights quickly and perfectly in front of me but is gone before my hand can reach to adjust the lens.

Those are lost golden opportunities which will always remain as my mental snapshots. Below are just few that I didn't miss. Please remember to click on each image to enlarge it.

"Early morning hath gold in its mouth." ~Benjamin Franklin

Proof that not all of our squirrels in Ontario are black.

"Gold’s father is dirt, yet it regards itself as noble." ~Yiddish Proverb

A winter Goldfinch a few months before its body is as golden-yellow as its throat.

"Gold gives an appearance of beauty even to ugliness." ~Nicholas Boileau

Those giant burrs which Benny had on his back a couple of posts earlier.

"Night’s darkness is the bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn. ~Rabindranath Tagore

A couple of geese basking in the last of the golden sunlight.

“I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden.” ~ Helen Keller

A light snow covering helps to light the park path at night.

"Stories are like fairy gold, the more you give away, the more you have." ~Anonymous Snowman

A whimsical winter decoration adorned my neighbour's table top on New Year's Eve.

"For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver." ~ Martin Luther

A bit of snow and nearby streetlamps help light up this tree. That blur in the foreground is Benny.

“And all is not golden that glitters, And not all that glitters is gold” ~Aloysius Charles Swinburne

Headlights, taillights and streetlights as seen through the back seat window on a rainy Christmas night.

"Water is best, but gold shines like fire blazing in the night, supreme of lordly wealth." ~Pindar

On our way to Christmas dinner. The rain-soaked streets provided some vibrant reflections of the street lights.

Shades of Spring

Below are a few random photos taken over the last couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them.

Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire. ~ Virgil

Crab Apple trees are in full bloom at my neighbourhood park. (please click to enlarge)

"There'll be trains of blossoms.
There'll be trains of music.
There'll be trains of trust, trains of golden dust.
Come along and surry on sweet trains of thought.
Surry down to a stoned soul picnic."
~ Laura Nyro (The 5th Dimension)

A picnic table, bathed in late afternoon sunlight, sits under a canopy of blossoms. (please click to enlarge)

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." ~ George Byron

One of the many pretty sights along the shoreline of my local pond. (please click to enlarge)

"The blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,
Hope's gentle gem, the sweet Forget-me-not." ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Forget-me-not -tiny, blue wild flowers with memories. (please click to enlarge)

"A barrel full of certainties won't roll very far." ~ Gerd de Ley

We looked around at a vintage market situated in an old mill. At least one dozen large rooms housed collectibles, antiques, jewelery and crafts. (please click to enlarge)

"Just an old stone house by a river, and the door without any key.
Just a friendly place for a friendly face. Just an old stone house and me."
~ Alec Wilder

I liked the colours of this weathered boat in front of the blue window frames of the old stone mill. (please click to enlarge)

"And then, looking down into reflection, I would see my own round face and frizzled hair against a featureless blue sweep, and think instead that the puddle was the entrance to another sky. If I stepped in there, I would drop at once, and keep on falling, on and on, into blue space." ~ Diana Gabaldon (Voyager)

Looking down into a puddle, the trees were growing tall and deep. (please click to enlarge)

“Cedars are terribly sensitive to change of time and light - sometimes they are bluish cold-green, then they turn yellow warm-green - sometimes their boughs flop heavy and sometimes float, then they are fairy as ferns and then they droop, heavy as heartaches.” ~ Emily Carr

Just one week earlier, this greenery gave us Fiddleheads as a side dish for dinner one night. It didn't take them long to unfurl and grow tall beside the cedars. (please click to enlarge)

“I knew, of course, that trees and plants had roots, stems, bark, branches and foliage that reached up toward the light. But I was coming to realize that the real magician was light itself.” ~ Edward Steichen

Take a closer look at how beautiful they are in the late day sunshine. (please click to enlarge)

"Wish that I were a yellow bird.
I'd fly away with you.
But I am not a yellow bird.
So here I sit, nothin' else to do."
~ Marilyn (Keith) Bergman

A little Goldfinch watches us from the branches of a tree. (please click to enlarge)

“It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stony street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Dandelions are much more attractive when they're not taking over our lawns. (please click to enlarge)

"Light up your face with gladness.
Hide every trace of sadness,
Although a tear maybe ever so near.
That's the time you must keep on trying.
Smile - what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you'll just smile.
~ Charlie Chaplin

The last time we went fishing, the sun shone brightly in my eyes, so Frank bought this hat for me to wear this time. I couldn't help but notice that it had a really happy face. (please click to enlarge)

We weren't the only one's fishing either. Click on this very short video and you'll see this Common Tern take a nosedive upon sighting a fish. It wasn't his only catch for the day. After all, one good tern deserves another...

“We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living together as brothers.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

And here's this lovely bird with its catch. (please click to enlarge)

"That golden sky, which was the doubly blessed symbol of advancing day and of approaching rest." ~ George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans Cross)

A lovely golden sky to end a perfect day. (please click to enlarge)