A Snowbird in Paradise

This is the page I made from the photos in a previous post about finding these birds in our neighborhood one morning.
  I plan on creating a book when I get enough pages of "ultimate bird photos".
Just this morning this guy cooperated by spending a split moment in the sun so I could get a good shot.

Last month I stopped by a garden center to buy something for my orchids and discovered they have free monthly classes.  I signed up right away and went to my first class February 12.

Orchid Island Botanicals

It was about re-potting Phalaenopsis, which most of mine are.  I took several pages of notes and came home to repot all of mine that were not blooming.

Potted in potting medium in plastic containers

This month the class was on mounting Tillandsia (air plants).  This was a hands on class and we had a huge choice of plants and things on which to mount our choices.  I chose 3 interesting Tillandsia and a long piece of cork bark with a hanger already attached.  Using a silicone glue and twist ties we created our displays and went home to display our creations.

So now I am hooked on this unusual way to show plants.  I have some shells I want to fill and some little pots.  He assured me that if I am careful, the displays should transport back and forth to Michigan from Florida just fine.  The main thing he cautioned against was OVER care.  Spritz twice a week, only.

A shell that usually sits in one of the pots at the base of a blooming orchid

She thinks we can't see her...

We were sitting down by the lake having morning coffee with "the kids" visiting from Michigan when we heard the unmistakable call...CLOSE.  There was the pair of Sand Hill Cranes in the field across the street from the house.  They have been in the area for a week or more but never on this block.

Why did the crane cross the road?

"Hey, you, behind the tree..."

I grabbed my camera as fast as I could.  Fortunately the zoom lens was already on so I saved a couple of moments there.  From a "blind" behind a palm tree I started snapping and they started coming closer.  By the time they stepped into the road in front of the house I didn't need the zoom fully extended.

"I see you!!!"

"Hey, you, behind the tree..."

They kept coming and I changed positions as they entered the front yard.  For 4 years we have had a pair of metal, decorative Sand Hill Cranes in the planting in front.  The REAL Sand Hills went for it and I got the pictures I wanted of the real and statue cranes.

Do they think the statues are real?

Do they even SEE the statues?

You can see their size here The big birds wandered past the truck and on to other parts of the neighborhood.