A Snowbird in Paradise

 I received this cute porch-swing bird feeder for Christmas.  I didn't think the birds would use it since I also have quite a few Wild Birds Unlimited super feeders.  I hung it on a hook right  under my lattice porch roof.  Soon a pair of Chickadees were swooping in and out on a regular basis.  I was thrilled.  I think they have a nest in one of the big evergreens in my yard. 

One of the Chickadee pair feeding in my yard

 Once I put out the special Oriole feeder, I discovered my pair from last year has blossomed into THREE pair.

Do you think she can read?

Mrs. Oriole eye-ing her feeder

Mr. Oriole likes the orange

There MUST be an easier way

We HAD to come home to Michigan on May 1 for two very good reasons.  First, we had our granddaughter with us for the week after Easter.  Her parents had to go back to work and her sister, back to school...only she had that week off.  However, she had to be home on Sunday for school the next day and First Communion the following week.

We had a great time with her all to ourselves.  She swam, swam, swam and even learned how to dive!  What a water bird!

Now just push off!

Ta-Da!

The most fun for me was the photo-walks she and I took.  The day her folks left she and I went for a walk on a couple of great piers along the Indian River.

Little Photographer

She got a great reflection shot of this Heron

Nice shot of the remains of a large sea-turtle, picked clean.

She is such a "lizzy" fan and she liked this bright green one.

Moment of reflection

Our spot by the lake

just a small taste of the weird clouds we sa

One evening, down by the lake with a few neighbors, we saw strange clouds.  Everywhere we looked the clouds were different, dark, oddly shaped, and yet it was bright blue overhead.  Every kind of cloud I had ever studied was there and more I had never seen, changing so swiftly we couldn't keep track.

Gabby with her very own camera

We also took pictures of each other taking pictures.  Later that evening we heard that one of the nearest towns had experienced a tornado.  We knew it was an unsettled sky but didn't realize how dangerous it was.

The day before we headed for home, she did a fantastic job of loading the back of the truck.  I was packing inside and putting things by the door, Grandpa took them out to the truck and she was inside the "bed" arranging them like a pro.  We were done in no time and ready to hit the pool in the 91 degree heat.

On the trip home we stopped at welcome centers for several states and gathered some maps.  She became quite good at following our progress.

She realized she had never been in Kentucky before

The beautiful Kentucky Horse Park

 The horse farms, mountains and a tunnel were all part of her grand adventure, and ours through her eyes.

Between and through mountains

Besides following maps, she worked puzzles in some nice books her mother had bought for her, took photos out the windows, read on her Kindle and mine, made little movies, and slept a lot.  We stayed overnight in a motel, another adventure for her, and were home in record time.

"What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know.  What do YOU want to do?"

"Um...well...I need to go to Melbourne and get my unrepaired lens back from the camera shop."

"Ok, then we can go to Cocoa Beach as long as we will be half-way there.  I have to get a pump from Dad."

"Grab your camera and let's take the little car."

So we were off.  I love the drive along the Indian River.  People who haven't been to Florida' East coast don't know about The Indian River
(From Wikipedia)The Indian River is a waterway in Florida, a part of the Indian River Lagoon system which forms the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It extends from the border between Brevard and Volusia Counties southward along the western shore of Merritt Island, picking up the Banana River on the island's south side, then continuing southward to St. Lucie Inlet.
It was originally named Rio de Ais after the Ais Indian tribe, who lived along the east coast of Florida.
It is broad, shallow, and 153 mi (246 km) long. It is an estuarine system where freshwater meets salt water within the same body of water.

Sand Hill Cranes in our yard

 One morning we heard the "unholy" calls of Sand Hill Cranes.  I grabbed my camera and went outside, bare feet and all.  I have never had 4 together in the yard before.  I was sneaking around behind trees but I needn't have bothered.  They paid little mind to me. 

Tamron macro / portrait lens

This winter I bought a new Macro / Portrait lens for my Canon Camera.  I have had some fun with taking Macro photos.  This Damsel Fly was most cooperative.  It was right after a rain storm.

Damsel on a fire-plant

Bougainvilla

Water on a leaf of an Elephant Ear plant.

The promise of an hibiscus blossom bud

I am not sure what this beautiful flower is.

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.

For some reason I love the huge birds in Florida.  For all of my life my parents' bird station, and then my own  in Michigan attracted wonderful little birds...LITTLE birds.  I knew about these large birds in Florida and saw an occasional one from afar in Michigan but some of these birds come right up to you with no fear.  I love taking their photos but love digitally scrapping them even more.

Here are this year's favorite bird photos so far.

Wood Stork

 This handsome fellow was the first bird I hand-fed eight years ago.  He was also the first bird I photographed with my new Canon Digital DSLR camera.  Yes, I can get very close to him without spooking him, but, no, I do not let him eat from my hand.  I am “respectful” of that long, sharp beak.  It could do some damage.

Florida White Pelican

White Ibis

 Usually, the past 8 years, we would see one or two Ibis mixed in with a flock of Cattle Birds but this year we have a flock that ranges from 10 to 25 Ibis and no Cattle Birds.  I started feeding the Ibis each morning and now they come knocking, or at least come close to the screen house.  I was surprised to hear their “grunt” when fighting for bits of food.  The fellow I photographed alone hangs back and just refuses to allow me to feed him.  We like keeping these birds around because they shove their bills into the sand/soil getting out all the insects.  The more they do that the better for us.

Great White Egret

A Sebastian friend posted to Facebook for all Sebastian folks to look out to the West.  This is what we all saw.  It went from this to deeper colors as the sun set further but also became darker and harder to get good photos.

Coffee Shop Actions blogger, Rita, has started posting her favorite photo of the week every Friday.  I like that idea and will try to keep up.

My second-cousin-once-removed, Jennifer and me.

 Through matching tree entries in Ancestry.com, Jennifer and I discovered "missing" branches of our families.  Her grandfather, and my mother's brothers had been so close once.  Her great-grandmother and my grandfather were close siblings.  The two families had their children's photos taken together, and my mother remembered the 7 children being together often...then when Mother was about 7 or 8 they didn't seem to spend any more time together.  Why?  I had not been able to locate information on the internet and that branch of the family tree was just gone.

The story was this:  My grandfather's sister, Jen's great-grandmother, died in her early 40s leaving her minister husband with 3 youngsters.  Eventually he remarried but the link between the two families was gone and never was restored...until now!!!

Jen had a photo of the old family home where her great-grandmother and my grandfather were raised.  How precious THAT was!  I passed on the originals of about 8 photos of her ancestors that belong rightfully to her and her sister.  We exchanged information about our respective branches.

A lovely afternoon!!!

As much as I love watching birds and flowers, waiting and anticipating heightens the entire experience.


Take the Osprey.  THE moment is when the parents help the babies fledge.  Watching the parents nest, wondering when the eggs will hatch; trying to figure out the babies' stage of growth...all of that enhances the moments of flight so much more than driving along the highway and just seeing some young in flight.

Is there a baby in the nest or not?

Since our late neighbor started my interest in orchids I have stumbled along, reading articles and books that didn't really help.  So much conflicting advice.  We transport the orchids back and forth from Florida to Michigan because we have to and so far the plants don't seem to have suffered, however, is there a better way?  Am I potting them right?  Should I be bringing them in at night?

I have two  plants promising to bloom so I can't be TOO far off in caring for them, but nevertheless, I signed up for an Orchid Potting Class on a Saturday coming up.  I love the facility and they have a great reputation; Orchid Island Botanicals.  I am SOOO looking forward to this class and more, I hope.

This was just a tight bud a week ago

More little orchids to come

Is there anything prettier?