Angry Birds

When the mourning doves are not hogging the limelight on the birdfy feeder, other birds visit and none look more angry than the grackles. With their beady eyes and large, strong beaks they appear quite fearsome.

They look as though they are in a constant state of rage. Despite their appearance, however, they are nowhere near as aggressive as the red-wing blackbirds. Having said that, I have seen them attack and kill sparrows, usually when the grackles have young ones with them. They seem to do it more out of a sense of frustration when they have two or more youngsters squawking for food.

They certainly like to grab as much food as they can fit in their beaks when they’re on the feeder and they’re not particularly fussy about what they eat. Seeds, nuts, fruit and the occasional mealworm all make good snacking.

As I’ve mentioned on previous posts, I can’t take any credit for these pictures. The camera automatically captures them when it detects any motion. All I have to do is download the ones that are fairly sharp and crop them so they don’t show too much of the neighboring gardens.

Spring Valley Eclipse

Like most people, I wanted to see the eclipse and because the weather was so mild and sunny, I decided to go for a walk and enjoy the event at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. I was curious, in part, to see how it affected the wildlife, if at all.

I arrived about an hour before the eclipse really got going. The birds were chirping, the frogs were burping, and there was nothing to indicate that anything spectacular was about to happen. The water in the lake was high, we’ve had quite a bit of rain lately, and it was running fast in the creek.

As I sat by the water’s edge, I spotted a flicker high up in an old tree. It looked like it was checking out nesting sites. It would tap away at the wood, working its way up the trunk. only to dart away and then start all over again.

Walking through the woods towards the farm, I saw a nuthatch hopping about among the trees and as I got closer to the barn, I spotted a red-bellied woodpecker.

By this time, the eclipse was steadily progressing, so I found a bench and got comfortable. I hadn’t been able to find any special eclipse glasses, all the stores had sold out, but my husband kindly found me the lens from a welder’s helmet that was gathering dust in the basement. With this, I was able to safely see the eclipse unfold. I tried to get pictures, but neither my camera or the phone camera would cooperate. I’m embarrassed to admit that taking a shot that requires anything more than an automatic setting on the camera is beyond me. Another couple joined me, and peering through the welder’s lens, we watched as the sun gradually disappeared from view and the shadows darkened.

Walking back by the lake, I observed a chickadee making a nest in an old tree trunk. It went through quite a ritual as it disappeared inside the hole, popped out with a beak full of sawdust, flew up onto a nearby branch and dispersed it into the breeze.

I may not have captured any pictures of the eclipse, but I was quite happy with the day’s shooting and a very pleasant walk.

A New Adventure

It is with humble pride and a great deal of excitement that I announce my debut as an author, with the publication of my book, The Eternal Song.

This is the first in The Connections Series of stories woven around various recurring characters bound together by time, circumstance and fate.

When Lucy Welbourne receives a warning about a danger from her past, she finds help in an unexpected place.  But does it come in time to save her? A story of mystery, romance and the supernatural leads Lucy on a journey through England, France and Russia as she looks for love and seeks the answers to the riddle of the threat that hangs over her.

Like Lucy, I have discovered that it’s never too late to set out on a new adventure.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, please visit   https://tribuspress.com/adult-fiction/the-eternal-song  I would be thrilled if you would consider giving it a try. I would also greatly appreciate it if you could review the book on Amazon and Goodreads.  Thank you.

For now, it’s back to working in the garden and doing a bit of photography.

A Dominance Of Doves

A dominance of doves. Is that even grammatically correct? I don’t know, but it sounded good. And that’s exactly what’s happening out there in the garden. The robin has been supplanted by the mourning doves on the Birdfy birdfeeder.

Like the robins, the doves want to get in the picture and they are not shy about doing it. They are persistently chasing all the other birds off their perch in any kind of weather, but especially when it’s raining or snowing. And once they’re on there, they stay put.

It’s interesting to watch the choices that these birds make when it comes to eating habits. The doves are quite picky and push the seed around until they find just the right tasty morsel and the Birdfy camera is excellent for observing these personal preferences.

The camera also makes it easy to watch the interaction between the doves and the other birds that are trying to get a look in. Sometimes it pays to just ignore them. Other times, the dove takes a more positive stand and glares at them until they clear off. You can just about fit two doves on the feeder and although they will tolerate each other, there’s still a good bit of flapping and flouncing going on.

If you haven’t already done so, I hope you will join me on my other blog, Getting The Picture, where I take a tour of the Titanic.

Rambunctious Robin

When we first set up the Birdfy bird feeder, the first to arrive were the sparrows and house finches. Gradually, the larger birds ventured to try it out and we saw grackles, redwings, mourning doves and cardinals. When I noticed a robin hopping around on the ground, I was willing it to come on up and give it a go and eventually it did.

We don’t very often see robins on any of the bird feeders, they usually prefer to poke about in the lawn looking for worms, so I was rather surprised when this one paid a return visit.

And it kept coming back. By this time it was starting to get quite bold. It was almost as though it knew it was having its picture taken. It was literally ‘watching the birdie.’ The thing had become stagestruck!

And it was definitely hogging the limelight. It wouldn’t allow any other birds on the scene. In fact it was even chasing them off of the other feeders. No one else could get a look-in. There was no way this bird was sharing the spotlight.

I rarely chase away any birds, other than the pigeons, from the feeders, but this robin is becoming a distinct pest. Every time I get a notification on my phone that there’s activitiy on the feeder, I look at the screen and there’s the robin peering back at me.

Birdfy

As some of you may remember, I recently received a Netvue Birdfy bird feeder as a Christmas gift. I’ve been waiting for the better weather to try it out, and I can finally share some of the shots that have resulted. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this gadget, it’s a bird feeder that comes with a built-in camera and microphone.

It’s not perfect, by any means – it will never replace my Canon EOS – but it’s a fun gizmo to have on hand. once you get it up and running. Birdfy only works with 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so the first thing we had to do was figure out how to split our Wi-Fi band. Assembling the feeder was easy and there are several ways to install it either by mounting it on a pole or attaching it to a wall or fence. It comes with all the necessary screws, brackets and clamps.

At first, I opted for mounting it on my old Bogen tripod. I figured it would be easier to move around the garden. It’s quite substantial and very steady so it seemed like the ideal solution. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop the squirrels from reaching the feeder, so had to settle for attaching it to the existing pole that holds our other bird feeders. Even then, the squirrel was so determined to reach the new feeder that it jumped a good 10ft from the top of my fake tree to reach it. Luckily, I was watching the livestream on my phone while sitting at the computer and rushed out to chase him off. Needless to say, I will now have to move the fake tree.

Getting Birdfy to communicate with the Wi-Fi was a rather more frustrating process. Apparently our Wi-Fi signal is not that great and even with an extender, the livestreaming on the camera keeps dropping out, something I will just have to learn to live with, I suppose.

I would definitely recommend purchasing the additional mini solar panel that is easily affixed to the feeder. It keeps the power to the camera sustained and saves having to constantly take it down to recharge it.

It has taken the birds a while to get used to this new feeder but you might have guessed the sparrows would be the first ones to try it out.

Birdfy even identifies the bird species and downloads a video and still shots onto your phone or you can take your own screen shots. The camera will support up to 128GB Micro SD card for extra storage. So far, it has downloaded pictures of house finches, cardinals, redwing blackbirds and cowbirds and, although many of the shots are blurred and unusable, there are still quite a few that are reasonably sharp. It’s also nice to be able to hear the individual birdsongs clearly through the microphone.

One of the advantages of the Birdfy is that you can also use it as a security camera. It has a siren that you can activate from the phone and the microphone allows you to communicate with anyone walking around in the garden. There are several other options that you can subscribe to, but for me, what there is in this package is quite sufficient.

Square Odds

It’s good to see that Becky is back again with her Square Photo Challenges. This month the subject is Square Odds. While I was at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Orchid Show, I stopped in at the Desert Greenhouse where the plants are definitely odd looking. You probably would never see one of these growing in a garden in this area.

The Greatest Show On Earth!

Roll up! Roll up, folks, and see the greatest show on earth! The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Orchid Show, with this year’s Circus theme, is a spectacle not to be missed.

After passing through The Big Top, you come to a section that resembles a giant carousel, with lights and fantastic creatures all decked out with orchids.

These colorful displays feature every kind of orchid that you could possibly imagine. And to put us in the circus mood, appropiate music and sound effects play throughout the show.

As we enter the Hall of Mirrors, young and old alike can’t help but laugh at the distorted images that look back at them.

Walking through the greenhouses, I feel, once again, like a kid in a candy store. And for those of us who are itching to get outside and play in the dirt, this is the perfect antidote to the winter blues.

In keeping with the circus spirit, the orchids are performing on the trapeze, while overhead, they are doing tricks on a unicycle. But don’t worry there’s a net below to catch anyone who falls.

Despite the fact that a timed ticket is needed for entry to the show, the place was packed, and everyone naturally wanted to take pictures. I was no exception, as you can imagine. This is always an incredible oppotunity that is too good to pass up.

As the band played on, everyone seemed in very good spirits, enjoying the beautiful flowers and remarking on what a great show it was this year. I agree with them. This was just the boost that this annual show needed.

But if you want to catch the show, you need to be quick. Saturday is the last day to visit before the circus leaves town. If you can make it, I highly recommend seeing the show. It really is amazing!

On Thin Ice

We had some unseasonably mild weather on Thursday and Friday, so I took the opportunity to get some fresh air and visit Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. Sadly, with an arthritic back and/or hips, walking is not quite such an enjoyable activity for me these days. If you haven’t already done so, you might want to join me at my blog ‘Incidentally’ where I have some Thoughts on Walking. However, I’m not about to give up on one of my favorite pastimes just yet. As long as I can sit down every once in a while, I can still manage to get around places like Spring Valley.

Over by the lake, I was pleased to see that the water levels had risen since my last visit. The ducks and geese were starting to gather, and what ice there was on the water was paper thin.

By Friday, there was even more open water and, as I neared a conveniently placed bench by the water’s edge, I heard something making a hasty exit with a splash. I decided to sit for a while and wait to see if whatever it was would make another appearance. Eventually a turtle poked its head out of the water but sank back down again and I was left with a couple of mallards and a goose that seemed to be giving my presence some careful consideration. Just before I left, a water rat swam up to the bank but it didn’t give me the opportunity to take a shot.

In the wooded area over by the farm. I spotted a deer. I had a hard time getting a clear shot but I knew if it kept going in the same direction it would have to come out in the open so I waited. I was quite close and although it did emerge for just a moment, it soon turned around and headed back into the trees, only giving me time to capture a couple of fleeting images.

They have been clearing away small trees and brush recently in an effort to allow native plants to grow. It will be interesting to see how these areas develop. Part of the nature center used to be a peony farm many years ago, and there is still one patch that remains where the flowers appear every spring.

Tales From The Tree

As you will probably have gathered by now, I don’t do much in the way of photography during the winter months. Instead, I like to write and continue with my research into our family’s history, a pastime that has kept me busy for many years. For the most part, the people whose names appear on our family tree lived quiet, unremarkable lives, but every once in a while I come across a story that catches my imagination. I hope you will join me at my blog ‘Incidentally’ and read about what happened to Mary Ann In The Time Of Jack The Ripper