As you know I have a lot of birds in my backyard. Mostly because I feed them. They are not unlike Penny in their affection for me based on their feeder fullness quotient analysis.
This week this rather cheeky yet uncertain little guy showed up.
He hopped along the deck railing, back and forth, seeming unfazed by the bird traffic all around him.
He picked at the husks of seeds left behind by previous diners.
He stared at me.
And then, eventually, he flew off.
I’m thinking he’s a juvenile red breasted grosbeak. Maybe male, given the yellowish breast? I’m using the logic that red headed woodpeckers have brown heads when they’re juveniles.
But it could be a female too, they have a yellowish cast to their chest feathers.
I’m working on watercolor cards for the Truck Safety Coalition’s annual Gala silent auction. They’ll be getting 3 sets of 5 cards. I’m almost finished with them, but I wanted the last card to be a watercolor of a fall oak leaf. I didn’t find anything online that I liked particularly, though I did find a great tutorial about how to paint an oak leaf.
I watched the tutorial but I wasn’t sure about freehand drawing something similar. Three oak leaves plus acorns. Maybe I could do it but it sure would be easier if I could trace around a real oak leaf. I looked out at the oak tree in my back yard. The limbs were way too high for me to grab a leaf.
I decided to think on it a bit and went to collect the garbage can from the curb since the truck had emptied it and moved on down the road. And there, beside the empty can was a bit of oak tree branch….complete with the top part of an acorn.
Like it was waiting for me. I smiled and gathered it up, rolled the garbage can behind me as I pondered how things work out.
After I took the picture of my prize I went back out to the front yard to see what other treasures might have blown off my neighbor’s oak. I found several leaves to show me colors…
…and another bunch of leaves attached to their twig, to show me how the stick part might look.
Oh…and this ginkgo leaf apparently traveled inside on the bottom of my shoe.
So I got to work. I copied a few of the leaves…
…and traced that onto a page of my practice book.
Then I got to painting.
So fun….
Now, if I can just do it again on the actual card.
I haven’t gone on any camping trips this summer, but I’ve had the tent up in the backyard a few times. Today I took it down for perhaps the last time this season. It had been up for a couple weeks and last night when I slept out there I was freezing! It seems silly to sleep in the backyard and be cold when I have a perfectly fine bed in a heated home.
Right?
My tent, tucked into a corner of the backyard with the rain fly already off.
Still, I feel sad to put it away.
I’m also sad because I didn’t get Penny comfortable with the tent this summer, though we tried several times. Out of all our attempts to sleep out there together, she made it through an entire night only once.
I have great hope for next summer though.
Today as I disassembled the tent I found the usual daddy long-leg spiders hanging out. I always find a few of those, no matter if I’m in my backyard or at a campground. I don’t know what attracts them to the tent. I always move them gently to a shrub nearby.
Today, here in my own backyard, I found a couple more insects hiding out. I don’t know what either of these is.
The dark one looked kind of scary, and when I went to move it off the tent it leaped off on it’s own. I only jumped a little.
But the most surprising thing I found under the rain fly, but still on the outside of the tent, were four, yes four, tiny tree frogs.
They are adorable and about the size of a dime, maybe a little bigger.
I’ve never found tree frogs on my tent before. I wonder about these guys and what caused them to climb up the tent and hide in the folds and under straps.
I hope I found them all.
Next season maybe I’ll put the tent up in a spot further away from the woods.
Next summer I’ll be older and more mature, mom.
Until then I’ll dream of listening to the frogs and bugs and coyotes sing all night while I’m snug in my real bed nice and warm.
I’ve been gone for a week, and when I came back I was surprised to see how well the zinnias were doing. Along with other stuff. But mostly the zinnias.
Last evening I took the dog out after her supper. The garden was mostly in shadow. But there was one beautiful monarch zipping among the blossoms.
Notice the tongue slurping up the nectar.
We went back inside for the camera. Poor Penny had to wait to do her business while I stood there, foot on her leash and shot over 200 images.
She’s a good girl. Patient about her mom taking pictures of stuff not her. I promised her I’d take her to the park soon.
This juvenile male oriole learned all about bathing this week. When I first noticed him he was standing on the edge while a little brown bird splashed around. He stared at the brown bird. I went to get my camera. By the time I got back he was in the bath too.
So you just shake your feathers?
He seemed a bit unsure, but it didn’t take long until he was fully immersed in the experience. Literally.
Like this, right?Brown bird: I’m outta here!That’s OK…more water for me!Rub a dub, dub. One bird in a tub!Look! I can draw a heart with my tail!Oh what a wonderful feeling, oh what a wonderful day!A little more tail action. I wonder if any girls are around.Hey…did I hear mom or dad call me?Time to go!It’s supper time!
This morning I was headed out the back door when I saw, directly in front of me, a deer staring back. We both had that kind of ‘deer in headlights’ look. I quickly sidestepped out of sight and walked quietly over to the living room to get my camera. And then it hit me. It was a fawn I saw. By the time I slowly and quietly slid back to the door the fawn had moved.
Nom, nom, nom. This hydrangea is very tasty!
I felt disappointed that I had missed the beautiful, full faced, shot. But I was also very happy.
Very happy because in early summer we had seen only one mama deer with one baby. And a few days after seeing mama with her newborn, I came across a fawn stretched out in the road as if asleep, but clearly not. I have only seen mama once since, with no baby in tow. I silently told her how sorry I was.
All summer I haven’t seen the mama deer. I assumed she had left the area to grieve alone. But this morning, here was a large fawn, so maybe our little one hadn’t been killed? And where was mama during this visit?
What is that kid getting into now?
Oh, yes, there she is. Watchful as always.
And then the baby took off across the yard so fast I couldn’t see where he or she went. I switched windows to watch the yard. And then this happened.
I’m just so happy!I can’t stop my happy feet from running!I feel happy, dancing without a roof!I’ll kick up my heels and release the joy!Hey, quit fooling around!I’m just a kid, mom, don’t you remember how fun it was to be young?It’s my favorite time of the year. OK, it’s my only time of the year so far in my young life…I just can’t stop leaping for joy!I’m a race car!
Such joyful running, in big loops around the backyard. Racing from behind shrubs, circling the white pine, at full speed. Over and over and over this little one danced with glee through the yard.
I’m a kangaroo!
I shot 300+ pictures. Some of them almost in focus.
I’m exhausted!
He or she kept on running. I kept on taking pictures. Until finally he (I’ve decided it’s a he) stopped behind a blue spruce and snuck a peek over near where mama stood. I think he was tuckered out. He went over to mom who had come out from behind the bush to reign in her kid.
I hope you got THAT out of your system!
But what is this?
It takes 2 mamas to corral me!
A 2nd mama? Is my little guy being mothered by two moms? Or is this daddy and mama and baby?
But wait….what’s this?
You, little one, are a bad influence on my kid!
Another baby! Two mamas and two babies!
The little group hung around in the shadows for a bit of time before moving off.
It’s all fun and games until somebody breaks a leg. Let me check to make sure you’re alright.
But not without one last look at the house.
Just so you know. I see you, lady.
By mama and baby. Just so I knew they knew they were being watched.
I’m watching you too, lady. (Hope you liked the show!)
Glad to have you in the neighborhood, family. You made me smile.
I wasn’t going to post today. I’ve got lots of stuff I need to do and posting wasn’t high on my to-do list. But moving the images from my camera to storage was. And I promised myself I wasn’t going to look at them. Because I don’t have time, you know.
But I did. It was raining one morning this week and I was shooting birds (not literally) through the window. This one made me laugh out loud. You never know what you’ve got until you look at them on a bigger screen.
Change Is Hard 