A COLD WINDY DAY KEEPS US HOUSEBOUND

AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES

Wished I could tell you it was a productive day but with the cold temperatures outside & heavy wind gusts coming in we just ended up inside all day.  Watched a DVD & puttered on the puter.  I have new books to read but I have to be in the right frame of mind for reading & today just wasn't it.  In fact, it seems I do most of my reading when we are on the road.  I will have more to say about these books in a later post because one has been written by a fellow Blogger & another one in part has been written by a reader.

ROBIN

Found another reader’s comment in our Spam folder this morning so you might want to keep an eye on your Spam folder from time to time folks. Just go to your Blogger Dashboard & click on the word ‘Comments’ & then the word ‘Spam’. Scroll through. Always a good idea to keep this folder cleaned out.

MALE CARDINAL

Another call from my Urologist this morning has lined me up for an Ultra-Sound for the middle of May.  That now makes 6 medical appointments before I even get into the operating room.  And here I thought all along all this Doctor stuff was for older folks.  Seems I have been out of touch with myself these past few years.

GRACKLE

A walk around our front yard these days sounds like a walk in a country meadow.  It is the call of Red Wing Blackbirds that is the sound of rural Spring for me.  Grackles dominate the feeders with noisy Blue Jays winging in & harassing them.  Crimson Cardinals dart from nearby Cedars & are generally the last birds at the feeders at night.  Mourning Doves scour the ground for seeds along with Black Capped Chickadees & an assortment of other small brown birds.  A Hairy Woodpecker along with a Northern Flicker both seen in the yard just hours apart along with a Red Bellied Woodpecker last week.  Crows dart amongst the Pine trees.  One Scarlet Tanager & of course lots of Robins.  Baltimore Orioles are appearing as well as a couple Rose Breasted Grosbeaks.  Purple & American Gold Finches at the Niger seed feeder.  The Dark Eyed Juncos have pretty well all left for the season and I have seen a few Cowbirds in the yard.  No sign of the White Breasted Nuthatches or Indigo Buntings yet.  But soon.  And always overhead soar the many Turkey Vultures.  Hawks are not often seen in the woods but their shrill calls can be heard.  At night we have the hauntingly quiet sounds of Great Horned Owls.  Yes, it’s quite a little Birding paradise we have here:))

Now, after reading the above paragraph it might seem like I am quite a knowledgeable bird person.  But, that would be a misconception.  I know most of the birds frequenting our front yard simply because it’s the same feathered gang every year.  And, I do have a few Junior bird books on hand.  Now, I have heard the saying, ‘a horse with a different color’ & yesterday’s identification of a feathered fellow in flight turned out to be a ‘bird of a different color.  I’m talking about the bird taking flight from a pond across the road.  In the photo the bird appears blue when in fact it probably had more shades of green & gray to it.  Because of it’s long neck, size, & gangly legs I assumed it was a Great Blue Heron.  Not so!!  JUDY was able to straighten me out again by letting me know it was a Green Heron.  OK, why the blue color?  Next paragraph for the answer….and it really has nothing to do with the bird:))

PURPLE FINCH

You will notice in Sunday’s Heron photos how sunny the background is.  The Heron itself is still in shadow.  A camera struggles with an exposure like this because of the 2 contrasting light situations.  The camera’s light sensor instantly decides on what it thinks is the correct exposure.  In this case it chose a middle ground so we see some detail in the sunny grass behind the Heron & we also see some detail in the darker shadows in the foreground.  In a situation like this the camera defaults to a blue caste in the shadow area.  You will often see this blue color in distant mountain photos.  Hence it made the Green Heron appear blue.  Judy has a much sharper eye than I for these things and far more experience at identifying birds, so in this case, instead of calling a Blue Heron blue, I should have called it Green.  I default to Judy.  Thanks J:))  

RED WINGED BLACKBIRD

GROANER’S CORNER:((     Old ranch owner John farmed a small ranch in Montana.  The Montana Wage and Hour Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his workers and sent an agent out to interview him.

'I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,' demanded the agent.

'Well,' replied old John, 'There's my ranch hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500 a week plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night.'

'That's the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit,' says the agent.

'That would be me,' replied old rancher John.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com