Mellow Yellow

Song - Yellow Bird by Chet Atkins

Can you see him?

He is right in the center of the shot, trying to avoid the Paparazzi....me!

A flock of Western Tanager's flew into our garden late in the afternoon.  I was taking my end-of-day walk around the garden and as I stopped near the creek, I saw them.  Beautiful!!!  

I ran back inside to get my camera and by the time I returned, they seemed to have disappeared.  Like in the top photo......but they were still there!

Male Western Tanager

Female

I pulled up a chair and patiently waited for them to show their sweet little faces.

And just as I was changing my camera settings, I saw this.  

But he was so fast that I couldn't quite capture him very well.

 

Do you see him?

Quick.....look right.

A beautiful hawk buzzed right by me and I quickly tried to refocus but he was too fast for me.  It just amazes me when I see real photographers who capture amazing bird photo's.  I have been trying for years and it really makes me appreciate their photo skills!

I was hoping to show you a photo of the Tanager's drinking water from the creek but decided to just take a photo of the branches that they like to hang out on that are hanging over the water.

When I came inside and opened up this shot on my computer...oh wait...

........do you see them?

The female is at the upper right in the sunshine

 and the male is at the lower left.  

I was surprised that they have such good camo!

Heading into the house, I decided to take a peek at mama Mourning Dove.

  

No babies sighted yet.

Daddy Mourning Dove arrives later each day.....6:11 this evening!

Mr. B better go have a talk with him!!!

"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang the best." 

-- Henry Van Dyke

 

A Little Cooing Going On

Song - Bird Song by The Wailin' Jennys




Last week I posted about the Mourning Dove that built a nest on Mr. B's ladder in our side yard.

She (or he) is still there!

Since posting, I have done some research on Mourning Doves and found out that the male sits on the nest during the day so the female can feed and then the female sits on the nest during the night giving the male a break. 

However, I also found out that the female is always on time but the male occasionally will leave the nest a little early.  Sound familiar?

My oldest son, Andy had to go and one-up me by sending me a photo of his Mourning Dove at work.......mmmmm......I think his wins for most beautifully decorated!

At the Getty museum over the weekend, I found this lovely little painting with Doves nesting in a the helmet of Mars.

Detail from Mars and Venus, an Allegory for Peace by Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenee

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again. ” - Pema Chodron