Pretty in Red

 Song - You've Got a Friend cover by Austin Brown

We had a couple of cold, wet days recently and the birds filled the trees waiting for their turn at my feeders.  I should say "our" feeders as my grandson Henry helps every Monday to pour seed into the tube and hopper feeders and Mr. B has been helping me lately with the heavy lifting. I have 21 various feeders that need filling at least once a week.  Some are suet cages that only need refilling monthly (unless a squirrel gets into them).  My hummingbird feeders get a good cleaning and refill every two weeks in the winter and more often in the summer.  

I recently got this log feeder that has holes drilled into the sides.  You place plugs of suet inside the holes and it attracts birds that like to cling to branches to feed.  Woodpecker, wren, titmouse, nuthatch, flicker and chickadee's are all attracted to suet feeders.

 

I had originally hung this feeder down near the creek as I know woodpeckers can be a little timid.  Then I realized that I wasn't able to watch who was feeding on the log so I moved it up near my kitchen. It has been a lot of fun to watch. This little guy hung out for an entire day on the log feeder.  

"A heart without dreams is 

like a bird without feathers."

--Suzy Kassem

Fall Has Arrived

Song - Les Feuilles Mort (Autumn Leaves) by Andrea Bocelli

After several days of 100 degree weather last week,

it looks like Fall might just have arrived here in Northern California!

We have bushels of apples to pick next week.

I have a few flowers left but with the heat in September

there are only a few to enjoy.

Most are ready for the new season like this Hydrangea above changing her petals.

The Dogwood trees have their bright red berries ready.

And the Snowball Viburnum is always the first garden shrub to change color.

We have more Hawks.....

 

And Woodpeckers now.

 The Acorns are dropping all around me and crunching under the car tires.

But the best thing in our garden right now is.....

......little Henry who turned 6 months just two weeks ago and I got him this swing for the yard.

Andy hung it on a sturdy branch on a large Oak tree 

right where he and Ashley were married three years ago.

Funny how life happens.....

"Delicious autumn! 

My very soul is wedded to it, 

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

--George Eliot

A Bare Spot

Song - Animal Crackers in My Soup by Shirley Temple


The critters were abundant in Lake Tahoe over the last two weeks.

There was a Ladybug hatch one day at the beach.  They would float in on the water, land in the sand, dry off and fly away.  It was hard to cool off in the water with out stepping on them as they blanketed the shoreline.

The Canadian Geese and Sea Gulls were out in record numbers as well.  They could hear you opening your lunch from across the lake! 

The Merganser's and ducks would float in and out.

Every morning several Tiger Swallowtails would great me "good morning"! It was lovely to watch them float through the forest weaving in and out of the trees.

I saw squirrels, chipmunks, huge Carpenter Ants, deer and this little fellow came to visit Mr. B and me when we returned to the cabin from the beach.....

I named him "Bobby Bear".

Doesn't that just fit this big guy (who was about the size of a VW bug!)?

I think he needs a pedicure........

Cute, fuzzy-wuzzy guy who was focused on getting to the creek behind me.

There were lot's of Robins, Stellar Jays and songbirds. I even saw a Bald Eagle but wasn't quick enough with my camera.

Can you see the White-Headed Woodpecker?  I had never seen one of them before. It was just after a thunder shower.

The Forest Rangers had a "bird show" going on near Camp Richardson, just down the street from our cabin.  There was a Kestrel which was found in someone's swimming pool.

A Red Tailed Hawk.........

And a Gyrfalcon or "white falcon" who had to wear a blinder the entire time because he was raised by one man and never saw any other people.  When the man died, he would become traumatized if he saw other people.

This is the woman who is now raising him.  She is a Master Falconer and the young woman several photo's above is her apprentice.  Falcons were used for hunting before guns were invented.  It's how they got food on the table for the family!

But one of my favorite critters was a litter of Coyote pups who were having a great time playing with each other on this log. We saw them on our way home from Yemmonaide Lake (Angora Lake).

And now to show you the fiercest animal of the forest.......

She was on-guard all day long and in the afternoons she was plain tuckered out!  Probably dreaming about chasing squirrels......


"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight.  The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." 
- May Sarton