chickadee

And now for something more pleasant

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Critter pictures.  Great for de-stressing.

I didn’t get any photos of deer today.  In fact, the only time I saw them was when I scared them off, returning from one of my outings today.  I just caught the sight of a flashing white tail, disappearing around the house.

My husband sees them more, when the pain has him up much earlier in the day.  At the very least, he saw Hungry Girl and Barbecue come by.  Not sure if it was them I chased off, or Mama and the twins, later on.  None came back while I was at home.

Here are some of the photos of other critters I got today.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

I haven’t been able to get many photos of the squirrels, but I got a couple of good ones today.

Red Squirrel and Chickadee

Bombs away!

Not the best of photos, quality wise, but catching the chickadee looking like like that is pure gold!

Female Redpoll

Female Redpoll

I love how the little birds are so light, they can sit on the very top of twigs and seed pods.

Male Redpoll

Male Redpoll

Focusing past the twigs is always a challenge.

I’m not sure why that purple is there, on the twigs.  It’s in the raw image, and not a side effect of post processing.

Any camera techies that can explain it to me?

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Critter Pictures

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I hope you have been able to take time out this first Sunday of Lent for focus and reflection.

With all the crud that accompanies a major move, I find it’s always a good thing to pause and look at WHY certain choices were made.

Unfortunately, in our case, the why of things is more a matter of “getting away from” rather than “going to.”  Such is life, of course, and we take the good with the bad and focus on the important things, rather than the things that threaten to drag us down.

At least, that’s the theory.  LOL  Reality is much messier.

However, among the things I do appreciate with this move is our daily critter visits outside the window.  As the stresses of the day begin to add up, there is something very healing about looking out our window and finding a deer looking back.

Or a cat.  Whatever. :-D

With that calming influence in mind, I will first share with you an image from yesterday.

2018-02-17.whitetail.deer

Hungry Girl, checking out… something.  I can never quite see what it is that they’re looking at when they stare down the length of the house.  There usually isn’t anything but birds.

Especially these guys…

2018-02-18.redpoll

I love getting accidental pictures!  This redpoll was flitting around among the twigs so much, I’m fortunate to have gotten any shots at all, but getting one in a fun position like this is always rewarding.

2018-02-18.chickadee

I finally had a chickadee stay still long enough to get a decent shot!  :-D

2018-02-18.two.whitetail.deer

Once again, something alongside the house has their full attention!

The physical differences between Hungry Girl in the foreground, and Barbecue in the back, are still quite striking.

2018-02-18.cute.whitetail.deer

I’m thinking that this time, there must have been a cat walking along the house that they were watching, because later on I saw…

2018-02-18.cat

… Trüllbus the Crime Eater.

He was in the bushes when I first spotted him.  Then he spotted me in the window, taking his picture.  He was accommodating enough to move out of the bushes and pose for me in the feeding area.

I love that intent gaze!

The Re-Farmer

 

 

 

Morning critter visitors

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Still no deer, but plenty of action at the feed this morning.

blue.jay.watching

This was taken using a 70-300mm lens, zoomed in as far as it could go, so we’re not all that close.  I know that there’s also lots of reflections of trees on the window – enough to confuse the birds into trying to fly into them (when I was a kid, we once had a prairie chicken fly right through the glass; we installed chicken wire outside the window after that).  Yet, it seems as if this Blue Jay is watching me taking pictures of him.

blue.jay.eating

Still keeping an eye out!

The jays are not as skittish as the chickadees, staying at the feed longer, but they still dash in and out, quickly retreating into the branches.  It makes getting good shots more challenging.  Especially with the zoom lens.

chickadee.eating

There are always a LOT of chickadees!  They quickly dash in, grab a seed, and dash out again.  Skittish little guys.  They like to hang out in the shrubs outside our dining and living room windows.

red.squirre.eating

The red squirrels, on the other hand, are much bolder and assertive.  This guy stayed at the seeds for quite some time, with a Blue Jay in the branches above, watching and waiting for him to leave.  He took his time about it!

In the summer, they would come to the house and take dog food to store for the winter (we’d find a stash in the wood pile, every now and then).  My late father quite enjoyed them.  One fine sunny day, my dad went out on the front steps and sat down in the warm sun.  Eventually, he lay back and fell asleep.

He woke up to find a squirrel on his chest, checking him out!

Bold, indeed!

The Re-farmer