Tag: birds

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Spring Is Trying Real Hard To Find Its Way To Illinois!~Lovely Skunk Perfume:-)

A fog rolled in over night and hung on through the morning, the sky a grayish white that shifted downwards and covered everything. As I walked around the back path, I stopped and listen to the birds. They were heralding in spring.

Rains had started yesterday so the ground had a mushy soft coating like frosting on a cake and ice hard underneath.

I side stepped muskrat holes, coyote and raccoon scat.

 This is a muskrat hole I have been avoiding all winter, still the snow hangs on around it…

As I headed back home I hesitated along the northern section and tried to pull out movement in the underbrush. Two days ago, when I walked this same area I stepped into a cloud of skunk perfume. I gagged and blinked, Uriah who had been right  behind me, slowly backed up and grimaced, then took off on a run, back towards the house.

Chicken!

I really wish I could move that fast.

Luckily the spray didn’t hit me directly so I was able to smell and taste within the hour.

Michael kept coming up to me all night and sniffing, then asking if I smell a skunk….

Today I didn’t see or smell a skunk. But the birds were in full song, especially the Black birds! The cardinals live in the trees near the house. The past few days the geese have been flying low, honking and filling the sky with their V shaped formations. I pulled out my camera and started video taping the birds. I edited them, and added a short poem.

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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

What Does This Shape Look Like To You~No I’m Not Sneeking in a Rorschach Test~ Or Am I?~

Good Morning!  First picture: just before Uriah went outside we had an early morning visitor.  This picture was taken off the video I shot through the window. A bit blurry, but the coyote didn’t want to stand still.  He was hunting.

The second was taken when I opened the kitchen door to check on Uriah. Notice the screen has seen some better days. The cats heard Uriah moving around outside.
I find this very weird; if you look closely at the second and third picture you can see a reflection in the window, and orange spot. It is an orange bag of Iams cat food- what does it look like to you?
The third picture, the only cat that was interested in Uriah was Sano. The other two were irritated he scared off the birds. They didn’t stick around to watch him; they headed to a different window.
In the fourth picture, I was ready to download pictures when Sano decided Uriah was worth talking to. I wonder what they are saying to each other?
*
Just for fun I found a Rorschach test on line
I took it twice. The first time My sickness Quotient was 68%- I was insulted so I took it again and told the truth. Ahhh! 99% much better!!
Sickness Quotient: 99%
WARNING: Your Sickness Quotient of 99% is very disturbing.
 
Here’s the link have fun.
http://theinkblot.com/
 
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Winter Is Holding On As Cartoon Birds Run Through The Trees “D’oh!” ~

Yesterday, the temperatures rose high enough that the snow became heavy and started to thaw, just enough to become slippery and wet.

Twenty-four hours later, today.  The snow was solid and slick with chucks of sharp ice. 

The snow was so hard Uriah’s paws slid as he walked across the top without breaking through. Instead he slipped and fell.  He was not amused!   I tromped over to him, allowing my weight to break the top layer of snow.  I moved slowly to where Uriah sat. He looked irritated at the smooth, white snow stretching out in front of him. 

Stabbing my ski poles into the snow on either side of Uriah, I tried to slide him off the top of the snow bank, onto the area I packed down. When he was back on his feet/paws, Uriah glanced back at the tree he had been heading for, for a second he hesitated, sighed and made an odd grumbling, growling sound. 

If Uriah had fingers I bet he would have flipped the bird at that snow bank. 

Uriah made a half hearted attempt to walk behind me, then he decided to walk next to me, on that snow covered frozen path.

As we walked the sky cleared and a deep, purplish blue sat on the horizon to the east.  I stopped and looked straight up. The sky was slightly hazy grey. Some low clouds moved above me, giving me a closed in feeling.

The air held an odor of pond water, fishy and green smelling.  As I headed along the path a sweet, bitter smell of smoke curled around me until I reached the far back. At that point, the path turns to the north and rounds out and heads back west, towards the house. Just then, the wind picked up blowing in from the north-east, and pushed away the burning campfire smell.  The air changed, I could smell cows, manure and hay.

As far as I could see, the snow covered the fields. A pattern of colors and lines weaved in and out. I looked towards the farmer’s barn; I could see cows walking slowly and dark earth pushing up between snow drifts.  Grey ice covered the lower areas, frosted and untouched by the slightly warmer air.  

Uriah and I reached some heavy bushes; we walked underneath them instead of around. A tiny, black headed bird, complained at our intrusion. Uriah nudged my pocket I stopped and broke a milk bone in half and handed it to him. He was happily crunching away when a stick snapped next to us, we both turned to the right.

Not more than a foot away from us was that Pheasant! His neck was stretched up high. Light grey with a dark blackish blue ring around his neck. He looked startled and scared, and he slowly backed away from us, then turned and flew into the taller trees. He missed the first branch and then started running towards the Bog Willows. He ran into a tree trunk flapping and scooting around until he disappeared into the trees. 

 Picture a very stupid cartoon bird!

All this took no more than a couple of minutes, both Uriah and I watched him with our mouths open, Uriah forgot his biscuit. I forgot my camera…

Insert, heavy sigh, rolling eyes, slap on forehead and Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!”

Uriah looked at me. I shrugged and he made a half hearted move to chase the bird.  He took a couple of steps, then changed his mind and continued eating his biscuit.

Winter around here won’t end until April, if we are lucky.

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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

I walked towards the apple trees and decided the snow, which was making farting noises with each step, wasn’t amusing. My husband would find the humor in it! ~

Last night the snow started. I stood outside under driveway light and watched the misty rain change to snow as it fell. The blacktop was coated within minutes, a slippery mess only Uriah hazarded to walk across. The air was filled with dampness, and fog from the frozen ground and warmer air.  Even with the heavy darkness blanketing the house, sound wasn’t muffled and I could hear the coyotes racing across the farm fields, closing in on us.

“Uriah, hurry up and pee! We have to get inside!” I held tightly to my ski poles and tried to peer into the darkness. 

Uriah moved slowly, his arthritis was acting up with the dampness. Still, his hackles rose when we heard the howling start. He puffed his chest out and scraped at the ground with his back legs.

“Ok! You’re a big, brave dog! Let’s get inside!”

Uriah turned and raced into the open garage door. All bark and no bite…

This morning, everything was covered in bridal white.

Heart attack snow covered the driveway and deck. It’s the snow that one small shovel full can make a weight lifter grunt. The snow thrower will have a hard time with this mess.  Underneath was a grey slush, which will strain both me and the snow thrower. I walked down the drive to the road, where the snow plow had sprayed extra snow on the mouth of the driveway. I kicked at it and decided we are snowed in till spring.

The deck had about four to six inches of snow waiting to melt into the outside kennel. Uriah and I checked it out. I was able to kick around a four by four foot patch so it didn’t drip on Uriah’s head. The rest will be a waterfall if the temperatures keep rising, which according to the weatherman, the warm-up isn’t here, yet.

Notice the large pile of snow on the outside of his kennel. That should melt in mid-summer.:-)

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Nature photos Nature Writing

My Valentines Gift Meowed~

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!!

Friday afternoon my husband announced we were going for a ride, and he refused to tell me where we were heading. It was a beautiful sunny day, and he drove south, which took us further out in the country. I was enjoying the ride. I felt like Uriah, except I didn’t hang my head out the window.

I could see the damage that this winter had done to some of the silos and barns, roofs needed patching and paint was wearing away.  The roads were warped from freezing and thawing. Most of the streets around here have streams beneath them, anywhere from a few inches, to a few feet; the flowing water cracked the blacktop and caused waves to set in, making the drive similar to a roller coaster.

We were headed in the direction of Sycamore, Illinois.

Driving along, Michael started mumbling. “Seems someone moved a building…!”

“If you tell me where we are gong, maybe I can help.”

He snapped. “You get lost in the living room!” Michael muttered gripping the steering wheel.  “I missed a turn somewhere.”

“Okay, so, if I was looking for something, what would I be looking for?” I kept my eyes forwards, because I knew he was slowly looking in my direction, he was getting miffed…

“Tails!”

“The animal rescue?” 

“Yes!”  Michael rolled his eyes as he replied.

“Why?”

A very heavy sigh came out of him, I was sure if I looked in his direction he would have deflated half his size. I didn’t look..

“You said Kenshin needs a friend. So for Valentines day I’m getting you a new cat.”

“You mean for Kenshin?” I said coyly.

“You’re on my last nerve!” He answered softly.

“DeKalb TAILS Humane Rescue is on the left, side of Peace road.” I pointed out. “Turn on Barber Greene Rd.” I motioned straight ahead and added. “It’s the second traffic light.”

Michael made a growling noise when I tried to read the road signs. ” Stop! I know where we’re at!” He signaled then turned left, then right into the parking lot. We passed by a volunteer dog walker, and slipped into a parking space.

Our thirteen year old who had been quiet the entire ride, piped up. “This is the same place we parked when we adopted Kenshin over two years ago.”

 “That’s a good sign then!” Michael opened the front door, and held it open as we walked inside. “Maybe someone in here wants to come home with us!”

Straight ahead was a counter and to the left, leashes and dog and cat food were for sale.

Between that area the doors were closed that lead into the dog rescue section, we could hear them barking.

A sweet puppy greeted us wearing a pink collar. She was a patchwork combination of black, brown and white. She wagged her tail happily.  After saying hello, she headed back to a big floor pillow and laid down.

A very nice, woman welcomed us and started pointing out the rooms. They have a small critter room, where we could see birds and rabbits. They even have a rat and a mouse.  This room was between two cat rooms. Both had older cats inside, they walked around, and watched us as we entered. A beautiful Siamese mix walked up to the glass door inviting us in. To bad, ‘she’ was a she. Kenshin needed friend to play with, not a female who would tell him what to do all day. That is Tomoe’s job.

The woman pointed out the large aviary type cage in the center of the room; it held black kittens, all female. The room to the left of the front door was closed off due to illness. Until the veterinarian gives them all a clean bill of health, that room will stay closed, a safety precaution for the rest of the rescue. 

We were taken along a hallway to the room that housed some of the younger residents.

I was interested in seeing one guy who I saw on their web site, Hooligan, an all black male, with gold big round eyes.

The woman took him and his brother, Trouble, from their cage. We thought they were four to five months old, but they were four weeks old when brought in, not four months old as their website had indicated. Now, they looked about eight to ten weeks old, and very tiny.
I turned and saw another pair of gold curious eyes staring out at me.

“Who is that?” I pointed up, “Is that a male?”

Quickly she said, “You don’t want him.” and walked with us back down the hall into a playroom. 

There we watched and interacted with the cutest little boys. They ran and passed off a toy mouse as if they were playing a football game. They were very careful with their claws, and so sweet!! But very small. 

Kenshin is nearly twenty pounds. He loves to grab his very old brother PJ in a head lock and slam him to the ground. PJ taught him that move, and now I think he regrets he had.

Another woman came in the room and started asking questions concerning the type of cat we were looking for. Michael told her about Kenshin, and she pointed us towards the older cat room.

The TAILS rescue is very warm; the cats need the extra heat to stay healthy.  I was melting…

“Can we see the cat I noticed in the cage across from these guys?” I repeated that request several times.

Instead she explained these young ones, Hooligan and Trouble, were brought in at the end of December with some health problems, which have since been cleared up and are now ready to be taken to a new home.

I was wondering about the large gold eyes I saw peeking out at me.  “Ok, so are there any males in that cage I’ve been asking about?”

She said there were two males, I asked to see them. Once more we returned to the kitten room and looked into a cage. That’s when she explained, fearfully, they were on the edge of being feral. When the cage was opened the intelligent looking cat we first noticed came forward, a male named Buddy.  The very cat we had been told we don’t want. His brother pulled back and seemed to scare the woman. She quickly closed the cage door and handed Buddy off to my husband as we headed back to the play room.

“This guy has never been in this room, and he’s never connected to anyone.” She said by way of warning and carefully backed out of the room and leaving us with Buddy.

He ran under one chair then peeked out at us, spotted Michael and ran under his chair. Michael reached down and lifted him on his lap where he sat and kneaded his very big paws. He never purred.

We started to notice the attention we were getting through the door.

The woman came in and said Buddy never reacted to anyone like he was doing with us. “But aren’t you sure you won’t like to see someone else?” 

“Ok.” I said and Michael rolled his eyes.
 Just a note here: Michael gets along with felines far better than he does with any other species, especially humans, and he’s proven to me time and again he knows a rare cat instantly.  (He made me add this)

We left our daughter in the room with Buddy, and we walked across to yet another room with older cats; very sweet, sad and lonely cats. It was obvious they loved the woman.   It was their nap time and one cat she pointed out was about two, but he loved to sleep. He was sleeping on a cat tower and just about to fall through the hole on top. We all laughed and she said, “He will fall through without waking! He can really sleep, not much for running around.”  Then a beautiful black cat came up and started rubbing and purring on Michael, but hissed when he tried to show him to me.

We quickly left that room.  Michael wanted to take everyone home. He pulls the “curmudgeon act” because he’s a complete “softie” at heart, when it comes to animals and his family anyway. Especially cats because; well, he is a cat, personality wise.  

A different woman came forward, and asked which cats we already saw. She turned and saw our daughter cuddling Buddy, she responded like the other lady, “He never reacted to anyone like that!”

Once we saw everyone in TAILS, Michael talked to the woman and I went back into the play room. I picked up Buddy, and stood near the window, where I could see Michael. The lady looked in and seemed shocked, Michael walked up to the glass, and Buddy meowed loudly. He reached for the glass and pressed his paw against it in an attempt to reach Michael, who pressed his hand on the opposite side of the glass…

Update:

He was put into a cardboard cat carrier for the ride home. We were assured he could not escape. But while the paperwork was finalized, which took ten minutes, he ripped his way out of the box. We borrowed us a plastic cat carrier:-)

I haven’t slept at all, since Thursday night. Buddy, is now called, Sanosuke, keeping with the anime flow of names. He stays in a cage, set up in the middle of the living room, until he gets a clean bill of heath from the veterinarian. He has an appointment,  Tuesday at three.

*

*

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagara_Sanosuke

Tails Humane Society

2250 Barber Greene Road
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
Phone: 815-758-2457
Email: tailshumanesociety@tbc.net
Website: www.tailshumanesociety.org/index.asp

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Nature photos Nature Writing

Imagine All The Pheasants~

The skies are grey and very dreary looking. I stood out in the yard next to the deck.  I really wanted to head back inside and drink my coffee hot today. Uriah ran up to me still holding his milk bone in his mouth, wagging his tail madly and looking towards the back path.

 I could hear him begging, “Come on! Let’s go! Let’s take a walk!” He sat down then stood up and turned in a circle.   

“Ok! Ok!” I grumbled and Uriah  happily turned and trotted away.

 I didn’t have my camera. I looked back at the house. Nope!  I’m not heading back inside. I could hear the Blue Jays screaming ahead of me, and the high pitch screech of a Hawk as he floated somewhere above me. No! That pheasant won’t be showing up today.

I carefully walked over the snow and broken ice, through the path and stopped. Facing the snow filled drainage area in front of me, I turned to the right and stepped over the muskrat holes.

Uriah had disappeared into the trees to the North.  Suddenly, he started barking. I could hear him crashing through the trees and  dry grass.

 Worried, I turned towards the sound. Just in time to watch the Pheasant fly upwards, out of the trees. It flew at least forty feet, complaining loudly and clumsy landed on a branch. From there, it perched unsteady and watched me, standing in the snow covered field.

I turned away and kept walking. Uriah ran past me, his hackles were up, and he looked very proud of himself.

I called after him and grumbled.  “You couldn’t have done that yesterday when I had my camera?”

He gave me a doggy grin and rolled in a patch of frozen snow.

*

Just and FYI- The photo above was taken on the 2nd. The Pheasant landed on one of those heaver branches, today…
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing

Winter Walk In Illinois~

Yesterday afternoon I trudged out back with my camera. The sun was shining brilliantly and I thought I may just capture a picture of that Pheasant.

The snow was still brightly white. Not like in town, or further out on the highway, where the snows have changed to a dirty grayish black.

I walked over the low, beginning section of the path and followed the slight incline to the back.

It never dawned on me that there was even a breeze, until I walked past an evergreen and was pushed backward by the wind.  Looking at the icy snow ahead of me, I cut across the field; following Uriah’s paw prints and connected to the path heading back home.

The ground tilted upward, so I was just under the line of wind, slightly. That wind wasn’t skimming across the ground it was higher up in the trees. I watched the tree tops move when the gust picked up.  The wind was bitter cold. I was glad to be shielded by the trees.

Oddly, when I wasn’t in the wind, the air felt like spring. I even found some green moss  shining through the snow.

I stopped and decided to search out the nest of mice, that were living  in the tops of the Bog Willows. I wrote about them in an earlier Blog:

http://gerardinebaugh.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/hickory-dickory-dock/

 I was happy! The nest was empty…

As I headed back home, I turned on the video, which I really need to learn how to edit..

I found the Pheasants tracks and ironically followed them back towards the house. I didn’t see the Pheasant. Little bugger was probably watching me from the trees…

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry

Amid Winters White, Cardinals Sing To Each Other~

From my kitchen window, I spotted a half dozen red Cardinals flitting from tree to tree. I had to try and get them on film.

I pulled on my heavy coat and boots, hat and gloves and trudged out to the trees.   

What I didn’t realize, that trying to pinpoint a small bird in bright sunlight by looking into a small view screen is pretty much impossible.  The only way I knew for sure, I had captured a picture of the birds, happened after I downloaded the pictures on my computer.   

I stood in the snow next to the fence as the Cardinal looked sideways at me.  I must not have been a threat because he never flew away. He just had a bored look about him, as he turned his back on me and looked over his shoulder. He wasn’t quite sure I couldn’t climb that tree.

As I focused, and squinted at the screen Uriah decided he wanted to play. And made a grab at the camera’s wrist strap, he missed, and the bird flew away.

This is the picture I captured.

Early this morning, with an overcast whitish-grey sky, I saw the cardinals again. This time I was able to take a group picture. 

Amid winters white
A blur of bright red
And soft brownish red
Cardinals sing to each other
Life is shared they call out
They have a perfect mate
A path of perfection
Whispered with
Fluttering wings
A tender touch
One, will watch the other fly
Skimming between branches, 
No doubt of its return
One without the other
Will not survive
Natures path, brings them together
I pretend, their song is  for me
Reality is, they sing for each other
And there they stay,
Hearts connected
Mates forever

 

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry

My Walking Path In The Sky~

The sun has been shining the last two days. Soft white, feathery streaks of clouds drift above me in that blue, blue sky.  I sent out a few pictures to a local weatherman, and asked him what type of clouds I was seeing?  His answer:

“The straight lines appear to be jet contrails that are starting to feather out because they’re getting old.  There also appear to be high cirrus clouds as well.”
I slip past you  
Riding the sky
Short wavelengths
Dip me in bright blue
Pictures in white, form
My Walking Path on the wind..

What do you see, when you look up?
*
Categories
Nature Writing

Winters Bite Can Really Hurt~

I lost all feeling in my fingers by the time I reached the beginning of the back path.

I was hoping the water was still running strong. Then this walk would be cut short and I could slip back into the warm house.  

The water looked solid…  Darn!

 I used my ski pole and poked at the ice at my feet. Today the air was dry,  Mother Nature pulled the moisture out of the ground, leaving some of the ice hollow underneath.

I watched as Uriah stepped gingerly on the ice. He turned and looked at me. I could hear his thoughts. “See!  I didn’t break through. It’s strong enough! Come on!”

I shrugged and started my slow shuffle over the slick ice. 

Deciding I was too slow, Uriah came back to see what was taking me so long.

I tried waving at him to stop.

He didn’t listen.

 I tried to baby talk him away…“No, no walk up ahead of me. Uriah don’t stand next to me!”

He just stopped and stared. First at my forehead, then at my pockets, he was hoping for a biscuit. He was looking at me, when the ice popped, then cracked loudly under our feet.   All in a matter of seconds, Uriah’s eyes opened wide and looked like they would pop out of his head.  Then he looked down at his paws, and then back up at me, just as the ice gave way under him.

Luckily, for both of us the water that settled underneath was only about two inches deep. But two inches of freezing water was too much me. Uriah, at the first popping sound started moving fast!  He slipped on ahead aiming for the area with the dried grass. He knew if he stood on the grass, he wouldn’t get his feet wet.

 I wasn’t so lucky. The ice gave out under me, and only the bottom of my shoes got wet. Relieved, I laughed! And started a slow shuffled towards Uriah.

 “Nothing to worry about it’s not deep!”  Famous last words…

Ten steps in and the ice broke again. This time, the water poured into my shoes.

I hurried to reach higher ground, the dried grass, not taking in to consideration that Uriah weighed a lot less than I did.

Heavy Sigh!

Uriah glared and whined! He lifted one paw at a time up, as my added weight sucked us both down into the icy, muddy water.  The water freely poured over the top of the grass and sticks and my shoes.

Note* It wasn’t deep. If I had stood still it would have reached my ankles. *

Uriah turned away from me and raced up the path to the East. Home was to the west.

I checked on my camera. It was safely in its case hanging around my neck. My goal in coming out here today, was to take some pictures.  With that in mind, I decided to continue on my frozen walk, and I headed up the path to the east.

I was hoping to find that Pheasant hiding in the trees. My imagination was working over time as I walked.  Wet feet and frozen shoes, took my mind off my frozen fingers. At that point I pictured that Pheasant sipping a hot chocolate, with his feet up on an ottoman next to a roaring fire.

Yeap! I was hallucinating! And I would surly freeze to death under a tree.

Uriah had disappeared into the trees.

I could hear the ice cracking, in the low lying areas as I moved up the path and straight east. I tried to avoid the gentle, dangerously frozen wind, which was trying to knock my nose off.

The sun was shining brightly and the snow glittered white.  The thaw we had, a few days ago, had taken away a large portion of the snow, the rest was frozen solid. I had a hard time punching my ski poles in the snow, in a laughable attempt to stay on my feet.

I could hear the sound of a little bird, but I couldn’t see him.  Uriah gave up walking alone and came running up asking for a biscuit.

My fingers felt like they were no longer attached to the rest of my hand, as I dropped a biscuit out of my pocket.

Weather can be very deceptive and detached.   That bright sunshine and blue sky would shine down on me as I froze, sitting under a tree.  

I wanted a picture!

So I stopped and removed my gloves, and told Uriah to smile. He hid his face in the snow…

I only took a few pictures, I had to stop, because I couldn’t feel the on and off button. I slipped the camera in its case and told Uriah to run home. He took off into the trees instead.

At first I was aggravated then I realized it was probably warmer in those trees than out in the open.

 I wasn’t going to trust the ice. So I plodded forward, over the low path and ice. I stepped once more into the water. By now my shoes were ice cubes! Literally, chunks of ice!

 I hurried across the open yard!  Uriah suddenly appeared right behind me; he didn’t complain as I opened the door to the house and ordered him inside.  In my stylish ice shoes I clunked in behind him thinking, I need to toss out that Pheasant and drink his hot chocolate…