For the Birds

Earlier this week I noticed that the bird bath on our deck railing was frozen when a dove tried to get a drink, failed and then proceeded to slide across the ice while two cohorts watched. It was time to put out the heated bird bath – of the changes we make to the deck for the birds in winter. The ring that is attached to our deck was purchased with the bowl we use in summer quite a few years ago and I was pleased to find a heated bowl that was exactly them size last fall.

Our bird feeder is full but there are a lot of foods in the woods and gardens now so we don’t have as many visitors as we will later in the season.

I put seed in a bowl sometimes since the feeder doesn’t work well for the larger birds (cardinals and doves) and sometimes even the small birds prefer the bowl. Once a squirrel discovers it the bowl empties very quickly so we try to chase them off. The chipmunks are fun to watch.

On the afternoon after I filled the bowl with seeds I saw a male cardinal, juncos, a nuthatch and a chickadee…we were fast enough chasing off the squirrel for them to still get their treat.

Our deck is ready for the birds of fall and winter!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations – September 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for September 2015.

Haircut – I’d gotten rather shaggy over the course of the summer….the shorter hair was worth celebrating!

Laptop – Hurray! My new laptop (after a rough start) is living up to my expectations. I am celebrating that it is definitely better than my old one in every way.

Acorn squash with homemade orange marmalade and butter – A vegetable that tastes like the dessert is always a celebration.

Homemade veggie soup – I used up some of the overwhelming numbers of tomatoes and other vegetables on one of our first cool days….celebrating the beginnings of fall with food.

Art of Flower Photography – A class that it beautiful to watch and spurs my own photographic experiments; this was another multi-dimensional celebration.

Mediation Course – I’ve only learned the bare minimum…enough to realize the potential…and am celebrating it as a beginning.

Glass birdbath – The glass bird bath in the front our house is something I check every morning when I come downstairs. Sometimes there is a bird…sometimes not. The sight of glass bowl in the morning light always starts the day on a positive note.

Longwood Gardens – Earlier this week my husband and I made a road trip to Longwood Gardens (posts still being developed). It was a 13,000 step walk around the gardens and meadow on a near perfect fall day.

Bird Walk – I’d never taken a walk with a birding group until recently. It was a good experience even though it rained off and on….birds seemed hunkered down rather than active. I celebrated that the area I live in has a number of active birders.

An indoor day – Sometimes it is a relief to just be indoors at home. I love the view from my office window!

Winter Day

On Saturday it was cold - but it was sunny, the snow was melting and there were robins on the roof of our deck taking sips of the melt from the gutter and shingles. It seemed like spring was on the way.

On Sunday, we were definitely a winter day and worse than most of our winter so far because it was more ice than snow. I decided to make the best of the return to winter by attempting some snow flake photography. The flakes were small - probably formed at lower temperature.

I used my loupe and took some pictures. Many of the flakes broke as they landed on the red glass plate (I had left it outside to cool down so they did not melt at all).

As the day proceeded the snow stopped and it rained instead…which led to ice buildup on all horizontal surfaces except for the birdbath (which is heated). 

The rain stayed liquid enough to wash away the salt that had been applied to our street proactively - and it froze before evening. The ice was not as smooth as an ice rink…but still very slippery. It’s an icy start to the work week. I am glad I don’t have to leave home!