Purple Finch (or Rose-breasted Grosbeak?) and Hairy Woodpeckers!

In the dead of winter,

it is delightful

to birdwatch.

It is especially delightful to see birds

of color

this time of year....

I am always envious of those Blogger friends of mine

that have Cardinals visit them.

Alas!

We have only had a few of them visit us, and only ONE time did one visit us in the winter...

for a total of less than 60 seconds.

So, early this winter,

I was thrilled to look outside of my window

only to see a flash of red up in the apple trees.

There is was!

It was red.

But it wasn't a rose-breasted Grosbeak (or was it?).

And it didn't look like a purple finch...

or

WAS IT???

(click here to decide?)

It only stayed for 30 seconds...

long enough for me to get 4 semi-blurry shots!:

But it was a thrill...nevertheless!:

Do you think it was a Purple Finch

or

WAS it a rose breasted grosbeak?

I also have about two pairs

of  Hairy woodpeckers here that visit my suet regularly.

I am also envious of all of you that get the Pileated Woodpeckers to come and land so close...

here, they are very shy and do NOT come to my feeders or even close to my yard.

But these guys amuse me and I like seeing them too:

Read more about Hairy Woodpeckers HERE.

I love it when they visit during

a snow storm!

Sometimes we wonder how they survive out there during blizzards!

I hope you are surprised and amused by something

as you look out your window

this winter's day!

For the Birds.....

One thing that I love most about Spring is watching birds.

Actually, strike that....

I love watching birds pretty much ANY time of the year!!

So today, I thought I would post some photos I have taken of some birds sighted over the past few weeks.

I love the "rainbow colors" hidden in the European Starling's black feathers, and when walking by this old building,  I caught them peeking out of the roofline:

The European Starlings look very black. At first.  But if you catch them in the light?: WOW!:

Now, I see tons of Cardinals on everybody else's blogs.

And I whine.

A. Lot.

About never seeing them here.

About how shy they are when I DO see them.

So, a few weeks ago, my hubby called me away from the computer (the NERVE!)

to tell me to hurry up, he spied one lone Cardinal, hiding near our lilac bush.

So I ran for the camera and shot this shot:

(Gosh, I never get over the thrill of seeing one. They are magnificent!!)

Oooooo, I was in HEAVEN!:

But, true to form...as soon as I took this shot, off he flew....and we haven't seen any since!

We have had woodpeckers visiting us all winter and still this spring. Just look at this cute face!:

(Maybe a little Nair around the chin might be in order?  Just sayin'...)

Love that shot of red on his head!:

And, we have been blessed all winter and still this spring with Evening Grosbeaks.

I love the males' bright yellow feathers!:

These little creatures (birds) truly enrich our lives....

next time you are outside, look up, down and all around....

at these wonders of Nature...

********************************************************************************

Time is RUNNING OUT!

Don't forget to enter a photo into my FREE PHOTO CONTEST by midnight, April 30th.

You DO KNOW that is tomorrow, don't you folks?

This month's theme is:

"Rain, Mist, Fog or Dark Skies"

It is easy....just follow THESE SIMPLE RULES...

Hurry!....
if you don't have dark skies or mist or rain or fog where you are today (or tomorrow) , dig in your archives...
go ahead...
I will even remove one rule for this month...it's okay if you already published your prized photo on your blog, you can use it for April's contest as a bonus!

So, get it in to me by midnight tomorrow night......
I'm waitttttttttting...............................

Lake Superior Winter Splendor: Part THREE

This is the final installment of a three part series on photographs I took at the shores of Lake Superior about a week ago.

I love open water and ice formations, especially on Lake Superior.

But, in case you are bored with the last two blogposts before this one and want a short intermission first, well....

here you go:

This little guy was on the tree by my house before we left to go treasure hunting for photos on Lake Superior:

And I caught him in a blurry escape, too:

One more shot of him before we go to look at Lake Superior, then, OK?


He got bored about me and was looking out at our lake when we left.

Well, FINE then.

I will just take your fluffy backside then!:

All righty then.

Back to Lake Superior.

I had to take many shots of the red Coast Guard station because it is just so darn nice:

Back to the lake.

It was quiet out there.

But I did see others pulling up to the parking lot and getting out and snapping photos of this little island that day too:

But no one was really noticing the beauty of the surrounding ice.

Silly people.

You gotta look right under your feet!:

I can see how they got distracted, because that Coast Guard station is right next to where you can park your car and go down a tiny path:





That's okay.

I had a date with these ice lava fingers:




Followed by the snowy shores:


And we had a good time together.

It's okay.

My husband knows all about it.

And he is okay with it.

That's how we roll.....