Is It Covid or Just Cold?

Staying inside and avoiding the crowds once again during the holiday season is kind of depressing even for an introvert like me. The only people I talk to are the birds. I keep them well watered with a heated bird dish and I keep them well fed with numerous bird feeders as well as holly berries and pyracantha berries. This year I seem to be getting more abundant numbers and a greater variety of visitors. If you like birds, I hope you enjoy the fun photos below. Some are digitally manipulated and some are not.

A Bird in the Hand or Six in the Bush

The mornings this time of year are much quieter. The birds do not waste energy claiming their domain. (Except for the two crazy cardinals that routinely bang their heads against my windows.)  Instead, you have to listen for the quiet turning of crispy leaves as birds search for an overwintering insect or two.

The woodpeckers are the noisiest as always, and sometimes I can get a two for one with my camera...even if blurry.

The Cedar Waxwings come in so swiftly, eat their very select version of holly berries and then disappear again for days on end.  It has to be a bitterly cold day for them to visit my birdbath.  These are the best I could get through the window as they would fly if I stepped outside.

Hard to see above, but there are at least six Waxwings chowing down.  It is like one of those picture puzzle memes.

The Bluebirds, on the other wing, are groupy and busy, and hang around for a bit.  They know they are beautiful and overwhelm the house finch that usually own the birdbath.

There are some days where I am surprised by a distant visitor.  This one landed on the osprey nest and kept getting his talons entangled in the thick grasses that have grown due to the fertilization of dead fish parts.  At first I thought he was an immature red-tailed hawk...

But no, it is an immature bald eagle. We have a nest or two just up the river.

Keep On Looking

"When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all." E.O. Wilson 

 And so, I keep looking.

Just Some Natural Thoughts

Today I have to order Christmas cards. Well, I don't HAVE to, but it is tradition and we all are a little compelled by that. Early this morning I will post some of my favorite fall photos. Some photoshopped and some right out of the camera. Seven days of autumn marching toward December.

Fall is the time to stretch your neck and look to the blue of the sky as it compliments the orange of the oak leaves.  They are just above waving goodbye.

If you are lucky enough to live near some water the angle of the sun hitting the water and then bouncing to the underside of the leaves is a natural painting.

Autumn is also crispy and crunchy and demands movement to keep warm.  Above is my son walking his dog.  This obligation has been his salvation during COVID.

Once again the sun paints golden colors on the water and artists study their palettes to capture this hue.

In spite of all the challenges of life, I can kiss the day goodby from my deck as the sun kisses the underside of the leaves of our trees.

My walk to the river's edge reveals verbena seeds against the orange leaves hanging like black rubies just over my head.

It is all a tease because once the sun is down, we can see gray winter advancing with its power. Upon reflection, with climate change, I happily welcome this colder weather.  The earth cannot survive without the yin and the yang.