Owl Landing

This is an amazing video.  The Eagle Owl was landing on a security camera and the camera saw her coming ... You will love it, I did :)

Eagle owl at 1000 frames per Second towards a camera

http://www.dogwork.com/owfo8/

 
r/vurtrunner

Manly Monday

                     (click on #'s 24, 25 or 26 on my music list to hear Tony Bennett sing)

Tony Bennett is a legend in the music industry.  He has loved singing since he was a child and gave his first performance at age 10.  In high school he took part time jobs as a singing waiter and when he joined the army during WWII he sang with the Army Band.  In 1949 (I was 8years old) he went to work with Bob Hope and soon after signed a contract with Columbia Records.  His music was a hit and remains popular, at least with the older folks, until this day.  He is 84 and still performing.  During the Rock and Roll Era, he was involved with a  drug dependency that interfered with his performing.  His son, Danny, by now an adult, helped him get through the dependency and, as his Dad's manager, Tony made a comeback.  They started developing a following with the younger people and has maintained his popularity to this day.   He has received 12 Grammy Awards including Grammy's Lifetime Achievement Award. 

On a more personal note, I have memories of my father teaching me ballroom dancing to his music.  So I don't just admire him as performer, I have endearing memories that he is a part of.  He is a talented singer but also a painter and a humanitarian and has enriched the lives of all of his adoring followers.  I am proud to be able to name him as my Manly Man.

Track List

01 Because Of You
02 Stranger In Paradise
03 Rags To Riches
04 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
05 Cold, Cold Heart
06 Just In Time
07 I Left My Heart In San Francisco
08 I Wanna Be Around
09 Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
10 For Once In My Life
11 This Is All I Ask
12 Smile
13 Tender Is The Night
14 The Shadow Of Your Smile
15 Love Story
16 The Good Life

            Shadow Shot Sunday 2

                                 A stark deck chair on a cold sunny day ...

Camera Critters

   Camera-Critters #212

Six Word Saturday

 

     Hope May arrives with warm sunshine ...

Friendship Friday

If Create with Joy's wish were to come true, I wouldn't need to make a wish, but, as there are never any guarantees, I will make a more pragmatic wish.  My wish won't result in monumental change, but it will effect the lives of every individual in a way that they choose.  My wish would be that everyone on earth could have one chance to wish away their heaviest burden.  I still believe that we must make our own way and that changes that don't come from within will end up being superficial.  But, some burdens are not of our own choosing or making and can completely alter our life plan.  If we could wish away just one of those burdens it might leave us with the energy to fulfill our own wishes. 

There is no better feeling than to accomplish something we wish for.  It is the accomplishment that makes it special.  Things that are handed to us soon leave our hearts or minds as being unimportant.  We really don't own them because we haven't put any of ourselves into them.  Uttering a wish is easy.  Having to take ourselves to the place where our wish is accomplished is the challenge.  But, I defer back to my original wish ... we all have burdens that we would like to wish away.  My burden is not really my burden, but that of someone I love.  If her burdens were lifted, I would feel great relief and joy.  I don't really expect it to happen and I am not absolutely sure it would be a good thing, because, over time, we usually realize that things happen for a reason.  So I will qualify my wish with this reminder ... Be careful what you wish for.

Cat Thursday

     This picture needs a caption ... any idea's?

Sunshine Award

April 25, 2012

You took me by surprise Denise. I came over to your blog to congratulate you on receiving the Sunshine Award and as I read, I saw "From The Sol" as receiving the award from you. What a beautiful way to start my day. I have been beaming since I saw it. Thank you so much ... it means a great deal to me especially since it came from you.

The rules for this challenge include answering the following questions:

1. Favorite color - Blue and Green

2. Favorite Animal - I don't know that I can choose one over another. I love animals in general. I have one Mini Aussie, who I adore and four cats that I adore. Each is different and each is special in their own way.

3. Favorite number - 9 has a significance in the study of numerology as it relates to nature. It suggests the aspects of healing and understanding.

4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink - It is a toss up between Vitamin water and coffee. Probably depending on the time of day, if you get my gist ...

5. Facebook or Twitter - Facebook

6. My Passion - Photography is the symptom of my passion for life. My effort to capture the beauty of nature, the kindness, gentleness and sometimes sorrow of mankind. An effort to savor all that I love and share it with those that I love.

7. Getting or Giving Presents - In general I would say that I prefer the giving of presents, tangible and intangible, but today I have to speak of the joy I experienced when Denise gifted me with this award. Sometimes someone will give you the opportunity to see yourself as others see you and how good it feels to know that someone gets me.

8. Favorite Pattern - This one makes me have to think. There are many patterns in nature that enthrall me ... the intricacy of a spider web for instance, but I have to say that the patterns that evolve on a bird, made up of thousands of perfectly matched and designed feathers, have to be, to me, the most amazing and beautiful patterns in nature.

9. Favorite Day of the Week - This is going to sound strange but here goes. Monday is my favorite day of the week. I am retired so my life does not evolve around weekends. For some reason Monday seems to be the day that is always open for me to choose what I want to do that day. So when I check my calendar on Monday to see what is happening this week, the rest of the week is usually full, but not Monday :)

10. Favorite Flower - This is easy. My favorite Flower is the sunflower. It always seems to be happy and busy with bees and birds and other insects interacting with it. It stands out because of it's size, but it also projects the feeling that it is an extension of the Sunshine that feels warm and protective ... a symbol of what is good in life.

Five Blogs I will be passing this award on to:
1. McGuffy Ann @ McGuffy's Reader
2. Creat With Joy
3. Pine River Review
4. Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
5. Elephant's Child

Wordless Wednesday

World Bird Wednesday

This years migration has been very unusual.  Many of the birds came through early, some have stayed around for a longer period of time, others have gone to their more northerly destinations already and there are a few that haven't arrived yet.  This has made tracking the birds more complicated. I have a favorite reserve that I like to go to because it is a  natural stop over for many of the migrating birds.  The birds that I see depends greatly on when I go, but this year it has been hard to guess when a good time would be.  So today, my friend and I ventured out, not knowing what to expect.  For the most part what we saw were birds that will be here all summer, but even at that, we saw many that we don't see in our area so it was still a treat. 

Richard Bong State Recreation Area
The recreation area encompasses 4,515 acres of rolling grassland, savanna, wetlands and scattered woodland. Most of it is in Wisconsin's Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape; a bit at the western edge is in the Southeast Glacial Plains.

This reserve is so open and  immense that you can be looking right at something and not see it.  We drove for quite awhile before we spotted something of interest.  I realized that our timing was bad ... it was high noon and the sun was glaring making it difficult to get good pictures but, hopefully, they are good enough for you to appreciate the birds.

Our first find was not a migratory bird.  It is the beautiful Meadow Lark.  We could hear him singing,  but it was hard to spot him.  They are as beautiful as their song.

At this point I took a picture of another bird on the ground close by.  I thought it was the female Meadow Lark, and I was right.  She is so sweet.

The Eastern Bluebird could be migrating or he may be staying.  We don't have them by our lake so it was a welcome site for us.

There were a lot of Tree Swallows because they have nest boxes everywhere ...

               There seemed to be some contention over whose nest box this
                 was.

          These two little Tree Swallows and having a heated conversation ...

                                         And a new contender comes into the picture ...

                                             Somethings not right here ...

    It seems a truce was finally made, but it is hard to say who will end      up in the nest box ... Probably no one until someone closes the side.


        Our next find, and probably our most unusual bird was this pair of Lesser  Yellow Leg Sand Pipers.                   

 

Last but not least is a bird that is common in our area ... probably in every area, but this time they blessed us with a little surprise  ...

Our first baby siting ... and these are really young

     Canadian Geese are wonderful parents ... it is a pleasure to watch them tend to their young.

     That's all for today ... see you all next week.  Andrea

Manly Monday

                               David Garrett
(Before you read about David Garret, go to my music list on my side bar and click on # 11 and you will be listening to the music I am talking about.)

I grew up in a family setting where all forms of music were appreciated ... piano lessons and violin lessons were a part of that.   I have loved the violin since grade school.  I love classical violin, fiddle, and even rock violin like Boyde Tinsley in Dave Mathew's band.  It wasn't until last year that I discovered a violinist that did it all.  He is young, robust and so talented, the first time I heard him play his Rock Symphony on Public Television, I was completely mesmerized.  David Garret is a classical violinist who has gone out on a limb and made classical music into rock music and rock music into classical.  His whole repertoire is rapid and exhilarating.  He just oozes talent ... and he isn't hard to look at either.  Calling David Garrett my Manly Man this week is music to my ears. 

Camera Critters

I discovered a family of Blandings Turtles at a perennial farm not far from my home.  When I took the pictures I didn't know what they were, but when I researched it I found that they were endangered.  I reported their location to the
County Forest Service who are responsible for keeping records of endangered species. 

Six Word Saturday

       Making a Big Chocolate Chip Cookie

Friendship Friday

Passion

I have had threads of passion throughout my life.  It came naturally to me because my mother was a passionate person.  She loved life in a way you seldom see any more and she passed her passions on to me.  Life, as in Nature ... all things living from the tiniest cell to the huge lumbering animal, that is my passion.  It doesn't matter which it is or even if it is something to fear ... there is a place in my heart for all.  This does, by the way, include the human animal.   We all know some people can be harder to to care about than others, but I have yet to meet a person that I couldn't find a bright side of.  It sounds naive, but that is how I operate. 
This passion serves me well in my nursing.  Every patient, rich, poor, clean, dirty, disgusting, druggie, criminal, I have seen it all ...  if they have come to my place of practice, they are hurting and I am there to ease their pain.  You can't help somebody if your efforts are fraught with judgement or disdain.  Yes, you can go through the mechanics of caring for someone, but the real healing has to happen within the patient and it is for me to draw out that inner strength so that they can share in their own healing process. 

This same passion led me to volunteer in a Raptor Rehab facility after I retired from the hospital.  Here there are not so many facets of personality to deal with, but there are instincts to survive and an animal, in my case raptor, can lose the will to live if not handled properly and with great respect.  Once again healing has to come from within and it was my job to facilitate it.  Though the Raptor Rehab Facility was closed down because of funding, I never pass an injured bird or animal without making the effort to find an appropriate place for them to get care.  This is who I am and these are the passions that drive me.

                                 Rescued Kestrel Nestlings ...

Cat Thursday

                                                            Practice Makes ...

                             Perfect!               

                                                    

Camera Critters

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Hosted by Hilary at Feeling Beachie

World Bird Wednesday

Well, I swear, ever since I started WBW, I have seen things I have never seen before.  It is like nature is waving a red flag at me and saying ... "Look what I have for you today!"  I was already working on my next WBW and was having a hard time getting excited about it.  So I took a break and headed out to get bird seed and go to the grocery store.  I have to go the back roads to get to the feed store so I was looking for another encounter with one of my favorites, the Sandhill Crane.  As I looked out in the fields where I might see them, out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving on the other side of the road.  A not so little round ball of a bird was waddling out of the woods into a yard and then followed by several others.  At first I thought they were Wild Turkeys, but was aware immediately that they were something I had never seen or heard of before ... not even in pictures.  I pulled over (much to the disgust of the big black truck that was on my tail) and opened the passenger window and started shooting.    I couldn't wait to get home and figure out what they were.  So let me introduce you to the:

Helmeted Guinea-Fowl (Numida meleagris)

The Guinea-Fowl breeds in Africa, mainly south of the Sahara and has also been introduced in a variety of other countries including the US.  They make their way through the Savannah and the bush eating insects and seeds.  They are particularly well suited to consuming massive quantities of ticks, which might otherwise spread Lyme disease.  I don't know if these were domesticated birds belonging to someone along the road I was traveling or if they had been released by the forest service to help eradicate the infestation of ticks we have in our rural and forest preserve areas. Which ever it is, I was thrilled to find them and share them with you.