Special Sightings

 
 In the past two weeks I have had not one, but two first time bird sightings!  And both times I was lucky enough to get to my camera before these new feathered friends took flight.

My first unusual sighting happened while I was pacing and talking on the phone....I paused by the window and saw a very strange bird that looked like a combination of a dove, a woodpecker, a sparrow, and a starling....I just couldn't figure what I was looking at.  But it was gorgeous and I took pictures and asked questions later.  After my mom and I consulted the bird book and flipped through every page we came to realize that what we saw was indeed a woodpecker, who feeds on insects on the ground, called a Northern Flicker.  My shots were from pretty far away and don't do it nearly enough justice, but like my Barred owl sighing....I am too excited not to share!


 

Check out that golden yellow underneath as he flies!!

The male has some red on his breast

   My second sighting was brought to my attention by my outdoorsy Dad.   Although not raised by wolves, my Dad probably spent most of his childhood and young adulthood outside like one.  So he can ID darn near any indigenous species of bird, mammal, or tree.   But while he could ID this common redpoll, he did NOT know they are an arctic finch.

That's right, these little fellas flock together in large numbers from the arctic and northern Canada and migrate south for winter.  However, seeing them in the US can be unusual unless they are in an irruption year.  Apparently I am not the only Ohioan to have see these guys for the first time at a feeder this winter.  According to this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, every year the redpoll's southern migration is forecast based on their natural food sources etc.

 And this year they got it wrong!  The Winter Finch Forecast said there was plenty of chow in Canada so we would not have any visitors, but there have been many sightings of flocks of redpolls and other boreal forest feeders in Ohio.  YAY!


Any regular reader here knows that one of my favorite subjects that makes me see God's handiwork in his Creation are His marvelous avian critters!  I hope you enjoy these guys as much as I did!  In the words of Steve Irwin, "They're GORGEOUS!"

You can really see his beak shape and color good here

Check out the striping on his side

The female - similar but no red breast

Two pair!

She looks cute but she is scrappy at the feeder!

Orchids in Winter

Well today is the big day when the groundhog will tell us if we can expect more winter or if spring is around the corner.

I got the best of both worlds since temps plummeted this week and today we had steady snowfall all day....but today was also the opening of Fellows Riverside Gardens orchid exhibit!  Last year I accidentally found this exhibit and I was sans camera....so this year I decided to head back and give everyone a lovely taste of spring regardless of what the groundhog might say!

Indoor photography is easier in some ways....no wind, less sun flare....but indoor light is also artificial and can make colors less vibrant.  Luckily Mill Creek Park has a nice set up with plenty of windows and natural light, and with the white snow giving me plenty of reflected fill light....I think I came out of it with plenty to show for this year.  So I didn't post sparingly just so you can see all the variety and really get a good gander at these lovely flowers to take away the winter blues.

The orchid family is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera.[1][2] Selecting which of the two families is larger is still under debate, as concrete numbers on such enormous families are constantly in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species.

Most are grown for their beautiful flowers, but the seedpods of the Vanilla orchid provide the popular flavoring. And unlike most plants, they do not grow in soil, but in the air. Their roots attach to trees or rocks where they capture moisture and nutrients that wash over them in the rainforest.

By J.R. Miller:

Paul, in speaking of God, said, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." God is about us as the air is, and we live in him as we live in the atmosphere that surrounds us. It is said that one of the finest orchids in the world is found in England—but, owing to the inclement climate, it grows in dwarfed form, destitute of beauty, and is of no value. Climate is everything for fine plants. Spiritual climate is everything in the growth of heavenly graces. It is a great thing to live and work with the very atmosphere of Christ's love about us, with the very life of Christ for climate.

Can you smell me?

From far away some of these little plants and blooms don't look like much....but as you can see when you get up close,take a nice slow stroll and stop to smell the orchids you will see it is an exotic garden bursting with color and life....all the right things to make the long winter wait for spring that much more enjoyable!

Happy New Year!

How did I ring in the New Year?  Doing one thing I love best....chasing down some cardinal photos!  My sister and her happy crew came over to play in the foot deep snow and stayed for lunch.  After several exclaims of a cardinal sighting out the window, I ended up eating perched on the counter with my camera in hand waiting for the bright red flash to reappear in the tree outside our kitchen.

After eating a hasty lunch I bundled up and traipsed outside to try and stalk not one, or two, but THREE males cardinals who were in the bird feeders by the woods.  It was tough to get close enough for a frame filling shot, but I got some cool far away shots that really show how brilliant their plumage is in the winter white snow, or the drab brown/gray forest.


I also got some lovely shots of lady cardinal....love, love, LOVE, this girl's super reddish highlights....a lot of females are a little more olive and less blush.  Nice to kick off 2013 with a little photo fun. 

A few extra fun shots at the bottom too, of my friendly furry assistants!

 
Look closely at the above photo.  I liked the shot of lady cardinal, but I couldn't figure why the shot had a weird blur almost blocking her...then I realized that it was a male goldfinch in flight!  He must have flown right into the frame without my realizing it!  So, I thought that it was cool and decided to share it.

Blowing this pop stand!

The shot that made me gear up and go out....and you know that layering with snow gear is a pain for 20 minutes of shooting so you know I really wanted those shots...BAD!

Are you looking at me?

Why did you leave us inside?

By J.R. Miller, 1913

We ought to make something of every year. They should be like new steps on the stairs, lifting our feet a little higher. We ought not to live any two years on the same plane. To be content with any attainment even for two days, is not living at our best. 

What a faithful photo companion to brave the snowy cold!  Poor kitty still doesn't realize that on bird shoots she scares my subjects!  Luckily she only followed as far as the dog's nerd path went and then turned back.