Tuesday in the park

Well, the groundhog may have seen his shadow, but plants, animals, and fungi around here sure think it is early spring. Earlier this week, we had the chance to take the kids to a park. 

These photos are part of what I found.

Does anyone know what the flower below is? It is quite small and grows in the woods. 

I haven't been able to identify it.

Below is one of my all-time favorite trees. It's a favorite of my mom's as well. 

It was my grandmother's favorite tree, too. I love it.

I don't know if I am more taken with the moss or the roots.
Decisions, decisions!

The photo doesn't do it justice, but the moss was aglow.

Why, yes, I did photograph mushrooms! How did you guess?

I don't know what these are, except pretty. Of that I am sure.

See the mushrooms in the next picture? They are red.

I think they are Sarcoscypha coccinea. They are commonly known as Scarlet Cups or, 

more fancifully, as Scarlet Elf Caps. 

In the guides, these are listed as an early spring mushroom. How exciting!

As always, feel free to click on any picture for a closer look.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think.

Don't forget to stop by

blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

The man they left behind

While at the park this week, I was looking around the base of a tree (for mushrooms, of course) and found this lone cowboy. He was standing his ground, waiting for reinforcements that never arrived.

He was a sobering note on an otherwise beautiful, sunny, warm day.

Poor little guy.

Don't forget to stop by

blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Land Between the Lakes

The weather has been wonderfully and unseasonably warm.

Until this week. Today's high barely made it above freezing.

I did have a chance to go to Land Between the Lakes. 

And I take any chance I get when it comes to visiting LBL.
It was too cold to do much, but I did take a few pictures.

On our way to Hematite Lake, we saw the largest herd of Fallow Deer I have ever seen.

There were about 25 deer.

Fallow Deer are not native to this area. They were introduced for hunting.
Now, many of them live happily throughout Land Between the Lakes.

I thought this exposed root was cool looking.

The thrill of the trip was on the way home. As we drove north on the trace toward home,
I spied a Barred Owl sitting in a tree near the road.

 He (or she) was beautiful in the late afternoon sun. He seemed to be dozing.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Susan

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a lovely, warm, sunny day. 

The kids, the dog, and I had a wonderful time playing in the woods. 

 The kids and the dog played in the creek.

 

Anything that gets Copper in the water is a fun game for him.

He even likes to retrieve rocks. Silly dog.

I found mushrooms to photograph. 

 

 I strongly suspect these are Deadly Galerina 

(Galerina marginata, previously known as "Galerina autumnalis").

 According to the Wiki article, Galerina means helmet-like.

I think they are pretty little things, even if they are quite poisonous.

Nothing makes me smile in the winter quite like the 

greens of mosses and lichens.

I even found some oyster mushrooms which didn't photograph well, but tasted pretty darn good.

Yesterday was a lovely finish to a good year.

Today, on the other hand is cold, windy, and gray. 

It's not my favorite kind of day.

But we are a day closer to spring!

-Shakerag Susan

Sweet Tweet Tuesday, um Sweet Shot Tuesday

Near the end of my thrilling day of the bluebird, this little guy came and sat on the chair just outside the window. He actually did this twice. The first time, my memory card was full! I didn't dare get up to get another card. The second time, however, I was able to capture him. Only four shots turned out at all. Here is my favorite.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to click for a closer look.
Don't forget to stop by Life With My 3 Boybarians to see what others have to share.

-Susan

Blue Macro Monday

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of bluebirds visiting my deck again. I've been looking for them every day since then, but they haven't returned. Yet.
Today, I thought I'd share a few of the 1000+ photos I took that day. Some were pretty good, in my opinion. Most were not. But they were all thrilling.

This is the closest I have to a true macro shot.











In most places, this is a good time to put up bluebird nesting boxes. I just put up one box and have two others to put up soon. Bluebird boxes can be bought many places, but I found our local Lowe's had a super price on them. If you like bluebirds and dislike bugs, I highly recommend placing nesting boxes around your property. Around here, if you don't wind up with a family of bluebirds, you'll likely get a family of House Wrens. They're adorable and eat bugs, too.

As always, click on any photo for a closer look. Don't forget to stop by Lisa's Chaos and Smiling Sally to see what macro and blue things this Monday brings.

-Susan

Spring is on the way!

The weather was beautiful after the last snow. As the kids and I awaited Nana at the post office, I was admiring the blue sky. My daughter, on the other hand, was noticing a photo opportunity of which I was completely unaware. She saw the icicles melting on the end of the building and said, "wouldn't that make a good picture?" She was right, of course. So when Nana returned, I got out camera in hand.




Have a great weekend! I intend to.

-Susan

Wednesday

Black and White and Frozen Watery Wednesday

These photographs were taken during the ice storm of January 2009. We were without electricity for seventeen days. All of our appliances are electric. Virtually every tree in our woods lost its top. The second night of the storm, we didn't sleep. Every three to five seconds (I do mean this literally; we counted!) we were startled by the sound of large branches falling or trees falling on the house and all around us. We lived in fear that the 96 foot poplar next to our house would fall. Thankfully, the poplar only lost branches.
The tree was cut down the summer after the ice storm.

Every time I catch myself complaining about all the snow we've had this winter, I remember that I should be above all thankful that this is just some snow. The power is still on, we have heat, I can wash clothes and diapers in the washing machine and dry them in the dryer. I sincerely hope that no one ever sees an ice storm of that magnitude again.





Our driveway


A nearby field

I liked the barbed wire in this one.

As I look outside and see snow, I can smile. It's not ice!!!
I'm joining Lisa at
The Long Road to China for Black and White Wednesday.
I'm also linking up with 2sweetnsaxy for Watery Wednesday.
Hope you're having a great week!

-Susan

Blue Macro Monday

I had an unusual visitor to my deck last week. Before Christmas, I placed large quantities of Eastern Red Cedar boughs all over my deck. The branches were covered in blue berries which the birds just love. I'd read that Eastern Bluebirds were especially fond of them. Christmas eve, I got to watch bluebirds eating blue berries at a family get-together. I cut and placed the cedar on my deck, but no bluebirds came. Many other birds visited, perched upon the branches, and even ate some berries. Because of the blue berries, I even had a Cedar Waxwing visit the deck once. But no bluebirds. Eastern Bluebirds are often seen around here, but they are nervous. I most often see them flying from trees to power lines in yards as I am driving. Blue has always been a favorite color of mine and bluebirds have always been a favorite bird.

Well, on Groundhog's Day, a blue bird arrived! After just a few minutes, he even invited some friends! So, for a few hours one afternoon, I got to watch bluebirds from the comfort of my couch. It was thrilling! I tried to photograph them, of course. Unfortunately, bluebirds are nervous enough, I knew I would have stay inside to photograph them. As a result, all of these photographs, except of the blue berries alone, were taken through the window. The first is for Macro Monday.
They all are for Blue Monday. Enjoy!

The valuable little blue berries.


Mr. Eastern Bluebird



You looking at me?


Here comes Mrs. Eastern Bluebird.




Little Carolina Chickadee is supervising.


The female bluebird is beautiful in a muted way. I think it's also evident from looking at her that bluebirds and American Robins are cousins- both in the thrush family.



Dirty glass really adds that special something to your photos.

Look at the berry in his beak!

American Goldfinches for size comparison.

The above photo was too blurry for my tastes, so I made it even blurrier by attempting to simulate an oil painting. I think I like it.

The filthy window softened and blurred this image a bit.

As always, click on any photo for a closer look. Don't forget to stop by Lisa's Chaos and Smiling Sally to see what macro and blue things this Monday brings.

-Susan