Snowy Lake

G-Dog and I spent the weekend in a cabin on the lake up at Fall Creek Falls State Park. It was pretty cold and we got a good bit of snow while we were there, and I admired the beauty of it all almost exclusively from the warm sides of various windows. But I did step out long enough to say hello to this swimming goose, who doesn't seem to mind the accumulation of snow on his/her back and head. Brrrr!

More creatures!

There have also been quite a few baby birds this summer...

These were out on the balcony for a while in April and May.

Are you trying to muscle me?

I've mentioned our neighbor's feline, Boris, a couple of times before. He's a handsome guy (click on the following links for some photos) and patrols the neighborhood vigilantly -- he's a very social beast and enjoys making his rounds.

He's also a pretty tough cat (even though he does seem to have a bit of a fear of heights) who is bold and stubborn when it comes to his fellow creatures. I regularly find evidence in my yard that he's something of a fowler -- but nothing like what I encountered recently in the shade garden that sits between my house and my car.

Do you think this means Boris wants us to give his adopted family's crooning godson a role in a movie?

Friday Creature

I watched this little bird learn to fly the other day -- it was amazing to see how quickly he/she caught on! I'm pretty sure it is a fledgling cardinal, as there were two brilliant adults hovering nearby.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I'm going to be doing some traveling in May, so things might be a little quiet here (er... more than usual) for a bit! And as always, get your creature fix over on the modulator's ark!

Friday Creature

Happy Earth Day, everyone! My holiday offering to you is a classic mockingbird. This also goes for Good Friday, Passover, Zombie Day or anything else you might be celebrating this lovely Friday (including the arrival of the weekend)!

Also, there are plenty of other creatures on the ark! Have a glorious holiday weekend! I love you! Thank you! ;-)

Friday Creature

Sorry about last week's creature being MIA -- there was so much Christmas fun going on around here that I never got around to it! But it's just as well, because this is my last of the bird photos from January's impromptu trip to Florida and I think it's fitting that it landed on the last day of the year. Like last week's picture, this features a meeting of various plovers and sandpipers. More creatures are piling up on the year's last Friday Ark!

Happy Friday and Happy New Year, everyone! This year has been a pretty challenging one, but I have learned (finally) that when I don't let things get to me, amazingly, things don't get to me nearly as much! I mean that sincerely. When the going gets tough, the tough refocus their energy on more positive matters and poof! somehow things just start to work out!

So that is my wish in 2011 -- that things fall into place for you this year. My friend Ken says that the universe provides the things that we really need and we just need to be open to those provisions. Everything we need IS all out there, floating around somewhere, and I hope we all manage to draw to us that which we need most...

Friday Creature

Happy Friday, everyone! Here's a mob of various plovers and sandpipers. As always, more creatures await on the ark! Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Creature

Oh my gosh! SUCH a busy day! Up at 5:30am to get G-Dog to the eye surgeon for left eye cataract this morning and then in the afternoon, he got scar tissue lasered from his right eye, which had the cataract treatment last spring. And then throw into the mix that we also both got Droid phones today and... well, wow.

I'm not sure which bird this is, but if no one else chimes in with an ID, I'll give it a try once the dust settles a bit around here! In the meantime, more creatures await on the ark!

Friday Creature

Here's one more photo of a bird that I think is an anhinga, drying its feathers (I posted another earlier this autumn).

Happy Friday, everyone! Have fun getting ready for the holiday chaos next week (and don't get too busy to take in a few creatures over on the Modulator's Ark)!

Friday Creature

Towards the end of the afternoon one day down in Florida, I was riding my bike back from Anna Maria Island and I saw this bird way high up in the sky (the photo is zoomed way in!). If you'll forgive a girl a bit of anthropomorphizing, it looked to me like someone picking up some takeout before heading home at the end of a busy day.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! At the very least, be safe and healthy and happy -- and maybe even have a bit of fun in there somewhere! As always, there are more creatures on the the Friday Ark!

Friday Creature

Hey! When no one was looking, winter got here! And I hope this post finds you home, warm and ready to enjoy a cozy weekend!

I've had a difficult week full of computer troubles, but I think I've finally got them resolved (sorry for the lack of a Wordless Wednesday, but until late last night, I was unable to upload photos!), and therefore I am especially happy to be bringing you this brown pelican!

As always, other creatures await you at the Modulator's Ark! Stay well and happy!

Friday Creature

Brrrr! It's a chilly day and I've spent most of it out in the yard, repotting plants and generally getting things cleaned up for the winter. I love the way it smells out there right now and the colors and light are just spectacular.

Anyway, I'm back to the birds this week, with this laughing gull, always one of my favorite birds. Their laughter provided the background music to many a summer vacation when I was a kid and when Emmie was just a wee one, when she heard a gull, she'd ask, "what's so funny?"

Have a great weekend, everyone! Check out the creatures on this week's ark and stay well and warm!

Friday Creature

I'm not sure if this great blue heron was doing this for my benefit, or because of some other perceived threat.

It's Friday, folks! Have a great weekend (check out the Friday Ark's triumphant return!) -- be safe and happy!

Friday Creature

I passed this bird several times over the course of a few days, and thought he was a randy guy trying to attract a female, but I've since read in my Sibley Guide that "their feathers are not water-repellant, so cormorants and anhinga enter water only to feed and bathe, then spend much time on exposed perches drying their plumage with wings spread." An anhinga, perhaps?

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a wonderful weekend (awaiting the eventual return of the the Friday Ark)!

Friday Creature

OK, I'm going to cop out on the ID again this week. It's late, it's been a really long (fun!) day, and it's getting close to midnight, so I have to get this thing up while it's still Friday. These guys are a combination of plovers and/or sandpipers, but I am not hep on the shore birds, so I'm not at all sure which versions I caught...

This is a big weekend, folks! Besides the usual excitement of the the Friday Ark, Sunday is Emmie's birthday and we will be celebrating for days! I hope yours is safe, healthy and happy!

Friday Creature

I'm not all that sure what I have here in the foreground. It's some kind of juvenile heron (tricolor, perhaps?) with bedhead. And, in the background, a white ibis, having a bit better of a hair day.

Welcome to the first weekend of autumn, everyone! I'm pretty excited by the promise of high temps that should be moving out of the 90s soon! I hope the next few days bring you good things as well! Take it easy and don't forget the ark!

Friday Creature

There's a nice bit of blur in this photo. It was late in the day, almost to sunset, so I was losing the light. I'd been riding my bike through the Robinson Preserve in Manatee County, Florida and had stopped to quickly climb the observation tower and take one more look at its breathtaking view of the Preserve and the Tampa Bay (and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, way off in the distance) when this wood stork glided by and gave me a bonus photo for the day. Wood storks can be surprisingly beautiful for such homely birds.

Have a great weekend, folks! I know you've all earned it! Be safe and healthy and happy and remember to check out the Friday Ark for more great creature pics!

Friday Creature

Wow. I can't believe it's September and I'm still posting photos from my January visit to Florida. So many birds, not enough posting! This week, I have another snowy egret, because you know I love them so much!

BTW, the Friday Ark is back at full speed after a well-deserved vacation! Welcome back and have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Creature

Oh, what a happy Friday, it's been, yes? I can't remember a weekend that's been more welcome in a long time... we really need a few days to breathe here at Chez 10K! And to mark the occasion, let me make a confession... I love the snowy egret -- it's such a classic, classy bird! I'm happy to bring you a picture of yet another one this week!

For those who follow, it, be aware that the Friday ark might take a while this weekend -- they're taking a well-deserved vacation!

Friday Creature

I think this turkey vulture is trying to find a mate. I've seen this behavior (wings spread, trying to attract attention) in other birds before, but I've never seen one get results, so I'm just guessing.

If it's Friday, then there must be an Ark! Have wonderful weekend, everyone!