A-har har har. So punny.
I went to our local produce store and took some photos of the Geese, Ducks, Chickens, and Turkey (yes, just one turkey). Here are some of my favorites. By the way, who knew that Geese had teeth of any kind and especially ones on their tongue! Scary!
Finally it looks like Spring may finally be on its way. Miraculously, all that snow is gone and the temperatures seem to be rising.
Unfortunately, with the Spring comes the opening of the golf course behind the apartment. That means that I can no longer meander around the greens looking for birds. Just before it opened, I walked through and saw this little Hairy Woodpecker working on its home. I saw the same guy working on the same hole several weeks before! On the same walk, I saw this little Chickadee having a mid-day snack.
On a recent trip back to Colorado, Spring was well on its way there too. This flowering Crabapple smelled amazing. I also met the newest addition to my mother’s home, Basie a Great Pyrenees mix. He was a nice model as he snoozed away.
Lastly, while up in New Hampshire for Easter, I saw about a bazillion Juncos (Snow Birds) and this little female was very cooperative. Her coloring reminded me a lot of a dove or pigeon. Back in Amherst, this bird’s nest has remained in the tree since last spring, a hearty nest to last through all that winter weather! I always wonder if birds will reuse any of the old nests that are leftover from previous years.
That’s all for now; with the nicer weather let’s bring on some more photos!
It’s amazing, they forecasted snow and we actually got snow! Incredible! We have a good foot already and the snow is still falling. Here are two photos from the storm. The snowplow drivers must be exhausted.
Wow. Alright, I knew that I hadn’t updated this in a while, but 8 months, really? That’s a bit pathetic. I found some photos from the last few months that I really liked.
First are a few decorated snails from a trip up to Maine. These guys had quite the hair-do and were friendly enough to model for me. The acorns seemed so out of place on the beach. There wasn’t an oak tree in sight.
I know this is a bit morbid, but it really reminded me of the old cow skeletons or skulls from the southwest.
Run, run…peck, peck, peck…..run, run…peck, peck, peck!
Moving south to New Hampshire, this was taken off the side of Route 9. The colors this fall have really put on a nice show.
The first one was already written, I made the second one. Reflections from the Peace Pagoda.
Historic Deerfield is a very interesting place! This huge old key was hidden behind a tree and easily passed by. I am glad it caught my attention.
And now for something completely different…meet Susie. She was hangin’ out on her owner at the Keen Pumpkin Fest. She was probably about three feet long!
Hopefully I won’t be so absent in the upcoming months! Don’t let me neglect you, blog!
We headed out to Danvers this past weekend and took a trip to Gloucester and found a nice park at the ocean. It was chilly and overcast, but I ended up getting some nice photos nonetheless.
The tide was low, so I was able to hop around on the rocks and climb around a bit. There were 3 cannons looking out over the water, I suppose it must have been some sort of fort from the Revolutionary War. Pretty neat stuff.
All in all, I would say the trip was a success!
I have been on a reading binge recently. I was going through a bit of a lull and couldn’t find anything good to read, but at least for the moment, things have changed.
I was reading a book called Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax. Very interesting, but it was taking me a while to get through. I kept having to renew it and finally I wasn’t allowed to renew it anymore and the library wanted there book back. That left me with the dilemma of needing to find a new book to read. I love reading, but I don’t really like picking out books. I tried looking up reviews online and looking at the ‘new bestsellers’ lists, but I don’t often like what the bestsellers have to offer.
Anyway, I had a few ideas, so I set off to the library. Alas, every idea I had was checked out, so I resorted to the “New Fiction” and “New Nonfiction” shelves. Low and behold, I found a book whose title and cover caught my eye, so I gave it a go. Needless to say The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson lasted only a few days. I couldn’t put it down. I was very impressed and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book to read. Unfortunately, that quickly left me back in the I-need-another-book-to-read state. I did find one, nonfiction this time, that caught my eye- Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer – and now I have to wait for it to make its way from the Deerfield Library to my local branch. Hopefully soon. In the meantime I am revisiting an old favorite of mine that I haven’t read in years; Born Free by Joy Adamson.
I am always looking for suggestions, so feel free to let me know any good books you would recommend!
I’ll end with a neat picture of a sundog Mike and I saw a week or so ago a minute of so from the apartment.
August is over. The wedding was amazing and thank you SO much to everyone who helped out. It would never have happened and gone so amazingly smooth without you. Thanks also for those who put in requests for good weather, we got the 1 hour we needed. 
Maine was awesome, luckily hurricane Bill didn’t really effect the weather too much up there. Just a bit of rain and some awesome waves! Here are a few shots from the trip including a little Goldfinch who was pulling out thistle fluff, presumably for his nest; a close-up of a little sailboat named the Cricket; a ‘dancing’ seagull during a feeding frenzy on a boat; a nice sunrise picture; and some beach stones collected in an old chocolate box. The sun has the star shape going on, but I really liked the birds in the photo.
Now we are into September. I am back to work, but in my new classroom of toddlers. I love it, it is a wonderful change from the 4 and 5 year olds. Don’t get me wrong, I loved pre-k, but I feel that I am more meant to be with toddlers right now. Things are settling down in our new apartment, we are ‘setting up house’ and getting back into a normal routine.
Let me know what you think about the photos!
It’s been over two months and I think it’s about time to add some more photos. I feel like summer hasn’t really started yet, and it’s already half over. I will be done with work for the summer in two weeks. I am moving in either one or two weeks. I am getting married in one month and two days. My plate seems pretty full right now, but full in a good way.
I edited a bunch of photos and then found a lot more I had gotten ready to upload and forgot about! It’s going to get exciting folks!
First are some pictures from Mid to Late May(!) up in Northfield, MA and Stoddard, NH.
Next are some from a few more recent trips where I got some great opportunities to see birds. I saw this Scarlet Tanager on one of the trips and he was nice enough to model for me; as did these swallows feeding their young. Oh, and a butterfly and other bug (of which I can’t remember the name).
Lastly are some pictures from the highland games and also from the Peace Pagoda.
Phew. That was a lot. Note to self: update this more often! Enjoy and let me know what you think!
