Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Fantastical Friday #7.
Good morning everyone on this beautiful and fantastical Friday! It’s even more beautiful because the forecast was for clouds and showers, and instead it’s just a clear blue sky with lots of bright sunshine. The clouds will probably come later, but for now I’m enjoying this sunny morning, coffee in hand, on the deck, listening to the birds singing. At least there is one vireo that sings close by. I haven’t seen it yet though, but it is always close. I keep hoping he will come out in the open so I can get a picture. Might happen yet.
I went walking to the river on Wednesday, it was a very beautiful day, sunny, warm, not much wind. This is a great year for dragonflies, much like 2019, so I was trying to take pics of them along the way. Then I spotted this one dragonfly I have been trying to get a picture of for a few days now. Great, it sat down on a nice large leaf, perfect place for a picture. But I was much too far away, so I moved in closer very slowly. Finally I got to a spot close to it and decided to get on my knees where I would be real close. So down I went very slowly. Now, I thought the path was all level here, but there was an 8 inch deep hole right in front of me. As I knelt down and made that final drop, I went into the hole with my knees, causing me to fall forward almost right on top of the dragonfly, who naturally flew away not to be seen again. Sigh.
It was fantastic sitting on the bench enjoying the views along the river. Then I heard an eagle whistling and crows cawing. Sure enough a crow was chasing an eagle. That crow looked rather small next to the eagle. Time for a pic, but I had to get off the bench so I could see better. I got my camera looking up and got me dizzy. I should never do that. So I sat on the rock and looked up, leaned too far back and hit my head on a rock. Needless to say I didn’t get a picture.
Then there was a tiger swallowtail butterfly that landed on a leaf, first one I have seen actually sitting still this year. So I sneak up slowly and carefully. Just one more step or two and I will have the butterfly in the open. I stepped on a dead branch on the ground which produced a very loud snap. The butterfly was gone. Sigh. As I was leaving I spotted a female mallard duck with her babies, they must have just hatched that day, I have never seen them that small. I get my camera focused on them and…camera shuts down, needs new battery, that one is dead. I quickly change the battery but…mother mallard and her ducklings are out of range. Sigh. It may not have been the best day for pictures, but it was a beautiful walk anyway. Have a fantastical Friday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
talk about a series of unfortunate accidents; glad you found the humor in all of them.
And I would have thought an eagle would chase a crow…
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Yes, much better to laugh about things. I try to visualize these things to really see the humor, like falling into the hole, I could just imagine the look on my face!
The eagle is the enemy in this case, the crow is protecting it’s nest. The crow is much more agile than the eagle so normally the eagle will leave quickly rather than lose feathers. But crows and ravens have become a meal for an eagle too, if they get too close the eagle will flip on it’s back and grab the crow or raven.
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it would be fun if we could see a video of ourselves in certain situations.
and you are a wealth of knowledge about birds!
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Yes, that’s for sure!
Thanks so much Jim, I put a lot of time into studying birds.
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and you are so kind to them…
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A little kindness does wonders.😀😺
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👍
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So these are the new variety of flies that you were talking about 🤔 well, it sure looks like a butterfly 😅 so in the name of.taking picture, you are analysing soil and it’s gravity, isn’t it 😂😂. Be safe, come on! ☺️You can do all this much safely. Have a peaceful night, With Muffin😺
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Your mishaps got me laughing ! By the way those positions are a great way to pick up ticks ! Be careful ! Five days left ! 😅🤔🙂😺
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They got me laughing too! That’s true, but I need to get down where the pictures are. Not many ticks this year for some reason. I’m glad though.😁😺🌙🌧☁🌥
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