Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Sunday’s Sunshine #26.
Good morning everyone and Happy Sunday! I hope this finds each of you in good health today! It is mostly cloudy here this morning and we did have a light shower earlier this morning so everything is quite wet. But the sun broke through the clouds earlier and it’s brilliant rays beautifully lit up the golden leaves which just glowed fantastically against the dark clouds. It was truly beautiful to behold! Each day now the colors become more plentiful among the trees and more bold looking.
The fall colors are here and it’s time to go out and enjoy them as much as possible because they really don’t last long. When colors are at their best it usually lasts about a week, then the leaves begin dropping in large numbers. There are quite a few white-throated sparrows around now, they are one of our larger sparrows. Most of the sparrows, and other summer birds, have long gone, but the larger ones remain. We had a white-crowned sparrow here for a few days, but that one has left now.
This morning a Harris’ sparrow was running around the deck looking for seeds. They are a big and boldly colored sparrow, though in the fall and winter their color is much more dull than spring and summer. But they still stand out in the crowd. Always a joy to see them around. I don’t always get to see them in the fall, so it makes it especially nice when they do show up. The big, beautiful fox sparrows should be showing up soon too, they are one of the last to come through heading south.
They are also my favorite sparrow species. I walked around the yard Friday and noticed there were still quite a few flowers blooming, mostly wildflowers, but also a few garden varieties trying to hold on, though looking a bit “tired”, and smaller than usual. But some of them were still nice, bright and cheery. It’s a beautiful fall morning, even though the sun and blue sky have been covered momentarily by the clouds. But the sun is still shining. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Saturday’s Solitude #22.
Good morning and Happy Saturday everyone! It is chilly this morning, and slightly wet, there was just a light misty rain earlier but right now the sun is trying hard to break through the clouds. It was 46F (8C) this morning and should hit a high of 59F (15C). But, this coming week is supposed to be very nice, mostly sunny and much warmer temps, so that will be nice. Maybe I can get some nice photos of our fall colors. That’s providing the forecast doesn’t change, which it often does this time of year. The chipmunks have changed a bit the last couple of days.
For quite a while they have actually preferred sunflower seeds to peanuts, but now they are back to wanting peanuts instead. They know that time is limited before they head off to hibernation. The lone evening grosbeak is still here and coming to the new hanging feeder which hangs just below my new main feeder. Does it work? So far, success! At 8:40 this morning I heard an odd noise on the deck and when I looked out the door, a rather large bear was standing there licking up the remaining sunflower seeds. He then went to the new feeder, he could reach the old hanging feeder which was empty anyway, but I knew he could reach that one so I’m putting it away until winter.
But he was unable to reach the other one that had seeds in it, so he left. He was a big bear, but not the biggest that comes around, but he is different than the other 3, so there are now 4 bears. In the picture he is not standing straight up, but leaning over onto the railing because of the box on the deck. If he was standing straight his head would be about as tall as the feeder pole, which is 6 feet, one inch. Because of the screen door between us we were close together at one point, only a foot apart (30cm). He has a huge head, and large teeth, but those claws were very large. I tried for a picture, but the sun was shining on the metal screen so it glared too much, which was too bad.
Once again, this happened just a few minutes after I had been out on the deck putting seeds in that one feeder. He wasn’t fat though, and this time of year bears should be at their fattest in size. But I would say he’s about 400 pounds. I was hoping to get a pic of him on all four feet so his size would show up better, but that would have required going outside, which I didn’t really want to do. I was also hoping he would go over to the neighbor’s yard, then I could go out and get a good picture, but he decided to go up the hill to that neighbor and so was out of sight quickly. With all these bears coming around I still can’t get a decent picture of one. Oh well, maybe one of these days.
The chickadees came to greet me afterwards, landing on my hand to get a seed. The chipmunks were stuffing their cheeks to the limit before heading back home. It’s fall, the sun is shining brilliantly, it’s quiet, just the sound of grackles, chickadees and blue jays breaking the silence now and then. Leaves are floating to the ground, covering the once green grass. Solitude in town. Have a most wonderful weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 