Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Daily Pics #230.
Good morning everyone on this cool August day! It looks like we might get a day or two of summer temps again this week, before cooling off once more. The days have gotten so short now. The leaves are turning yellow on the birch and maple trees. Such a sudden difference once we hit the middle of August. Things just change fast. But the rain we had on Friday made a big difference on the forest fires. The one threatening that town received nearly 4 inches (90mm) of rain so it is now classed as “being held”, meaning it’s mostly out, but still has hot spots. There is a larger fire a bit further north and east that didn’t get much rain so it is still burning out of control, it’s around 14,000 acres. It’s about 31 miles (52km) from the nearest community. Here the sun shines, the ground is wet, it is windy and cool.
The little birds are busy at the feeders. Sir George, Lady Pearl and Sir Henry have all been here a couple of times this morning. Baxter and Betty with one of their young ones have been here off and on all morning. I wasn’t here for a while this morning, Monday has become my day to get out shopping each week. And I like to go early before the stores get busy. I don’t really like shopping, I also don’t like crowded stores. I like to go in and out as quickly as possible. That’s just me, I’m different. Jasper was coming for a peanut this morning, I had just put out a new batch, and I stepped on part of a peanut shell. Did it make a loud cracking sound. Poor Jasper. He flew off the deck and into the raspberry bushes below! When he came back up he was scratching himself quite a bit. It’s those prickles. I don’t think he was too happy. Oh well.
For our pics today we have some petunias to enjoy. They are nice and bright, great for attracting hummingbirds. I hope you all have a Happy Monday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Daily Pics #229.
Good morning everyone! It is sunny and cool this morning and it’s so nice and fresh out there. The trees are alive with birds, mostly purple finches as several families have now arrived. I wonder if they will stay around this winter like they did last winter. It’s unusual for them to do so, except for maybe one or two birds that decide to stay behind. So many of our summer birds have already gone now. All those pleasant songs heard every morning are now part of the past. Most of our warbler species have left us, heading slowly back to their wintering grounds in the tropics. Many others have also gone. But now we have our purple finches, goldfinches and chickadees in good numbers. So many in fact, the feeders can’t hold them all, so ‘discussions’ usually develop. But surprising, at times they can sit for a long time eating and getting along quite nicely.
This morning a blue jay picked up a peanut and the squirrel spotted him. The chase was on. The blue jay was having fun, he would wait on a branch until the squirrel almost arrived, then he would move up to a higher branch, until finally they were at the top of the tree and the blue jay flew off to another tree. The squirrel was left to sit at the top of the tree, chattering and stomping it’s feet. I call it the squirrel dance. He wasn’t too happy. Meanwhile, the chipmunks are down here hauling away all the peanuts. Finally the squirrel comes running down as fast as he could. But by the time he arrived, the peanuts were gone. Perhaps the chipmunks have hired the blue jays to help out.
I have shown close ups of the white pelican before, but it was an immature not quite at breeding age. This one in the pic above has the bump on the beak which shows it’s now of breeding age. The featured image at the top is a beautiful white rose.
Thank you all for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
