Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A Second Look--January 7, 2015


Downy woodpecker, male
Yesterday we had a few inches of snow which brightened up the otherwise muted winter landscape of grays and browns. However before that, Wally and I had a good time exploring our muted yard when he did a Second Look with me last weekend. He saw many things he was interested in but I won't feature them here because they were mostly things that I have shown you recently.

The thing I got most excited about this week were claws on the toes of a female cardinal. I never thought about the details of their feet and didn't realize that they had claws sticking out from their thin leathery toes. Besides curling their toes around a branch, they use their claws to also help them hang on in a tree. Makes perfect sense, however I never noticed them before. Sometimes I get bored with the idea of doing Second Looks since I have been doing them almost weekly for 3 1/2 years now (time flies), but then I find something totally new and it makes it all worth while.

Here are some things I saw this week 
during a Second Look.

It was hard at first to see this mushroom hiding in the pine needles.


This little plant in the fork of the maple tree is one of the greenest things around.



We saw lots of deer prints.


The hoof prints of this cow were at least 2x as big as those of the deer.



Blue Jay


If you look very closely, you can see the claws of this female cardinal curving out from its toes.


You can see the claws better from this view.


Wally, my Second Look partner this week.


8 comments:

  1. Your photos are beautiful! I'm envious of your snow. We are having winter temps this week, but no snow in the forecast.

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    1. We didn't have much snow. The problem is the cold temps that is making it stick or refreeze on the roads. I'm glad I don't have to go to work until later today.

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  2. I went snowshoeing yesterday and had my own "second look". Very cold out, but pretty. I like your pictures.

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    1. I've never been snowshoeing, but I hear you get a very good workout. We will be getting the very cold temps tomorrow. Today is in the 20's.

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  3. It is cold here and I am a thin skinned southern gal so I passed on taking a stroll outside today. Love your pictures!

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    1. I'm pretty thin skinned myself and don't like to go out unless I have to. When I'm shopping, I try to do a couple of loops around the store to get in a little more exercise because I'm not taking my regular neighborhood walks.

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  4. Don't give up the second looks - we all enjoy them even when you don't!

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    1. Thanks for your encouragement. I may branch out a bit from my yard during the dormant season to find more things of interest.

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What do you think?