We put up another bird feeder near our back doors and we're all enjoying the view--especially the cats. While various birds have come by, it is visited mostly by house finches and goldfinches. And among all of the birds, we have seen more than one fight going on over feeder rights. They look so sweet, but these birds are no pushovers.
Here are some things I saw this week
during a Second Look.
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| Cranesbill |
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| If you look carefully, you can see a sunflower seed in the house finch's mouth. |
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| Even though it was raining, the bumble bees were visiting the rhododendron. |
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| I haven't seen a lot of rabbits this spring. I don't know if that is by chance or that the foxes had a good winter and there are plenty of them around to prey on the rabbits. |
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| Goldfinch |
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| The first purple sage is blooming. |
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| I'm not sure what this is except some kind of snail or slug. I was struck by its white color because I usually associate brown and grey with these creatures. I have no idea if this true, but for a little while I imagined that I was seeing an albino creepy-crawly. |
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| Buttercups |
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| The squirrels are enjoying the fallout from the new feeder. |
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| The bearded iris have joined the Japanese iris that started blooming last week. |
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| The baby bluebirds have gotten so big that they all don't fit in the picture. Compare this week's picture to last week's. Both were taken from the same distance above the nest. |
Coming from the land o' slugs, I've seen several colors of slugs. Have you done an online search for white slugs? There's a type called the ghost slug.
ReplyDeleteHas this been an unusually rainy spring for you? A lot of rain is a good thing, right? It should help the local farmers, as well as your trees and shrubs.
I did not do online research on this one. I usually do, but I was having fun imagining the albino, how it was living in the world, etc.
DeleteHowever, I just looked up ghost slug and that's what I saw. Thanks for the ID.
This definitely needs more research. I just looked at the pictures and thought it looked the same. However, I see the range for the slug is in Wales and the Ukraine. Not the US. So for right now, I am dangerous with just a little knowledge.
DeleteI think we may have finally gotten out of our rainy (and snowy ... ) season. Temps in the next week are expected to be 80*. Wow! Still getting freezing temps at night but maybe I can consider planting my flower pots next week. Enjoyed looking at your emerald green grounds this week. :)
ReplyDeleteYou got me all excited when you mentioned 80's next week. I just checked the 10 day forecast and we are going to have warm weather, too. There's going to be rain with it, but I'll go for warm rain over cold rain like we've been having.
DeleteHow funny! My neighbor boy brought me a bug the other day to ask if it was okay. It looked like a slug but what white as well. I'm so glad you are still sharing your second looks I love checking out the things you find.
ReplyDeleteI'm never sure how much people want to see creepy-crawlies, but I put some of them in anyway. They are things I see when I look a little closer at things while doing a Second Look.
DeleteWhat did you tell your neighbor about the slug?
I've never actually seen a slug before... we don't generally get enough moisture here for them. Looks rather yucky to me!
ReplyDeleteThat goldfinch is beautiful! Looks like he belongs on a tropical island or something! We don't have many colorful birds around here... except for the blue jays I've never seen anything with much color.
I never thought about not having slugs around. I like the idea. I'm sure they have their purpose, but they are slimy, gross looking, and eat a lot of stuff you don't want them to.
DeleteWe have a few colorful birds that frequent our backyard feeders--cardinals, blue jays, goldfinches, and woodpeckers. All the rest seem to be some kind of gray or brown. Before I started paying attention, except for the colorful ones, they all seemed the same to me. However, I'm slowly learning their names.
That slug is a unique pale color, how fascinating! and I enjoyed the squirrel's direct stare into the camera :) Enjoyed your pictures, thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteSquirrels stay in one place long enough that I can usually get a picture. The birds do not pose so well for me. They always seem to be flying off just as I get the camera. However, every once in while, I get lucky.
DeleteOh, I love your pictures so much. Even the one of the slug! We always had tons of slugs back in France but not many here in Florida and when we do, they're much, much smaller.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if I've already asked you this or not, but would you mind sharing what camera and lens you use for your photos? Thanks!
You would think with all of the dampness in Florida that there would be more slugs than you had in France. But nature is interesting.
DeleteI use a point and shoot camera, Sony Cyber-shot G, with no special lens. It's several years old and some of the settings don't work anymore. In fact, with all but a couple it takes a movie instead of single picture when you press the button to take a still. Also, it takes several seconds to cycle before its ready to take another picture. This is also a symptom of its old age and is frustrating when I'm trying to take a picture of a fleeting animal. I think what works best for me is the advice I've heard forever, "If you want a good picture, take a lot of them."
I saw on your blog that you are taking a photography class. What kind of class is it specifically?
I don't get it either but I'm grateful because we already have too many other pests (BUGS!) to worry about!
DeleteIt is amazing that you are taking those pictures with a point and shoot camera and an old one that is temperamental to boot! For sure I thought you had one of those super duper zooms like the National Geographic photographers do!
The class I'm taking is just a 2-part class at the library called "Beginning Photography". I'm guessing (because it wasn't stated) that the goal is just to explain to us the basics of photography. The first session went well but it was very technical (explaining f/stop, and other concepts that I are already fuzzy although it hasn't been a week!) and not practical. The Frugal Girl blog has a few posts about taking photos so I might just refer to that. Still, it was marginally better than trying to muddle through the huge "Digital Photography for Dummies". My middle son is a Photography student and came to visit on Saturday so he re-explained to me what the teacher had talked about and it was cleared after that. Still, I'm thinking that I might just stick with those automatic mode, hahaha. When my point-and-shoot dies (mine is a Canon), I might look into getting one of those Sony ones.
It seems to me that all those birds pose pretty well for you, ha ha ha! I agree with taking tons of photos. My counter just rolled over on my iPhone and I have taken over 10,000 photos since May last year just with the phone. I have taken over 4,000 with the Cannon Point and Shoot and several hundreds with the dSLR. I was laughing about that with Greg recently, reminding myself of the good old days (and not so old since I was still using film when my 2 oldest sons were little and sending it to be developed!). Remember having only 24 photos per roll of film? And having to wait a long time to get them back so you could actually see what you shot? I'm into genealogy and I love discovering old photos but I wonder what the future generations will think when they have to muddle through all those selfies and (in my case) pictures of my groceries and vegetables!
I was just talking about 24 roll of film yesterday with some friends. Yes, times have changed in the photo world.
DeleteI am agreeing with you and calling that slug an albino!
ReplyDeletebeautiful photos as usual, especially the goldfinch!
Slugs are not very glamorous creatures. I think we need to romanticize them somehow.
DeleteOur weather has turned rainy and cooler here too. Had to pull out the sweaters again! Though I'm not really enjoying the change, all the extra rain makes for some great photo ops! Love your photos!
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to not have so many layers on, but soon enough, I guess I'll be ready to not have it so hot. If we didn't have the weather, what would we talk about? :)
DeleteYour bird photos are so sharp and clear with such vibrant color. What kind of camera do you use, may I ask? I love them. To see the bluebirds grow is just priceless.
ReplyDeleteI use a point and shoot camera, Sony Cyber-shot G. It's several years old and some of the settings don't work anymore. In fact, with all but a couple it takes a movie instead of single picture when you press the button to take a still. Also, it takes several seconds to cycle before its ready to take another picture. This is also a symptom of its old age and is frustrating when I'm trying to take a picture of a fleeting animal. I think what works best for me is the advice I've heard forever, "If you want a good picture, take a lot of them."
DeleteWhat gorgeous pics! How do you get so close to the animals? Oh my gosh, when I saw the Iris I had a flashback to childhood. I must plant some of my childhood memories (lilacs included), because they spark joy...as did your pics today! :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a bird feeder fairly close to our back windows. It gives a good show for the cats and gives me a good photo opportunity when I am lucky enough to not scare the creatures away as I approach the window.
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