...said the Spider to the Fly

Here's a little drama... I saw this commotion outside my office window a while ago. Seems a dragonfly's GPS guided the hapless insect smack into this garden spider's web. It only took a minute for the spider to "pacify" the dragonfly, wrap it for transport, and cut it loose from it's moorings. Guess it's stored for winter by now.

We've gotten used to these large, but (supposedly) harmless, arachnids that haunt the eaves that surround our old farmhouse. It's live and let live!

Chunking Up for Winter

Hi folks...
Seems I haven't uploaded anything since the spring. My photo hobby usually runs hot and cool... I'll shoot like mad for a year or two and then go on to other interests. This time, I've discovered woodworking with mostly hand tools. I set up shop in our barn and spend most of my hobby time working on one skill/project or another.

Anyway... found this little critter doing his/her best to devour some winter fuel. The pic is a little dark but then, it was dark!

Hope to be shooting a little more this winter when it's just too darned cold to work with tools in the unheated shop.

The "Worth Your Life" Trail

It's been rather slim pickin's in the photography pasttime lately. That explains the lack of photos, I guess. A few weeks ago we had several freeze/thaw episodes which left our trails about as treacherous as I've ever experienced. Traversing a nice, flat skating rink would have been a piece of cake compared to these death slides! I wouldn't even think of trying them without my ice cleats on... and even then it was scary.

Morning Coffee with the Evening Grosbeaks

This platform feeder I built onto an old fence post has proven a winner from day one. Groups of jays, crows, blackbirds, siskins, finches, grosbeaks, chickadees, sparrows of all kinds, and, of course, SQUIRRELS, enjoy the free lunch from morning 'til night.

I'm going to try growing patches of sunflowers this year to see if I can cut down the expense of buying black oil sunflower seed for these critters. I hope they don't get too disappointed when I shut down my feathered restaurants for the summer and autumn. There's plenty to eat without me footing the bill, so to speak.

Here's a few more of our feathered friends

Yup... More of dem CDs

Some people might wonder why I stand around in bone-chilling temperatures waiting to take a picture of chickadees. Sometimes I wonder myself. But every once in a 100 pictures or so I get lucky. I think the psychological principle of "intermittent reinforcement" is hard at work encouraging me to try again and again.

Spear'd One!

Thank you to this pretty Chickadee for posing with a black oil seed impaled on its beak.

Chickadee taking a one second rest.

As anyone who's tried to capture an image of a chickadee will attest these critters are fast! It's rare when one will pause for more than one second before a hectic flit to another branch. About the only variation from this schedule is when they've retrieved a black oil sunflower seed from the feeder and now, to open it, must trap it between their "talons" and the branch and whack away at it with their beak until they get to the "meat" inside. Reminds me of my attempts to open a package of frozen food.

Chickadees are also difficult to photograph well. Their heads and eyes are dead matt black while their cheeks are almost pure fluffy white. Expose for the black and the white parts will disappear. Expose for the white part and the head has all the charm of a lump of coal. They also have the uncanny knack of pointing their tail end toward the camera most of the time.

Moi and Miss "S"

Couple of pics during the recent cold spell. Miss "S" recently has declined many invitations to walk the trails. I think she's calculated that the vague possibility that something interesting will jump out in front of her isn't worth the pain on her tender tootsies. She has the instincts of a barn cat and the constitution of a wuspus.
Thanks to "you know who" for the photos.

Miss "S" Adds to her Airmiles

When faced with no other choice she takes to air to cross the stream! She might consider starting her leap from the bank rather than in the middle of the water! Jeesh!

No damned way!

Our recent rains collect in low spots on the trails. Miss "S" does not swim. She will either fly over or wait for the fairy to carry her.

Huh?

The lady conducts surveillance of her domain.

I sit on guard for thee...

Bet you're getting tired of portraits of Miss "S", eh? Well, too bad. The lands around us don't exactly abound with wildlife so this lady provides the entertainment and focal point on the trails.

You've heard of Flying Squirrels...

...well, here's Miss "S" with her aerobatics. Why walk through the cold water in the stream when she can just fly over it?

Elderberry buds have a timing problem

Autumn has been relatively warm this year. Some plants think "sleep time" is over. Boy, are they going to be surprised!

Miss "S" as Pole Cat

I'm not sure whether she considers herself a scarecrow or a real crow, but there she sits, surveying her domain (that she lets us use) waiting for something to dare to move.

Young Buck 2011

This fella's been around for a while. Hunting season opens tomorrow and I hope he has enough sense to stay on our property where his only threat will come from our Miss "S" who, as it happens, was just off camera to the left all hunched up and hissing as if she wouldn't be gone like a shot if the deer took one step toward her.

It's a wonderful treat to see wildlife wandering our trails. It would be even more wonderful if they'd learn to poo somewhere else!

Sunset through kitchen sink window

It was nearly dark so the Venetian plaster walls look much darker than they are but the sunset through the window I thought worth a shot.

Morning on the Trail

Part of our walking trails.

Quick shot of the Venetian Plaster makeover of the kitchen

This is just one corner of the room... I'll post some better shots when the spirit moves me later on.