Brown Creeper

"Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
~Lao Tzu

Here is a LINK to what they sound like: Typical voice of Brown Creeper 


Print Available - HERE 

Balancing Blue Jay

Blue Jay using his tail for balance

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. 
~ Michael Jordon

More Blue Jays - HERE 

So Happy TWO-Gether

I think we have a Male and a Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail here.

Happiness flutters in the air whilst we rest among the breaths of nature.
~Kelly Scheaffer

Prints and More are Available - HERE 

Snow Queen with Snow Beak

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life. 
~ John Burroughs

More Cardinals - HERE

Snow Bird

  

A Dark-eyed Junco. 
I only see these guys in late fall/winter and see them much more when there is snow falling. Here is a link for more info and to hear their typical voice: 
Dark-eyed Junco from All About Birds

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. 
~ Terri Guillemets

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you Peace and Joy and Love and Kindness ~ today ~ and all of the days to come.

Merry Christmas!

Let Christmas Not Become a Thing

The Jolly Old Elf himself will be visiting many households soon!  Remember that it is NOT what is in his sack that counts, but what is in our hearts. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not this is certainly a season of kindness and love and I think we can all relate to that.

Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings! Happy Holidays!

Let Christmas not become a thing
Merely of merchant's trafficking,
Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
And surface pleasure, but beneath
The childish glamour, let us find
Nourishment for soul and mind.
Let us follow kinder ways
Through our teeming human maze,
And help the age of peace to come
From a Dreamer's martyrdom.
~ Madeline Morse

Holiday Bokeh

Something a bit different in honor of the Christmas season ~ A Christmas Ornament from our tree. I used the Macro lens, it was dark, and the lights were bouncing off of the ornament which made for some pretty neat bokeh.

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. 
~Michael Strassfeld

Print Available - HERE 

Winter Blues

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. 
~ Edith Sitwell

Black Beauty

Be not afraid of growing slowly, 
be afraid only of standing still.~ Chinese Proverb

Ho Ho Ho!

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Those Sweet Smells

~ Take time to smell the roses ~
 Proverb

I bet you thought I had a picture of food, didn't you? Well, it is food - sort of - food for the squirrel. I don't think he was actually smelling it - just bringing it up to his mouth to take a bite. This was taken at one of my favorite spots ~ Bisset Park in Radford, Virginia.  

Happiness comes .....

Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. 
~Storm Jameson

Red-bellied Woodpecker On the Post

Simply give others a bit of yourself; a thoughtful act, a helpful idea, a word of appreciation, a lift over a rough spot, a sense of understanding, a timely suggestion. You take something out of your mind, garnished in kindness out of your heart, and put it into the other fellow's mind and heart.
- Charles H. Burr


More of my Woodpeckers - HERE 

Carolina Wren close-up

A Carolina Wren hanging out on the bird feeder wreath. They love to dig around and find the little treats I've sprinkled in it. Go HERE to find out how I made the wreath.

Happy is he who still loves something he loved in the nursery: He has not been broken in two by time; he is not two men, but one, and he has saved not only his soul but his life. 
~ G.K. Chesterton

Have a Wonderful Day!!

Golden Delight

Goldfinch on a snowy branch

Let us savour the swift delights of the most beautiful of our days!
- Alphonse de Lamartine

Wishing you all a day full of DELIGHT!

Looking for Warmth

May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart.

- Eskimo proverb

Print Available - HERE

Keep On Looking

 The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.
- Brooks Atkinson

Be Aware of Wonder

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

~Robert Fulghum

 How many of us go through our days unaware of the wonder around us? Every moment we have on this Earth is a unique gift, and we should cherish those moments and use them wisely ~ And be aware of the wonder around us.

Snowflakes on Feathers

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations,

 but look what they can do when they stick together! 

~ Unknown

Print Available - HERE 

Watching the Snow

Carolina Wren watching the snow fall.

The million little things that drop into our hands, the small opportunities each day brings, He leaves us free to use or abuse and goes unchanging along His silent way. 
~Helen Keller

Nature's Connection

In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Portrait of a Lady

I Love how this lady posed for me!

And she gave me a good shot at the detail in her wings too.

Wishing you all a Wonderful Day!

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. 
~ George MacDonald

Fallen

There is no such thing as death, In nature, nothing dies: From each sad moment of decay some forms of life arise. 

- Charles Mackay

Diamond Droplets

 May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow. 
May the soft winds freshen your spirit. 
May the sunshine brighten your heart. 
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you, 
and may God enfold you in the mantle of His love.

~ Irish Blessing



 

Goldie in the Snow

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.  Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
 ~ Lao Tzu

Print Available - HERE 

Beautiful In Blue

~Resting on the Branch
Beautiful in Blue
The Snow Came
~ 

Print Available - Here 

Tufted Titmouse Puffed Up

 Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring. 
~ Oscar Wilde

Obsessed with Leaves

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. 
~ Rachel Carson

I've always had a bit of an obsession for leaves.

Each one unique and as with bird watching - leaf watching is free!

Summertime Bokeh

Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine Kind words and kind deeds.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 

Feasting at the Suet

A good memory is one that can remember the day's blessings and forget the day's troubles 
~ Unknown

One of my many blessings are the birds that visit my feeders. This is a Male Downy Woodpecker. He has such a vibrant spot of Red on his head!

Nature's Jewels

Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you.

 ~Max Lucado

Available - HERE 

Reflecting

Only when the clamor of the outside world is silenced will you be able to hear the deeper vibration. Listen carefully. 
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Print Available - HERE 

Simple Pleasures

One of my favorite things to do is to watch the birdies feast at the feeders on my deck.

Life is one long struggle to disinter oneself, to keep one's head above the accumulations, the ever deepening layers of objects ... which attempt to cover one over, steadily, almost irresistibly, like falling snow.
- Rose Macaulay

Autumn Gold

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
~ George Eliot

Truly a "piece" of Autumn Gold!  
Would you like to hear what an American Goldfinch sounds like?
Click - HERE  

Wishing you all a Wonderful Day!

Happy Thanksgiving

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fascinated with Flight

We are each of us in this world an angel with only one wing. In order to fly we must embrace each other. 
~ Unknown

I am fascinated with butterflies and birds in flight. Actually all flying creatures fascinate me. They seem so graceful and carefree.

Print Available - HERE 

Change

 We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.

- Johann von Goethe

Leaves from the bush in my backyard.  I am not sure what type of bush this is but it has lovely green leaves during the summer and then they turn RED.

Bee on a Wildflower

I find it so interesting to get an up-close look at these creatures. 
I LOVE those see-thru wings.

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day, for it is life, the very life of life.
- The Sanskrit

Time to Reflect

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. 

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Side View of a Skink

This is the skink I saw during vacation in North Carolina. Quite interesting little creatures! I posted a different view of the skink HERE in an earlier blog post.

And to see more interesting critters ~ Visit Camera Critters HERE.

Low in the Water

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart... will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.
- Henry Ward Beecher

I am very thankful for you my friends! Hope you have a Wonderful Day!

Happiness Is To Be Found Along the Way

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.

- Robert R. Updegraff

Benches are one of my favorite subjects. To some, an empty bench looks lonely - but to me - an empty bench looks inviting - just the spot for a short rest along my journey, and the perfect place to stop and breathe deeply of nature.

Artsy Print - HERE 

A Song in the Air

Then from the neighboring thicket the mockingbird, wildest of singers, Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water. Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious music, That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to listen.  
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A LINK to the beautiful sounds of a Mockingbird - HERE 

A Version of this Print Available - HERE 

Still on the Journey

To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.
 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


As they fall...some don't quite make it all they way to the ground - but get caught on a branch. Over the years I have taken many shots of leaves like this, their journey to the forest floor not quite complete.

Up Close to a Tiger

To be seeing the world made new every morning, 
as if it were the morning of the first day, 
and then to make the most of it 
for the individual soul as if each were the last day, 
is the daily curriculum of the mind's desire. 
- John H. Finley

Available - HERE 

Autumn's Palette

How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and colour are their last days.
- John Burroughs

Print Available - HERE 

A Face to the Sun

As I was watching/photographing this White-throated sparrow thru the dining room window, the sun came out and shined on his sweet face. If you look closely you can see some left-over berry juice on his beak.

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you 
~ Maori Proverb

“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you;  

the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;  

the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

Masked Bandit Elegance - Cedar Waxwing

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others. 

 ~ Audrey Hepburn

I think of Cedar Waxwings as the masked bandits of the bird world. They also have a type of simple elegance to them ~ reminding me of Audrey Hepburn, who is one of my favorite actresses. She is also has wonderful quotes!

In Over His Head ~ Almost

  I thought this Ibis looked like it was in "over his head" but it was most likely the perfect place for him to find some food. Sometimes in life, we can feel like we are in WAY over our heads, but eventually find out that it was really the perfect place for us to be at just the right time.

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
 ~ E.E. Cummings