Nuthatch Love

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, 

drink the wild air." 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ARTSY Version - HERE 

 

Tufted Titmouse Love

Commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer. 

- Marcia Wieder


Prints and More Available - HERE 

 

Celebrating the Carolina Chickadee

Throw your hands up in the air 
and celebrate life.

- Steven Tyler

I liked this image so much I made it available as multiple items in my

"Chickadee Love" shop - HERE 

and available as prints and more
HERE 

Observing As I Go

So be sure when you step, 
Step with care and great tact. 
And remember that life's 
A Great Balancing Act. 
And will you succeed? 
Yes! You will, indeed! 
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) 
Kid, you'll move mountains. 

 ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Patterns in Nature

With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.

 ― William Wordsworth

Icy patterns found during a hike.

Print Available - HERE 

Today and Every Day

Peace on Earth, good will to men,

kind thoughts and words of cheer,

are things we should use often 

and not just once a year.

~ Norman Wesley Brooks

Male Cardinal with his feathers blowing in the wind.

Round and Plump

When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world. 

~ Harold Kushner

Female Cardinal puffed up for warmth

Prints, Greeting Cards and More
Available - HERE 

Bird Chatter Required

Male Cardinal in the Pines 

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. 
 ― Lao Tzu 

More Bird Chatter.... Less Mind Chatter

Available for purchase - HERE 

Watching and Waiting

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. 

Where there is hatred, let me sow love, 

Where there is injury, pardon; 

Where there is doubt, faith; 

Where there is despair, hope; 

Where there is darkness, light; 

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

 to be understood as to understand,

 to be loved, as to love.

― St. Francis of Assisi

Lady In The Snow

Female Cardinal As The Snow Falls 

Print Available - HERE 

Seldom can the heart be lonely, 

If it seek a lonelier still; 

Self-forgetting, seeking only

 Emptier cups of love to fill.

- Frances R. Havergal

Dark-Eyed Junco On a Snowy Branch

Our simple acts of kindness, and our good thoughts and intentions, can and will transform the world, one moment at a time, and one person at a time.
 That is the goal. That is the practice. 

- Duane Hewitt

 

A Thrill of Pleasure

White-breasted Nuthatch 

The birds around me hopped and played, 

 Their thoughts I cannot measure: 

- But the least motion which they made 

 It seemed a thrill of pleasure. 

~ William Wordsworth

Cardinal On Ice

Found this Male Cardinal perched on the icy branches.

Christmas gift suggestions: 

 To your enemy, forgiveness. 

 To an opponent, tolerance. 

 To a friend, your heart. 

 To a customer, service. 

 To all, charity. 

 To every child, a good example. 

 To yourself, respect. 

 ~ Oren Arnold

An Icy Embrace

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.  

- John Boswell

The branches and leaves

wrapped snuggly

an icy embrace 

Icy Robin

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. 

 ~ Anthony J. D'Angelo

This Robin had some ice accumulating on his tail!  

In The Tree With A Treat

Tufted Titmouse in the backyard tree with a nut in his beak

.....only in the winter, in the country, 
can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself. 

~ Ruth Stout

A Spot of Red On His Head

Male Downy Woodpecker at the Suet Feeder

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. 

The great opportunity is where you are.

 ― John Burroughs

Decorating the Tree

Keep your Christmas-heart open all the year round. 

 ~ Jessica Archmint

Mother Nature In Her Festive Dress

It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.

 - Agnes M. Pharo

I thought this tree draped in berries looked quite lovely....
like it was wearing a Red Dress :)

Behind The Blur

I believe this to be a Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may.

 ― Vincent van Gogh

The Artsy Version is - HERE 

A Black and White Bow For My Wreath

White-crowned Sparrow 

A Black and White Bow for My Feeder Wreath.
More info on how I made my 
Bird Feeder Wreath - HERE 

   Remember this, very little is needed to make a happy life.

Marcus Aurelius

Wet Wren Watching the Rain

All was silent as before — 

All silent save the dripping rain. 

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

December Red

And as to me, I know nothing else but miracles.

 — Walt Whitman

Print Available - HERE 

Tufted Titmouse As The Snow Falls

He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.

~ John Burroughs

Robin Watching

The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Another berry tossing Robin.  

A highlight of my birding and photography moments have been 
to photograph the berry toss.  

Print Available - HERE 

Hem Your Blessings With Thankfulness

 Hem your blessings with thankfulness 

so they don't unravel. 

 ~ Author Unknown

Leaves Covered In Ice

I guess you could say it was a little bit icy 

What a severe yet master artist old Winter is.... No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel. 

~ John Burroughs

Icy Weather

The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day. 

 ― Dr. Seuss

Doing What It Takes

It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. 

~ Al Batt

I know I've said it before - 
but I really do learn a lot from the animals I observe.   

Not a lazy one in the bunch - 
they always do what it takes!

 Visit the New River Nature Website is
HERE

Bluebird of Happiness

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. 

~ Thomas Merton

American Robin - A Favorable Light

Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances. 

 ~ Saint Vincent de Paul

Thankful for the Berries

We pray for the big things 
and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, 
small (and yet really not small) gifts. 

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thankful for the berries and the trees that produce those berries.  Without those trees and berries, I wouldn't be able to watch the beautiful birds that visit.

Print Available - HERE 

Out of Darkness Comes Light

Sadness flies on the wings of the morning and out of the heart of darkness comes the light. 

 ~ Jean Giraudoux

Cedar Waxwing in my backyard

White-crowned Sparrow Watching

White-crowned Sparrow 

To look at any thing,

 If you would know that thing, 

 You must look at it long... 

 John Moffitt

Print Available - HERE 

Music of the Earth

The earth has music for those who listen.

~ George Santayana

The Safe Place

The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.

~ Maya Angelou


Available - HERE 

Finding Solace

And I firmly believe 
that nature brings solace in all troubles.

- Anne Frank

Always Make Time For Laughter

Tufted Titmouse - Bisset Park - Radford Virginia

If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy. 

~ Proverb

Blue Jay 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

~ Life Lessons from Light ~ 

More about Bokeh - HERE 

Limitless Possibilities

White-breasted Nuthatch

Be grateful for the precious gift of life with its limitless possibilities. 

 ~ Wilferd Peterson

A Little Red Blessing

Sometimes I need 

only to stand 

wherever I am 

 to be blessed. 

 — Mary Oliver

Male Cardinal in the trees off of my back deck.

No Fear

You can’t let fear and indecision sink your creativity— they do not easily release their hold. 

 ― Richie Norton

Squirrels are one of the most fearless animals I have ever watched.

They have no fear in launching off in new directions at a moments notice.

They have no fear in reaching for something that looks completely out of reach.

They have no fear when it comes to taking that Big Jump when their destination is obscure.  

They just do it.

I can learn a lot from squirrels!!

More of my Squirrel Images - HERE 

American Robin Wing Wave

We change the world a little each day 
with our kindness.

~ Tom Giaquinto

Down The Hatch

All of us are watchers – 
of television, of time clocks, 
of traffic on the freeway – 
but few are observers. 
Everyone is looking, 
not many are seeing. 

~ Peter M. Leschak

When I first saw this shot the first thing that came to mind that berry is going  "Down the Hatch".  And that got me wondering where that phrase came from.  In a bit of internet research I found out this:

"a drinking expression that seems to have its origins in sea freight, where cargoes are lowered into the hatch. First used by seamen, it has only been traced back to the turn of the century."

This info found at Naval History and Heritage

I remember saying this as I would try to coax my kids to take their medicine when they were little too.

To Fly Toward A Secret Sky

This is love: 

to fly toward a secret sky, 

to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. 

First to let go of life. 

Finally, to take a step without feet.

 ― Rumi

Trio of Colors

Colors are the smiles of nature. 

 - Leigh Hunt

Tame Your Thoughts

From restless thoughts, that, like a deadly swarm 

Of hornets arm'd, no sooner found alone, 

But rush upon me thronging. 

~ John Milton

Sometimes this is exactly how I feel about my thoughts.....they are restless, they rush upon me, and many many times they are negative!  I am constantly telling myself to "tame my thoughts" - and nothing tames them better than a walk in nature.  

~ Painted Lady Butterfly   ~ 

 

Mockingbird Gets In On the Berry Action

He that would have the fruit 
must climb the tree.

~ Dr. Thomas Fuller

The Mockingbird getting in on the berry action in my back yard.

Invasion Of The Berry Snatchers

Berries will always bring the birds!

The Starlings have never been a nuisance in my yard and never pick the tree clean.  The Robins and Waxwings have been getting their fair share too.

I am happy to have all that visit!!

A guest never forgets the host who had treated him kindly. 

~ Homer