The arrival of spring always brings with it the Townsend’s Chipmunk. These adorable tiny rodents are related to squirrels and every bit as agile and acrobatic as their much larger relatives. They mostly scavenge on the ground, picking up sunflower seeds and bits of suet […]
All posts tagged: close-up photography
Up Close & Personal … Painting with Sunlight
Rainbow planet wearing a belt? Potholders created from worsted felt? Gutter ball rolling down the lane? Colorful art work ready for a frame? Bright yellow, green, purple and blue What are you looking at? Do you have a clue? At the bottom of the post […]
Zunday Zen … All Aboard!
Pineapple Express recycled sky-cloud river rushing back to sea. If you live along the Pacific Ocean along the West-coast of the US, you are probably familiar with the term “Pineapple Express”. This tropical atmospheric river originates in the Hawaiian Islands where it gathers massive […]
Up Close & Personal … The Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Last week a small flock of 5 golden-crowned kinglets visited the garden. They are about the size of a hummingbird and can survive temperatures up to -40 degrees Fahrenheit by snuggling together in the cold. They don’t really sit still for more than a second […]
Zunday Zen … Winging it
hungry chickadee coming in for a landing on translucent wings. Have a Zen Sunday! Sabine
Up Close & Personal … The Downy Woodpecker
This time of year we get a lot of woodpeckers visiting the suet feeders. The female downy woodpecker identical to the hairy woodpecker, except for its size and the length of the bill. The downy has a short stubby beak in comparison to its body size. Males […]
Up Close & Personal … Purple Blaze of Beautyberries
Years ago I took a few horticultural classes at the local community college. Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion’, commonly known as beautyberry, was one of the many plants I was introduced to then. The instructor stressed that these plants like to be close to another one of […]
Meditation in Moments … Finches on the Fence
Which side is greener? This flock of fluffy finches can’t seem to decide … Late Friday afternoon I noticed a kinglet foraging for insects in the butterfly bush. After watching it for a while I went inside to get my camera. By the time I […]
Up Close & Personal … The Hairy Woodpecker
Lunchtime for this little guy! With the weather getting colder it’s starting to get busy at the feeders. Suet is loved by just about all the birds and even squirrels try to get to it. Hairy and downy woodpeckers are almost impossible to tell […]
Zunday Zen … I Spy …
… raindrops disguised as smiling frogs hiding behind bamboo logs … … a tiny winged creature dangling upside-down sipping dipping flipping going to town … After the rain finally stopped the other day I went outside with my camera in hopes of capturing some nice […]
Zunday Zen … I spy a …
hummingbird baby, a playful fledgling maybe? ogling me softly. Hummingbirds are some of my favorite backyard birds. What is your favorite backyard bird? Have a Zen Sunday! Sabine
Up Close & Personal … The very hungry Wasp
Have you ever seen these foamy masses on your plants? Spittlebug nymphs excrete a fluid and literally whip it into a bubbly foam. They then hide from predators inside it. So imagine my surprise, when I encountered this scene one summer morning! The wasp climbed […]
Zunday Zen … I spy a …
tuckered out hummer during the height of summer ready for a nap. Hummingbirds have been constant visitors in my garden this summer. Generally, they zip all over the place at neck-breaking speed, then perch on a branch to rest a moment or two. And they […]
Up Close & Personal … The Cooper’s Hawk
The view from my kitchen window is fabulously distracting! I was in the midst of making a salad for dinner one night recently, when I happened to glance out the window. The yard was eerily quiet and not a bird in sight! That’s when I […]
Meditation in Moments … The Dance of the Swallowtail
Aloft in the breeze wobbling, weaving weightlessly towards the buddleja.
Happy Friday Kaffeetrinken from my Garden!
I was writing down some ideas for a story on the patio, when suddenly my friend, the red dragonfly, stopped in for a photo shoot and Kaffeetrinken! Not much writing happened while my friend hung around! 😉 Fortunately I had my camera next to me, […]
Up Close & Personal … One not so Elusive Dragonfly
We’ve lived in this house for 13 years now and I don’t remember ever seeing this many dragonflies in our yard. Despite not having a pond or water feature, I see them zooming through our yard all day long. This is the third species I […]
Up Close & Personal … The Whitetail Dragonfly
This whitetail skimmer, or dragonfly, made an appearance in my garden about ten days ago. I was relaxing in the shade that afternoon when I suddenly noticed something moving and squirming clear across the yard. With camera in hand I slowly approached the spot of […]
