seedpod text seedpod lines

Archive for the 'birds' Category

Next Entries »
baby robins :: day 5
5/7/2008

I set up my tripod and got gradually closer and closer so I could get a picture of the mom on the nest.

keeping them warm

peep

Then I got out my step stool like I have been every day to take this picture:

day 5

It ended up blurry because I was under a swift attack. The mama was really brave today. I could feel her wing against my hair. I’m afraid tomorrow I may really get pecked. I may have to talk Barry into giving it a try.

The babies look much bigger, probably double what they were when they hatched, and much darker. I wonder when their eyes will open.

a tad bigger
5/6/2008

day 4

day 3:: getting fluff
5/5/2008

day 3

I guess I was lucky on the first picture of the babies because one opened its mouth for me.  This morning they were just a squirming mass, all huddled together.  The parents weren’t too happy about my intrusion.

on guard

They want to stay close now, though, so I can get pictures of them.  When the mama was sitting on the eggs she’d fly away before I could get close enough to take a picture of  her head and tail sticking out of the nest.

5/3/2008

Verily I say… the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;

freshley hatched

a baker's dozen

make way for ducklings!

floppy and slimy

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;

(D&C 59:16, 18)

 

special delivery!!
4/20/2008

special delivery

I must say that this has to be one of the single most beautiful things I have ever seen.  I cannot even put into words how excited I am about these 4 beautiful eggs, and I can’t think of a better farewell gift than a nest full of beauty right where I can spy on it.   I think I will probably have to print this photo really large and hang it in my house in Denver.  Thank you robins.  I will sorely miss you and my haven of trees.

 

I spoke in church today for the last time before we move.  Here’s my talk if you want to read it.

  to-see-things-as-they-really-are.pdf

 

I love Ohio in the spring.

 

continuing with the theme…
4/12/2008

Look what we’ve been watching be built at the end of our driveway:

right at eye level

We’ve seen the silly, scraggly, often muddy robin working and working on this nest– at eye level right in the best foot hold on one of the best climbing trees along the front side walk.  For her sake, and ours, I hope no one climbs the tree.  Hopefully we’ll have a robin  family to spy on!

nests
4/9/2008

2hoaryredpoll.jpg

hoary redpoll
Alaska, 1896

(photo from Audubonmagazine.org)

 

I can’t stop looking at these. There is something so magical and beautiful about a bird’s nest– so resourceful and intricate. And then there’s the eggs, the subtle colors, the perfect shape that are full of even more magic. Watching our bird friends visit our window, the sparrows shoving huge beakfuls of grass through the tiny door to their house, has really got birds on my brain. Stephani and her chicks are no help either, of course. All this has led Brenna and I on a chicken researching frenzy. As I prepare to turn our nest over to new inhabitants and daydream about setting up a new home for my own little brood, I can’t help but dream of having a few of these, and maybe this to keep them warm and snug.

Rainbow Bird Magazine
3/30/2008

We have been in the throws of a very gross stomach virus over here.  I had it all week, last night Barry came down with it, and today I had Jonah and Ian puking along with other gross stomach virus-y things.  Hence the blog neglect, which is sad because we’ve got an Easter dress to talk about and a birthday, not to mention the homeschool convention I attended this weekend!  Geesh!

But, today I will leave you with this:

rainbow bird magazine

Poor Brenna was desperately bored without her constant companion (Jonah) by her side.  She worked hard on this to cheer him up.  I think he’ll be excited about it tomorrow.  In his delirium today he didn’t have much to say.

rainbow birds

get well soon!!

(Mush-mush is a little toy mouse.)

Click here for details of the birds.

Happy Easter!!
3/22/2008

 In honor of our twittering friends that are finally returning to our yard I made these little birdies for my kids for Easter. They are felted wool stuffed with wool batting with Barry-engineered copper wire feet.  I also got this book.  It has been hiding in my closet and I can’t keep my hands off of it when the kids are in bed.  It is way, way cool.

happy easter!

Snow has been fluttering down here all day, but still thoughts of rebirth and renewal are at the forefront this weekend.  My mind has been so full of mental clutter.  It seems like the “We’re moving” thoughts are bulky and distracting– taking up so much space, sucking up my time in thoughts of getting the oven fixed, researching carpet prices, finding a match to the white paint on our baseboards and doors.  And while these things are necessary and even exciting in their own way I’m excited for tomorrow, the Sabbath, the most important Sabbath.  I am thankful for the time to focus and reflect on what life is really all about.

It seems the things I read, the lessons I learn from my children, the conversations I have with friends, the sad, painful experiences of loved ones in my family highlight so much what this season of rebirth is all about– love.  Pure, selfless love.  Knowing, believing, seeing that we are all of infinite worth, of infinite potential, full of infinite beauty.  That is what Spring teaches us–and that no matter how bleak and gray and cold the winter is, no matter how dark and deep we are buried, there is rebirth.  The little green shoots will poke their heads up again.  Blossoms will bud, meaning fruit will grow.

There is an infinite source of good, of peace, of renewal, of love.  The sun will always rise, there will be warmth and growth, because the Son did rise.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

out the window
3/19/2008

I am so ready for spring, but March hasn’t been very spring-y in these parts.

just a week and a half ago

Our favorite window looked like this a couple Saturdays ago. Yikes!!

new visitors

But, things are looking up. We’ve made a new woodpecker friend and Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow are setting up house. It is so funny to see Mr. try to force his head through the little door with his mouth full of sticks and grass.

first robin!!

And today…THE FIRST ROBIN!! He sat and soaked up the rain for a good twenty minutes this morning.

Other things running through my head–

–Did you know Denver boasts 300 sunny days a year?! Good bye gray winter. I will miss green grass and trees, but I will not miss gray skies from November to February March April.

–I had Ian in a disposable diaper this evening and when I went to pick him up and carry him upstairs for bed the whole thing fell out his pant leg. What? How?

–You have to check this out. I am having serious chicken envy.

Next Entries »
bottom line
© 2007 seedpod books & art