FINALLY AFTER SEVEN YEARS THEY DON'T FLY OFF THE MINUTE I MAKE A MOVE

I have fed them, talked baby talk to them, or tried, ....and still...even at the slightest movement of a curtain they would fly off.  Two weeks ago everything changed.  More and more came to the yard and one or two actually listen when I try to make Raven sounds.   I've actually have had them stay for a bit eating what I put out while i stand at the screen door, open it and talk to them.

 Now...however, I expect treasures left at my doorstep.  I've read they will do that.  I never miss  a day without putting food out for them and at some point I will expect a gift every day I do that.    No, not really, I'm okay with them just staying put long enough for me to get a photo.  I have taken photos before but it was usually with me hiding behind a curtain waiting for them to turn their head and I could grab a few shots.

SLOW MOTION OF SUNFLOWERS TURNING TO FACE THE SUN

I was reading an article about this but didn't see a video so went in search of one.  I like this one.

SOME WILDLIFE IN THE BACK YARD

Putting a link up for myself to watch the videos there because my internet is slow right now and I can't get them to play. LINK

(This last week we have had a whole lot of ravens (A couple with their young raven kids)  and  their "kraa" sounds coming for food and it's getting a bit annoying).  Then the squirrels have this weird clicking sound they do.  They pat pat pat their feet and makes this awful noise that lasts for 5 minutes or so at a times.************************************************************************

A lone hunter heads out and this kitten clears the yard.

 First he deals with the squirrel.

Then the ravens

Then the birds on the feeders.

Then he comes back to where I'm sitting.

"Did I do good".  I said yes except for the bird feeders - it's all right that they are there.

Well okay then, he says, my job is done.

I put this video up for me - it probably won't be of interest to anyone else, lol

BRACKEN FERN

I was walking along a shoreline when I saw this plant and thought it looked so pretty.  I don't know if it starts out gold and goes green or vice versa.  I take that back... now that I think about it - in fall it's definitely goldish looking or maybe the one on top was the older of the fern and the one on bottom is newer.

I also read that it can be toxic to dogs but okay for cats if they nibble at it.

Magical, Healing, and Edible Plants to Celebrate Beltaine ... be sown with gems that glittered in a light as clear as that of the Summer sun, yet as ... everywhere beautiful little ladies and gentlemen, dressed in green and gold, ... Fern (Pteris aquilina) Bracken Fern is by tradition a powerful, magical plant.



Bracken fern from times past has been used by man as a delicacy and for animal forage. It grows everywhere in the world except Antarctica so it is a very common plant. It is, however, a toxic plant that is associated with tumour formation, ovotoxicity, genotoxicity, bone marrow depression, blindness, 


hmmm..maybe I'm not understanding but it's toxic on one hand and has magical properties on the other.  I need to read more about this.  

SOME THISTLE AT THE LAKE ON A BEAUTIFUL YESTERDAY WALK

Thanks to Wiki - this is a cirsium vulgare or known as a "spear thistle."

The monarch definitely likes thistle - something I didn't know before.  But now I do. 

The bees dive deep into the thistle - and there can be three or four bees  at a time (or maybe more) in one thistle bloom.  They are going after the nectar and the pollen.  They are sure doing their job - eating at the same time as collecting pollen.  Busy bees indeed. 

We saw these thistles over at Lake Arrowhead.   After photographing the thistle I really wanted to jump on one of those intertubes or  that raft and float away for a few hours.  It was perfect weather as in the afternoon the breezes kick up and it makes for a great walk in the summer.

ACORN WOODPECKER

He is known as a clown around here.   I haven't seen too many yet this summer.


He is so grouchy
His look can intimidate
Clownish  his actions

I caught him in the most funniest poses.  Hanging upside down from a feeder is his best act.

BLACK HEADED GROSBEAK

Hoping July turns out to be a beautiful peaceful month for everyone.

I THINK ANOTHER TRIP TO THE BIRD FARM SOON WILL HAPPEN

The farm is in  Riverside  County so it's about an hour  away.

I love to go there  and spend a lot of time in their aviary-cages rooms...  It's sad that birds are sold and owned but  I use to have some myself.  I had a cockatiel that was free to roam outside on our atrium because for some reason she could only fly straight up and then drop back down.  It was never a problem to just leave her cage open and give her free roaming.  We no longer have her as she passed away several years ago. 

It's hard now for me to think about "owning" a bird unless it gets out of its' cage often.  I do like however, going to the bird farm for photos to sketch later. 

Some of my favorite birds are zebra finches.  Some day in my dreams I will have an atrium/aviary and lots of happy birds.

PIGEONS ARE BEAUTIFUL

We have pigeons who land on the deck here and they are so nervous  we can't even move in the slightest way without them flying off.  I like them around because in the back yard whatever seed the birds throw out of their feeders, which is quite a lot, the pigeons come later and clean it up.  Whatever is in some bags of bird seed that the birds don't care for you can watch them pick it out with their beak and throw it go the ground.   There are at times at least 20 pigeons in the back yard having a feast.

BUGGY PAPERWEIGHTS

Yesterday I was working on a sketch when I remembered I had recently found my paperweights i bought one time when we were in Sedona in 2011.  I forgot how much I loved them when I bought them.... but some how through the years they were put away and never thought of again. 

When I found them in a box recently I decided I wanted to photograph them and do a reverse image search to see if there are more I could look at.  Doing a regular search yesterday  with just a description of them brought up nothing.  Now since I have the photos I can see if I can locate the maker of these. 

Aren't they beautiful.