Featherstone Quiltworks

It must be the shift in the weather, but I’m starting to think about going south to Texas!  That’s our winter visiting place, the Gulf Coast on Mustang Island.  We have a small condo down there that is rented the rest of the year, so soon we will be going down for a week or so to clean up, paint up, fix up.  Even though that week is a working vacation, it’s still a fun change of scenery.

For Telephoto Tuesday, I thought I would share some Port Aransas pictures.  One of my favorite places on the island is the Birding Center.  Here is the walkway; it shows how vast this area is.  (Actually, I just realized this is only about 2/3 of the walkway because the tower isn’t shown; I must be standing next to it.)

 DS Rob was with us this trip.  DS & DH were looking at something in the water…

They weren’t kidding when they posted the Watch Out for the Alligator sign at the entrance!  (And who would really think there would be an alligator in a birding center anyway???)

 This particular visit was the only time I’ve seen the Black Bellied Whistling Ducks.  This pair posed and posed for me.

If we pretend we’re sleeping, maybe she will go away…

The barrier islands of Texas (So Padre, No Padre, Mustang) are great places for bird watching because it’s a migratory path for many birds.  You never know what you’re going to see on your next visit!

–Sue

This post will be almost all pictures, and only one non-hummingbird picture!  The hummers have been at our feeder all week long, just begging to have their pictures taken!  My one token non-hummer picture — a house finch.  I don’t often get to take their picture on a branch; they are always eating at the finch feeder!  Isn’t he cute?

We had regular visits from a female and a male hummingbird.  The female had clearly had enough of my focusing beam disrupting her meal, and was giving me “the look”.  I’ve raised three children — “the look” doesn’t bother me!  The male would sometimes sit in a branch overlooking the feeder.  And isn’t it interesting how bright red the throat is in the sun, and how dark it looks in the shade?

This is what I think is a juvenile hummer, but I could be wrong (shocking, I know).  This little guy liked to sit in the tree and rest.  What a smartie, relaxing and staying close to the food!  Must be a teenager.

I like to use my continuous shooting mode on my camera when taking pictures of birds, and especially when photographing hummers because they are so darned fast.  Sometimes I get surprises when I put the photos up on the computer.  Did you know hummingbirds blink???  Me neither.  They also relieve themselves, but I did know that — just never had photographic evidence of it before!  Maybe he just closes his eyes to concentrate on his bathroom duties?

And I am always surprised to get a hummingbird’s tongue in a picture, and I got two of them this week!  That must be really yummy, lip-smacking syrup I’m serving up.

Between the birds and getting DH set up to out to Seattle this week, sewing has really suffered.  Tomorrow I’ll get back at the quilting, providing the birds leave me alone!

–Sue

Thank you for your help in my video post yesterday!  I feel so almost hip, putting a video on YouTube and then getting it to work on my site!  It actually wasn’t hard, as it works the same way my Wednesday puzzles work.

I need help again.  A couple of days ago we saw what looks to be a large hawk flying back and forth over the pond, head directed down, hunting for something/someone!  But his head was so light.  We usually see red-tailed hawks here, but the light head on this guy has thrown us for a loop.  Mostly brown, lighter undersides.  Suggestions?  Maybe it’s a red-tailed hawk flying incognito wearing a toupee’?

Oh, and be forewarned:  I took a jillion hummingbird pictures this week.  I’m trying to narrow them down to a very few favorites.  They must be migrating south, as this is the most feeder activity we’ve had all summer.

–Sue

Since this is our annual Girls’ Vegas Trip, I thought I would share a night scene.  We usually stay at Bally’s but this  year we are at Paris.  We saw Blue Man Group last night — awesome!

– Sue

Well, today was a quandary — I just finished dumping dozens of photos on you in the last week and now it’s time to feature a photo!  So I thought I would share some of the pictures I wouldn’t ordinarily share with friends, much less with friends I haven’t met! 

There’s just something about a statue of any sort that just begs me to stand by it and have a photo taken; DH is always more than willing to indulge this quirk.  So today I’m displaying that particular weirdness in a photo collage.

And I’m not really hung over in these pictures.  I guess that’s the way I look.  (I really thought I looked better/younger/thinner than that.  It must be the camera.)

Sue

I have to say, I really like saving my nature photos up and just posting them once a week.  And good news for you — if you’re not crazy about the pictures, you can just skip Tuesday!!!

My kitchen window view (where I take a lot of my pictures) was so exceptionally pretty this week, I thought I’d start with my kitchen-table window.  (That sounds really stupid now that I’ve written it, but windows are a big deal when you spend most of your time at home!)

I can’t take credit for the plants.  We’re in a townhome and the association does all the outside work.  The day lilies are in full bloom, and the Anthony Waterer spirea has never been prettier.

And true to form this week, I didn’t go outside for any of my pictures!  I do have to say, though, that if I’m going to continue shooting through the glass, we are going to have to clean the windows pretty soon! 

We’ve had male house finches quite regularly, but this brown bird is the first female I’ve seen.  (And I THINK this is a female house finch, but please let me know if you have a beter idea!)  Isn’t she pretty?

I’ve mentioned it before, but I love the late-day sun in our crab tree as it finally comes around the corner of the house and hits the tree.  This goldfinch has such a pretty glow side-lit in the warm-colored evening sun.

Mourning doves have started dropping by to snack on the seeds the finches scatter into the rocks below. 

And one more critter:  the woods must be just teeming with rabbits.  This youngster was stretched out looking at the wild flowers behind us.  He reminds me of a teenager stretched out in front of the TV set. 

An added note:  Today the Minneapolis StarTribune has an article about the bunny boom, so it isn’t just our imagination!

Remember to do at least a little bit on one of your UFOs before Thursday (UFO Thursday)!  It feels so good to get even a little bit done.  I’m on a mission to save the world from UFOs!!!  Well, not really — I just want to save my boys from inheriting all these unfinished projects when I’m gone!  They will thank me later.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sue

My favorite photos from this week are mostly birds (big surprise there).  First a black-capped chickadee at the finch feeder, and he was serious about getting some lunch:

He sang a little song for me:

And then he suddenly had enough of my company, and flew away:

Our next visitor was a goldfinch. I was going to say they are my favorite, but I guess I say that about lots of birds.  This female had a seed in her beak:

Then I had to laugh when I saw Vicki W’s blog today, because she posted a picture of a bunny.  I took pictures today of bunnies in our backyard as well.  These young bunnies truly are everywhere!  With all the rain we’ve had recently, our grass must be pretty tasty.

–Sue