Bugger Wren

Today I had to great experiences. The first, I had lunch with a great friend who I do not get to see enough. The second was right after lunch, I had to walk off some of the calories I consumed. While walking at my favorite park, out popped this little bugger that I have been trying to get the past three days.

This winter wren has been the hardest bird to catch on camera. I call him my bugger wren, because he was determine not to let me get a shot of him. For the past three years, around this time of season I would see him bouncing around the bushes. I would get some pictures ,but they were not great.

This time though, I was just watching all the birds. I asked God, just in my mind, ( It sure would be nice if you would have the wren make a showing?) Well low and behold, out popped this little bugger. Not only did he come into full view, he did all kinds of poises for me.

My day was complete. I had a great time with my friend and with this little bugger wren.

Christmas Dog

You never know what you might run into at the Mariner. I thought I had seen it all. So, you can imagine my surprise at seeing this Christmas dog. At least, I think that is what I was seeing.

Christmas is the time for decorating just about anything. Of course, dying an animal fur is a new one for me. I do have to say this poodle is adorable. Even the squirrel had to investigate.

I love this time of the year. There is always surprises to enjoy. Whether it is this Christmas dog at the park, presents under the tree or a greeting from long lost friends, I look forward to each day.

Sparrow Town

The one sparrow you can count on is the white throated sparrow to make his showing at the park. He is the most common fellow to visit the fence posts that I put the seeds on each visit. I do notice that during the winter months, I see a lot more.

Out of all the sparrows that visit the park, this one seems to be more bold. He will fight with the cardinals and stand up against the red-winged black birds for his supper. Beside the chickadees, he will come close to me as I wait to take pictures.

There are two types of white throats, the tan striped and the white striped. Every once in a while I will see the tan striped ones mulling around the bushes. They are just as brave as the white striped ones.

I can honestly say that this park can be called Sparrow Town. There are enough of them here including the fox sparrows, song sparrows, and several other species. My kind of town.

Eeyore's Winter Blues

Another snow event. This snow is back breaking. Even Eeyore finds it a heavy load to bare.

I like snow when it is just building up on the yards and not so much on the roads. I like it even better when I do not have to drive on it to work. Tonight with the temperature going below freezing, I dread the ice.

When I have to shovel it, it is back breaking. Of course, when my husband gets home in time, he takes care of that for me.  It is not any less back breaking for him.

Right now I have the Eeyore's winter blue. I have to go to work overnight. I dread the icy roads. One good thing though, in the next few days this snow will be history.

Soda Bottle Feeder

One of the time that I got to go to a dinner for bird lovers, I got this kit to make a bird feeder from a soda bottle. The first few times that I filled it and put it out, the birds did not seem to like it.

My husband brought home a birder hook and I got a new fancy feeder to put on the hook. Since there was two place to hang the feeder on, I decided to try the soda bottle feeder again.

Now, here it the funny thing. Notice which one is empty. I have been watching the birds enjoy both feeders. Yet, they seems to gravitate to the homemade one over and over. It is only when the first one is empty, that they work on the store bought one.

It is like Christmas, when the kids play with the package or the box that the gift comes in over the gift.

It is off to the store to buy some more bird seeds. The soda bottle feeder needs to be filled again.

Chipmunk's Cold

This is truly cold season. I am not talking about the weather. It seems to be everywhere I go, someone is coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose. Even this poor little chipmunk seems to be blowing his nose.

This the season to share every virus, germs and sickness this time of year brings. No matter how careful I was, I spent several days sick as a dog. Not that I know how a dog feels when he is sick.

As I write this blog, I send out a prayer to all that have succumb to the cold , flu and every other virus out there. Take care of yourselves. 

Nuttty Squirrel

You never know what a squirrel might get himself into. While I was walking around the boardwalk, this one little critter kept running all around me. At one point he was upside down on the boardwalk. He never did let go of the nut in his mouth.

I am just so impress with his ability to hang onto anything. With the many years that I have been taking pictures of the squirrels around town, I have caught them in many nutty situations. They sure know how to entertain me.

They will eat just about anything you toss out to them. but the nuts are their favorite. While this little nutty squirrel will enjoy his nut this time,I will enjoy him running around with it as well.

The First Snow.

Well, it happened. We had our first snow of the season. I just had to get out to take pictures.

At one time, I would have been too afraid to go out in the snow driving. But, the draw of the camera beckons me to take the chance. "Just think what you will miss if you do not try," it seems to be telling me.

So, I listen. The camera has helped me to brave things that would have kept me in the house. I can go out all excited to see what is waiting for me. Will I get that shot? Even going out on a boat has no fear for me now. This past vacation showed me that as we spent time out on a whale boat trip.

The first snow has fallen. I just love every flake. Welcome Winter.

Ruddy Luck

For three days in October, I watch over a unusual duck. I even took my husband with me hoping with both our cameras we could get a good enough picture to identify what kind of fowl he was. I search my many bird books to no avail.

Several days later, I ran into a good birder friend who was able to tell me that what we had gotten was a ruddy duck. What ruddy luck that was for me. It pays to go out every possible chance I have to seek a new bird in Harford County.

This year, I want to see how many species of birds I can identify. Like the movie "The Big Year," I plan on documenting all the birds I see through out the year as we go on vacation, trips and just walking around here. I will not reach the record number. But, I plan on giving my best try for a record for me.

Who know? Maybe the Ruddy's luck will be a sign that this will be a good year.

Merganser"s Pond

There is a pond in the industrial park that I love to visit from time to time. It is during the migration period that I seek out what new fowl might be swimming about. I love watching the many diving ducks. One of my favorites is the hooded merganser.

Each winter, these mergansers seems to make the pond their home. I can count of seeing them each time I make my rounds to the many water ways. This day as I watched them, I did notice that one male would stay just a few feet away from all the others. I surmised that he must have been the look out while the other proceeded to disappear one by one under the water.


I watched for a while longer. Whenever someone would walk near  the pond, they would make their escape to the other side of the pond. Once there, it is too hard for my camera to reach them.

Until they decide to move on, I will enjoy the merganser's pond. 

Seeing Red

The flashes of red flew past me several times. From tree to tree, branch to branch, they chased each other searching for food. Every once in a while, I would see a different sort of red. So I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out bird seeds.

After pouring the seeds on the fence post, the cardinals jockey for position to snatch their share. Than, there he was, the other source of red making his showing. It was a finch.

The cardinals are plenty in the park. There are no shortness of these beauties. I just have to throw out some peanuts and before long the trees are decorated with the color of red. When I break up the shells, than many other birds make a showing as well.

When the chickadees, titmouse, and nuthatches soar in to claim their morsels, I get to see a different shade of red. The house finches pop in to try their luck.

 The finches are not as plentiful as the cardinals. So, when they do flew in, I get a kick out of them.

I don not have to be mad to see red. I just have to visit my favorite park, put out food and the color of red surround me in all their spenders. I love seeing red.

Muskrat Lunch

It has been a while since I could walk the Mariner. Working overnights and getting sick has kept me away. Today was the first time that I had the energy and time to make the trip. So, at lunchtime, I got my food and made my rounds to all my hotspots. 

The Mariner was the last stop. The center fenced-in section of the park is now full of slug and water from the dredging. Because of this, the muskrats have much more space to swim around. They come right up to the fence. It is easier now to get pictures. 

This little guy made several attempts to get the juicy leave just out of his reach. I thought he would fall into the water a couple of times. After enjoying his lunch, he made another try and down in the water he went. His mother was down in the water under him and made sure he was alright before he swam away unharmed.

He did get to enjoy his lunch just as much as I enjoyed watching him eat it. I will be back tomorrow. Who knows what kind of show I will see then.