The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Tag Archives: Birds

I like it

Posted on by Posted in Critters, Winter interest .

I felt an itch today.

An itch to garden, whatever that means.

I walked my grounds in flip flops and a t-shirt because it was a pleasant 60 degrees outside.

I desperately wanted to weed. Or dig. Or snip.

But that opportunity didn’t exist.

The birds were raising hell throughout the backyard and I decided maybe running around and trying to photograph them might scratch the itch.

It sort of did.

 

 

Damn it is difficult to get them to sit still. Oh well.

When I was done I took one last pic before I walked through the front door.

Pat on back time.

My garden looks so much better in winter than it has before.

I actually stopped and let it all soak in.

I like gardens.

And gardening.

Even in winter.

 

Chasing down the hummingbird

Posted on by Posted in Critters .

I’ve noticed one remaining hummingbird that has been buzzing around the last few days and so I made it my mission to capture one last photo of him or her before he or she heads south. This hummingbird has been attracted to a batch of pink obedient plant (Physostegia ‘Vivid’) so I set up camp nearby on my deck. After an hour of failed surveillance and a lot of sitting and waiting, I finally got something as the hummer lingered in a nearby crabapple tree for only a few seconds.

humming-3

Not too bad of a shot I guess. At least I walked away with something. My guess is that the hummingbird has since packed a bag and is off to greener and warmer pastures.

I did try killing time by snapping a few shots of other birds coming and going from the river birch tree also near my deck.

bird-2

 

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And shocker, a few photos of the garden as she quickly descends into hell autumn mode:

Joe Pye, Bee Balm and Karl Foerster grass

joe-pye-foerster

 

The blooms of Indian grass.

indian-grass-blooms

 

And moving from back to front: Boltonia, Panicum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’, Baptisia and Joe Pye Weed.

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QOTD: What did you do in your garden this past weekend?

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday – Birds, Buds and Spider Art

A quick winter tour

Posted on by Posted in Winter interest .

The thermometer said 15 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill made it feel like it was 0 degrees but that didn’t stop me from taking a walk around the yard. My nose hairs may have been frozen together and I had a difficult time keeping the camera straight but it was all worth it. I felt invigorated. And here’s what I witnessed:

No matter how much damage they cause, I can’t help but love having the deer visit twice a day:  

OK, maybe it bothers me a little:

The thought of them jumping into the raised bed is comical:
The birds that have remained are constant entertainment and I love the challenge of trying to snap them before they are off to their next destination:    

OK, fine, I doctored this shot a bit but it is pretty cool IMHO:

I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen the sedums have this much growth so early in the winter. Hang in there  guys:

That’s all … but it was enough.

John

Chilling after Christmas

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized .
And just like that, it’s over: 
The stockings are no longer hung by the chimney with care … 
We’ve gone from 160 mph to about 5 mph in the course of a few days. I may not even have a pulse right now, that’s how “chill” we all are. And that’s a good thing. 
It’s all about riding the new Barbie bike:     

 And organizing the football cards while looking up their value on the new Kindle Fire:

We had a Christmas for the ages with family (My son will regret agreeing to wear these pajamas in a few years):

 

The kids are at the absolute perfect age right now (9 and 6) and I dread them getting even a year older.

My son is a non believer in Santa so we plotted a way to get him to believe for one more year. He is an incredibly deep sleeper so we knew we could wake him in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve without him truly waking up. We nudged him a bit and then played the sound of sleigh bells through my phone. He opened his eyes and looked around in terror as we left the room. On Christmas morning, he insisted he heard noises in the middle of the night and looked out his window to see reindeer on the front lawn. Score one for the parents!

On a personal level, my wife gave me a subscription to Fine Gardening and a private lesson with a local photographer. I couldn’t be more fired up about that. Watch out readers, my photography obsession will be taken to new heights.

Speaking of photography obsession, I am off from work the remainder of this week and all I plan on doing is trying to hunt down the birds that have been flocking to the yard like mad:  
 

Hope you had a great holiday and here’s to 2012!

John