As Pretty as a Peacock~

The watercolour of the Peacock, was completed 7 years ago. 
I was a beginner, and still am, for I have not much free time to dabble in this art form~

These images were taken both in my small shade gardens on Tingsgrove, as well as at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY , USA.
  Since I was a a small child, our family has visited Cave Hill.  
A peaceful place to walk, feed the ducks, geese and Mute Swans.  
It is also home to many Raptors, such as Great Horned Owls, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Coopers Hawks, and Sharp-Shinned Hawks.
There is also this handsome Peacock, also known as Common Peafowl, that has open range on these hallowed grounds.
If I have not labled a blossom, it is because I took the images at Cave Hill and while some of the trees have ID tags attached, many others do not.
One day, many moons from now, I hope, my husby and I shall be buried above the military section, but for now, we enjoy the time that we can visit and enjoy all of the beauty that surrounds this place called Cave Hill. 

 I was going to link up this post with Mosaic Monday and then noticed they are away for another week, but had put this post ready and so will share it anyway.

Is anyone else using Blogger having problems with comments?
I have it set as I have always had it and I am getting everything that should throw over into SPAM, showing up on my moderation page...geesh, and there are a bunch of them too, what gives...

I am linking up with Stewart at:

Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)

What I learned...did you know?
Some of the gorgeous colours of the Peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon found in the barbules of the feathers.   
Tail feathers (also known as the plumage or trains) are colored green, blue, and orange. 
However, the plumage isn't really a tail but is really made of long upper tail coverts.

Below a Dandelion does not look so bad for a weed~

Blue Bells and mixed Wood Hyacinths scatter about our 2 acres~

Display and swishing of feather plumage, attracts multiple Peahens to court and mate with~

Cherry and Pear blossoms across and down the lane from me~

My mother-in-law passed away 10 years ago this past month.  
I was given a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds at the service and I panted them in a low valley that we can view from our side patio door.  
Below are some of the beautiful blossoms of these wee tiny flowers~

We have quite a lot of Wild Phlox that grow on our 2 acres of woodlands~

One of our neighbors is growing Blueberries for the first time.  
The blossoms were gorgeous~

Above and below the Peacock image here, is a species of Hyacinth before and after it's blossoms open~

In the image below, I was playing off of the long plumage of feathers of the Peacock and turned the images upside down.  
These are a species of Buckeyes~

Spring is a Busy Time For Our Bird Friends~

Happy birding and happy week, following a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!
My computer was broken and out of my hands for a few days and my first thought was, but what about my blogging.  
It is amazing how much time we spend when we blog, but oh such enjoyment it is too.
The top image is of a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, that just happened to have completed a bath in the lake, before landing right in front of my lens.
The male Cardinal below was perched above a flock of ducks and geese that were eating bread that my husby was offering them.  

I am linking up with Stewart at:

Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)



 

A male Eastern Meadowlark sings early one morning over the fields where it's mate was nesting.  
This same field has nests of Red-winged Blackbirds in the deep grasses.

A Blue Jay listens to it's own as morning light streams through the Redbud trees~

A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers tried a couple of holes, before making their nest in the lowest hole of one of our Ivy covered trees, which lost it's top long ago~

A Gray Catbird mews to it's mate~

I am thinking that this is a Hairy Woodpecker below, very similar to our Downy Woodpeckers, but a wee bit larger~

Once again Carolina, or Black-capped Chickadee, they look so much alike, and we have them both here~

Aah, we have bid farewell to the lovely Dark-eyed Juncos for a few months.  
This one was sunning itself, just before the leaf foliage greened up~

White-breasted Nuthatch waiting for a turn at one of our feeders~

An American Robin watches over the Blue Juniper bush where she has laid 4 eggs in a nest~

At the site of the single Great Horned Owlet a couple of weeks ago, we watched as a territorial dispute went about with some Baltimore Orioles~

A male Eastern Bluebird watching for a meal to present itself.  
They have a nest with young ones, across the lane from us~

The final image may be quite disturbing, but it can also give us an opportunity to view one  gorgeous bird.  
This Yellow-Shafted Flicker flew into our patio door glass.  
Many times this will happen and more often, than not when a bird hits they survive, not this time~

Young Great-horned Owlet and Cottontails~

Five months is a very long time to deal with the things that were totally out of my control, and had a huge impact on me emotionally and physically. In plain and simple words, it was horrific, and I think that I am finally feeling a bit more confident and hopeful that things are beginning to return to normal for me and for the problems that I have been dealing with. These months have taken me to the depths of despair and depression and yet, I have learned slowly to rise above it. The darkest of days, I hope and pray are now behind me and I so appreciate all of the wonderful kindnesses afforded me from so many of you along the way.

One friend shared this with me, and it is just one of so many encouragements shared, but meant so much to me, I felt that, I needed to pass it forward.

 

"They say that the shadows couldn't be present unless there was light from above!

Walking this out in the shadow times, no matter how dark it may have seemed, was only made possible because His light was present to fill the empty void. "

 

So true to me, so beautiful an exchange!

A little over a week ago, I was able to go with Master Falconer Beau Solley once again to visit the Great horned Owl nest.

It was my third visit since February 27 th, and I am still hoping to see the Owlet one more time...as I would so love to see this young one branching out before it flies off to freedom and to parts unknown.
With my Nikon D-90 camera in hand and using my 70/300 lens, the first image is what you can see, as we first approach the nest.
It is a huge nest and I love that big Sycamore tree.
In fact the woods where the nest tree is, has many of them.
The landscape of this site is wild, and really beautiful, so I will share of bit of that as well.
The main diet of the Great-horned Owl is rabbits and so I will place them in this post also. No, none of these are in the same area as the nest, so not to worry about them, at least where this nest is concerned.
Once again, as I have said, this is nature and while we can wince a bit, we must also accept.

I am linking up with Mary for:

"Mosaic Monday"

at:http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com

and

I am linking up with Stewart at:

Wild Bird Wednesday

(http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/)

 

 

 

 

Beau and his wife June enjoyed sitting in the quiet at the base of this massive Sycamore tree on our second visit to the site. 
It is very near the nest site and a quite stream runs along the side of it. 
It is really very tranquil and a wonderful place for the Great horned Owls to nest and raise their young. 
Beau said that these Owls have nested here for several years and prior to that it was originally built by Red-tailed Hawks.
 

 

 

What you cannot see, but trust me, it is all over the place...Poison Ivy was beginning to sprout up all over. 
The other bad thing are ticks.
Wood and Deer ticks...ugh...and soon the Mosquitos will be about the area and I will not venture there until the next nesting season.
 

 

 

I really loved the looks of the many trees with moss growing up them, they remind me of the trees along the coast of Oregon and Washington states.
 

 

 

 

 

I took the Cottontail images in my father-in-laws back yard. 
Two of them were frolicking and having the best time. 
The first image...I thought that was one of the sweetest faces on a wild Cottontail that I had ever seen, such expression on that face, and such a shaggy fur all over.
Too Cute!