Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Sunday, May 25, 2014

Mostly shades of Purple and Blue~

 
 
The image from above is at sunrise driving out of my subdivision one day last week.
I used my creative juices to flow as I had taken a number of Louisiana Iris images that were just a wee bit off, but still had nice structure...and thus decided to warm them after first making them black and white~
 
 
 Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared
   
 I will also be linking up with Mary at:
 
Mosaic Monday
 
at: 

 
As well as I am linking up with Stewart at:
 
   Wild Bird Wednesday
 

 
 
 I heard it before I ever saw it...my first ever White-eyed Vireo on April 29. 
I was walking back from the Red-Shouldered Hawk nest tree site, and had just about gotten to my driveway. 
 Not many images, but what a lovely bird it was~
 
 
 
 
The Blue Jays have been going crazier than usual as we have the Red-Shouldered Hawk nest 3 acres one direction from our home and 2 acres to the other side is a Coopers Hawk nest tree~ 
They are such beautiful birds!
 










 
 
 
 
 
We hardly ever get to see the Wood Thrush around here, though nearly ever Spring they make their appearance~





 
Where my friend and neighbor Steve lives, he not only has the R-SHawk nesting in his tree again this year, but he has so many birds that visit that do not appear in our woods, or at least if they do, they are under the cover of a heavy canopy of foliage, and we miss them.  The little Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of them~



 
 Another visitor to Steve's yard was the Great Crested Flycatcher. 
We have seen them very rarely on Tingsgrove over the years~



 
 
 
 Yikes, oh happy, happy is the day that Swallows return to our area and this post has a few of the Tree Swallows that live and hunt neat Covered Bridge Road, one of my favorite drives~





 
More of the Yellow-rumped Warbler~

 
 I had checked on the Coopers Hawk nest one day following severe storms, and noticed something flopping around and it was the Blue Jay below. 
It had evidently hit the neighbors window and had been stunned a bit. 
We allowed it to rest in quiet for a couple of hours, and then I released it back into the wild...with no harm done to  either of us ;)
 
 

21 comments:

  1. Be still my heart at that sunrise !!

    I have also enjoyed all of the birds and your lovely iris as well :) Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

    The most bird excitement I am getting around here at the moment is the starlings...they nest right above where I park my car and have been busy decorating it :) Babes are learning to fly at the moment and the variety of language ...not only chirping but clacking that the mother does is interesting! : )

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  2. we get the great-cresteds here. love their flash of color. wish we'd get the tree swallows - only barn so far. the iris look good!

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  3. The iris are beautiful. It is my favorite flower. The blue jays are really BLUE! I enjoy their visits to my garden. Such funny fellas. Your other feathered friends are a joy, too.

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  4. I'm always amazed and delighted by your photo collages!

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  5. Beautiful images. Nice variety.

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  6. Mary, beautiful collection of birds and photos.. Have a great week!

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  7. So many wonders around you Mary. That sunrise is spectacular and has so much depth. You have covers the blue jays from every angle and your treatment of the iris just blows me away. Wonderful to see through your eyes. Loads of hugs . . . Arija

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  8. The irises are amazing - I've never seen anything like it.

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  9. what a gorgeous fellow the blue jay is. And I also loved your iris photos - the blue is the same colour as the blue jay! I liked your postprocessing treatment of them. And that sunrise - well just glorious - and such promise for the day ahead.
    Have a lovely week.

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  10. I love your purple iris photos. We have tree swallows nesting in our bluebird house now. We just put the house out over a week ago and they found it first. They'll be fun to watch. Have a great week! Pam

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  11. Hi Mary, You are fortunate indeed in having both Red-shouldered Hawk and Cooper's Hawk nesting so close. i think I would be out early every morning in logging their every movement. The Blue Jay pictures work so well against that green background, but then the Blue Jay is a very, very handsome bird. Love the sunrise - you were up early to good effect.

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  12. The swallow is so cute and I love the irises and the jays.

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  13. A wonderful colourful post Mary with those gorgeous Irises and the Jays. Swallows ... the quintessential bird of Summer for me ... lovely collage.

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  14. A great series of photos and I like your creative use of color.

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  15. what a wonderful post. Fantastic collages of all the beautiful birds and I love the vivid blue of the Iris. grat how you have edited some of the shots.

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  16. I LOVE to hear the song of the white eyed vireo. The other day I was chasing a 'vagrant' vireo around a park in town...the yellow-green vireo, found it, but the sunlight was all wrong. didn't get very good photos.

    LOVE the vivid blues of your jays.
    And your iris are superb.

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  17. Are those black iris? they're beautiful. Boom, Bobbi and Gary.

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  18. You do such a magical job of your mosaics (I know it is really not magic, but talent and hard work!). You live in such a wonderful area!

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  19. Hi Mary,

    Well, it's been a while; have been travelling and am now back on the island. Your mosaics are stunning! My, those blue jays are beautiful birds, indeed; such vibrant colour! The different effects on the irises are lovely, and I can't help but notice how their blues are almost identical to the blue jay's. That sunrise is certainly a sight for sore eyes, (especially mine - have been jet lagged for days, wide awake all through the night and falling asleep in the early morning hours!). Thank you for sharing all the loveliness around you!

    Poppy

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  20. Oh, they are beautiful, especially the Blue Jays, it is superb camera work.

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