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







Friday, August 4, 2017

What's Happening Down the Lane in My World~



The Black Swallowtail images here visiting the blossoms of the lovely Mimosa tree across the lane from our property.  
I simply stood on our land and looked across at their beauty and snagged these image shares.
What is happening in your neighborhood, down your lane?
Enjoy your week, stay well, be safe and be blessed~


Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after                                                                you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:
Saturday's Critter

Anni at:
http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 
I'd Rather Be Birdin'
 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'

    
Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY
                                              https://normandylife.blogspot.com/


Stewart for:



One day I had two of our grandchildren visit for the day.  
In the late afternoon we walked down the lane to visit friends that live two doors down.  Jeff and Linda let the children, Braden and Maci play on their keyboard.  
The children were quite delighted.  
Maci also fell in love with their newest member of the family, the little dog named Mister~






Another Black Swallowtail down alongside our creek visiting tiny wildflowers~











Mona lives across the lane from us and has such fun things that adorn her garden, including a very old kit-cat known simply as Kitty.  
She is around 15 years old, and not doing so much these days, other than eating and sleeping~







Skipper butterfly down by our creek~





A Tawny Emperor butterfly had been flitting around leaf to leaf one day and I just watched it and then realized what it was looking for.  
Nothing to eat, but to lay her eggs on just the perfect leaf.  
I was totally mesmerized watching her until my neck felt pain from looking up.  
Can you see them, can you see how many there are...~



One afternoon while walking down my lane I heard an unfamiliar bird noise and fortunately had my camera on the ready.  
It was my first every sighting of a Yellow Billed Cuckoo.  
  It was so much larger than I would have ever thought and such a beautiful bird too~







My roses framing a female Common Whitetail dragonfly~


Our local Carolina Wren pair has just completed their third and final clutch of the season.  I love these guys~




The Tufted Titmouse is a wonderful chap to have around.  
They eat bugs...score! 
But they LOVE spiders. Double score ;)~





One of our oldest birdhouse now riddled with gnaw marks of the local Gray Squirrels.  Birds, will no longer use it as it is not safe.  
However we have found a snake in one once~
Finally today to close this share, one of my favorite visitors, just now making it's presence known.  
The male Gray Catbird... the first images following a bath in our creek and then with a bug in it's beak, either for a mate, or possibly a young one in a nearby nest~










16 comments:

  1. Hello Mary, Your grandchildren are beautiful. You must have fun when they are visiting. Love all the butterflies and skipper. Love all the pretty birds, the Cuckoo is one of my favorites. I just love the Mimosa tree, they are great for the butterflies and hummers. Wonderful post and photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  2. Beautiful variety of nature photography ~ gorgeous butterfly shots and favorites are the children and the sweet doggie ~ &_&

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  3. awwwwwwwwwwwww

    Enjoyed my visit. (Flutterbys are a fav of mine)

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  4. Such sweet little ones! Fantastic swallowtail shots! Beautiful! And I have ALWAYS wanted to see a yellow-billed cuckoo. My grandmother called them "rain crows."

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  5. Beautiful images!
    I really enjoyed the slide show
    Hope you are having a great week-end!

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  6. Mary - this is a wonderful post from start to finish. So much variety and such clever ways of combining the captures into collages. If I had to choose a favorite, I would say the titmouse - hanging upside down, cocking his head - quite the entertainer!

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  7. I hope this finds you and yours doing well. Red-Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove and Beyond has been added to our new Site Directory, SiteHoundSniffs.com. Its linked header is under All, Birding/Wildlife, Insects/Reptiles, Land/Sea/Skyscapes, Photography and the United States.
    In essence, SiteHoundSniffs is just a grander version of an individual’s blogroll or favorite sites list. Please email me at jerryebeuterbaugh@sitehoundsniffs.com if you want more details or have the site removed. I am sorry for failing to find a way to contact you privately.

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  8. The catbird, the cuckoo, the wren and titmouse....love 'em all. Those birdhouses are divine. Wishing I had one of 'em in our yard right now with the promise of nesting any time soon. The butterflies...beautiful. And the kitty mosaics [I've always favored cats to dogs] And....the piano. I miss my piano. We sold it when we moved to Texas.

    You shared some great photos today, and I appreciate you sharing them with us birders at I'd Rather B Birdin' this weekend!! Thanks.

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  9. Dear Mary, I have said it before. you have a special relationship with nature. Most people wouldn't see what you see and if they did they wouldn't have the talent to photograph it they way you do. Excellent and beautiful post.

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  10. Hello!:) I have had such an enjoyable visit. So much beauty here with your darling grandchildren images, and all the varied wildlife captures of butterflies and birds, and I especially liked your Cuckoo sighting, and photos.:)

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  11. Your lane is filled with beauty and joy! Thanks for sharing it.

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  12. I love the Black Swallowtails, fantastic images Mary.

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  13. gorgeous images as always Mary. Those little birds are so cute! No doubt they are busy nesting. And thank you for sharing the photos of your beautiful grandchildren. It is always such a pleasure to visit your site and take a peek into your world. I loved the darling little things hanging in Mona's garden. Hugs from me to you.

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  14. I really enjoyed reading your post and seeing all the photos. So many butterflies,lucky you! That cat's expressions are hilarious. Certainly, looks up to something. Great bird sightings. I've never seen a Yellow Billed Cuckoo before so I especially enjoyed that picture.

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  15. Très belle composition ;-)
    Céline & Philippe

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  16. Hi Mary. That is as good a walk down a lane as anyone could ever hope for. Your images of the Black Swallowtail are fantastic. So are thos shots of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. And congratulations ona self-found lifer - not everyone can say that these days. Those grandkids of yours are so good lokking, Maci especially has echoes of you.

    Have ag reat weekend. I'm off to bed early tonight - a 5am start tomorrow.

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