Final Blog Entry for 2020...Happy New Year~

Chickadee~

              ~Happy New Year Blessings and Greetings to Everyone~ 

I'm hoping that all of you are doing as well as possible as we move through this horrific Covid 19 Pandemic. Our family is staying well so far and we are thankful.  I have extended family who have lost loved ones and lots of friends who have both had Covid and lost loved ones as well.  It is a very daunting, sad situation everywhere.  Never in my greatest of imaginations could I have ever thought something this bad would happen in our lifetime~ 

 

Since my last blog entry in October, I have been doing very little, other than staying home on our land that we fondly call Tingsgrove.  About one day a week, I try to take a country ride, or check on the Bald Eagles who are currently doing finishing touches on a very large, well built nest.  More on that as things proceed in a future entry. Our groceries are ordered online at the market and either delivered to the house, or I pick them up.  I have not been able to attend church service since late last year.  There are no in house visits here, or at the neighbors.  What I miss the most are visits with our grandchildren and being able to take them on outings.  Hugging our daughters, their husbands, our five grandchildren is something that is so cherished and now missing for way too long. We have seen them, but only a few times and we are always protected with a mask, and give great air hugs.  Both Thanksgiving and Christmas day, our oldest daughter and her family quarantined for 13 days so that they could come out and come in to visit a couple of hours.  That was extremely special and very much appreciated.   

*If anyone knows how to show me how to delete an image from this format, I would appreciate it.  

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

                                                                        I'm joining Eileen at: 

Saturday's Critter

                     http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

Anni at:

http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 

I'd Rather Be Birdin'

 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin' 

   

 

Angie at:  

Mosaic Monday

https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/

& 

Stewart for:

Wild Bird Wednesday

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

Male Eastern Towhee, also know as Rufous-sided Towhee~

A Yellow-rumped Warbler takes a bath in our creek~

The Cedar Waxwings came in October and stayed off and on for about a month~

A Northern Flicker, also known as a Yellow-shafted Flicker~

One day I was walking on the land and heard a familiar noise.  A Gray Squirrel gnawing on something.  It's usually a walnut, but this time it was a skeleton from some unfortunate creature.  Whatever it was the Squirrel was getting some kind of nutrition out of it~

A Great Blue Heron and a few Canada Geese at dawn one morning in early December~

We have a nice size herd of White-tailed Deer that come through a couple of times a day.  This 8 point buck is probably around 3 years of age.  He was hanging out with some yearlings on this day~

On Christmas day the buck came again, only this time he was alone and in pursuit of our older doe Star.  She and BE are sisters and I will guess they are around 7 years old now.  No doubt after their spending time on our property for nearly 2 hours, we will have between a single and triplets out of Star in the Spring.  Last season she had a single in May~

Above is a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk like the title of my blog and below it are two images of an adult in flight~

An American Kestrel stilling/hovering while hunting~

Red-tailed Hawk hunting along a country lane.  Magnificent bird~

I was coming home from the market pickup day when I spotted these lovely leaves covered in ice formations.  Clothed in their final leaf colourations and maintaining their beauty for a few more days, before letting go and falling beneath their boughs~

A friend of mine was walking at a nearby park one day and spotted a bird that was quite different for around here.  She turned in a few images and determined it to be a rare visitor to Kentucky...  A Western Grebe.  What a gorgeous bird visiting only 17 miles from our home. I was very fortunate to get to the Ohio River at dawn one morning after Maria had shared about this bird and I had only stood to look out over the water for a minute when it appeared.  It seemed close, but my lens was not long enough to get great images.  I was so happy to see this gorgeous bird though that is very far away from it's flock who should be on the Western Coastline.  They fly at night time and are seldom seen flying during daylight.  Look them up, if you are not familiar with them.  When they are courting one another they will do an amazing water dance~

Another first for me this past Autumn was this beautiful Savannah Sparrow.  What a treat~

My third bird that along with the Western Grebe was on my short life list was to see a Mandarin Duck in the wild.  The Mandarin Duck doesn't even appear in the "Field Guide to Birds of North America" because they are not from here.  From East Asia, Russia and Japan...Kentucky is very far from it's homeland. Once again a couple of my birding friends had seen the bird after reading about it online, also in a news print article, and local news in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Ten of them had been purchased by the township and released in parks in the area.  It was truly an awesome bird to see and so close too.  I was standing not more than 30' away from it to get these image shares.  It does fly and can leave on it's own if it chooses to.  It fell in love with and attached itself to the female Mallard duck~

He looks so adoringly after this best friend he has chosen.  I wonder if she realizes how special she is and how handsome he is ;) ~

Just a little frost on a wild flower~

This split tree is on our land.  Every few days the birds will go crazy chattering about, all kinds of species gathering to peek down inside.  I don't know what is there, but it could be an Opossum, a Raccoon, or even a small Owl, like a Screech Owl.  I wish that I knew what it was ;) ~

A Blue Jay and Eastern Blue Birds take a look see~

The was the Full Moon, Blue Moon rising on October 31, 2020~

I took a picture of the Sun setting and superimposed it over the Moon rising image just for fun~

Okay, no laughing allowed!  My birthday was on the Winter Solstice and there was a special gift awaiting me that evening.  Saturn and Jupiter were going to be very close in a great conjunction to one another forming the "Brightest Star", the "Christmas Star."  I followed my dear friends Linda and Jeff to a spot high on a hill about 10 miles from home.  It was magical when I first spotted it as the sun was just set.  I could see the rings of planet Jupiter by looking through my camera, but my camera could not capture them in images.  Can you see the two plants forming the bright star in this image?

I could not leave without trying to get a capture of them and this was actually kind of cool, even though it isn't what you would have anticipated.  My camera could get close, just not close enough~

On December 28th I had a very important appointment about 25 miles from home.  The sun was going down as viewed from my rearview mirror.  Making a quick pull off I decided I had time where I could snap of few pictures.  This was the melting sunset.  I told my friend that it reminded me of a lovely vanilla cupcake with frosting melting down it.

Once again Happy New Year!  

Please take care, stay safe, wear a mask...a proper mask and wash your hands, or keep sanitizer with you.

Be well~