Post Title 1000~

 Eastern Towhee ( female) Gray Squirrel and Red Fox Squirrel above~

Well here it is 1000 post entries since June 24, 2009.
It was a surprise to me, as I don't keep count, but evidently "Google blogger "does.
 I shall keep the writing brief and allow the images to weave their story for you.
None of this would have ever been made possible without you.
 Those who come to visit my blog, who leave encouraging words. 
You truly are my friends and I appreciate each of you very much.
Each of you bless my heart and I hope in some small way, I bless yours as well.
I have chosen some of your favorites, as well as some that have touched my own soul over these years to share in this special post presentation.
My hope is that you will enjoy what you see.
Thank you all ~

Remember to double click on the image, to view a larger slide show of the images shared ~

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/)


A Red-shouldered Hawk flying through the woods on Tingsgrove, my home~

January and February of 2011, a Great Horned Owl came on our land to hunt~ 

 

 

An adult Red-tailed Hawk and it's young one below~

 

You may already know, I adore Cedar Waxwings ;) Oh yes, I do~

Female Red-Winged Blackbird, young Eastern Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Mockingbird, adult Eastern Bluebird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and
Black-capped Chickadee~

Sunset and Persimmons~

Red-Spotted Purple,  Question Mark Anglewing, Sphinx/Hawk/Hummingbird Moth, Black Swallowtail, and Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterflies~

This is where it all began...my love for Red-Shouldered Hawks. 
Below is the pair that live and breed in our area and their young~

The Screech Owl below was found on my twin sister's stoop, not doing so well and could barely cling to a tree branch. 
Big difference shown the next day~

 

This was a rarity!
A Red-shouldered/Red-tailed hybrid Hawk~

 

Fate brought me just in time, to witness this rare breeding of a male Red-shouldered Hawk with a female Red-tailed Hawk. 
Just a few days later, I found the male hawk, badly injured, after hitting a truck as it flew to grab a meal. 
Sadly a few months later it was put down, for he never regained his vision~

In 2012, our little rural town made national news attention, when many thousands of European Starlings took over area trees for the entire Winter~

Local artist Jessie Scarborough has used several of my photographs as subjects for her oil paintings.
This is one of my Milkweed images on the left and her painting on the right~

Sometimes it is just fun being at the right place at the right time. 
This small herd of White-tailed Deer could not make up their mind to be afraid of my car and me, or the fence ahead of them~

Sphinx Moths, some are called Hawk Moths and others Hummingbird Moths on local garden flowers~

Male American Kestrel, Turkey Vulture, and Red-tailed Hawks~

I absolutely adore all Swallows!

Great Blue Heron with a freshly caught Bull Frog.  That is the frog's lung still inflated~

Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly~

A young Great Horned Owl~

Nature creating art, all on it's own.
Snow storm on Tingsgrove ~

Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly, Sphinx Moth, Question Mark, Yellow Swallowtail, Eastern Comma, Zebra Swallowtail, Buckeye, Eastern Tailed-blue and Monarch Butterflies~

I so enjoy watching Raptors in flight, just amazing beauty.  Here is an adult and newly fledged hawk~

Autumn colouration and water reflections on Tingsgrove and beyond my acreage~

Red-tailed Hawk~

The husby drove me down to Tennessee to view many thousands of Sandhill Cranes in February of 2012. 
Sadly both my state of Kentucky and Tennessee, have since passed a hunting law for these amazing creatures~

I was blessed a couple of years ago, in caring for this young blinded Blue Jay. 
Bleu only lived in my care for 6 weeks, but I know at least that I did my best.
Black-capped Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-winged Blackbird and Eastern Phoebe~

Since I live in a rural area, I enjoy driving with the windows part way down, to hear the birds sing.
Oh what a sweet sound the song of the Eastern Meadowlark, absolutely beautiful~

The darker male Eastern Towhee, sometimes referred to as Rufous-sided Towhee and the lighter coloured female~

The images below, I simply found interesting. 
A woman doing a watercolour in the snow and an image that I took through the windscreen as my husby drove us  also in a light falling snow~

Nature can provide stunning, quiet drama in the Winter months and the final mosaic entry is of several images that always give me a warm feeling, even though I know those days were very cold.
I send you off with special warm hugs from me to you and sweet blessings always~

  

 

Just for fun and in keeping with round numbers in 1,000 ;)

These 2 posts, have received the most views, in over 1,000 each~

http://tingsgrove.blogspot.com/2011/12/waverly-hills-sanatorium.html

and

http://tingsgrove.blogspot.com/2013/04/post-number-975-in-3-years-and-10-months.html

My Top 10 Favorite Images From My Blog for 2012~

This will be my first year to participate in

Jim Goldstein's Annual Blog Project.

 

It should be a fun way to share my top 10 favorite images from this past year. 

There are so many reasons that make certian images more special, more favored, so personal in nature to each of us who have the pleasure of viewing them. 

Like so many others, I take not hundreds, but thousands of images, every year. 

We then have to edit and then delete, or keep the best and then decide which of those we will share on our blog entries. 

Many times, I find that final selection the most difficult challenge and I end up using several in collages, and, or mosaics, and then can enjoy sharing more, than I could otherwise. 

This year was no exception, but I have narrowed my shares down to these final 10, and have left behind so many others that made something in my spirit soar.

I hope that these will be enjoyed by those who will have a chance to view once again, or possibly for the first time.

~ Happy New Year ~

Late emergence of a Monarch butterfly~

 First year Red-tailed Hawk ~

Gray phased Eastern Screech Owl...owlet~

Tree Swallow, one of my top 10 favorite birds~

Dusk in the mountains of southern Utah~

Final showing of wildflowers in Kentucky~

The above image was powerful to me, because of many reasons.

It is a hybrid...a cross breed of a Red-tailed Hawk and a Red-Shouldered Hawk.

A few weeks after photographing this beauty in nature, I was privileged to witness copulation of a male Red-shouldered Hawk and a female Red-tailed Hawk.

Then even later, I came upon the injured male Red-Shouldered Hawk and got it to Wingspan of Kentucky.  

He had severe head injuries, that would eventually take away his sight.  

After several months in his care, the manager peacefully put him down.

Nature at it's best, and worst~

Last January, the husby drove me to view the Sandhill Cranes in Tennessee. 

There were thousands of these gorgeous birds, and I can still remember fondly their voice sounds...it was amazing. 

My friend whom I met by doing a "Google"  search on love for Red-Shouldered Hawks...Vickie Henderson, was my inspiration for becoming a blogger going on 4 years ago. 

She also shares so much of her love for the Sandhill Cranes on her site and I had to include one of these images in my top 10 for 2012~

These last 2 images were taken during a snowfall on one of the

"Most Dangerous Roads in America"

also known as the

"Million Dollar Highway"

near Durango, Colorado~



Celebrating Birthdays, Anniversaries and Special Blog Entries for the Year~

A very Merry Christmas from our home to yours~

I celebrate my birthday today, December 21.

 Bill celebrated his on Tuesday and we shall celebrate our 43 rd wedding anniversary tomorrow, December 22~

Meaka with me, and Meaka with husby Bill~

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/)

One of the highlights of this past year, was in traveling to Tennessee and viewing thousands of Sandhill Cranes...Amazing!

Our precious, precious family~

We have lots of Blue Jays in our area, but this turned out to be one of my favorite images for this year~

Meaka turned 5 on December 2.  Here she poses in front of the Christmas tree~

The female Cardinal to me, is a gorgeous as are the all red males~

Our oldest daughter and her husby Andrew and twin sons Cullen and Kerrick~

Male Cardinal and female above, were also some of my favorite shares for this past season~

Twins Cullen and Kerrick, will turn 4 in March. 
They are full of energy, and quite smart for their age, even knowing the US President, Vice President and Secretary of State's names, among other fun facts~

As many know, one of my favorite birds, are Swallows and the images below, were most assuredly 2 of my favorites shares for the year~

Our middle daughter Brittany, for whom many have been lifting up these past few weeks, and her husby Dale and new pup-cub Lexi. 
Brittany continues to recover, very slowly.
It will take another good month for full strength to return.
Thanking each of you so very, very much for your wonderful comments, thoughts and prayers. 
We have felt them~

I just really, really liked this mosaic when I created it, and still do~


This is Brittany and Dale's oldest son Thomas 9, with our Meaka and Survhee cat. 
He is so bright and loves math and being big brother to his 2 siblings, and part time care giver to their new pup-cub~

Last winter the European Starling population brought news crews from all over the US to film, and I had to get in a series also~

Brittany and Dale's youngest son is Braden 4. 
He called this cloud his "little boy cloud";')~
Braden can explain all kinds of big machine facts...like his daddy, he knows his cars and big rigs~

More from the series on European Starling invasion last winter~

Our first grand-daughter Maci was introduced to us on November 19 and she is absolutely adorable and so adored by all~

The husby and I had driven to the "big city" and I was trying to get some interesting snow images...

thought this one was interesting then and now~

We had our first German Shepherd growing up briefly in Portland Oregon.  His name was Silver, and when the family moved to Kentucky, Silver was given to the Post Master there.
My father would many years later get another German Shepherd and named him Silver also. 
My husby got our first German Shepherd when he was on the Sheriff's department back in 1972, and her name was Belit'. 
Then came Vanda  11 years later, who grew up along side our 3 daughters.
Our first Long Haired German Shepherd was Muschka and we now have our second one of the Long Haired breed...and of course her name is Meaka.
With this all being said, it was not a huge surprise, when one of our daughters chose this breed as their own...Enter Lexi~

Many of you may remember the amazing encounter that I had with this gorgeous hybrid raptor. 

It is a cross breed of a Red-Shouldered Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk...evidently quite rare~

About 6 weeks later and a few miles away as a bird flies, I came across a male Red-Shouldered Hawk, in copulation mode with a Red-tailed Hawk...the above may have been a past seasons's offspring. 
After photographing this rare pair, I went to location a couple of days later and the male had been accidentally hit, or flew into a vehicle and was blinded. 
He survived for several months, but finally had to be gently put down. 
This is one encounter in nature that was all so very incredible, as well as heart wrenching~

Sometimes what we see in nature is not always beautiful and yet, we accept it, as nature at it's best. 
That was what I felt when I took the captures below of another pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks with a Blue Jay and a Skink~

Our youngest daughter Ashleigh...full of fun, adventure, so very bright...
a delight to be around. 
She is home for the holidays from her home of LA, and hopefully will stay on a few months beyond the season~

I had a lot of comments about this Canada Goose collage when I first shared it...

What a cold day, that was too~

I have also had a cat most of my life. 
My first growing up was Smokie, and then as a young lady out on my own, I had a Siamese. 
In between, there have been many, all inside cats. 
The black Spencer Ivy is now 16 and the fluffy survivor cat, I named Survhee Pipka is

approximately 18 months old now. 

They get on swell with Meaka, but not so much each other. 

Spencer is too old, for Survhee's antics~

I took the image below of the American Robin as spring tree buds were beginning to open, always a sign of hope to me~

I am especially thinking today, about the special time of the season, but also for those precious lives lost a week ago today in an act of total evil. 
I pray for peace to come to those families who are grieving...

The last favorite image share for this past year is the juvie Red-Tailed Hawk below.  The branches may be in the way, but there was something really very natural about this share. 

I probably like it as one of my best for this past blogging year~