Swanning around

Jude’s moved from purple to white as the color of the month, maybe in deference to the white heat of Arizona (106F today). While back in the park during my recent trip to Illinois, I spotted one of a pair of mute swans. My guess is that this is the male and the female is either somewhere sitting on a nest of eggs or hanging out with tiny cygnets. I managed to creep up relatively close to this one by walking along a back path, moving very slowly once I got within sight, and then stay more or less behind some bushes.While beautiful to see, swans are often very aggressive so it’s just as well I wasn’t too close.

for Life in Colour: white

Meet

for One Word Sunday: meet/meat

Point

for One Word Sunday: point

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #142 – You Pick It!

Ann-Christine gives us the choice today to pick what we’d like to share and her beautiful flowers can literally be picked. What do I have here in Arizona? Since our move just over a year ago, other than cacti, I’ve been mostly taking photos of birds, so here are a few recent favorites.

Let’s drop in at the Riparian Preserve and see what we can find. A harrier hawk is always fun.

“He imagines a necessary joy in things that must fly to eat.”
― Wendell Berry

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”
― Robert Lynd

Then there’s the spoonbill who came during one of the storms in the south and has been here all winter. Here it’s balancing on one leg while looking astonished. Is that like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time? Pretty in pink but what a big mouth!!

may my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living ~e. e. cummings

There are lots of spectacular birds but there are also the cute, more approachable ones that you might see in your yard.

Wherever there are birds, there is hope. Mehmet Murat Ildan

If you’re a fish, you’d prefer to see this haughty cormorant perched on a limb rather than in the water where they run silent, run deep, run deadly.

Tomorrow, the birds will sing. Be brave. Face life. ~Charlie Chaplin

A pod of pelicans arrived towards the end of last year and a few have stuck around. I didn’t realize that pairs like this fish and swim in tandem, for all the world like synchronized swimmers. Of course the swimmers don’t usually eat fish while performing, at least I hope not!

And now it’s back to the weekend. I hope you’re enjoying yours.

Backlit

Everything is black and white

Although when in the sleepy pod the first day I saw them these American pelicans looked, with the exception of their exceptional beaks, completely white, on this day they were showing off their underlying black decorative touches.

“Life is better in black and white!”
― Avijeet Das

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!”
― Ted Grant

Does this count for birds, too? Stretch those wings!

“The most colorful thing in the world is black and white, it contains all colors and at the same time excludes all.”
― Vikrmn, 10 Alone

Little photo bombing snowy egret in the background.

Photo bombing again, but in aggressive cormorant black. Doesn’t the middle pelican look as if it has its proverbial hands on proverbial hips in annoyance?

It’s also Pearl Harbor Day here in the U.S. as well as my mom’s and good friend’s birthdays. Can you imagine living in California and having your birthday on Pearl Harbor Day? Not the best birthday my mom ever had!

We’re all flying…

by the seat of our pants these days. Some of us just do it more easily and naturally.

Yes, I am beautiful. Adore me.

for Six Word Saturday 11.14.20

P’s in a pod

Yesterday I finally ventured back to the Preserve in weather chillier than that in Chicago and Philadelphia. There weren’t too many people, but there were still lots of birds. I saw what I thought was a group of egrets huddled together. Turns out they were pelicans, a first for me!

The woman I was standing near asked me what a group of pelicans was called. I said a pod because it sounded good together and lo and behold, I was right! The group can also be called a pouch, a scoop, a squadron or, if they are fishing as a group, a fleet. In science-fiction movies, you should never, ever go near a pod, especially slimy one. However, this pod was benign, but chilly.

As the sun came out, heads began to rise.

Ahh, feels SO good to stretch and yawn. My, what a big mouth you have!!

Bottoms up!

I’m happy to report that I’m finally almost back to normal. What a relief! Seeing ducks like this always amuses me so I thought it might be a nice way to start the week after the tension and animus of the last months. It’s not as easy as it looks to keep your derrière in the air! Their little webbed feet go like crazy to maintain that position. 🙂 After this last week, I personally am looking forward putting bottoms up to a nice glass of wine!