Saturday Critters ~ 124 ~

The tree I generally use to photograph the birds is a

 

Sand Cherry Tree.

I took today's images on April 18th, when the tree was in bloom.

Black Capped Chickadee...


belting it out!!

A species of the Sparrow...

maybe a young bird, very brown in the back.

The next 3 are a Titmouse, that I am sure would come inside the house if I would invite him.

Today, the blooms have faded but is is still a favorite to all the birds that hang out in my yard.

Sharing today's images with

Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen

Longwood Gardens in Spring, The Finale!!

I have done three entries on my Spring visit to Longwood Gardens.

If you missed any of those posts, they can be found here, here, and here.

Today, we will take a peak inside the Conservatory, landscaped beautifully for Spring.

With all this purple, it's like they knew I was coming! 

This is the Green Wall or Living Wall inside the Conservatory. 

This wall is a curving structure that consists of 3,590 modular panels mounted on steel framework. 

Each panel has a select variety of plants, about 47,000 plugs in total.
It is the largest green wall in North America at more than 4,000 square feet.
The doors on the left are restrooms.

We have annual passes so we visit here often and the gardens are forever changing.
Beautifully landscaped for whatever season, it is a must see, if you are ever in the area.

April 21, 2015

Good Fences ~ Edition 110 ~

Spring in Longwood Gardens means thousands of gorgeous, colorful tulips.

Last week was prime viewing week, we visited on Thursday,

and there are no words to describe their beauty.

 It is one of the most beautiful places we visit year round,

Spring in the gardens has the most beautiful blooms!

This is a picture overload, scroll quickly or slowly, the choice is yours!!


Here's my fence...it "may" be overshadowed by the colorful tulips.


I think the mixed colors were my favorite.
















They resemble a patchwork quilt.








One yellow tulip among all the others, brushed with a beautiful stroke of red.


These yellow tulips looked like they had orange paint strokes,
and then there was one orange tulip, 
towering above the others.






Whoops, see the one purple tulip among all the yellows?






All of the tulips are identified by name.
Can you imagine trying to narrow down the images, what to share, after taking almost 400 pictures.
I think I will show the inside Conservatory tomorrow.
It's gorgeous as well!

Sharing today with my good friend

Theresa at The Run*A*Round Ranch

Yarn Along

Just yesterday, the purplish Honey Cowl came off of my circular needles, 
YaY!

 And at the present moment,

all of my needles are empty and sitting in the pretty jar I store them in.

I'm not sure what I would like to start next.

I really enjoyed working on this cowl.

Knitted with Madeline Tosh, I really liked the variations of color in the yarn.

Every so often, I would get a pop of red...I never knew when it was going to happen,

and it always made me smile.

You can see it pretty clearly in this image.

It didn't happen often but when it did, it was always a nice surprise!!

We have season passes for Longwood Gardens and we visited last week. 

I have been reading through the pretty souvenir book I purchased, the pictures are stunning.

I am joining Ginny at Small Things 

for

A New Perspective

Getting my usual, head shots of the birds is getting kind of easy for me, too easy.

~ True Story ~

I decided to challenge myself a little, 
and see what I could capture in one of the other trees in the yard.

All of the other trees are pretty far off from the window.

My friend Brian encouraged me about this topic, 
saying that 
"adding more of the natural environment is better than just a head shot". 

I agree, I like the special element it adds to the picture.

Let me know what you guys think...



 Female Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Red Winged Black Bird 

Robin Red Breast


Mourning Dove


One more of the Female Red-Bellied Woodpecker

I found these images harder to capture than the close-ups.
Primarily because these trees are so much further from the feeders.
The birds don't seem to land and hang out here.

And although I like these, I think I need something about half way, these seem way too far away!!
Hey Chuck, can you plant me a few trees, a few feet in front of these??