Around the Yard>Dec 19

December 19, 2013

Linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday 

 I am sharing some of my backyard birds for NF Winged and some of the skies over my yard one evening. We need some warm days to melt the snow and ice that is still hanging around our yard.

I have a faithful Redbellied Woodie couple that frequently visit my feeders. They especially love the peanuts in the shell.

The Mourning Doves are all puffed out trying to keep warm. The weatherman is forcasting warmer temps at the end of this week and weekend. I hope they are right..

Another shot of my Redbellied Woodpecker..

 Wednesday evening there were a few colorful clouds around the backyard..

The moon this morning, was looking beautiful.

Seen this morning the waning gibbous and Jupiter above and to the right of the moon.

 I hope you enjoyed my birds, sky and  post. Thanks for visiting my blog and I always appreciate your comments.

I am looking forward to seeing you join in and share your critters on my MEME called Saturday Critters..early Saturday Morning..join in on the party and post your cute pets, wild animals, birds and the cute farm animals.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.   I wish everyone a safe and happy long weekend.

More backyard skies

It's time to link up with my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged.

Gee, I am coming up with some of the best titles.  But, that it is just what I am posting... my evening sky from this past weekend and some more backyard birds.  The one good thing about my yard is I do see lots of birds. I am combining my NF Winged post with my Skywatch Friday , so I hope you do not mind seeing my birds and skies.

This is a shot taken from my dining room window, a pretty female Downy Woodpecker.

I love this shot of the White-throated Sparrow.

This shot was from this past Saturday, the sky was mostly clear but some pink clouds appeared in the west. Of course after Saturday we have had fog, rain, cloudy skies and more rain.

So, these are the last of my pretty skies from my backyard for this week anyway. I hope the weather is better over the coming weekend. It is a long holiday weekend I am off Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday.


To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

More from around the yard

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday.

These are some shots from around my yard showing what it looks like after some snow in January.  Today was a bust weather wise, all we saw was a foggy damp day. So much for today being sunny and 60 which was predicted for today.

In my mosaic, I have the Mourning Doves and a Cardinal, Holly Bush, Chickadee and Titmouse, more Mourning Doves, American Goldfinches and a couple of Pine Siskins.

We had to have a large pine tree cut down that was growing right next to our house and we saved some of these large pieces or stumps to use for bird baths or in this case I spread some sunflower seed on top for the birds or critters to eat.

At times my yard can be filled with Mourning Doves, they seem a little shy around me. In the photo above the weeping cherry tree is a favorite spot for all the birds to land before going to the birdfeeders. It is cool, some of my yardbirds let me stand out on the deck right next to them.

The tangled monster behind the birdhouse is a trumpet vine we have climbing up the side of our deck on a trellis. We did not cut it down in the fall because the birds use it to perch and hide in. I like to have lots of spots for the birds to go to for protection and my monster seems to work well. Above you can find a Chickadee on top of the birdhouse and behind is a Titmouse perch on the monster.

Above is my tree stump, some holly berries and my purple coneflower seed head. I have seen the Goldfinches on the seed head multiple times. It was well worth letting the flowers go to seed.

Around in the backyard is another tree stump with a bird bath sitting on it, but it was covered with snow on this day. On this side of the backyard we have some rhododendron bushes, butterfly bushes, a dogwood tree, an azalea bush in front our shed. I think hubby cuts back the butterfly bushes in the early spring and they grow back each year.

Above I caught a cute Red-breasted Nuthatch behind the Mourning Dove.

In the winter, the only color I see are the holly berries on our holly bushes. I hope you enjoyed the walk around my yard and my birds. 

To see more wonderful photos and mosaics please visit Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday
 Thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy .  Thanks also for stopping by to see my post.  I wish everyone a happy week!

SWF>>>Backyard sunset

For this week I am sharing a sunset and a Skywatch Friday from my backyard.

 This is the start of my skywatching for the evening. Plenty of beautiful clouds to make a pretty sunset.

While I am outside on my deck watching the skies I can not help but notice the birds. The hummers zooming by my head. 

 A male ruby-throated hummingbird, this little bird is king of my yard and feeders.

  My fluffy looking cardinal, another male bird that likes to chase other birds away from my feeders. Mr. Cardinal was a little frustrated that I was hanging out on my deck. He will not come to the feeders while I am standing around taking photos.

I hope you enjoyed my skywatch and to see more beautiful skies from around the world
 please visit Skywatch Friday!

Thanks to our wonderful hosts of Skywatch: Sylvia and Sandy. Thank you also for stopping by to see my skies. I hope you have a safe and happy weekend. Happy Skywatching!

Around the yard IX

It's time to link up with my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged

These are skies over my yard this week. I thought the contrails were cool looking, kind of like X marks the spot over my yard. I enjoy seeing my Goldfinches year round.

A walk to the lake, seeing the diamonds on the water.

For NF Winged I am showing my American Goldfinches.

My vulture sky a common sight to see over my yard.

A pretty view of the moon

X marks the spot.

One of my pretty Goldfinches.

More of the contrails, they could be writing Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in the sky. These shots of the sky were taken on Dec 23.


To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Around the yard VIII

It's time to link up with my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged

First my here are birds for NF Winged. I have a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

 The male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has the red on the throat and the head.

  and one of my regulars the White-Breasted Nuthatch. This is how I usually see the Nuthatch on my feeder. They love the peanut suet.

Between leaving for work early and having it get so dark early in the evening I have not had many chances to take sky shots. These are from last week. Below are two shots of the sunset, one from my back yard and the second is from near my mailbox on the street.

 The sunset from the front of my house and street.

 Above is a shot of the moon on Dec 3, it was early in the morning. I think it is a cool shot, the seeing the craters is neat.

Later the same day, I captured the moon during the daylight hours.



To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to the host of NF Winged.  Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Skywatch>>backyard

It is time to link up with one of my favorites memes Skywatch Friday and  NF Winged.  My entry this week is some of the skies above my yard and a few birds for NF Winged.

I enjoy watching the sky, a simple pleasure everyone can enjoy!

The Black Throated Green Warbler is still hanging around my yard. I guess it wants a full belly before it heads south.

I love to look up and see these beautiful white puffy clouds.

The Mourning Doves are a common visitor to my yard, on this day I had ten or more hanging around my deck and feeders.

Looking west after the sun had set, there were a few clouds left that turned a pretty pink.


To see more beautiful photos and pretty skies please visit Skywatch Friday
and NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

SWF>>>Backyard Skies

I am linking my post up with  Skywatch Friday  and NF Winged

One of my Goldfinches looking up at the sky

I love see the pink an blue sky and our trees are towering above our roof.

These are actually skies from two nights ago. Lately we are having mostly clear skies, so I can not really complain. I do enjoy watching the sky. 


To see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit: Skywatch Friday  and NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thank to Monica the host of NF Winged. Thank you for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.