SkyWatch Friday: Bare Bones

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ABC Wednesday: C is for Culvert

Part of a trail near my house as well as part of the road was undergoing construction until recently. 

After they finished I realized they were putting in a new culvert which I photographed in the first shot. The second shot is of another culvert.

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Our World Tuesday: Icy Scenes

I was happy when I saw snow in the forecast for Friday because I've been hoping for a nice fluffy snow.

It ended up being a small amount of snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain. Basically a repeat of what we had the prior week.

I enjoyed having icicles to photograph but I still want a decent snow. The shot above is of my sundial and the one below is of the icicles on my chimney cover.

Perhaps we'll get some snow before winter is over.

The male cardinal above was feasting on some treats I put out in honor of the bad weather.

The bluejay above had icy tail feathers so it was literally freezing its tail off. The rufous-sided towhee below was in a dry spot feeding on the deck wall where it joins my house.

  

The nandina berries below had a coating of ice.

Two female cardinals, a rufous-sided towhee and a sparrow were partying.

The yellow-rump warbler was digging for seeds that were covered with ice but I put fresh ones out after I took the shot.

The female cardinal in the next shot was also eating on my deck wall.

Normally I avoid shots which show the part of the deck wall which has been damaged but since the icicles formed, I included some damaged wall portions in this post. The next shot is of my next door neighbor's car.

  

The sparrow looked uncertain about the water in the bird bath. Probably because the fresh water I added was quickly freezing.

I used to keep bird feeders up but in recent years, I only feed the birds in bad weather. I turn my deck into one great big bad weather feeding station.

The junco above and another below were taking advantage of the bad weather food.

I didn't see any cedar waxwings during the snow, sleet and freezing rain but the gang of them below were having a drink the day before the storm.

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The Weekend in Black and White: Cedar Waxwings

In the winter, cedar waxwings flock to my trees and watch me remove the ice from their bird bath. As soon as I put the fresh water in I get my camera and photograph them through the door windows.

 

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SkyWatch Friday: Blue Skies Dominate for a Change

After one snowy wintery mix evening, blue has dominated the sky for a change.

I've enjoyed the blue skies because we've had more than our share of gray.

We did have one late afternoon that made me think of Edgar Allen Poe.

I like the way the afternoon light hit the bare branches in the next shot.

There is a bronze quality to winter afternoon light on the trees, when the sun is out.

There is a small moon in the next shot on the left.

Then I zoomed in on the moon for a closer look.

On a weekend walk I took a bunch of shots of the gulls at the lake.

 It was chilly and they were very active.

I definitely made up for an absence of blue in prior weeks by shooting the blue skies during this week.

     

I took a lot of pictures of the great blue heron in the pine tree and have already posted other shots of this same bird.

Every morning the cedar waxwings gather in the tree over my deck and wait for me to get the ice out of the bird bath and add fresh water.

Another shot of the moon several days after the one I posted before.

The American Robins also watch for fresh water.

Below is a cedar waxwing I shot another morning.

And here's a group of them on yet another morning.

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ABC Wednesday: B is for Brevard

Brevard, NC is a small town in the southern NC mountain range.

Brevard is close to Asheville which I used for A of this round.

The first two shots are in downtown Brevard and the last one was taken heading out of Brevard this fall.

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Our World Tuesday: Wintry Mix

Thursday night we finally got a little snow.

It was coming down hard for a while but later switched to freezing rain that beat down the snow and formed an ice layer over night.

The next morning it looked like snow until I got out and started crunching ice with each step.

I would still like a nice fluffy snow but this was better than nothing.

My St. Francis statue was adorned with an ice cap.

Some of the trees had a little bit of the white stuff.

I put out a few treats for the birds.

My stone frog wore icy garments for a while.

Some premature camellias wore icy hats.

The ivy went snap, crackle, pop when I walked through it.

The nandina berries looked pretty in their winter clothes.

On closer inspection you can see how the ice formed over the snow.

I bet the female cardinal's feet were cold.

By Sunday most of the ice and snow was melted and I caught an air ballet at the lake performed by the gulls.

I spotted a great blue heron high up in a pine tree.

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