January 16, 2014

Animals Come in All Sizes

This time I want to feature some more bird photos from December that I had not yet published, and some photos of cattle that caught my attention. The first three photos show pairs of birds near each other but not paying much attention to each other.

female House Sparrow and House Finch

Female House Sparrow and House Finch (27-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

two female House Finches

Two Female House Finches (I) (28-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

two female House Finches (different pose)

Two Female House Finches (II) (28-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

And here is a solitary male House Finch trying to hide in the thick branches of our Flowering Plum tree.

male House Finch in tree

Male House Finch in Our Flowering Plum Tree (30-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

On December 30, I was driving around south of Elkton and Mcgaheysville, and saw cattle grazing and resting on several farms. They are not "wild" animals, but they are fun to watch nonetheless!

Angus cattle resting in a meadow

Angus Cattle Resting in a Meadow (30-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

a Holstein resting in a meadow

A Holstein Resting in a Meadow (30-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Cattle can be very inquisitive rather skittish when people are around. Here they are checking out the photographer.

a Holstein checks out the photographer

A Holstein Looks at the Photographer (30-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

an Angus looks at the photographer

An Angus Is Just as Inquisitive (30-Dec-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

As the saying goes, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the county out of the boy." (Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs) And I am an example of this. After a PhD and 31 years of teaching college physics, farming still has quite the appeal for me.

January 7, 2014

A Focus on Juncos and Cardinals

On the second day of the new year, we had a touch of snow on the ground and birds were getting food from our feeder and on the ground underneath. As usual they sat in our ash tree and flowering plum tree to eat their fare or to reconnoiter the area. For some reason the Juncos have been numerous this winter.

a Junco in a tree

A Junco in a Tree (2-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

a Hybci wirjs ib seeds frin iff if tge griybd

A Junco Works on a Seed on the Ground (I) (2-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

a Junco works on another seed

A Junco Works on a Seed on the Ground (II) (2-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

And here are two of a male Cardinal in a tree. They were taken just over 20 minutes apart, so they were probably of the same Cardinal. We normally do not have more than one Cardinal near our feeder at any one time.

male Cardinal faces backward

Male Cardinal Faces Backward (2-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

a male Cardinal in a tree facing forward looking right

Male Cardinal Faces Forward but Looks Right (2-Jan-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

These photos were from January 2. Today, five days later, it was -1^o F (-18^o C) at daybreak. So I will have to look and see if any are risking getting out to get more food to keep warm.

January 1, 2014

A Few to Start the New Year

For our transition to 2014, I'll begin with a few photos from today and then go back a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy these photos of animals in our backyard.

Junco hunts for food