I was out and about one day last week and I found the three red leather bound books with wonderful decoration on the spines to go with with set I already had in black. I love the sporting themes. They were in a very unlikely place in a resale shop that sells mostly clothes and accessories. I am thrilled with these antiquarian books to add to my collection.
I have been working furiously outside while the weather is still cool and enjoying everything about the hard work except for the ticks. I will soon be down to nothing but mowing with much less danger. I put up another bluebird box far away from the one near my house to hopefully attract another family with no competition from the nesting couple already in residence.
I watched this PBS Documentary about Al Larson and it is simply wonderful. It's 30 minutes long and there is a lot of archival footage. I know you will enjoy his complete single-handed devotion to enlarging the bluebird population in Southern Idaho after he retired and beyond.
Read this article first and you will be encouraged to watch the video.
Al Larson is responsible for bringing 27,000 bluebirds into his hand-made nest boxes he nailed up on his ranch and along the numerous trails in the area. At least I think that was the figure mentioned in the documentary. Be prepared to fall in love with him. I know I did!
Tomorrow I will update this post and put in a video about his wife.
I am very excited that this bluebird and his mate are building a nest in my bluebird box for the first time in about three years. The Carolina wrens have always beat them to it. I made a few changes to the surrounding area that might have made a difference. I moved my bird feeder from my balcony to a spot near this nesting box and the bluebirds are enjoying perching atop the tall shepherd's hook to look for insects. I took this photo from inside the house with my telephoto lens on my Nikon. They perch here also looking for insects to eat themselves and feed their young after they hatch,
I also moved this tall chicken planter to the flower bed in front of the bluebird box where my poppies were last year. The female bluebird pulled a lot of the Spanish moss out from under this clay hen to "feather" her nest and I thought that was a good sign she was moving in and would soon lay her blue eggs. Fingers crossed for baby bluebirds once again. You know I love them so! Bluebirds are also perching all over this fancy wire plant stand to look for insects in the grass.
I took down this birdhouse and replaced it with the one with a copper roof. This is one of my bluebirds on an older post. I always thought this birdhouse was too small but I still have it and plan to put it up again in a different location on my property.
This is one of my bluebird photos from a post in 2009. As you can see, I sometimes add more photos to an existing post rather than make a totally new one. I started out with bluebirds last night and this morning they are still on my mind.
Listen to the birdsong of the Eastern Bluebird on YouTube.
My dog friend Missy is staying with me for three days and she settled right in. This is her second long weekend with me and the weather is perfect for our walks. I honestly don't know how people with dogs managed during the long winter with two feet of snow on the ground for so long. I guess I must be fair-weather dog person.
I found a great article about someone who found an old school house and converted it into a delightful home. I love this country kitchen so much. Read the article here and see the rest of the house.
Just rolling off: You’ve probably heard the expression “like water off a duck’s back.” Here's where that idiom comes from. The spectacled eider’s feathers are so waterproof that the water just beads up and rolls off. This image of the near-threatened species, which breeds on the coasts of Alaska and Siberia, attracted nearly a million Instagram likes. Nat Geo Explorer Tim Laman photographed this male at the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Connecticut, which maintains genetic diversity of rare and endangered species.
I am so happy to see this bird since I sleep under an Eiderdown comforter almost every night. I don't think I have ever seen a photo of an Eider and I'm sure I would have remembered such an unusual looking waterfowl.
Lifelong collector of antiques. Things that interest me: animals, cottage and country life, fine art, architecture, antiquarian books and prints, dogs, natural history and sporting items, gardening, photography, graphic design, humor, quotes, real estate, interior design, renovation, restoration, learning new things, electronics and technology. This blog, established in 2008, reflects my own personal taste and will never bore you. Rosemary Beck
