Bird Identification Needed Please...

Rumor has it that the woman who lived in our house before we moved in had an unholy fear of fire.  Whether or not this is true, I have no idea.  But I suspect that there may be some truth to the rumor because there are two large firebells in the house.   These bells would do an elementary school (built in the early 1900s) proud.  One is located on the front porch and one is located on the wall where our bed sits.  We disabled these bells shortly after moving into the house some ten years ago or so.  I figured that if one went off in the middle of the night, I would probably die of a heart attack before I would have any way of dealing with a fire.  We go with the modern smoke alarms now.

Of course, we have never bothered to remove these bells and the one on the porch has proved to be useful as a nesting place for barn swallows.  Probably five out of the ten years we have lived here, there has been a swallow nesting on that bell.

A bird took up residence again this year.  About a week and a half ago, I started hearing little teeny chirps coming from the nest.  Pretty soon the little head popped up.  Then soon after that, the baby was standing on the side of the nest.  When I saw that I naturally said, “Get back in there.  You’re going to fall.  What would your mother think?”  I am a mother after all and have a few mothering instincts.  But the next day, big and little bird had flown the coop.  I guess the baby was ready after all.

Now the dilemma…these were not swallows.  I am not certain what they are but we are torn between a Least Flycatcher and an Eastern Phoebe.  It kind of looks more like a Flycatcher but acts more like a Phoebe.  I got confused after I saw the pics I took.  After all, while the bird was nesting, we went out of our way to give her privacy and didn’t really do a lot of looking.  So, I am asking anyone who knows birds to help me identify our recent boarder. 

As an aside, the day after those birds left, I was looking out the window and saw a turkey walking through the yard.  We have turkeys pass through here on many occasions but this particular turkey was trailed by three little turkeys.  How cute!  I took a few pictures but the light was too low to get a good one.  I hope they pass through again before the babies get too big.

I like the shiny parts....

A few years ago, my husband Greg came home with a motorcycle.  I guess as far as mid-life crises are concerned, that’s a pretty mild one.  At least he waited until the kids grew up.

Now, me…I have no (and I mean NO) interest in the things.  I’m more concerned with staying up on two feet.  Never mind two wheels.  But being the good sport that I am, I join Greg at group rallies now and then.  I have come to learn that cyclists (oops!  I mean bikers) do appreciate having a car around especially when it rains.

The group (I hesitate to call it a “gang”) Greg rides with has at least one summer rally every year.  This year (as last year) one of these rallies was held in Palenville, New York, which is in the Catskills.  Not being versed in such things, I have extrapolated that the area is good for riding because of the hills and curves and stuff like that.  But it is a very beautiful area even if you aren’t on a motorcycle. 

 

I take my camera, of course.  And I have decided that though I don’t much like motorcycles while they are in motion, I think they look pretty cool standing still.  I like the shiny parts.

I also like the people in Greg’s “gang” very much.  May they all ride happy and safe.

  And remember, folks, drive carefully because motorcycles are everywhere.

How to win a rain out....

“Now there’s three things you can do in a baseball game:  You can win or you can lose or it can rain.” ~Casey Stengel

We must have been channeling Casey Stengel in June when a group from the Massasoit Art Guild decided to take a bus trip to Salem, Massachusetts.  The plan was to ride up there to enjoy a boat ride and a little bit of time walking around Salem.  On a nice day, that would definitely have been a win.  Or, I suppose, the weather could have been sooooo bad that the trip would have been canceled.  That would have been a loss.  But what we got was rain.

I’m not complaining.  The boat trip was good even though the last third of it was in a downpour.  I still took a few photos although my paranoia about getting my equipment wet won out in the end and I was more concerned about ruining something than getting a usable shot.  But I got a few nonetheless.

Well, these photos have been stewing on my hard drive for a little while now.  We actually took this Salem trip a month ago on June 11.  But my excuse is that I have been pretty busy this summer.  Lame, I know.  I should have looked at them right away but got distracted by something or other and didn’t get to them until now.

While looking through them, I realized that on a grey day out on the water, things look pretty black and white.  So I decided to process many of them in black and white.  I also realized that a pretty darn good way to get dry after a rainy boat ride is to eat clam chowder and drink a nice micro-brewed stout for lunch.  That’s how to win even if you get rained out.

Thanks to Don Doe for planning this trip.

Sharing Leftovers...

Thomas Fuller said, “Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories, stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.”  Had Fuller lived in the present day, he could also add that leftovers are stored on the hard drive of my computer.

Most times when I go on trips, I take a lot of photos.  Sometimes, I can’t find all that many that I am happy with.  But this last trip I took with my daughter, Carrie, was an exception.  I seem to have lots of leftovers. 

 

We left Massachusetts and stopped overnight in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  Altoona turned out to be a very photogenic and interesting place.  We left Altoona and drove on to Salt Fork State Park in eastern Ohio for a family reunion.  What a beautiful place!  We had a great time with the Paul Meier family and though I am no how related to them (except through my husband, Greg), they are so welcoming, one would never know.  Not an obvious looser in that bunch!  

Next we traveled on to Middletown, Ohio to visit my family for my mother’s 83rd birthday.  It was great meeting my new great niece Payton and getting fed for two days in a row by my sister Cindy, one of the best cooks going.  

Then it was back home.  It’s always good to be home where I am able to share my leftovers…

Flowers in the window.  Altoona, PA

Faded Glory.  Altoona, PA

 

 

The Paul Meier Clan and some hangers on.

The Uninvited Guest

Payton

The very cute and smart Maddie...another great niece.

Having coffee at Kidd's Coffee, Middletown, Ohio