Heron in flight

I got a new favorite shot whilst down by the dam.

{25 May 2014}

Hummingbird closeup

We found a dead hummingbird at the Goza residence.

I guess sometimes the little guys' hearts just give out.

Maybe that sugar water puts them into super hyper overdrive.

Well, this one was quite perfectly preserved. 

Its amazing these little birds can survive in storms...

they weigh so little you think they'd get blown away.

The boys and I had a nice little biology lesson. 

And a burial.

RIP, hummer.

{June 2014}

River Walk

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Muscatine.

So I went for a walk along the river.

And took my camera along for good measure.

 Lots of other people had the walk idea.

Or run.

Or ride.

But I was the only one I saw out shooting eagles.

 Ba gawk!

 Shreik!

Find the eagles in this photo.

 

{28 December 2013}

Larvae?

I'll look it up momentarily,

but we saw what looked like a mud dauber

nest on our eaves.

When we scraped it off, this is what was in it.

Are they larvae?

Every single one was different!

{1September 2012}

Update: It looks like it WAS a dauber nest,

and they like to eat spiders...they stock their nests

with them.

Who knew??

Thanks Wikipedia!

Garden friend

I found this dude in the garden

one night while I was watering.

{July2012}

Kitty-kats

 My sister has a gargantuan cat.

His name is Sylvester.

Even though he's huge,

he's pretty much a ragdoll.

Welll...during my nephews' birthday party,

we discovered some kittens next door.

And this one is a mini-Sylvester.

Hmmm.

{21July2012}

Pelicans

These large pelicans always fly over Muscatine in the summertime.

But this year, they've hung around.

It was pretty neat to see them up close,

fishing by the dam.

June 2012

Conversation with a goose

A lovely trip to

Anderson Japanese Gardens

in Rockford.

 In which le Kiwi speaks to a goose. Nicely.

 And we see lovely dogwoods.

 Cascading water.

 Pose with our momma.

And contemplate the possiblity of adding water features to our own gardens.

{May 2012}

If anyone gets annoyed at pet owners...

don't look at this post.

Awww...isn't my sweet kitty adorable?

She climbs into my bag and just make herself at home.

And leaves behind hairy remembrances.

Bad kitty? Or not?

Nah.

She's not being bad.

We made her a yarn nest.

And she had fun frolicking in it.

And we had fun encouraging her to tangle it up as much as she wanted.

And we hope she doesn't take to

doing this with the good yarn.

{July 2011}

Chiiiiirp.

Ever had one of these guys outside your window

catching bugs...

while you're trying to go to sleep?

Lemme tell you, their vocals are quite audible.

{May 2011}

Bird is the word

I stumbled upon this in the parking lot one day.

And was sad.

That I was too late to save it.

Poor lady cardinal.

{April 2011}

In the jungle

We see snakes!

Some harmless.

Some not-so-harmless.


And yet, we still smile as we go.
{March 2011}

MotMot

We saw several of these stunning birds

While river cruising in Costa Rica.
{March 2011}