Oklahoma sunset

Its late spring....Moving into summer.

I can never pass up a chance to take that shot

that is back lit by the sun.



Jelly, jelly, jelly!

The Baltimore Orioles are everywhere.....And I am loving it!

Last week I went through 4 lbs of grape jelly!

Of course, not only are the Baltimore Orioles eating the grape jelly...There are Catbirds, Mockingbirds, finches, sparrows, and other birds.

My backyard is a rainbow.... of the bird variety! Bluejays, Goldfinch, House Finch, Cardinals, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds....Colors everywhere.

Do you know what this is?

Bodark, Horse apple, Osage orange

 

If you know what this is you probably grew up in or around Texas or Oklahoma.We grew up seeing these odd shaped fruits. When you cut this fruit open there are seeds inside. The squirrels LOVE the seeds.

The tree is thorny.

It is used as a wind block.

Bows are made from this tree.

It reminds me of growing up here in Oklahoma



Spring is only months away......

It's kind of wrong for me to say this, but I already miss warmer weather and can't wait until spring. I have so many plans for the garden and re-doing the backyard. But I will wait and keep making my plans.

White-breasted Nuthatch

 So, what this nuthatch is doing is wedging this nut into the tree.

He will strike at it and break it open releasing the meat and gobbling it up.

The nuthatches are a sweet little bird. We have the White-breasted Nuthatch year round. We get the Red-breasted Nuthatch in the fall/winter.

Brown Creeper

It was the highlight of my weekend to see this Brown Creeper. They are soooo cute. We only get these cuties in the fall/winter.They move up the tree in search of insects. When it reaches the top it flies to the base of the next tree and works its way up that tree.

American White Pelican

Here are some American White Pelicans. It was a real treat to see them at our local lake.

Catch and release

The name of this stamp is Catch and release. I added color using both Primsacolor pens and watercolor pencils. Glitter was added for highlights. The ribbon is a jute ribbon. I really like this image. It was one of our first images (in our very first catalog).

Fall is in the air.

 The trees are finally starting to turn.

 I love the view of these photos.

 I love this season and the cooler weather.

Soon all these leaves will be gone, leaving the branches bare.

Great Blue Heron

 

 So this weekend at our local lake we saw a lot of

Great Blue Herons.

This guy was looking for treats to eat. I was kind of comical to watch them.

 Here is one of their landings.

Here is yet another landing.

They often make a call as they are flying. I did hear one call when it was it was just standing around.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

So the Yellow-rumped Warbler is back. They are here only in the fall and winter. This is a cute warbler the moves around a lot. You can see them on the ground or in the trees. Most often I spot them on the ground. These warblers are usually in small groups.

 

 

They have a bit of yellow under their wing as you can see in the photo above.

 

And as their name implies, they have yellow on their rump. They can be seen at your feeders. Most likely they are looking for black oil sunflower seeds, peanut butter, raisins, and suet. I love when they are back in town!

Oh deer!

 The deer at our local lake (Lake Thunderbird) look really good.

Last winter they were very thin! I felt really bad. We had a very dry harsh summer the previous year.

 This past summer was a lot milder. They do look good.