Drops of Beauty #248

December 13, 2024

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Friday the 13th! It’s been a very full week for me and I can tell I need a bit more quiet and rest this weekend. The forecast appears cloudy and maybe damp, which seems to also point towards some nice cups of tea and a little more quiet. Maybe I’ll catch up a bit on photos because I’m behind again (as usual).

Here are some moments of beauty for today:

Sunrise, December 8, 2024

Sometimes the hawks let me get closer when it’s darker, perhaps they don’t think I can see them as well. Such a lovely Cooper’s hawk!

I did have to go right past the tree, so no chance she was sticking around. Look at that floof of white feathers!

This is what hawks seem to almost always do before they take off, lol, you don’t want to be in line with that white floof.

Goodbye beautiful, please visit again!

Sunrise, December 1, 2024

My yellow-rumped warbler friends is showing you how she got her name.

The yellow-rumped warblers travel in packs and where they go some of the more solitary birds - like kinglets - often follow. It seems like the warblers are the risk takers and everyone else feels safe when they’ve deemed the area “all clear”.

Ruby-crowned kinglets are tiny, but they sure can floof out those feathers when it’s cold! I’d like to be covered in feathers.

My titmouse friend is intently working on something.

This junco photo was taken three weeks ago and already the entire color scheme has changed. No more yellow and green!

Life is always better with a friend.

My Carolina wren friend striking her “profound thinker” pose.

But then showing me the “I’m such a goofball” pose.

Still a few colors to be found, but not many.

The ring-billed gulls have increased in numbers, there are several hundred out in the morning now.

It’s been a month since I’ve seen Bonaparte’s gulls, but I have seen them in December before so there’s still hope!

For my birder friends, this is a decent shot of the “leading white edge” on the upper wing of a Bonaparte’s gull which is a good diagnostic for identification.

Barred owl’s stare says, “keep going friend, this is my spot.”

May your weekend be restorative to body, mind, and spirit.