Posts in Category: Birds and Animals
Snow covered deer
Herd of 5 deer eating their breakfast at the bird feeder. Now that we are at our new home, the deer are more tolerant of humans and come closer to the houses. The girls love to watch them eat at the feeders.
Honeysuckle sweetness
Isabella, now 4, posing in front of the honeysuckle bushes. It has been amazing watching her grow into a beautiful little girl.
Avian silhouette
Early birds get the worm. This house sparrow is sitting on a shepherd’s hook waiting to dig into the morning meal of seeds.
House Sparrows
House Sparrows have lived around humans for centuries. Look for them on city streets, taking handouts in parks and zoos, or cheeping from a perch on roof or trees in your yard. House Sparrows aren’t related to other North American sparrows, and they are differently shaped. House Sparrows are chunkier, fuller in the chest, with a larger, rounded head, shorter tail, and stouter bill than most American sparrows. This adult female has been feeding her young right outside the window of our 2 year old, much to her delight.
White-handed gibbon
Gibbons are apes, not monkeys. Also called the lesser apes, gibbons differ from great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) in being smaller and in not making nests. Gibbons are masters of their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, swinging from branch to branch for distances of up to 50 ft, at speeds as high as 35 mph. They can also make leaps of up to 26 ft, and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance. They are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals. Depending on species and gender, gibbons’ fur coloration varies from dark to light brown shades, and anywhere in between black and white. It is rare to see a completely white gibbon.
Paper Kite Butterfly
The Paper Kite, Rice Paper, or Large Tree Nymph butterfly is normally found in Southeast Asia and is known especially for its presence in butterfly greenhouses and live butterfly expositions. This one was found at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, OH during National Public Gardens Day.
Cardinals
Got up at 5am and drove to Blendon Woods Metro Park to shoot some photos. Best action was at a bird feeder near one of the blinds. These are male and female Northern Cardinals. The bottom one is a male going through the molting process. Talk about a bad hair day!
Cardinal returns
After an absence of almost 2 years, a cardinal has returned to the corkscrew willow tree and the feeders. It is always a welcome sight to see the bright red color of a cardinal in the winter. Hopefully this male will stay around through Spring and find a mate.
Sky Giraffe
How often do you get to feed a 17 foot giraffe carrots through the sunroof of your car? This male giraffe was very entertaining to my 18 month old daughter. Her eyes told the story as she saw his 18 inch tongue stretch out and curl around the carrots. Great experience!