Swainson's Thrush and Other Birds

I decided to get busy stitching the next of Beth Twist's Pacific NW birds, and have chose to stitch the Swainson's Thrush on the bottom left of the chart. It looks rather autumnal.  

These birds are looking autumnal too.

This is my youngest and smallest California Quail chick.  He and his father come by every day.

And I now have a new group stopping by.  This is a covey of about 13 young birds in the care of two adult males.  The birds are young enough that I cannot yet tell the males from the females.

I can tell the adult male bird easily enough!

Here's the new group again.

And here are two birds from my older, larger group.

It is easy to distinguish the females from the males.

This looks like an engagement card!

It should be titled The Happy Couple. 

Over the Weekend

Over the weekend I spent a fair amount of time working on Mosey 'n Me's "Primitive Cat."  All the pink below the nose is new as is the tail.  Still lots to do, but am feeling like this is something I can get finished in the next couple of months.

I'd also like to thank everyone for their good wishes on the Roseburg Dahlia Show.  My sister got two entries on the Head Table (a BIG deal!).  This triple of 'Embrace" was one of the two Head Table winners.

Over the weekend I saw several groups of around 20 Cedar Waxwings.

This group was mostly young birds.

This group was a mix of juveniles and adults.

I love their high-pitched chatter...

...and their elegant good looks.

Sunday evening at dusk my father happened to notice this! 

A Great Horned Owl perched in one of the large second growth Douglas fir trees close to the house.

The bird never said a word.

But it did make a nice silhouette for us to enjoy.

Sunday Critter Report

With gray days, the Anna's look a but dull.

But while they may look a bit dull, they certainly do not act dull!

They are so much fun to watch.

They are among the first birds to be active in the morning.

They buzz to the Mudroom Flowerbed for nectar...  

...and to the feeders to refuel and re-energize.

I was hoping for a better photo of the mature male, but this is the best I have.

There's so much 'natural' food available, that I haven't seen much of the chipmunks lately.

This one was 'guarding' a woodpile down by Dorothy's Creek and was not pleased to have us nearby.

"There's nothing to see here - move on please!"

Predators have eyes in the front of their heads, prey have eyes on the sides on their head!

Yes, you funny bunny.  

You also have large ears to help you survive.

And how cool is this?  The snakeskin is about 18" long - a pretty good-sized snake.

Saturday in the Dahlia Garden

This weekend my sister will go down to Roseburg, Oregon for the last of the dahlia shows. 

She has 25 entries staged and ready to go.

This triple is my favorite - let's wish her good luck and take a look at the Dahlia Garden one more time.

Besides dahlias, she has some rows of cut flowers including cosmos... 

bachelor buttons...

and 'Persian Carpet' zinnias.

Now on to the dahlias.  

I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves.

My sister works on and off all year on her garden. Planning, purchasing, planting, tilling, setting out, growing, tending, digging up, dividing.  It is a passion for her.

A healthy garden attracts pollinators.

Love these pollen-speckled bumble bees in the zinnias.