Blue Bird Yellow Birds

I've taken am older Bent Creek 'zippers' kit and changed out the fabric to 28 count Light Mocha Cashel and the fibers to DMC & WDW.  It's called "Blue Bird.

And while I've not seen any blue birds yet this year, I did have a new yellow bird return for the spring / summer.

A lovely male Western Tanager! 

He's larger than an American Goldfinch and the flash of yellow and red caught my eye.

He is not a 'feeder bird', but was nice enough to pose for several photos before flying off. 

This guy is a feeder bird.

A good old Scrub Jay.

I think the Juncos are nesting.  I only see one or two instead of the dozen or more that I had this winter. 

The Cedar Waxwings are also not feeder birds. But they have been hanging around in the evenings.  I first hear their soft high-pitched call as they talk among themselves. 

Then I find them in the trees at the edge of the backyard.

The Final Wednesday Walk for May

Design - "Pheasants" (an 'extra' card design for books 71 & 72)

Designer - The Prairie Schooler

Fabric - 32 count mystery fabric

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 19 May 2016

Finished - 22 May 2016

A kick stitch, though I had to fudge with it a bit to cover a couple of minor miss-counts.  I'm hoping that it is good karma and I'll see a pheasant or two this summer.

Our weather has improved, so let's go outside.

Nothing beats the green of the new growth on young Douglas fir trees. 

The Western Yellow Oxalis (Oxalis suksdorfii) is on bloom now.

Usually the native roses are rather scraggily and don't have many blossoms.  This year they are loaded!

And the blooms are quite lovely.

Hard to see in this photos, but the red blobs are the blooms of the Fragrant Fringecup (Tellima grandiflora). I've never bent down to smell it, but it is supposed to be quite fragrant.  

I had to look high and low, but finally found one plant of our native Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) that the deer had over-looked.  Hummingbirds are an extremely important pollinator for this plant.   

The Ash trees are in bloom.

A patch of daisies and Buttercups. 

New Oak galls.  They are as large as apples.

It's neat to discover a new wildflower. This one is at the edge of my sister's Dahlia GArden.  It is a Marsh Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis scorpioides), and as its name suggests it likes wet! It is growing at the edge of a natural spring.  

The Blue Dicks are in bloom and dot the meadows with lavender.

This is the first bloom I've see of the Western Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa). The blooms extend directly out of the leaf,

Here's the pale pink flowers of the Meadow Checker-Mallow (Lonicera ciliosa).

The first seeds (whirly-gigs as I call them) of the Vine Maple. 

More fresh green Douglas fir new growth.

The Blue Iris are about done.  I've enjoyed them the past new weeks.

Lots of white blossoms dot the edges of the forest including Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)...

...and our ubiquitous Blackberry.

We ave one large Elderberry.  It always blooms, but I never see any ripe fruit so have not been able to figure our whether it is a Red Elderberry or a Blu Elderberry.

And that's it for a walk today.  I hope you've enjoyed strolling along with me.

Reinstating WIP Wednesday

I have several larger projects languishing in a stack one top of another.

I decided to reinstate WIP Wednesday - a day that I stitch on one of my UFOs and turn it back into a WIP. Last week I picked up "More Than Luck" which I had not touched since March.  I stitched the word Hope and four more shamrocks.  So good progress, even though looking at it closely I need to frog out and restitch parts of two of the shamrocks.   

After bemoaning my lack of Evening Grosbeaks, one day earlier last week I was treated to several birds.

It was a drizzly day, but they did not seem to mind.

At one piont I counted 4 guys and 4 gals.

Here's one of the happy couples.

They hung out in the brush more than the feeders.

Love those big beaks (thus their name). 

Makes them look rather regal! 

At one point I had a Hairy Woodpecker, a couple of Evening Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, and a Pine Siskin.

The Hairy Woodpecker left to be replaced by an Acorn Woodpecker.

Back to the Evening Grosbeaks.

Looking quizzical.

Looking proud.

Looking thoughtful.

Peering at one another.

Bird Watching

40 years ago, I used to regularly see China Pheasants in the open fields near my home.  I caught a quick glimpse of one on a bird walk earlier this spring, so I thought I'd stitch this little Prairie Schooler design in the hope that I might see this pretty bird again in the near future.

This time of year Parvati is hard-pressed to pick - Bird Watching, Bunny Observation, or Chipmunk Patrol.  Spring is such a busy time of year!

For some reason, it is particularly difficult to take a good photo of my Lesser Goldfinches.  This one turned out pretty well and gives you an idea of just how small and slight the bird is perched on a pine tree. 

Sometimes Parvati is able to combine two activities - in this case bunny observation and bird watching. 

The California Quail are mostly in twosomes.  I do think I've seen a single gentleman and a single female - "Match maker...make me a match!"  

The males are extremely protective of their ladies this time of yaer.

S t r e t c h !

This guy is watch from atop a garden gate... 

...while his lady forages below.

The darned Starlings are so noisy and there are so many of them right now.

There are Begging Babies everywhere.

This poor adult (2nd from left) has three babies all demanding his time and attention and food.

They are kinda' cute...

If only they weren't so loud!