Before we get to birds, I must confess stupidity in the acquisition of horse show photos. In the spirit of “better late than never”, here are two pictures from Alison Hartwell, the horse show photographer (and folk singer) from two weeks ago. She had to walk me through the download. They were sent on time, but I didn’t realize it. Anyway, here are Jane and Anne with Susan on Teah, and a picture of Susan and Galatea (Teah) on course.
And now, a bird story. Monday, we had a bird strike the window, a little goldfinch. It was stunned, so I put it into the bird rescue box and left it in the basement, where it is cool and quiet. After an hour, it was alive, but seemed to need some more time, so I set my phone alarm to give it another hour.
Well, I went down the basement for the second check on the patient, and to my horror, Roscoe had opened the box. I was sick, sure the bird was dead. But I could find no evidence, except Roscoe, who was sitting on the basement work bench, looking intent. After removing the cat, and mounting a search for the body, I discovered the little bird in a hole in the wall. I retrieved it, replaced it in the box, took it outside to a tree, and when I lifted the lid, away it flew. I expect it will never forget that very bad day. I hope it lives a long life telling other birds the tale of being captured by a giant, released by a cat into a large cave, then briefly recaptured, before making an escape at last.
This morning, doing my bird count, we had 52 goldfinches on the back porch! My camera is not able to capture the magnitude of that flock. The bitter cold weather makes for hungry birds!
The bitter cold is easing now. Missouri has always had changeable weather. While the swings are becoming more dramatic, we count ourselves lucky in comparison to much of the U.S. this week.
Be safe, be well. Slava Ukraini! Peace.
Wonderful shot of you Jane, and Susan! What, no peacock on the porch? Love your birds!
Slava Ukraini
Peace
Super nice pictures. You are so kind Anne. Thank you.
Love the pictures of the birds! They make my day.
I was thinking last post about never seeing a picture of the photographer! Your smile still lights up the room and you still tell a great story-even though most histoires you told were in French!
C’est vrai! Tous les jours en classe!)
« Mademoiselle, j’ai une histoire! »
Mieux vaux ses « histoires » que mes leçons de grammaire et des conjugaisons des verbes. Notre chère Anne❣️
Maybe after the goldfinch repeats it’s adventure and survival it’s stature in the community will be elevated.
I’m just catching up with your blog this week. Thanks so much for including these pictures of Galatea and me! I especially treasure the one of the three of us in the gate. I’m lucky to have such great friends helping me with this, couldn’t do it without you two.