Meet Sandy Mae

Sandy Mae, aka Missy Moo, (which is funny because my daughter's aka is Missy Moo too) was rescued by my friend Demaris at one month old.

She is a character.

She loves to ride in the car and pokes Demaris until she opens the sun roof......and that's when strange things begin to happen.She asked me if I would like to try......I told her, I'm not as young and elastic as you!

Late Winter Yard

It was a bitter morning but the sun came out and although there was a chilly breeze I forced myself out into the fresh air to see what was happening around the yard.

My little dragonfly votive holders made it through the winter, having been turned upside down so as not to catch water.My lavender seems to be doing well.The Hydrangea have buds.Little Rose buds are popping.I chopped the grasses down not long ago, to make room for new growth.My variegated Yucca seems to have made it through the winter and is being hailed by all the new daffodil growth.A very cold looking Deutzia bush.Lillies galore!One little Chickadee to say hi!A Mantis egg case on the lilac.Not sure about this one but it sure smells sweet!Remember these toadstools? They made it through the winter!A dead apple tree that is covered with beautiful lichen and that fuzzy little green thing. Blueberries????? I hope. I know they are here somewhere!This may be a type of Hazelnut bush? The seedpod of a Confederate Rose.Campion Rose and Hyacinth.And a tall daffodil ready to bloom.Come on SPRING!!!

Rocky and Friends and Family....

It was another beautiful day in northern Alabama, temps in the 50's and nary a cloud in the sky.

It was time to go out and see about these Bluebird nest boxes in the yards.

For some reason, I had a feeling what I would find in the boxes and my feeling was correct. I just knew I would find Southern Flying Squirrels in them and sure enough....Did you see two in the photo above???I was feeling guilty that I had disturbed these daytime sleepers but was so excited to watch that one on the top of the box jump and glide to a tree nearby. I closed up the box and headed for box number two. Remember, this is the one with the Autumn Clematis that was devoured by the beetle bugs. Inside the materials were different...lots of Pine needles for this house. Could they be any more CUTE!!!

There were three in this box and I was prepared to take pictures if they flew......which they did! But it isn't easy getting photos of the little dare devils. They dive off the top of the box to the bottom of a little tree...climb to the top of the little tree and DIVE.......and GLIDE....The second one went so quick I just got the GLIDE.Number three, thought.......and DOVE......and scurried......and DOVE.......and GLIDE(ed)...Ready to make the climb to the top.Now, I have to say so sorry for disturbing your sleep little guys, but now that I know you're there I can start to formulate a plan for my Bluebirds. I guess I'll have to build more boxes, and put them down in the field by the road. Hopefully nature will balance out in the end.

You may click on the title to read about Flying Squirrels in Alabama.

Oh HAPPY DAY!

No Bikes yet

The Bluebirds of Happiness are not all that happy!!

They put off delivery of the bikes until today, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

It's still snowing in northern Alabama!

My friend Debby from NY sent me a funny link http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1631832305/More-snow-Utica-or-Alabama

She said "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!!!"

NABS trip to Guntersville, AL

Saturday's bitter trip with the North Alabama Birdwatching Society produced lots of pictures. I won't do much writing here because of the amount of photos!American Coots all piled together. I was told they usually do this when an Eagle is near. We did not spy the Eagle at this time.We saw lots of Lesser Scaup, Canvasback, and Redheads in this bunch.There were some really cute Ruddy Ducks there too. Sorry the pictures are not good. They were just so far out there.A little cove with some gulls and frozen water.Other birds noted were, Common Goldeneye, Mallards, Common Loon, Red-breasted Mergansers, Canada Goose, Brown-headed Nuthatch (see previous post), 2 Bald Eagles (seen from the resturant window during lunch!), Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Kingfisher, and Kestrel. Among others.

These last three birds are White-winged Scoters. A very rare bird here and another life bird for me. They were way out there and this photo is another heavily cropped one. I am really enjoying this group of birders. They are a fun bunch to bird with! And they really know their stuff!