Nothing beats a small waterfalls and a shallow rock littered pool to attract dirty birds.

This waterfalls is part of the project I helped with to obtain my latest Rock Ranger. When I went back to take some photos I caught a pair of Grackles taking a bath. First the male flew in.

Grackle – Quiscalus quiscula

Then a female joined him.

The male ‘showered’ and left quickly while the female stayed behind to freshen up a bit more.

Let me zoom in for a closer look at the bathing beauty

She dove in and with one last flurry put on the finishing touchs.

grACKle

Now you know where the title of this post came from.

This waterfalls was part of the job I helped with to obtain my latest Rock Ranger. All I really needed to do was to set the sandstone slabs for the patio. The contracted landscaper (EarthWorks) had laid out the general outline, excavated the area and provided a strong back to lug the slabs to me. The strong back proved to be more than capable and I let him finish the work once I had setting done. He did a good job of filling in the holes.

The BFR in the foreground is one of the little finishing touchs I added.

Stepping back from the waterfalls the stream comes into view. Just to mention – the waaterfalls and stream are fed by a solar pond pump. It doesn’t flow at night or on cloudy days (about 4 hours on battery pack) but it sure beats paying the eletric company.

Stepping back even farther the pond comes into view.

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I was feeling a bit grACKlish myself lately. I had a bout with Diverticulitis and nearly lost. I’m feeling much better now but no where near normal. After 8 days of a clear liquid diet I admit I’m still a bit fuzzy headed and weak as a dead kitten. Just writting this post has exhausted me. Time to sign off and take a nap

I know it’s been a while since the last post. It may be a while longer before the next. A matter of life and death is keeping me occupied. Now that things are settling down somewhat I’ll be making an effort to post but I’m not promising anything.

There were more deer on the side of the road than the 11 in the photo. By the time I stopped the truck about half as many had disappeared into the brush.

The rest quickly followed.
Only the bravest of the group paused to glance back at me before they too vanished.

It’s been about a week since I took those photos. It seems so long ago. A lifetime in a way.

This morning I was standing on the back steps when I saw a pair of birds land in the trees. If I hadn’t noticed the movement I might easily have overlooked them sitting there.

I couldn’t tell what they were until I doctored the photos. A little gamma correction brought out enough color and details to identify them as wood ducks. I was a bit surprised. I never before thought ducks perched in trees, somthing about webbed feet kept me from getting a firm grip on the idea.

I should mention – I’m fine.
It’s a close friend that’s approaching his end of days. Until then my home is his.

…followed by deer and a Stewy ending.

Pileated Woodpecker – Dryocopus pileatus

A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers has claimed the woods in front of the house as part of their territory. They stay together year round defending their space so I’m guessing this is the same pair I saw last year. They’ve made several appearences this winter but this is the only decent photo I’ve been able to get so far. They are flighty and take off as soon as I step out the front door. I usually curse the Basswoods but since they’re attracting these woodpeckers I’m having a change of heart. I suspect their actual nesting / roosting site is in the woods across the road. Every time I’d disturbed them they headed in that direction. Too bad, the land there is posted and off limits to me. Pileated woodpeckers are about as big as they come, at least woodpecker wise in North America. If you’ve never seen one before their size will surprise you when you do. If you spot a OMGTABFW (oh my goodness that’s a big freaking woodpecker) it’s most likely to be a Pileated. I guess when my grandpa called me a little peckerhead he must have been thinking of the smaller sap sucker.

Down the road a group of deer were out in a hayfield. I was surprised to find so much of the snow melted the last day or so. I live in a wooded bowl on the north side of a hill and the sun doesn’t quite have the strength to melt snow at home yet.

The ice jam may have been flushed downriver but if you look between the trees you’ll see a few remains on the far shore.

Downtown Morley Traffic Jam
I just wanted to photograph the ice on the river bank but catching a Deere running down the road made the photo worth posting.

Stewy was waiting for me at the end of the driveway when I returned home. So was the snow.

My outing wasn’t over yet. Dog wanted to go for a hike and we took off out back. But that’s a subject for another post. I don’t want to mix my lichens and deer up.