Friday, February 16, 2007

Someday, I will be warm.

Word of the Day:

deliquesce \del-ih-KWES\, intransitive verb:
1. To melt away or to disappear as if by melting.
2. (Chemistry) To dissolve gradually and become liquid by attracting and absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts, acids, and alkalies.
3. To become fluid or soft with age, as certain fungi.
4. To form many small divisions or branches -- used especially of the veins of a leaf.

Here's that word in a sentence:
I wish all this damn ice would deliquesce.

side yard 02-16-07

A view from our side yard...facing the west.
side yard 2 02-16-07
Ice, ice, ice.
icy grasses
The neighbor's ornamental grass looks cool, though.
red maples 02-16-07
Our red maples don't usually touch the ground with their branches. For the first time, I am thankful we don't have tall, mature trees. They would be split in half by now with all the ICE. Everyone else's trees are in pieces.

Onto the BEWDS...
redhead duck Lake Isabella 02-16-07
Lake Isabella today: Finally saw something other than a mallard...
redheads!
Oh, I need a big, scary MAN zoom lens, know what I mean? I zoom in to the max with my camera, and while I get a good sized shot, the res is for crap.

Pair of redheads
They are so pretty...better than the mutts that hang out at the lake.
hooded merganser Lake Isabella 02-16-07
I caught up with my buddies the Hooded Mergansers again. I haven't seen them for awhile. There's a very small amount of open water at the lake, because of the aeration fountain they have been running.
Look at this guy and imagine in your head, in a deep, deep voice,
"Oh...I'm a studly muffin, I'm a studly muffin...look at my pretty crest..."
Coot
A coot scared the hell out of me as I approached the dock (the open water is very close to the shore, and you can't see the birds until you are practically on top of them).
Mallards and redheads

Fellow birders:
I need validation here:
This is a female canvasback, right?
female canvasback
She came puttering around the dock and I didn't really notice her. When I got home and looked at the pictures, I realized that she had a sloping forehead and redheads don't have that.
female canvasback I think
It looks like a canvasback to me. Chime in, my peeps!
New PJ's
An end-of-the-week "Awwww" moment:
The girls model their new PJ's.
A little story about the polka dots:
One day, in a store's bathroom, Isabelle noticed that I was wearing polka-dotted underwear. So she proclaimed for all the other people in the bathroom, "Mommy! I like your POLKA-DOTTED UNDERWEAR!!!!"
So now, anything with polka dots is a cause for general hilarity.

On Lynne the OCD Queen's blog, there was a discussion about what to call our little blog journey to NJ this fall.
How about calling ourselves "The Flock"?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The Flock" works for me. Or "The Bewds." And our theme song, "Brick House" since for some reason that's been in my head all day long. "Shake it down, shake it down now, shake it down, shake it down now. . . Cuz she's a brick ---- house. . ."
I wanna see coots, I wanna see studly muffins, I wanna see ducks, any ducks, all ducks, I don't care. I'm tired of seeing gulls flying over my head like I'm food.
Love the ice photos - they're gorgeous.
Some major deliquesce needs to happen at your home and mine, soon!
OMG - polka-dots!! LOL! I've got the cutest polka-dot photo to show you sometime!

LauraHinNJ said...

I think those redhead pics are gorgeous! What are you fussing about?

Redheads are really hard to see by me - can't remember the last one I saw. Canvasbacks are very local also (I'd say that's what yours is).

Our ice melted some today, but there are so many trees down and lots of people still don't have power.

John B. said...

I'm pretty sure that is a canvasback. Not sure it's a female, though.

Mary said...

Ok - the Flock, and our theme song, "Brick House" we're mighty mighty let'n it all hang out...

First, get that first photo submitted to Good Planets. Awesome!

I don't know ducks so I can't comment but I'll agree with anything Pam says.

I love polka-dots. I remember when they were the rage. Are they coming back?

Anonymous said...

Those ice pictures are amazing and feel bad you had to go through all that! Love your Redhead pictures! I must go to flickr and fave them! Also, that is a canvasback! Great duck! Ok, heading to flickr!

Anonymous said...

Casting my "Yes" vote for Canvasback as the last duck photo. I can't be sure of gender, though.

The ice at my place melted 2 days ago, but just a few miles north of me, everything is still encased. A tree at my Mom's condo in Cherry Grove split right down the middle.

C'mon 40 degree temps!

~Kold Kathi

Beth said...

Ice, ice baby. It makes everything so cool and beautiful.

Thanks for the visit and the comment; of course I know who you are! You're on my list, girl - top of my 'worth a daily look' roll!

Blogs ARE good for group therapy, in my opinion. Your blog is great for fascinating bird-expedition stories and great photos...

Someday, you WILL be warm. It's just around the corner...

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Wow- your ice pictures are amazing! I'm sooo bad at water birds, but I'm even worse at shore birds and let me tell ya- gulls just make my eyes roll back in my head!!

"The Flock" IT IS GOOD!!
I've had "Brick House" stuck in my head for 2 days now! How many bird groups have theme songs?!?
LOVE IT!!

Unknown said...

Great ice pics. I won't be sad to see spring arrive though. Nice blog. I'll come by again.