Monday, May 26, 2008

What a weekend!

I have lots of photos, so if you are still one of those poor dopes with dial-up, go get a massage or a few beers and wait.


Da da dum dum, da da dum..............
Ready?

THURSDAY:
Isabelle graduated from Kindergarten. I cried. A lot.
Isabelle K graduation





















(photo by Swami)

FRIDAY:
Caught some teeny hummingbird tongue action.


Female hummingbird tongue




Powder thought my nice Longaberger bread basket would do for a bed.
Powder in a basket
Makes her look like she forgot her body somewhere.


SATURDAY:
I took the bird-sicles that Kathi gave me, to RAPTOR. I thawed out a starling and gave it to Lucy.

Lucy holding Kathi's starling
I left her alone, and by the time I came back to put her back she had de-headed it.

I did some glove training with No-No:
No No in the sun
I could look at him all day. What a mixture of textures...pure white, copper, chevrons of dark grays...and let's not forget those big liquid eyes....Ooooooo.

Our first yard bird babies of 2008 showed up to learn how to use the feeders.
House finches:
Close up HOF youngin
Why is it that the last of the baby feathers are ALWAYS on top of their heads, like bad haircuts?
Feed me...I'm yours
"Dad? Dad? Dad? Daaaaaaaaad? Daaaaaaaaaaad?"

HOF fledgling
This one hovered awkwardly for about 10 seconds trying to get back up to the feeders.

SUNDAY:
Picnic at Germantown Metropark.
My first kingfisher nest, on a cliff above the dam backwater:
Kingfisher bringing fish back to nest
Carrying a fish back to the babies!

This sign is by the fence above the backwater, just for those dummies who would think that a swim in an active backwater would be a great idea. I asked the girls to stand in front of it with frowns on their faces, and Lorelei, without any prompting, struck this pose:
NO SWIMMING!
Yep, that's my kid.


We took a nature walk and found a red-backed salamander:
Red Backed salamander
Look, Nina! A Sally-mander!

I started turning over buckeye leaves and found a little blue caterpillar:
Blue caterpillar on buckeye
What kind of caterpillar uses buckeye for a host plant? Anyone know?

And a life dragonfly:
Carolina saddlebags dragonfly
A Carolina Saddlebags. A goofy name for a spectacular dragonfly.

I didn't even include all the gardening I did in the past few days. I am typing with most of my fingers wrapped in Band-Aids. I will have to save all that excitement for the next post.

9 comments:

NCmountainwoman said...

All right. Just look at the first photograph. All prejudice aside, which kid has the self-assurance, confidence, and personality to become President of the United States?

Not to detract from the other kids, but take a look at them and compare them to Isabelle. No contest.

Susan Gets Native said...

Carolyn:
I think you're right. I didn't notice how animated she was compared to the other kids.

Mary said...

Congratulations to Isabelle! You cried? When you call people "poor dopes"? LOL

You are a gem. So much fun, you are :o) Great pics.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the Granulation! I'm sure you cried. Kindergarten teachers are notorious for eeking every tear out of a parent that they can! :) Love the rest of your post -- cool beans!

Crayons said...

Hi Susan Goes Native,
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a nice comment last week. I really like that nature shots here. Maybe if I read more of your blog I'll figure out how you came to know so much about raptors. Bravo for being such a good caretaker of the earth.

Amy said...

LOVE the picture of Lorelei, what a ham! She's NOTHING like her mother. The hummers finally showed up here by the lake last week. Took it a while for things to warm up enough for them I guess. It's nice to see them at the feeders again.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Yep. Your kids are hams. Well, they say the apple doen't fall far from the tree.

RuthieJ said...

Wow, I'm exhausted--you can sure find a lot to do during a long weekend, Susan.

P.S. I'll watch for "Powder in a Basket" with some funny caption on I Can Has Cheezburger!

Mel said...

What a weekend indeed!
Congrats to Isabelle!! (and to the proud mom!!)