Keepers!

     As it was in the days of Noah... I don’t know about you but we have had a lot of rain this week. The Spring tides have also been high. We had water over the bank and halfway up the back yard. I feel like Noah after the flood. I had the opportunity to give a presentation on Reflections with the Mayflower Society this past weekend.  It went well and might lead to more. Small beginnings are a start. Wish I had better luck with photographs. Monday I had a few good shots but after that is was rain, rain, rain. So I asked for a little help from some of my local photo friends. Thanks for your help! There are still very few birds moving about the marsh.  Surprisingly, during the rain I saw a number of local marsh birds in the flooded yard enjoying new treats in the grass. Spring also brings out the “Shirley Birds” and bees. Flowers are starting to bloom. Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees! I got a few new “toys” and will try to set up opportunity to catch a photo of a hummingbird. Wish me luck! Grab some waders with your coffee cup.

     The hickory trees are green again and their pollen fills the air from now through June. AHHHCHOO! Although I don’t enjoy the pollen, the squirrels and “Shirley Birds” are enjoying the new greenery. A “Shirley bird” can be defined as those little singing birds of various shapes and colors that frequent the trees and bird houses in the area. You know, the kind the Audubon Society “birders” spend hours looking for and say things like “Was that a Wilsons?” I still don’t know what a Wilson’s is but it was yellow and black, furtive and quick and darn near impossible to see with the naked eye. One bird I could not miss though was a bright red cardinal sitting in the hickory tree. It was feathered in breeding shades of bright red! You could see it from far away, especially when the sun caught the bird’s feathers. No wonder it is the Ohio State Bird, a real beauty to observe. My good neighbor is an avid bird feeder. Their feeders attract lots of Shirley Birds and doves. Some days it seems the squirrels and raccoons outnumber the birds though. A few mallard hens have discovered the bird feeder spillage also and fly hop the fence and warily waddle their way to the feeder area now. I hope the hawks don’t get them. Speaking of hawks, I catch our local Red Shouldered Hawk on a fly by with another snake sandwich. Good for you! One less snake in the world makes it a better place in my opinion. Shortly after that I spot an Osprey winging my way carrying some fresh “Sushi”. It is hanging on to a fish carcass with one leg vice the normal two-legged carry. Sushi doesn’t wiggle much. As it flies by it gives me “the look”! Those huge yellow eyes are all I remember seeing in the viewfinder as I track it going overhead and press the doohickey. The overcast skies make a great photo opportunity for the Sushi express. This one is a keeper.

So what exactly is a “keeper”? For me it refers to photos I enjoy so much I just have to keep them. They bring me a sense of satisfaction for capturing a moment and an opportunity to share it with you. There are all kinds of keepers though in life. Good friends are keepers. Snakes are not! Some memories are keepers. Thankfully they seem to become so deeply embedded in our brain that any time we want to we can recall it we just reach inside and there it is again. Just like the day it became a keeper! As we get older it might get harder to recall some of them, but rest assured, they are still there. Here is wishing you lots of Keepers! Also remember that after the flood came the rainbow and a promise. Be Blessed. Harry

Backyard view of the neigbhors after the deluge! As it was in the days of Noah...

Spring time colors on a Cardinal!

Chipping Sparrow

Curious Gold Finch!

Raindrops are fallin on my head!

George hunts in rain for tidbits

Clapper Rail enjoys the rains new harvest ground.

Snake sandwich anyone?

Sushi anyone? Osprey with fresh snack. I get "The Look"!

Well we had some of the Birds. Here is the Trees! A Bald Cyprus we call "The General" planted as a young sapling has grown into a tree. Sporting new Spring Green.

And Flowers! Anapantha bud peeks out!

First Bloom on the Anapanthas.

No flower is complete without a bee! Photo courtesy of my photo friend Jim! He is going to teach me how to take these kinds of photos I hope.

Here is my Buzzzy little fellow!

Regal Eagle on the Dock. Taken on the other side of the Broward. Photo courtesy of and by another Photo friend, Donna Yost-Williams with permission.

The Promise: "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."