Early Birds

I was awakened this morning at 7:15 by a text from DD that they were all loaded up and setting off so I decided to stay up. I opened the patio door drapes and was treated to a bird parade. First I saw a Cardinal on the platform feeder. He spent time fending off the Chickadee and the Nuthatch.

The Nuthatch flew over to the top of a nearby crook and posed nicely so I could take its picture. Then it flew down to the tube feeder where it communed with a Sparrow for a couple slow spins of the feeder. I love how the feeder rotates from the inertia of the landing birds. They hardly weigh anything but they can get that little rotation going.

Then a Downy Woodpecker showed up on the suet cakes feeder. I took his picture but missed the female (or juvenile) that landed there later.

And at the same time a Red-bellied Woodpecker was clinging to the suet pellets. It was just barely visible alongside the Oriole feeder.

I spent an hour trying to replicate a Zentangle that's on the cover of the book. For some reason it intrigues me so I tried my hand at it. Again, I'm not so good at layering but it's definitely better than the last time I tried it.

Late in the afternoon I went to Papa Murphy's for a pizza to bake for supper when DD and IT arrived. They got held up for a few minutes by an accident less than 5 miles from here but made it. We had a little pizza and then they left for their motel. IT sleeps better that way. They'll be back for breakfast.

--Barbara