The Giraffe Head Tree

Well so oky doky according to my last post I was heading west to spend time with my mom and check out some preserves close to Florence and Muscle Shoals. I never got the chance to see the preserve dang it, but I had some pretty cool birding experiences! Sadly, my camera never left its case. It was just one of those trips.

Tuesday, after lunching with my road trip buddy Carroll we were driving to the lake and spied a huge "V" formation high overhead. "Look! The geese are flying north!" "Ummm....those don't look like geese to me - too fat and heavy." OMG....we were seeing a huge flock of about 60 American White Pelicans bucking some gusty headwinds heading north for the summer. By the time I found a shoulder and could pull off they were quite far away but we got to see them! Pelicans! Migrating in a "V"! It's a sight I'll never, ever forget. Thankfully, other photographers are more prepared and have good shots so please thank Martin Kopecky for the above image.

Wednesday, Carroll calls me with an excited voice. Alert! Alert! The red breasted mergansers are migrating back north! Naturally, I didn't get to her house in time. Please thank some person identified as Soenke for the above image so you'll know what they look like. Our photographer buddy Steve up in Glouster recently took some outstanding photos of them as well. Check him out by clicking here.


Thursday morning I was enjoying early coffee with my mom. The sun came out! It was so beautiful that morning! Through her living room window I began seeing large black birds lifting over the lake front homes, mine among them. The cormorants migration had begun! Without access to the water I could only watch as they skimmed the lake's surface like speeding bullets before lifting above the treeline and heading north. This went on for quite some time as this migration show consists of hundreds and hundreds of cormorants. From my vantage point the birds were quite small, and any photo would have been dark specks back lit by the sunrise. It was enough to simply enjoy nature's theater. Please thank Carolyn at Picasa for the above image for this is exactly what they look like skimming above and lifting from the water.

So........what to blog? Clearly, I'd experienced nothing of blogging interest - or that I had documented my very self. With everyone blogging about spring flowers it seemed it was time to check out our new (old) backyard to see what I've inherited.


Some sort of viburnum? It's a small tree that's been conked on the head by something so it's all broken off and rather ugly. Still...part of it is blooming these lovely things!

The sweetest smelling narcissus I've ever ... smelled! SOOOOOoooooooooo beautiful!

Sigh. My favorite springtime flower!

We have no grass. We have wildflowers, weeds, moss and fungi. Here's one of the wildflowers.

I hate privet but I have one. At least the blooms are pretty.

Another wildflower.

And another wildflower. I thought they were the same flower until loading the images on the computer. Clearly different, both beautiful. There's some vinca out there, too, but I don't like vinca either. Looks like I have some work to do! So that's my blog for today. Enjoy Spring!