Daily Pictures Volume # 87

If you would like to go back to where we came from, Vol. #86, click on the link below.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/828642/
A male Common Redpoll to welcome in the new Volume.

This message was edited Mar 31, 2008 9:09 PM

Another view of the same Redpoll.

Beautiful pics Gary! Thanks for starting the new thread!

Those Redpolls are such cute little birds! Hope I get to see one in person one day.

Here's a Mourning Dove pair.

This barbet looks for breakfast. The names of the bird and tree are at the tip of the tongue, but stuck! Will remember later!!

No competetor for the first two pictures this...... a common mynah perches for reason best known to itself.

Adel, that Hummer pic is beautiful! And Jane, terrific shot of the weather vane:) I'm sure we all would have done the same, hoping for an Eagle perched for the camera. Here are a few pics I did not get in the other day. Mockingbird up first. I noticed the Mockingbirds have a nest in my neighbors huge Azalea.

This message was edited Apr 1, 2008 6:42 AM

Indigo Bunting.

Goldfinch.

Male Cardinal.

Grasmussen - beautiful shots! I love all the color in the pics this morning!

Thanks for the new thread Gary and the lovely pics of a sweet little bird.

I agree with Sybil..very colorful pic this morning.

I managed to get a few pics the past few days between the rain drops and low light.

Here is a Female Purple Finch...notice she has a bit of gold tint.

This one has a bid of a reddish tint.

American Goldfinch!

American Robin

Here is a bad pic of a Song Sparrow perched in a thorn tree.

Saw another Loggerhead Shrike along the road.

Our willow tree is getting color along with the Goldfinches!

Male Purple Finch!

Finches at the feeder! The goldies really give the other finches a bad time!

That last shot is funny! The first goldfinch and robin are looking a little raggedy. Must be getting ready to shed their winter coats.

A Carolina Wren singing in the palm tree this morning.

I used to worry about the Goldies not getting enough food...not anymore...they are much more aggresive than I realized!

The palm and Wren look heavenly bsharf!

Wow lots of beautiful pics this morning from everyone! Thank You!

Rose I wish my Goldfinch had more attitude like yours mine are quite timid.

Resin,

I return with names as I promised. The tree is Peltophorum, the bird is the white-cheeked barbet.

dellrose,

I loved the colours of the orange Robin.

They certainly don't miss any meals Pelle!

I was just walking the dogs in the upper pastures and a Spotted Towhee landed on a tree right in front of me!! I am going back with my camera and am also hearing the Cuckoo's all over the place. Maybe I will get lucky today as the sun is shining and the birds are singing and flying around like crazy!! Wish me luck!

Good Luck Rose! We have the dark rainy weather here today.

I love the colors too Dinu! You sure have some colorful birds as well as plant life.

The ones I always see chasing the Goldfinch away from the feeders are the Dark-eyed Juncos. Even on the upside down feeder which they can't use at all they'll chase the Goldfinch away. :-)

This was e-mailed to me and I thought I'd share it.



Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer.
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.

Jeff



When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet's office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her dowl cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone. Yahoo!

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.

Hope you enjoy this.

Jeff


( GE and anybody else that might be interested in sending this on.......ignore the copyright......)






This message was edited Apr 1, 2008 9:30 AM

Here's my daily finch picture. Seems they are the only ones cooperating.

adelbertcat that is the best picture . I wish I could forward it to my cousin in Maine. She is a tender bird lover.

I've seen that story of Freedom too;its wonderful!

Nice pic Mrs Ed! Too dark here for photos.

You know pelle, they have really abandoned the upside down feeder. They are much more interested in this sock. Is that normal? I always seem to have the finches abandon the thistle feeders. I wondered if it goes stale or something.

The seed will only last 6 months before going stale.

Do you have any wild bird stores near you?

adelbertcat that story is fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing.

GG

Very touching story Adel. It's so good to see people take on the responsibility to care for animal in this way. It very rewarding.

Nice pictures here too.

I had the Bohemian visit for a very short time, was able to take these 2 pics. The pictures didn't turn out so good, very cloudy and rain.

This one is a bit blurry.