Winter Wonderland 5: Miscellaneous

Well, it’s not the Arctic sea, but for a frozen puddle it looks dramatic enough.

A little chaffinch used the open ground under the trees to look for food.

The Nile Goose knows how to pose with a frame of tree branches.

Aaaand, save the best for last. It’s my absolute favourite. Taking pics of crows is damn hard, because the pitch black will just throw off your auto focus and they rarely keep still for long enough to adjust it manually. But in the bright sunlight, the auto focus caught on and the blue and green frame it perfectly.

Winter Wonderland 4: The Battle for the Skies

A buzzard used the opportunity to scout for food (and now guess who only had the 250 mm lens with her), but the crows were having none of it.

Winter Wonderland 3: More Swans

The two juveniles must be about the same age. They are still smaller than their parents, although they have grown a lot since they first arrived, but they have always been about the same size and started out the same cygnet grey. Yet one of them keeps clinging to its baby colours, only reluctantly letting go of the grey and slowly turning white.

Friday Feathers: The Birds are Back in Town

I put up the feeder some while ago, and especially with the light snow, the birds are really happy about it. Only the pics are bad because we don’t have any light. The skies have been overcast for more than a month now, which is really getting on my mood because it never gets light. 9 am, 2 pm, 4 pm, it’s all the same and then it is dark.

©Giliell, all rights reserved
Footprints of unknown bird, but I think it was a juvenile

Robin? Robin!

Happy new year, everyone.

I had a new and surprising visitor in my garden two days ago, a robin. I have seen robins in my garden before, but never ever in winter. And I was lucky enough to take a picture this time, so you can see it too.

The Art of …

… love, by Briton Riviere

The Long Sleep, 1868, Briton Riviere. Image from Wikiart.

In which your protagonist discovers the end of her tether

I’m sorry for not having been very active, and please forgive me for not being very active during the next few days.

Last week we had to deal with the news that one of our bunnies, who lived with my parents was killed by a marten, today sweet Gracie died during our attempt to socialise them, apparently from a heart attack, and I just can’t anymore.

I hope you’re all having a better time, as much as it is possible right now.

Luv

Giliell.

Jack’s Walk

It’s drizzly and gloomy today, but I don’t mind a bit because the sun is shining in my heart. Finally, after a difficult month, my sweet Bubba is able to walk again. Not far, but he can easily get to the end of the street and back with his tail wagging. His gait isn’t pretty to watch, and we go very, very slowly (think Tim Conway’s old man slow), but Jack is himself again. He wants to go out and explore all the smells and as of yesterday, he’s able to lift his leg again to leave behind a smell or two of his own. The past few weeks Jack has had to pee standing up and he couldn’t direct the stream, which he found frustrating. I found it frustrating, too, because he often peed all over his front legs, requiring a post pee sponge bath several times a day.

We’re very lucky to have a good vet whose clinic is nearby. She has started Jack on an injectible bone-building drug called Cartrophen in addition to an oral anti-inflammatory and Tramadol for pain and collectively they’ve set Jack back on track. He’ll never have his light prancing gait again, and our future adventures will be smaller, but he’s happy and comfortable, and I can finally take a deep breath. I know we’re entering the difficult times in the life of a big dog, but for today the wind is at our backs and life is good.

Join Jack and voyager for a walk in the woods.

This is my first attempt at making a video, and it shows. The Pace is slow, it’s a bit rough in places and there’s some wind noise in the background that I couldn’t get rid of. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve for me, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I had planned to add a bit of music, but I couldn’t find anything that I liked better than the sound of rustling leaves, so the soundtrack is just us walking with a bit of commentary from me. I had also hoped to end the video with Jack and I singing, but Jack’s been under the weather and hasn’t been in the mood to make music. He is slowly improving, though, so perhaps next month we’ll make another short movie full of raucous, rollicking fun.

I hope you can get a sense of how much both Jack and I enjoy walking in the woods.