Question of the day: Saturday March 2

[mani]

I was just pottering around the garden recently when a group of Kookaburras all lined up on a branch of my flowering gum right next to me and started 'laughing' in the loud, raucous and infectiously joyous way that they do.. It blew me away! 

So today's question is: 

Is there a time, recently,  when you have been really affected by something in nature?

It could be an amazing view, a flower, a wild animal.. anything! 

kookaburra detail.jpg

• mani
• Mar 2, 2013

 

[Winchester]

I am amazed by the things you see every day in your life, Mani. Kookaburras! 

Several years ago, I had been out for my morning walk and was on my way back home. I rounded a corner in our road and there they were. I bet there were 30-40 wild turkeys! On the road, off the road.....all over the place. You know, wild turkeys are REALLY tall! I never realized just how tall they were until that morning. They all scattered out of my way, of course, but I just stood there watching them for quite a while. Beautiful birds. And tall. REALLY tall!

Not recently, but one morning last summer, the cats awakened me. I got up and gave them their breakfast. As I was standing at the kitchen window drinking my coffee, I was looking outside and......well, it was just a perfect summer morning. The sky was blue, the grass was green, the garden plants were coming up up at the end of the back yard and the flowers were opening to the morning. I don't know, I can't explain it. But that morning reminded me so much of a summer morning when I was young and I had the whole day ahead of me to do whatever I wanted to do. 

 

[motoko9]

I love the photo of the kookaburra in your yard (partly because of the lovely greenery, partly because it looks so warm)!

The other night I heard something moving around in the back yard behind the house. It was an opossum making his way through the snow (it's getting warmer here, but there's still snow on the ground where it's shady). Eventually he saw me and disappeared over the wall separating our yard from the neighbors'. He wasn't doing anything particularly special, as far as I could tell in the dark, but it made me happy to see him. I'm always pleased to know that even though I live in a fairly urban/suburban area, there are lots of critters about!
 

 

[gemlady]

Just this morning I was treated to the song of the white throated sparrow. One of the most melodious calls I have heard.

I have bird feeders and have been enjoying the woodpeckers, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, and a darn squirrel who has learned how to hang on to the feeder post as he raids the feeders.

 

[catspaw66]

I am amazed by the things you see every day in your life, Mani. Kookaburras! 

Several years ago, I had been out for my morning walk and was on my way back home. I rounded a corner in our road and there they were. I bet there were 30-40 wild turkeys! On the road, off the road.....all over the place. You know, wild turkeys are REALLY tall! I never realized just how tall they were until that morning. They all scattered out of my way, of course, but I just stood there watching them for quite a while. Beautiful birds. And tall. REALLY tall!

. 

i have a nesting pair of Pileated woodpeckers that I see and hear all the time.

Winchester,  I have a flock that fly up into the pine trees to roost at night.  Yep, wild turkeys are really tall.

 

[spudsmom]

On our way to the beach last week we were treated to a Bull Elk and 11 of his special ladies in a meadow next to the road. It was lowest tide when we were at MO's( a famous local chowder house) waiting for our lunch and saw a Bald Eagle at the waters edge. I LOVE spotting Bald Eagles, so glad that they are more plentiful these days.

 

[just mike]

This happens to me often! The most memorable was when I was on the trails riding Foxy and this enormous Hawk flew right past us down the path. It came within a couple of feet from us. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. I was completely startled and so was Foxy.

 

[mani]

Love these replies...

 

[AbbysMom]

I sometimes get a feeling of peace when I am down near the water.

 

[Winchester]

We have that larger window in the kitchen now. Yesterday morning, I was standing there, kneading yeast dough for sticky buns and I was looking out the window. Right in front of me, flying about in the weigela bushes next to the pool fence were two cardinals. You could really see their red against the bleak winter landscape. And they were beautiful. Rick and I watched them for quite awhile, flying in and out of the bushes. And then, after they finished playing in the weigela, they flew up to the back yard and walked on the ground, looking for bugs and such. And again, you could see their redness on the ground. Such beautiful birds.

I didn't see them, but Rick was standing there next to me and he saw some blue jays (boy, they like to sqawk) and a woodpecker out in the back yard, too.

We spend so much time standing at the kitchen sink and looking out that window. Even the cats will sit there at the corner and look out at all the rabbits chasing each other throughout the back yard.

 

[nanner]

Oh, these are lovely replies! I get this feeling in Central Park, if I'm running and it's a beautiful morning, sun just coming up, and I'll hear the "scree" of one of our redtail hawks and I'll look up and there will be hawk soaring. Or sometimes I'm lucky enough to have one of them fly right over me and land in a tree and I can just stand there and gaze at it.

It's a very peaceful feeling - right in the middle of NYC.

 

[dejolane]

Yes,there is a nature park a little far from my house name Dawes Arboretum  It has a Japanese pond. It is very beautiful with the kids playing and dogs walking around, and turtles in the pond. This little peaceful part of the park is where you can sit and have a quick lunch under the shelter and look at the pond.

dejolane

 

[calico2222]

I'm going to have this song going through my head for the rest of the day now!

 

[calico2222]

I love where we live because we are surrounded by nature. We live at the top of a mountain on a dirt road surrounded by woods, so we see everything here: hawks, woodpeckers, deer, foxes, coyotes, wild turkeys, etc. Yes, wild turkeys are tall, and LOUD! I came out of the house one fall morning and heard this ruckus. I looked down the road and there was a "turkey convention" going on. I swear there must have been over 50 turkeys just strutting down the road and around the field! Luckily, they weren't in my way of going to work. I could see it now, "hi, I'm going to be late today..there's a herd of turkeys in the middle of the road and they won't move". Then again, my co-workers probably wouldn't be too surprised.

I especially love the woods in winter (without snow). We have a wood burner, so it's my job to gather small things to start the fires (DH cuts up the big stuff). Last weekend I was gathering bags of small stuff and wandered down behind the house and discovered a gully with a small stream. It was beautiful and so peaceful there. Well, it was a discovery to me, DH and MIL knew it was there but I had never been that far down the mountain. I'm sure it is probably beautiful in the summer, but getting into the woods during the summer is next to impossible without a machete. I'm looking forward to spring, but I'm going to miss my quality time in the woods.

 

[catspaw66]

Oh, these are lovely replies! I get this feeling in Central Park, if I'm running and it's a beautiful morning, sun just coming up, and I'll hear the "scree" of one of our redtail hawks and I'll look up and there will be hawk soaring. Or sometimes I'm lucky enough to have one of them fly right over me and land in a tree and I can just stand there and gaze at it.

It's a very peaceful feeling - right in the middle of NYC.

In the middle of the city, I can imagine how peaceful you feel seeing something like a redtail.  How big are they?  I saw one the other day that was so big (how big was he?) that I was glad I was in my truck. I would bet he had a wingspan of four and a half feet.  He was swooping across the road about 30 feet in front of me.

 

[nanner]

In the middle of the city, I can imagine how peaceful you feel seeing something like a redtail.  How big are they?  .......

Their wingspan sometimes goes up to 4 feet.... I know when they've swooped down in front of me, they look mighty big! I know the females are always larger than the males, and when they're together, they're quite the awesome sight!! Even sitting on a tree branch.

 

[dejolane]

I'm going to have this song going through my head for the rest of the day now!

very funny

 

[margecat]

 

[mani]

That's it, in the video above, MargeCat... Every Aussie kid knows it, although the traditional one is just the first verse.  We used to sing it as a 'round' at school, broken up into four parts.  It was right up there with row, row, row your boat..

IMGP0523.jpg

• mani
• Mar 3, 2013