Bird watching with dad

For a couple of days there was a break in the weather and we experienced temperatures we normally have mid-August, but all that has changed since. Now the skies are grey and everything outside is wet, however last Thursday it was so nice that dad and I were spending a good portion of the day birdwatching.

So here I am, resting comfortably on my pillow throne, partially hidden from view of the birds behind the azaleas, watching the entertainment occurring in the tree where dad placed all the bird feeders.

Very often a number of birds come real close to the window to check out the plants before heading back to the feeders.

Somehow they never see me as I remain ever so still, besides even if I could catch a bird, I no longer do, having given up the practice a couple of years ago. I guess dad likes that very much since he keeps feeding these flying creatures all year.

In the meantime dad was occupied setting up the tripod in the doorway of the kitchen since it is directly opposite the tree and as the day progressed dad did his best to photograph the various birds visiting our garden.

It was still early morning with a soft light when a sparrow landed on one of the upper branches, inspecting the sanctuary where others were feeding before joining.

Dad does his best to identify these beautiful visitors but mostly he simply enjoys their presence and song.

Dad was never sure of this birds name so he ace it one. He simply calls it ‘Hooded Monk’. What do you think?

Nuttall’s Woodpecker

The past eleven years that we have lived here, their have been visits from a woodpecker now and then, but this year we have been blessed with the continued presence of not one but three woodpeckers. Two males and one female coming regular to feed. We also hear them peeking on the tree trunks, before and after feeding on suet, nuts and seeds. 

Whenever dad sees one arriving, he announces it to anyone in the household. It is a big ‘thing,’ especially when one considers that according to American Indian legend, a woodpecker is to be the bearer of good luck.

Pygmy Nuthatch

This is one of the smaller birds and only once did dad see two of them at the same time, so it is not as common as some of our other visitors. It was not until dad brought the picture up on the computer screen that he noticed the Pygmy Nuthatch’s back was not grey, but a grey-blue with emphasis on the blue.

Once the sun passes further to the West, descending behind the trees, our visitors are few and far between. Tomorrow the entertainment will be repeat, regardless of the weather, but since the skies were grey, I was sleeping in my fur house.

Audubon Website

The Cornel Lab of Ornithology  Website

With our next post we will share some news we received from Angel and six garden cats a few days ago. If you have not been visited her blog, please do pop in and have a look and meet her feline companions.

Before closing a quick couple of notes, we want to let you know that with our next posting we will be providing information as to the second quarter Calendar Bookmark Photo Contest. Also from now on we will respond to your posts directly with a post since so many of you do not show your email address. So you may wish to check the email follow-up box.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week.

Far too long

Yes, indeed it has been far too long since I not only posted but also visited your blogs. After some prodding from Catrina (Cat’s Cat) and Kevin (Animal Shelter Volunteer Life), keeping silent was no longer an option, besides it was just Wednesday when I was finally obtained a picture of Miss Kitty.

The last several weeks the weather in general has left its mark throughout the United States and even now another storm is making its way through the north-east, while here in northern California we have been experiencing these couple of days blue skies, but also very cold nights.

Granted there is no snow by our front door as in other parts of the country, it was cold enough to warrant me bringing in some wood and having a fire.

Now normally I would sit in front of the fire in order to tend it and Miss Kitty would nestle in between my legs or cuddle on my lap, making herself comfortable so she too could enjoy the fires warmth. However this time Miss Kitty decided to have it all to herself by laying claim to the spot in front of the fire, showing no signs of fear of any ambers jettisoning at her. This was a first for her.

The next day the sun came back and there was blue sky to be had. Since it was green recycling container the next day, it signaled an excursion into t he backyard for some cleaning up. Miss Kitty took the opportunity not only to soak up some sun rays but also supervise me from the balcony.

If you have not claimed your first quarter calendar bookmarks with the winners of the photo contest, click on the word link, which will take you directly to the full size printer version for download. Now we will be off to visit your blogs and see what you all have been up to.

Enjoy the weekend.

Your 2011 Calendar has arrived!

“You know dad, you lost track of time again. Decorations around the house, then last night sending out individual Christmas emails and now you are twenty-three hours late posting the final printer version of my calendar bookmarks. You had promised that you would do it Christmas Eve, so what do you have to say for yourself? Typical, no response, just a dumb founded look on his face! Did you at least get me something for Christmas?”

“So now you think a nice dinner, followed by a scalp message and a tummy rub is going to make up for your blunder . . .            well . . .     I guess so, but you better work fast, there are less than three hours remaining before Christmas Day starts here on the Pacific Coast.”

Wishing all creatures, great or small, including humans,

good tidings this holiday season. May your home be filled

with the warmth of laughter, the company of family and

good friends, sharing food and love.

We requested from the humans that each winning feline have a few words written about them to accompany their individual picture and without further delay Alexandra writes not only in English but also for her German speaking audience.

Noah

One day Noah just came out of the woods. For days he sneaked around in our garden and stole our old cat lady Jazz’s food from her bowl. It was impossible to get even a few steps close or to even touch him and due to his behavior, we believed he did not have a home. We asked around in the neighborhood but nobody know him, so we started to feed him. Through the feeding we managed to gain his confidence. Step after step we were allowed to approach closer, until the day (after 2 month, I will never forget it) when I managed to touch him. At this time it was just as if a dam had broken, he couldn't get enough of being stroking. Finally we managed to cage him and bring him to the animal doctor to see whether he was wearing a chip to see if he belonged to someone or not. We contacted animal welfare in case his owner might be looking for him, but nobody called and at the end we decided to adopt and give him a home. Since he has rewarded us with an incredible amount of love. He's a clown who likes to play hide-and-seek or catch, he comes along when we're clapping in our hands but he also likes just to take a nap on the knees of his humans. Noah has helped us over the difficult time when we had to let go our old cat lady Jazz when she crossed over the rainbow bridge. With his humor and his nonsense he made us laugh wiping away our tears. He's really a special guy. 

Noah kam einiges Tages aus dem Wald, schlich tagelang in unserem Garten herum, klaute der alten Katzendame Jazz ihr Futter, berühren oder gar ein paar Schritte auf ihn zugehen konnte man nicht. Sein Verhalten liess uns vermuten, dass er kein Zuhause hatte. Wir haben in der Nachbarschaft herum gefragt und schliesslich begonnen ihn zu füttern. Durch die Fütterung gewannen wir wohl sein Vertrauen. Schritt um Schritt durften wir näher an ihn heran, bis wir ihn endlich berühren durften und dann schien wie ein Damm gebrochen, er konnte vom Streicheln nicht genug bekommen und kroch fast in einem hinein. Wir konnten ihn schliesslich einfangen und brachten ihm zum Tierarzt um sicher zu sein, dass er nicht doch einen Chip trug und jemandem gehörte. Auch eine Ausschreibung beim Tierschutz liess seine Besitzer nicht auftauchen, so haben wir ihn schlussendlich adoptiert und er dankt es uns mit unglaublich viel Liebe. Er ist ein kleiner Clown, mit dem man Verstecken und Fangen spielen kann, der auf Klatschen angerannt kommt, Männchen macht, einfach zufrieden bei seinen Menschen sich für ein Schläfchen einkugeln kann und schlicht und ergreifend zum Knuddeln ist. Noah hat uns aber auch sehr geholfen, als wir unsere alte Katze Jazz erlösen mussten. Mit seinem Kabriolen und seinem Humor hat er uns das Lachen zurück gebracht. Er ist ein ganz besonderer Typ.

Tiny Johnson, also referred to as Johnny

His human mum Trish writes:

Sweet Johnny; a gentle, giant, twenty-pound tabby with the world's most petite "meow".

You are the peacemaker in the house, the big bed warmer, and you eat absolutely anything, at least once.

Nothing makes you happier than your squeaky mouse, unless it's a tummy rub.

Just a tiny bit cross-eyed, you prefer you mighty paws on the floor, no heights for you . . . 

unless it's to be picked up for a nice cuddle.

Mr Puddy

When you look at the picture of Mr Puddy you can understand when his mum  writes only a few words:

Mr Puddy is an Aussie Cat who chose a forever home by himself.

For downloadable PRINTER version, click here and enjoy

So lets have a round of an applause for not only the winners but also for all those who had entered.

Very soon we will announce part two of the calendar photo contest for the months of April, May and June. So get those trigger fingers active by taking pictures, as we know you love doing this, just remember large file size and if possible vertical format and make sure everyone is having a good time.

We would also like to welcome and acknowledge several new followers to our blog 

Sondra, a blogger with multiple excellent blogs, is a friend of dad's and when you have a look at her sites, there is something familiar about the blogs background, they're dad's textures.

Eva Macie, also an artist friend of dads; her blog A Creative Life is where she shares her art and artistic process.

Luna and Luzie, a blog featuring three cats and you should know it is bi-lingual. Now is that not great! By the way, Luna and Luzie, dad is aware he has yet to press the ‘follower’ button on your blog and said he promises to do so.

Then there is The Old Geezer, yap, that’s what he calls himself. We love his quote on his masthead, it reads “Old age ain’t for sissies! — Do not resent growing old . . .  Many are denied the privilege.”

Over at Margarida e os Animals from Portugal, her latest post  is of a deer grooming a cat and then the cat returning the favor. A must see to believe.

Caren Gittleman and Piras sadly do not have a link back to their blogs so that we can learn more about them or even join their site. So if you are reading this, please send us an email with your link and we will be most happy that you did so.

May I have not forgotten to mention anyone else.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and that all the felines found extra treats and extra helping of good food in their bowls, besides lots of loving. See you in January 2011. 

Now I can take a much needed long nap.

The winners are . . .

Miss Kitty announces the winners . . .

with today’s posting for the first quarter of 2011 Calendar Bookmark Photo Contest, along with the three whom we have chosen to receive the ‘One lovely blog award.’

For those who are interested in the statistics, there were nine entrees with twenty-six images, of which nine made the final cut. 

Finalist poster

The decision was by no means easy and so a set of criteria was established and applied by which each photograph was judged. The ‘finalist’ images were imported into Photoshop and according to the photograph, may have had applied some retouching; burning and dodging; blurring of the background; and any other visual adjustments we felt would enhance the photograph.

After post production and cropping the photograph down to the required size, it was placed on the ‘finalist poster’ and then the judging began in earnest.

There were four photographs, that came very close to winning. Image two, of Susie was sent in by Kevin from Animal Shelter Volunteer Life — PAWS; KM provided several wonderful poses of George Clooney from Clooney’s Num-Num Fund, image four.

From Spain, photo five comes courtesy of Isabel Gutierrz’s feline Lili, an artist who also blogs about her cat at Espacio y Color; last but certainly not least, image nine was sent in by Victoria and features Lucy taking in her sun-puddles. Her blog is Lucy’s Christmas Lodge.

When we announce the competition open for the second quarter, we shall provide a guideline to help improve your odds for not only making the finals, but increasing your chances of winning. Of course that would make our job even harder, but Miss Kitty and I will be up to the task.

The Winners . . .     congratulations!

January, Noah by Alexandra from Switzerland

February, Tiny Johnson by Tricia at Katnip Lounge, USA

March, Mr Puddy by BN from Australia

Preview of the placements of the winning images

The final downloadable version will be made available on Christmas Eve with a link to the full size print at our Picasa album along with a couple of tidbits about each winner.

The Recipients for the ‘One lovely blog award’ are . . .

Christiane’s blog Ninifees DosiNews from Germany, was elected for her excellent blog and rich photographic images, including for having a huge heart, taking care of many strays and trying to find a very good home for them. Her blog has Google translator widget installed so you can read along.

Catrina’s blog Cat’s Cat from Canada, whom many of you know is another person with a gracious spirit and a huge heart. Her love is over flowing with kindness.

KM’s blog Clooney’s Num-Num Fund also from Canada. She recently brought home her second feline, named Neytiri, named after the main female character in last years blockbuster film Avatar. When you visit there, you cannot help but find humor by the truck load, so stop by for a visit.

Thought there were many more I could have passed this award along to, but as I stated in my previous post, by limiting the number of recipients, the meaning and value of this award is greatly increased.

Wow, this was one long posting. Time for another nap. Make that a very long nap. 

An exciting day it was

Each morning before getting out of bed, dad quickly checks his emails on the phone. There was a message in German from Alexandra in Switzerland, letting him know there was something for him at her blog.

In the meantime he had breakfast and I had my morning snack, which was followed by a visit to the garden since there was no frost outside like the last previous days. It was still rather cold but the morning’s golden light that came skittering across the hills ridge and rooftops was a little warming when it finally landed upon me.

For now the days will be few for going outside until winter reaches its zenith and then it will be still several more weeks before the temperatures begin to rise again.

Cory Cat Blog—Society of Feline Gardeners

When I came back in, dad was also finished with breakfast and together we went back upstairs to the computer. Dad was clueless because he did not check until now what it was Alexandra had in store for us.

With great excitement dad told me all about the award I had received. I quickly had to inspect the monitor and see for myself.

Thank you Alexandra

Since the award comes with a condition that it should be passed along, dad and I had a long discussion as to restoring value and honor to the award by following Alexandra’s example of limiting the nominees. We decided to keep it to three, like in the Olympics. Since there are a number of blogs we are considering, we will release the winners for the ‘One Lovely Blog Award’ with our next post.

Alexandra has a wonderful blog, she not only talks about her cat, but also of per passion for gardening and decorating the house for the holiday season. She also does volunteer work at the local animal shelter, taking exceptional photographs of the animals in need of a home. I enjoy visiting her site to see what she is up to and I am never disappointed.

a rose from Alexandra’s blog Gwundergarten

So please visit her blog Gwundergarten and you will be surprised on several levels. As I already mentioned, her blog is diverse with varied interests and you do not have to know German to read her posts since the blog is bilingual. 

Remember there is still some time left to participate in the

calendar bookmark photo contest.