Tag Archives for animals

I’m only stunned

I heard a “thunk” at the front window and looked out to see an Oregon Junco sitting on the deck. He (she?) was very still and it was a little bit before I was certain he was still breathing. I went outside and he didn’t move other than to blink at me. I wanted to move him to a safer place, but the first time I started to pick him up he flapped at me – for which I was grateful because it meant everything seemed to be in working order. The second time he stayed calm while I lifted him off the deck. Looking around I decided the best spot was on one of the feeders with a wide base. He sat there calmly for about ten minutes before finally flying off. It did mean I was able to get one good portrait.Oregon Junco

Rudy, the backup cat

We have a cat. She adopted our home as a kitten while it was still our construction site, and lived through many hard years before becoming the spoiled cat of the house. Her name is Stray Cat. This causes no end of confusion at the vet.

She does not like other cats.

This is an interesting conundrum because other cats like our house. They visit our yard and hang our on our deck. Sometimes they do so enough to have us give them a name. In recent months a ginger cat has decided to hang out on our porch. We have named him Rudy. If you ask me, it’s for “Rutabaga” which are orange when cooked. If you ask my husband, it’s for “Rudolph the red-nosed cat”. Either way, Rudy visits and gets a small bowl of kibble. He is skittish and won’t let us near him, but enjoys the kibble. We’d like to capture him and get him to the vet for shots and a check-up, but it seems unlikely for now. I’d love to get a photo of how he stretches his neck when coming out from under the porch to see if there is kibble in the bowl, but that will take a bit of luck. In the meantime, this is a photo of Rudy watching me wander around the yard taking pictures of flowers.

Periodic Frog October 20, 2012

Having very few frog sightings lately. Today I did see Uptown Frog, albeit very briefly. He also saw me and quickly dove underwater. This made me decide it was time for another archive photo for a periodic frog. This is Cave Frog, with his beloved plant pot. It’s an earlier photo before I got a bit better at this, but I love how his little hands are hanging on to the edge of the pot. Cute!

Periodic Frog October 4, 2012

[insert "theme music from Jaws"]

[insert “theme music from Jaws“]

Eyeballs is lurking in the lilypads. The days are cooler, and the nights are dipping close to freezing now. Soon the frogs will burrow into the mud and I may have a few photos stored (certainly of Brave Frog) for some additional posts, but then you have to wait for spring until we find out if they stayed in the pond and survived the winter. *fingers crossed*

Periodic Frog October 1, 2012

Come closer, scrumptious morsel!

 

I admit it – I do not think I can keep up daily postings much longer at all, so I’ve renamed this to “Periodic Frog” because (1) it’s going to be accurate and (2) I’m a chemist who enjoys the play on words.

Nonetheless, I was delighted to spot Eyeballs in the lilypads – he was well hidden. I didn’t see him actually go for the little insect (perhaps it’s too small to bother with – what do I know? Do frogs do tapas?) but I like to think he was watching it. Those little bugs are annoying, so I’d be more than happy to have them be a frog’s appetizer.

 

Daily Frog September 30, 2012

I am one with the lily pads.

 

I was certain I had missed my opportunity to take a photo of Cave Frog on this evening – which would have been a shame as the light was interesting on the water. While I was moving in, he hopped off the lily pad where he had been sitting – but thankfully they are so thick there he just ended up on another, with one over his back. He must have felt reasonably camouflaged, because he was then very still while I did the photo shoot.

Daily Frog September 29, 2012

Here’s looking at you, kid.

I need to be more observant when I go out my door – the spot where Uptown Frog lives is very close and I’m beginning to think he is watching me more often than I am aware. Be sure to click on the photo to get the large size, and take a look at his arm under water, fingers holding on to the plant stalk. Where he is there is a reasonable current – so holding on is the only reason he isn’t floating downstream.

Daily Frog September 27, 2012

What’s the big deal? I’m just out on my veranda.

 

I went outside and looked for Eyeballs and Cave Frog among the plant pots and the lily pads, but spotted no one. I decided to take the walk around the pond to sneak up on the back of where Uptown Frog hangs out – just as I was getting near, I realized he was WAY out in the open on a rock a bit upstream from his little condo area. I slowly walked all the way back around the pond and got the camera. I don’t think I took a breath the whole time I was edging the tripod into slightly new positions to try and get a good view of him without the plant stalks blocking everything. Happily, he stayed there the whole time! This may be the best view we ever get of him – and it’s a good one!