Category Archives: Animals

Over Head

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Over Head

Lying in the hammock, searching for my words,
I come up with nothing, so I consult the birds.
They lift up off my trees to circle in a ring
as though they’re reconnoitering every single thing.

Swooping to partake of swirling clouds of  gnats,
eying all my fruit trees, teasing both the cats,
who, crouched up on the roof, dream culinary wishes—
far above their heads, those tiny feathered fishes

far out of their reach, but so mesmerizing that 
they far exceed temptation of squirrel or of rat.
Cats find bird movements insolent, drifting high up there.
Such an outrê thing to do, floating in the air!

Prompt words today are consult, insolent, outré and reconnoiter.

Little Duck’s Redux: Cee’s Fun Foto Prompt

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Click on first photo and then each photo to enlarge and see the story of Little Duck.

Little duck emerges from his handy little private condo in the kitchen cabinet..
Really little Drain Duck is the newest addition to the Forgottenman household. He makes Little Duck into Big Duck by comparison––or, at the least, Medium Duck.
Little Duck seems to have been very influenced by the Rio Olympics. Here I caught him working on his gymnastics routine on the steady ring(s).
I don’t think bungee jumping is an Olympic event yet, Little Duck!
But all that exercise took its toll. A few electrolytes helped restore energy. Forgottenman tried to pour salt on his tail to slow him down, but made the startling discovery that Little Duck has no tail!!! That explains why it is so hard to catch him when he is up to his usual tricks.
So he decided to go visit his little friends, immigrants from Forgottenman’s earlier visits to Mexico. That’s Forgottenman trying to get into Mexico with his Murdo reunion T-Shirt on. That’s the immigration officer duck blocking his way.
luckily this cooler version of the original grim pitchfork wielder had no objections to Little Duck making it a trio act.
And of course, being Little Duck, he had to get into the action.
When he woke up, it was to a flurry of packing. Seems the househumans are taking off for Minnesota tomorrow. Determined not to be left behind, Little Duck decided to smuggle himself into Judy’s bag, but misjudged the size of his tummy after all those treats and got stuck.
Although Little Duck at first remained in his ceiling seat restraint, as befitted his status as a sometime creature of the air, he soon grew restless.
he decided Big Duck needed a bit closer supervision.
I told Little Duck smoking would stunt his growth, but he never listens to me.
I finally hid his tobacco and papers, but I didn’t bother to hide this bottle because I knew he couldn’t reach it anyway. But he outsmarted me. Big Duck scorns in the dark background.
So, Little Duck decided to explore a bit. The recumbent nude bronze seemed to him like a pony ride created just for him.
Now and then, his attention would be diverted by the need for a little liquid refreshment from Big Duck’s cup, …
When Big Duck retreated to find a little solitude to practice his guitar, Little Duck had a front row seat–to Big Duck’s back.
Perhaps a wild ride on Big Duck’s antique goose? THE END. (CLICK ON X AT THE UPPER RIGHT TO RETURN TO POST PAGE.)

You’ve seen these photos before in numerous posts about Little Duck. This is a blend of a number of his different adventures. 

For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Non-Alive Animals

Macro Monday

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I’ve been looking for these photos  I took for years. Finally found them on a disk where I stored photos from an old computer. Yay!

Click on photos to enlarge!!!!!

Do you know what this is? If no one guesses, I’ll tell you tomorrow if someone reminds me. Not having a good day memory-wise!! Just got a blank voice message notification from a few minutes ago. I called it and no one answered. Then I realized it was my number! I’d called myself to to to locate my cell phone. Definitely losing it.

Travel Challenge: Day 3

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I was nominated by my friend Konstanze Venus to post one favorite travel picture a day for ten days without explanation, then to nominate someone else to participate. That’s 10 days, 10 travel pictures, and 10 nominations. I may not make it to the end of ten days, but for now I nominate Bushboy . Some people I nominate may be on Facebook and others on blogs. Just post wherever you wish but link to me so I know you have. If you are not interested, no problema.

Nowhere in the rules does it say you can’t guess where the photo was taken and that I can’t agree if you are right, say keep guessing if you aren’t.

HERE is a link to my Travel Challenge, Day 4.

Spying on Birds

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Spying on Birds
A little bird flew around for an hour today with a balled-up Kleenex in her beak, looking for a place to build her nest. Her mate accompanied her and they investigated the plumeria tree for a long time but it is without leaves at the moment. In a few weeks it would be a possibility. Her mate then stood lookout on the Plumeria while she investigated the bamboo and bougainvillea. Finally, she settled on the big cactus..It was fun observing.
Then a vermillion flycatcher took over the lookout branch. If that is a Kleenex I dropped, some of my DNA will be in the nest!!
Click on photos to enlarge them.

Dog Days of August: Stella’s Best Leaf Jumps of All Time

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This video makes me regret having never lived in a place with enough leaves to do this.  One of the best short videos I’ve ever seen. I watched it four times! Joyful.

 

Kleptoparasitic Tendencies

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Kleptoparasitic Tendencies

At first sight of the sperm whales, the fishermen all cringe,
for these felons of the ocean loiter on the fringe,
and when they hear the motors hauling in  the lines,
each poacher dives to steal the fish, hook after hook, and dines.
The perils of the ocean include gale-force wind and rain,
but this larceny of sperm whales is the larger pain.

 

To see sperm whales targeting fishing boats for an easy meal, go HERE.

Prompt words for the day are fringe, rain, first, felon and fish.

Bird of the Day: Female Vermilion Flycatcher May 29, 2020

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I’ve been outside so much during this Shelter in Place period that I’ve been seeing lots of birds. I think Granny’s Bird of the Day prompt has ended so I’m just going to do my own private bird of the day for awhile. If anyone else wants to do so and link to it, just do so in comments. My friend Paul Hart, an avid birdwatcher and genius photographer, identified this for me.

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