Weekend Roundup: N and O

I missed the Weekend Roundup blog last weekend because I did an extensive post on Epinette's battle with pneumonia last week.  She is still sneezing but we hope continuing to recover.

I'll catch up now with letters N and O.

Night
I don't usually take pictures at night, and I kept forgetting to take one these past couple of weeks.  I remembered that back when I was learning how to use the camera, I took some pictures of the moon.  I don't remember the settings - I would need to study that again.  Here is a picture of the moon from September 16, 2016.  One of my relatively few night shots.

One
There is still snow on much of my yard.

I have one garden bed that is now uncovered, because it receives more sun than the others.  That garden bed has two patches of crocus that have come up, which make me very happy.  Spring is coming!  One of the crocus patches only has one flower.

I'm still happy to see it!

Starts with N
My parents visited this past week, which was a lovely treat.  My mother pointed out that I had what looked like a nest on my roof.  I thought it was just some old twigs that got stuck on the ice blocker strips.

On closer inspection, it turned out to be two nests!  I am sure that they are from last year and they just need to be removed, otherwise they will block the gutters.


I took this picture from the upstairs window looking down on them.

Starts with O
This is my black copper maran hen - her name is Onyx.  She lays the darkest egg of my flock.

Favourites
During my parents' visit, we went to the waterfowl park - a favourite walking spot.  I took this picture of a male American Robin on the walk.  I think his mate was collecting nest materials so he was keeping an eye out while she was busy.  He followed along beside us for a while.  This shot has shadow on his wing but I still really like the picture.

Keeping with the bird theme, I was also really pleased with this recent shot of a purple finch who was visiting my feeders.  They are such vividly coloured birds.

Friday's Hunt v 3.19

This week....good grief.  I can't even say where the time went.  Busy does not begin to cover it.  Not very creative today I'm afraid, but at least I managed to get a post written!  Rather bird-focused today, but that is about all I have to share because otherwise, it's all work!

Our prompts this week:  Starts with S, Week's Favourite, Family

Starts with S:
This is a Song Sparrow, which I photographed in my parents' garden last weekend when I was visiting them.  I usually see different birds when I visit them, and this time was no exception.  So far, I haven't seen a Song Sparrow in my yard.

Interestingly, the Song Sparrow has a remarkable range of subspecies - about 30! - across North America.  This one is the typical eastern variant.

Week's Favourite:
I was pleased this week to see a Northern Flicker for the first time in my front yard.  I managed to get a picture of it - not a great picture, but it was exciting to see a new-to-my-yard bird, so that makes it my favourite!

Family:
I am hoping that a new family will soon be underway in temporary housing on my downspout!  This week, an American Robin built her nest there, and she took three days to complete the process.

Day 1

Day 2

On day 3, it looked similar to day 2, but a bit more built up.  Here she is sitting in her nest on day 3.

It was interesting to see her coming and going with bits of twig, and then smaller bits of twig, and then grasses.  She ended up bringing chunks of mud that she used to push into the nest sides, presumably for strengthening it, and making a lining that is smooth and soft.  I will be checking it to see how many eggs have been laid in it. Last year a robin built its nest in the climbing hydrangea which is just adjacent to this spot, so it might be the same pair I suppose. I do look forward to seeing a robin family over the next few weeks!