HAY BALE SURPRISES

Thank you for your kind emails and texts following my recent hospitalization.  Some of you have asked whether I’m out shooting already and I’m NOT!  I’m always a couple weeks ahead with my picture-taking in case of a spate of bad weather or other situations keep me off the lens.

Hay bales make for interesting landscapes on hillsides and in farmers’ fields.  Sometimes I get surprises when I photograph them, like the lovely Eastern Meadowlark I found perched on one bale.  I was also lucky to capture golden skies and a sunset as a backdrop for some of the hay bale scenes. 

THE INNER IRIS

 

Ultra close-ups gave me a different perspective on these unique flowers.

SUMMER EAGLES

 

From a distance, I saw them atop a curved-sided barn.  Two bald eagles, their white heads and statuesque shapes the giveaway.  The one on the end looked ready to bolt, its white feathers ruffled and yellow eyes trained on me.  Not wanting to disturb them, I decided to drive around the long block and see what else I could see.  When I returned, the sun was setting and the orange-streaked sky provided a beautiful backdrop for the lone eagle on the end.  I wondered where the other one had gone when it slowly dropped from the sky to the rooftop.  Made my day.

SAFFLOWER SEED SOLUTION

 

I thought it was my feeder types that allowed the bully birds to consume my seed in a day or two.  As I was looking at yet another style of feeder in the local feed store, a clerk suggested I take a different approach.  “Change the seed type, not the feeder,” she said.  “Give the bullies something they don’t like.”  So I changed from no-mess and sunflower seed to safflower seed.  No more red-winged blackbirds, grackles, starlings, or squirrels.  I’m still attracting the birds I enjoy.  Magical!

POPPIES

Mary Oliver's poem begins:

The poppies send up their

orange flares; swaying

in the wind, their congregations

are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin

and lacy leaves...