Sunday glorious Sunday

Note: This was written yesterday and I’d forgotten to post it.

I was finally able to turn off the AC units today after having them on for an entire week – something I had not yet done this summer. This summer has been the most pleasant as far as weather goes. But the past week was humid and hot.

Today, it was absolutely lovely.

 

Morning glories greeted me on the back patio

on this beautiful Sunday morning in Maryland.

 

I took George for a walk around the property and brought the camera along.

I haven’t been walking nearly enough lately.

 

 

 

When my son got home from his shift, we cleared away the branches that had come down in the two storms that came through this week.

George wanted us to toss him sticks.

 

Miss Blackie relaxing on the back patio this afternoon. I never call her by her name, preferring to call her something completely embarrassing (to me). Of course, now you’ll want to know what it is. Well, I’ll tell you because it’s silly and I don’t really care anyway. It’s Girlie B’Gurlie.

It’s what I call her when I want her to come inside. B’Gurlie! C’mon Girlie Girlie girl.

My efforts at calling her in are usually futile.

Imagine that.

 

It used to be so difficult for me to tell the difference between the downy woodpecker (above) and the hairy woodpecker. The look almost exactly the same. The hairy is a little bigger, so when they’re together it’s easy to tell them apart. But when they’re alone, it’s the bill that gives them away.

The downy’s bill is noticeably shorter than the width of its head. Can you see it?

Another giveaway is the outer tail feathers. The hairy’s are pure white while the downy’s will sport a dark spot here and there. There’s a spot on the one above.

My husband would be proud of me. He was always the birder in our family and he loved when I began to take an interest in it.

 

This is a white-breasted nuthatch. It gets its name from the way it ‘hatches’ nuts, jamming them into the tree bark and then whacking them with their powerful bill to get at the seed. They move quickly, and seem to almost walk down the trunks of trees.

And that’s your lesson for today.

Hopefully I’ll be back later this week. Be prepared for a pop quiz.

Kidding ~