Peanut Gallery

Peanuts have been very popular with the birds and critters at our place, so much so that I went out and got the large economy size bag.

First there is this handsome Stellar Jay. You may recall that he likes to check out all the peanuts in the tray before he chooses the "one" he wants.

 

Apparently he has made his choice and then show us his beautiful belly as he departs.

 

There are a number of squirrels, at least 3 different ones, that are also very fond of nuts; actually any kind of food will do for squirrels. There is one black one ...

 

and a couple of gray ones, one much larger than the other.

 



Then there is the crow, waiting patiently, not a squawker, he just hangs around and waits for peanuts or .......

 

He doesn't care where I put them, in the tray, on the lawn, or on this garden lantern; it's all OK with him.

 

He always eats the nuts, sometimes close by and sometimes flying away with them.

 

The Stellar Jay will eat the nuts first thing in the morning but most other times he hides them for later. I don't have a picture but last week I noticed him down on my lawn rearranging the fallen blossoms off my Camilla tree; later when I investigated there were nuts under one or two of the fallen blossoms.

 

 

The Jay also hides nuts in my planters, which explains the scenes below.

 

He digs and digs and digs getting quite filthy.

Occasionally he took a break and looked around, confused, where has it gone?

Then, has he found it?

Yes ...

and off he goes with his prize.

I had cleaned up that planter to put flowers in it, but maybe I'll just leave it, the squirrel show is quite funny!

On the topic of squirrels, I did get a painting finished this week, and yes it was of a squirrel. This is a watercolour that I have named "Do I Smell Peanuts?". It is inspired by a picture that my friend Judy took. Thanks Judy.



This one is sold already so no new post this week on my art blog.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I hope you have enjoyed my "peanut gallery".

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ..................

 

 

Colour and Promise - part 2

My apologies to early readers last week who saw that I thought the baby Pine Siskins were baby Goldfinches. Thank you for setting me straight. They sure are growing fast.

Today I am sharing some pictures that I took a couple of weeks ago, on a beautiful spring day.

We have had a few summer-like days recently and my thoughts have turned to gardening. The seedlings that I have put in are growing almost as fast as the weeds.

Here an American Widgeon on an almost still pond.

The Bulrushes provide perching sites, nesting materials and food for the birds and ducks.

The turtles (painted turtles) catch the sunshine on a warm afternoon.

Ring necked ducks, male and

female:

A Mallard, maybe sitting on eggs, she did not budge as I walked past, but she did watch me closely.

Down at the shoreline, the tide was going out, revealing clam shells

barnacle covered rocks,

and this clam shell that reminded me of a butterfly.

A seagull (glaucous-winged) was search the shallow water for anything tasty.

Sailboats, big and small were out, and there was a group of kayakers practicing ``wet exits``(purposely tipping their kayaks to practice reentry skill); looked like hard work.

Out:

Back in and pumping out the water:

All with supervision of course:

Hardy souls, looked pretty chilly on the water!

I went back to my beach combing:

interesting textures and patterns on this wood and stone, both close to the wharf.

Small daisies, I remember spending hours making chains of these as a child.

Periwinkle, I think.

A beautiful white camillia.

The tulips have been beautiful this spring, but are almost at an end now with the weather getting warmer.

Flowering shrubs and colourful spring foliage to delight the eye:

It always amazes me how fast plants grow this time of year, with noticeable changes every day. The weeds too are thriving too as are the ``volunteer`` plants (those that grow up from the compost that I spread on the garden in the springtime); this year the tiny arugula and fennel plants are everywhere.

I have been spending a lot of time outdoors in the garden and less time than usual in the studio but I have recently finished another seashore themed painting:

Here clam shells are catching the low late day light of a winters day. I call this "Say Ah":

A watercolour of course, for more information follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

Thank you so much for stopping by, and a special thank you to all those who leave comments for me, I really appreciate hearing from you.

 Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time ..............