Things come on fast once the weather turns hot and even more so if the rain actually starts.  We aren't out of the drought "woods" yet but it has improved from the past 3 years...very grateful for that!

The Dickcissels are back this June and are a happy lot once again - I swear we have one every 50 feet down the road and several in the pastures as well...its great!  They are even nesting in the pasture here - very fun!

 

And the Bobolinks did show up in the pasture across the road...occasionally they'll chase one another across the road to our place so we can get some enjoyment out of their company!  It was a special time when they nested on our place and when we'd see them up the county blacktops and highway pastures as well, but, again...I am grateful for what we still have.

 

The spring prairie flowers are happy with our rain too, and the heat is moving them along faster than I can keep up...every time I find something new blooming, its finished before I know it...help!!!

 

 

One evening I was down in the SE corner of the north pasture shooting the While Wild Indigos and just as I started walking away a beautiful female Ruby-throated Hummingbird was suddenly right in front of me - feeding on the White Wild Indigos!   The light was subsiding as it was mid evening, but I had the camera on the tripod already and managed some nice photos of her - really fun!

 

 

 We are always fortunate to have Meadowlarks in our neighborhood.  I do have difficulty telling "Eastern" from "Western" - UNLESS they sing...Western Meadowlarks are so much more vocal and melodious than Eastern's are...and we get Westerns here quite often each summer.  

 

One day a week or so back I was in the studio working and heard a beautiful Western Meadowlark belting it out, and it sounded so loud I thought it must be on the barn roof.  I stepped out the door and it was right in front of me on the grass across the driveway...maybe 20 feet away!  We've never had a "Lawn" Lark before!!!  Crazy neat!  I stepped back in and grabbed the camera only to see a Robin dive bomb it...maybe it was stealing his thunder?  But it flit just another 20 feet or more toward the crib so I walked over by the barn's corner and took a few pictures of it in the fresh mowed grass.  I watched it pull a worm up and it commenced to beating it into submission...maybe that's why the Robin didn't want it around - encroaching on its food supply?!

 

It sang in the yard for another day or two but is now back to it's normal perches around the pasture and down along the road.

 

 

Another fun change this year has been the Eastern Kingbirds.  We always see them down along the road...flitting from fence wire to fence post to electrical wire and back.  This year they have taken up residence in the yard!  During noon time Georgie and I would be sitting at the kitchen table having lunch and we watch the Kingbirds flycathing right outside the kitchen windows!  We noticed the favored perches the birds would use to dart out and catch bugs on the wing.  One spot was an old Common Mullein stalk from last year...made a great perch for them.

 

I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to get some closer shots of these guys...I set up the tripod out side and set the camera on it with a electric remote transmitter/trigger.  While I sat eating lunch that day I was holding the trigger in one hand and eating with the other...click, click, click - "Wow that was a good one!"  

 

Went through quite a few shots and missed quite a few too, but very happy with the results...fun birds!

The days are moving quickly now, even though there's more daylight time - it's still packed with chores and work...inside and out.

I hope you have a good summer ahead yourselves...be good to one another and I hope to see you on the Tallgrass!

 

After the Autumnal Equinox

 

This can be a real fun time of year, and bitter sweet in some ways.  We had to say goodbye to many of our summer friends, like the Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, the Wrens, Chipping and Song Sparrows, Eastern Kingbirds, Dickcissels and the Hummingbirds.  

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to properly time their departure?  Ha!  Just put out a new jar of grape jelly and the Orioles leave...just mix a new batch of sugar water and the Hummingbirds leave!  It's crazy, oh well...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the Viburnum - photo - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I've been welcoming the new arrivals the past few days.  Lot of Harris's, Lincoln's and White-throated Sparrows; a few warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  The Harris's and White-throated Sparrow lyrics have been the new morning staple out here on the acreage...very pleasant music to start the day with.

And I've been trying to get photos but there are so many distractions in the studio and outside.  Apples to pick, seed to harvest in the pastures, chain saw work in the groves - still left over from the last derecho 2 months back (final small cleanup work).

Also been trying to get back into some artwork!  Much has been left for summer work and now maybe can be picked up once more.  I had a Dickcissel idea last spring and it keeps evolving/changing...maybe it'll be next???  Also have a larger painting on the easel that got started too late in the spring...waiting for summer and fall to end.

"Eastern Kingbird - Portrait" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I had a friend stop by a couple months back mention Eastern Kingbirds...I joked how they seem to move in the opposite direction - fence post by fence post whenever I have my camera with me!  Funny but true.  I did manage to find some fair poses in my image files that made a nice iconic Eastern Kingbird pose for a small color pencil portrait.

"Red-breasted Nuthatch - Portrait" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

Getting the pencils out brought on more image ideas that had been pent up all summer.  I haven't caught up with all those ideas but I've done a few. Here's a Red-breasted Nuthatch...one showed up a couple weeks ago and it makes an appearance every now and then.  Hope it sticks around! 

"Sharp-shinned Hawk - Portrait" - color pencil drawing - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

I've had some raptors in the yard this summer...mostly Cooper's Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks and an occasional Red-tail.  This bird, a Sharp-shinned adult gave me such a great pose a few years back...I knew I had to save the idea for a drawing.  With it now being Autumn and our colors so poor this year, I decided to give it a colorful background to set it off.  I try and do all these bird "portraits" life size.  Sharpies are only about Blue Jay size or slightly larger, so this is not the biggest drawing - but then, in comparison the that Red-breasted Nuthatch it sure looks big!

Now I need to catch up on framing!  Always something!

We've got another dry Fall here on the acreage...our third severe (listed) drought in a row.  We seem to be in a "finger" stretching up from the southwest; travel 10-20 miles north and its not as bad...travel 20-30 miles east...again not so bad.  Further south seems to get rain as well...it is what it is.

Really the only issues we have here are the gardens being poor producers, the orchards were insect and bird damaged, and the pastures had poor seed production, stunted growth and many plants gone dormant, again.  We've found out the hard way that the American Viburnum we've planted are not "consecutive year" drought tolerant...holes are being punched into the 20 year yard planting here.

Weather all over the world seems to be in the news...Hurricane now hitting Florida, drought out west, and the NE...flooding in so many locations worldwide.  We'll just be grateful for what we have and do the best we can for those in need.

Its a crazy world out there - be kind to one another and I hope to see you on the Tallgrass!