Skywatch Friday: Spring

Blue Passion Vine by Kathiesbirds 300mm 1/80 sec-F/22 Aperature Priority

Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

Palo Verde Bud by Kathiesbirds w/Nikon D80 18-70mm lens; 70mm 1/160 sec-F/8 Close-up mode

Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe

Cape Honeysuckle by Kathie 210mm 1/640 sec-F5.3 Programmed Auto

The spikes of the crocus

The smell of the earth is good.

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only underground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

Bee on Blossom by Kathie w/Nikon D80 18-70mm lens; 70mm 1/120 sec-F/4.5 Close-up mode

Is it not enough that yearly, down this hill

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

by Edna St. Vincent Millay 1921

I remember the first time I read this poem how shocked I was by the line about men's brains being "eaten by maggots" and the surprise of the final line about "April, comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers," but now it seems to me that spring is often like this, and I like the image. I think of this line every year when spring arrives.

Spring arrives for us tomorrow morning at 4:44 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. Arizona is the only state in the Union NOT to observe Daylight Savings Time. So, while everyone else is adjusting their clocks and their sleep patterns, we just go merrily on our way, kind of like spring!

All of today's photos are of the plants in our backyard. While the Palo Verde tree has been in since last year, the rest are new. I couldn't resist taking them and I am practicing using the Aperture Priority setting on my camera, thanks to some encouragement by Troy from Ramblings Around Texas. I have mentioned before that I used to know how to do all of this stuff with my Nikon FG 35mm camera, but I have yet to transfer all that knowledge to the digital age. Since I am an impatient person, I am just happy to get out there an take photos to illustrate my stories. I haven't bothered to sit down and read the 200 page book that tells me how to operate my camera. Well, a simple phone call from Troy told me how to adjust the aperture and now I am happy as can be. I hope to provide better depth of field in my shots now that I know how to adjust my F-stops! Thanks Troy!

Thanks Skywatch Team!

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My World: Art Fair Experience

Kathiesbirds spot at Civano by Gusto with Cannon Powershot SX10IS

I went to bed late and awoke early on Saturday morning with butterflies in my stomach. I had loaded the car the night before and now Gus and I drive north to Civano Nursery for the Artisans Fair. We wait in line to unload, then set up our new folding display table amidst flowers and pots. A chorus of birds sings to us as vendor after vendor takes their spot and waits…and waits…and waits…

Kathiesbirds magnets by Gusto! Cannon Powershot SX10IS

It is a slow day in the garden center. Traffic is slow and no one is selling anything. A few people stop by to say hi and look at my paintings. I sell 6 jars of jelly—four to people who work at the nursery! We arrived by 7:30 a.m. to set up, but the nursery didn’t open until nine. Somewhere around 1:30 p.m. an adolescent boy comes by. He notices the magnets made from some of our nature photography. While most are birds, I also added a few of butterflies, lizards, and toads. He has a pet lizard and he was attracted to the magnet of the Desert Spiny Lizard. My youngest son, Alex used to have lizards, snakes and turtles when he was a boy. When I made this particular magnet up I thought of him and I thought to myself that some young boy would buy one of these. Now here he is, like a thought coming true. We chat about reptiles and I take the $2.00 his mother handed him. This is my only “artistic” sale of the day.

Gus and I watch the sky growing darker to the south as a wind comes up and blows our paintings all over the ground. A heavy charcoal colored cloud sinks lower as the wind continues to blow its warning. Vendor after vendor packs up their stuff and leaves. Gus and I follow suit and soon we are on our way home, exhausted and debating about whether to return again tomorrow. After all, “Tomorrow is another day…” and the weather is suppose to be better.

On Sunday morning I arise long before Gus and drink my tea in restless unease. I spent a fitful night in bed, wanting to believe today would be better but fearing another long day of tedium. We do not have to be there quite as early today. I wake Gus around 9 and we arrive by 10:00 a.m. On the long drive there we discuss what to do. Neither of us wants to sit there another day. Gus is willing to support me in whatever I choose, but I don’t know what I want. I am pulled in 2 directions and it’s wearing me out. I feel responsible to give it a good try, but I am dreading sitting there all day almost as much as a trip to the dentist!

We park our car and walk to our spot. A few vendors are here again, but many have not returned. I stand where my table stood yesterday and glance around the nursery and decide I would rather be doing anything than this. I would rather be doing than sitting. I would rather be experiencing life and writing than all this waiting!

New Plants by Kathiesbirds with Nikon D80

Gus and I walk off down the garden aisles together and start searching for plants to go in our newly filled planter beds, complete with irrigation lines. Yes, in the midst of all the craziness this past week we had the backyard landscaping completed to the point where we can now buy plants! We left Civano with three guara, also known as Whirling butterflies or Wand flower and three Cape Honeysuckle tecomaria capensis. The rest of the day is spent in a joyful search for plants to complete our backyard habitat. We continue our search at various box stores in town as we add plant after plant to our cache, each one chosen to attract birds or butterflies. It is late in the evening by the time we return home with all our plant purchases of the day. We line them up on the patio and reach for our shovels. Let the planting begin!

Gus' Paintings

Copy of Madame Matisse The Green Line by Gusto! 1999 Acrylic on Canvas

Pond Sunset by Gusto! 1999 Acrylic on Canvas

Yes, Gus can paint also, though he hasn't in a long time. These are two of his paintings from an art class we took together in college back in 1999. His style is quite different than mine. He also did the lighthouse painting you can see in the first photo.

Photographers Note: We recently purchased a Cannon Powershot SX10IS so Gus and I can both take photos at the same time. All the photos on this post today that were taken by Gus were taken with that camera.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And Thanks Klaus, Ivar, Louise, Wren, Sandy, and Fishing Guy for all you do!

Civano Artisans Fair March 14- 15

The Civano Artisans Fair is this weekend in Tucson, Arizona.

This is my spot...


...and these are some of the new paintings I did this week.

Roadrunner Tribe by Kathiesbirds
8 x 10 Acrylic on Canvas



Acorn Woodpecker Tribe by Kathiesbirds
8 x 10 Acrylic on Canvas

Acorn Woodpecker by Kathiesbirds

5 x 7 Acrylic on Canvas

In the yard I had a surprise on Thursday when these pine siskins showed up. Until Thursday I had only recorded one Pine siskin in my yard this year. I took a break from painting to watch these sweet birds pick nyjer seed from the feeder. Now it's off to the store for more paint, bird seed and other necessities for the fair tomorrow. I have butterflies in my stomach and I probably won't sleep a wink tonight. If you are in town, I hope you will stop in and say Hi to me! I would love to met you!

I also want to give a shout out to Troy of Ramblings Around Texas. He is not only a blogging buddy but he has become a friend. Troy has taught me so much about how to use my camera and how to process my photos. Troy has been off the blogosphere for a couple of months and I know I am not the only one who missed him. I called him last week to check on him because I was so concerned. I am happy to report that Troy is alive and well and blogging once again! Welcome back Troy and Martha!

Skywatch Friday: Sun Birds

Male Lesser Goldfinch 3-3-09 by kathiesbirds

I call this post Sun Birds because these birds look like they've captured the sun in their feathers. In last Sunday's post, Yard Views, Max of Apartment Biology Blog mentioned that the Lesser Goldfinch almost looked like a Scott's Oriole. That got me thinking and I decided to compare the two birds side by side. This photo is of the same birds as I posted last week and was taken just a few seconds later. You can see it's finch-like body and beak made for plucking and opening the seeds this bird loves to eat. We mostly get Lesser Goldfinches here and I have never seen an American Goldfinch in my yard, though a Lawrence's did stop by one time just long enough for me to identify it before it flew away without me getting a picture of it! The Lesser Goldfinch is smaller and yellower than the American Goldfinch, which has white undertail coverts (the feathery part underneath its tail). The Lesser Goldfinch also comes in a black-backed and green-backed variety. This is a green-backed male. In spite of his black cap and black wings, if you saw him from behind you would see his upper back is greenish. The black-backed variety is totally black from his cap to his tail. I have seen both varieties here, though the green-backed is much more common.

Male Scott's oriole 3-17-08 by Kathiesbirds

This male Scott's oriole stopped by last March during a spring rain. He is twice the size of the Lesser goldfinch and his black is more extensive coming down into a bib. He beak is longer and more pointy for getting at nectar and eating insects instead of seed. I put this half an orange outside for him once I spotted him.

Male Scott's oriole perched in mesquite Tree 3-17-09

Perhaps now that I've planted an orange tree it will attract more orioles. I can only hope they will stop by during spring migration this year. I am ready and waiting with camera and fruit!

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Happy Skywatch Friday everyone!

Come see me at the Civano Spring Artisan's Fair this weekend!

My World is a World of Bird Art

Gambel's Quail 3-3-09 by Kathiesbirds

MY World is a world of chance encounters. It’s a world where anything can happen and frequently does. By chance Gus and I stopped by Civano Nursery Saturday to look at trees and buy some plants. By chance I found out about an Artisan’s Fair they are having this coming weekend and in a bold and foolish move, I signed up to be a vendor! I have never done anything like this before, and I have hardly any paintings, but I decided to take the chance!

Gilded Flicker 6-22-08 by Kathiesbirds

My World is a world of birds that come to my feeders and wander my yard looking for seed after a Sunday night rain. In my world of birds I see color and life and patterns, patterns that translate to pictures and pictures waiting to become art. How can I tell you how the birds make me feel, how they make me smile even when I am in pain from the dentist, or concerned about the economy? After Sunday night’s rain the Gambel’s Quail wander the block wall searching for food and I smile. When the Gilded Flickers come and hang from my feeders with their large beaks and heart shaped wings I see the shapes and patterns and I see beauty and art.

Colors and Patterns by Kathiesbirds

In My World of birds and patterns I have turned my kitchen into an art studio, for it is the only place I have to paint. So paint brushes and canvases lay side by side with fruit bowls and coffee pots while colors whirl in my head with the Doubts and Questions: Am I good enough, am I good enough, will anyone buy my art? Can I create enough in a week?

Kitchen Art Studio 3-3-09

I must be crazy to try this, but, what the heck; life is all a risk anyhow. Every day the birds risk their lives to live. Who knows when the hawk will drop from above? But, in the meantime I will fly like the lark into the sky and sing my sprit song of feathers and colors and patterns. Feathered Joy. Flicker Love. Vermillion Flycatcher Sky. Fractured Blue.

It’s all a swirl of colors, patterns and life.

Vermillion Flycatcher Sky and Flicker Love by Kathiesbirds

So, I’m off to the craft store today for more canvases and paints. My stomach is all a flutter with anticipation and desire. If you don’t hear from me all week, it’s because I’m listening to the bird song in my head and out my door and I’m covered in paint.

Kitchen table/art studio 3-3-09

Stop by Civano Nursery on Houghton Rd in Tucson this Saturday and Sunday March 14th and 15th from 9 to 4 if you want to say Hi. I’ll have Bird Art for sale along with what’s left of the Prickly Pear Jelly I made last summer. I even had business cards made up from the photograph below.

Thanks Carla at Gaslight Printers!



Bird Tribes Art by Kathiesbirds

Yard Views

Ever since we moved to Sycamore Canyon almost two years ago I have enjoyed eating breakfast on the patio. When we first moved into our house the neighborhood was only partially finished. As a result, Gus an I have enjoyed a certain amount of privacy and unobstructed views from our yard. As the months and years have passed the neighborhood has filled in, and bit by bit we have lost little pieces of the sky and segments of the mountain views. All this time the five lots across the wash behind us have remained empty as well as the two lots across the street from them. A recent Skywatch Friday post featured the sunrise as seen straight out my backyard looking east across these vacant lots.

On March 3rd I am enjoying the gorgeous weather by eating outside once again. With my bowl of cereal, my tea, binoculars and camera, I am prepared for everything as the mesquite tree fills with birds swarming the nyjer feeder. I smile at this bright male Lesser Goldfinch watching me watching him when suddenly I hear it, the roar of a tractor motor.

I jump up to see it has started, the excavating of a new foundation in the vacant lot across the wash and across the street. The Rincon Mountains in the distance are the same ones I photographed on fire last year. I know that with a new house over there I will soon lose this view and with it, my backyard privacy. What to do? What to do?

Within two days the footings and pipe are laid. It won't be long until the framing goes up. And after that, the next lot and the next will sprout houses like mushrooms in the night.

As soon as Saturday arrives Guys and I take a trip to the new Ace Hardware store in Corona de Tucson. I saw something here on Friday when I came in to buy some safflower seed. The salesman tired to warn me that this type of tree will not only produce fruit, and grow fast with lots of thick foliage, but it will also attract birds! Oh my, now you are speaking my language! What you see as a detriment, I see as a selling point! This is exactly what I want, so we bring it home and prepare the site. I have always wanted one of these, especially since moving to Arizona. Presenting...

...my new dwarf Valencia orange tree! I cannot believe the lovely fragrance the orange blossoms have. I can't wait for it to make fruit, for I love to make fresh squeezed orange juice. I hope it will attract lots of birds...

...and grow fast and green to make a screen before the next house goes up behind me.

Skywatch Friday: Sweet Acacia Sky

Sweet Acacia blossoms with bee 3-2-09 by kathiesbirds with 300mm lens

In my front yard two Sweet Acacia trees grow with thorns as long as sewing needles. I am not so sure I like them, until the springtime comes. Then the trees burst into bloom with showers of these yellow puff balls about the size of Kix cereal. Their fragrance fills the air around them and the trees seem to hum with the happy buzzing of honey bees gleaning pollen from their blossoms.

I love the contrast of the bright yellow balls against our vivid blue Arizona sky. It seems so happy to me, so full of promise with spring just around the corner and new life about to begin again.

Happy Skywatch Friday Everyone!

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