St. Francis of Assisi continues his journey

In honor of Ruth and Gene and their love of birds and animals, I brought this statue to our backyard from Pella where it had a prominent spot in front of their home.  We always referred to it as "the monk" but I have since learned better.

(From Wikipedia)

He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters,” and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf.

Perhaps the most famous incident that illustrates the Saint's humility towards nature is recounted in the "Fioretti" ("Little Flowers"), a collection of legends and folklore that sprang up after the Saint's death. It is said that, one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds."  The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. He is often portrayed with a bird, typically in his hand.

 

It's tulip time!

Late February...tulips...of course!

"Hey, these are our woods..."

I was putting my trailcam out this evening and saw a handful of deer in the woods.  I think they are letting me know it's their turf...OR they are waiting for my next handout.  The last picture was a rapid-shot and an attempt to capture them running (look for the white tail)...

Happy Birthday Jon!

My nephew Jon is a faithful reader of my blog and has been valuable as a fact-checker on some of my posts.  He turns 17 today.

Here are some results from last night.  There is a coyote sighting (partial body) and look at all the sets of eyes in line from the deer.

More Red-bellied Woodpecker pictures

Similar to what I've posted before.  Still love the coloring...

Clean up from end of January (deer)

Still catching up on posts.  No bucks lately.  Here are some pictures showing activity at night.  I wonder what made the one run.



No surprise...we have raccoons

I put out a trail camera to see what passes through and to no surprise we have raccoons (who doesn't?).  I'm surprised it took this long for them to show up on camera.  These are pictures from late January/first of February.  And yes, there was food out (bread crumbs).  Not as exciting as a coyote but still fun to see on camera.

Hawk fan

I try to remember to bring my camera when I'm walking Russ in the morning and had it today.  I spotted this hawk flying in the neighborhood and got as close as I could and did my best to take a picture while having a 65lb dog on my wrist.  I can't tell for sure whether this is a Cooper's hawk or a Sharp-shinned hawk because they are cousins and very similar.  The Sharp-shinned hawk is smaller and you can look for things like necks and tails.  The size suggests a Cooper's hawk but the tail seems squared so maybe a Sharp-shinned hawk.  They are built to fly in the woods and like to surprise birds at a feeder.

Not the clearest picture but I'll let my Salina readers weigh in on what I have here...

 

 

** Editor's Note: My nephew Jon feels this is a Cooper's hawk not fully mature.  The size for one and the fact that they stay year-round.

 

 

And here are a few pics of geese in formation over our house...

 

 

"Edencrest" hawk

It's an overcast day today so the pictures aren't as clear as I'd like but I saw this Red-tailed hawk fly up to this branch as I was leaving for home after visiting Ruth and Gene in Johnston.  Ruth told me they saw a hawk and I bet this is the same one.  Two pictures...one a little closer...

Russ was dreaming of a white Valentine's Day and got it