Monday, October 21, 2013

Wild Birds and Black Walnuts.... Simple things!


Watching wild birds,
and eating black walnuts...
That's part of what we do when we're down on the farm.

I was so surprised to see this phoebe grooming herself
without any sense of fear of my presence.

It looked up at me, and continued its grooming,
fluffing out its feathers.
I found what held its attraction when it darted swiftly after a moth
without paying any attention to me.
The porch light had been left on all night.
Moths and other bugs had accumulated,
and it was living up to its name as a flycatcher!

I'm not sure what this bird is.
If you know, clue me in!
It may be some kind of warbler?

I was thrilled to have a visit from this pileated woodpecker.
I'd been hearing his loud "Kuk-Kuk-Kuk" call,
but hadn't been lucky enough to see him.

He was quite a ways away,
and spooked very easily,
so I just took this photo through the window.
The moment I opened the door to get a closer shot,
he was gone.


This Northern Flicker was intently going after some bugs or seed.
 I couldn't tell for sure what he was eating.
Not nearly so spooky as the pileated woodpecker,
he seemed to like hanging around close to the house.


Then to wrap up our weekend,
we picked up black walnuts.
My husband loves to crack a batch of them,
 then pick them out and eat them
when it's cool enough to sit by a crackling wood fire.

Those are some of the simple pleasures we enjoy when down on the farm.

In the Scriptures I found a couple of interesting proverbs about a simple life.

Proverbs 13:7 says "A pretentious showy life is an empty life;
a plain and simple life is a full life."

Proverbs 15:16 says, "A simple life in the Fear-of-God
is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches"!


Thanks for your visit!
To see my Name for God this week, click on Rock4Today!


And many thanks to Stewart for hosting a birding blog link-up.
Click on his name above to see birds from around the world!



27 comments:

Joy said...

I would love to be in such a wonderful place too. Precious:) I love the simple things in life too;)
Wonderful words of God!

Alice said...

Loved being with you and enjoying the farm and the quietness and beauty there. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

There is much truth in those Proverbs. Glad you got to see the Pileated Woodpecker. The only time I've seen them was a pair, and I hadn't taken my camera when I went for a walk. My grandmother had a black walnut tree.

Susan Anderson said...

Birds are a blessing, aren't they?

And I love this picture of you!

=)

Aritha V. said...

Beautiful pictures, especially the last one :-) Your are so precious!

lissa said...

looks like fun. birds are fearless as they could easily fly away if they sense trouble, at least, that's why I think.

hope you have a great day.

Unknown said...

What an amazing collection of birds! Your photos are wonderful.

TexWisGirl said...

love the pileateds and the flickers! well, phoebes, too, actually! so great to have them all. i'm not sure what that mystery bird is!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous birds. And a crackling fire? Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Unknown said...

I love the woodpecker!

Leovi said...

I love this beautiful photos! What pretty see wild birds!

Debra at HOMESPUN: http://www.thehomespun.com said...

I love your bird captures / wonderful W post! :)

21 Wits said...

Tweet, tweet, so sweet. Fun little birdy post!

Dave said...

Does sound good, walnuts by the roaring fire..... enjoy!

carol l mckenna said...

Oh such joy in seeing your wonderful photos of nature's gems ~ sounds like you are 'living the good life' ~ enjoy, carol, xx

thanks for coming by ^_^

Unknown said...

I love all your sets of photos especially the woodpecker!

Hugs,
Melody

Splendid Little Stars said...

wonderful birds! The phoebe is cute!
We have a black walnut tree in our backyard, so hopefully we'll collect some walnuts soon.
There's such wisdom in those 2 scripture verses.

SarahBeth said...

How wonderful to be able to see so many different birds!

fredamans said...

Love your Woody Woodpecker!!

Rajesh said...

Great shots of birds. It is fun to watch them.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful assortment of birds! I'm afraid the squirrels will be the only ones to enjoy my walnuts this year.

EG CameraGirl said...

Love your wild birds, Esther Joy! The black walnuts sound delicious.

Stewart M said...

Hi there - the Pileated Woodpecker is one of my favourite birds - I got to see some in Ohio a few years ago - I got rather excited!

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Pamela said...

A visit here is so calming for me. I think your spirit must be calming to the birds. Black walnuts remind me of my grandfather. He loved them.

Jenny said...

What a wonderful, peaceful post!

I adore your birds and it's been so long since I've had black walnuts.

They used to be fabulous in cookies!

Thanks for a lovely trip down memory lane!

And thank you for linking.

A+

Jenny said...

What a wonderful, peaceful post!

I adore your birds and it's been so long since I've had black walnuts.

They used to be fabulous in cookies!

Thanks for a lovely trip down memory lane!

And thank you for linking.

A+

Jenny said...

Your "Holy One of Israel" is lovely. I couldn't leave a comment there, though, so I left it here.