Easter Rain Drops

Rain on winter tree contrasted against bright spring forsythia 

Nest in Bluebird House

See the grass coming out the bottom? Though I've seen birds on the house, this is a better indication that there really is a nest in there! Looking forward to baby bluebirds!

The Zebra Question

I asked the zebra,
Are you black with white stripes?
Or white with black stripes?
And the zebra asked me,
Are you good with bad habits?
Or are you bad with good habits?
Are you noisy with quiet times?
Or quite with noisy times?
Are you happy with some sad days?
Or are you sad with some happy days?
Are you neat with some sloppy ways?
Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?
And on and on and on and on
And on and on he went.
I'll never ask a zebra
About stripes
Again.

Shel Silverstein

http://enjoy-the-interval.blogspot.com/2006/02/shel-silversteins-poem-zebra-question.html

A nice day at zoo today - just a little cold and wet!

Photo above of Damara Zebra at Nashville Zoo

About Damara Zebra

Clear Night - Full Moon

Don't you love it when this happens?

Shot from my front yard, about 9:30 PM.

Blue Jay

The day after I order my McKendree Birds book

I get a better Blue Jay photo - oh well!

And it is still not the side view with wing showing that I still want.

But I will keep trying and this too was from my kitchen window.

Children & Nature Network

I just joined a network of people who are trying to help children connect with nature. It is called Children & Nature Network. In my case it is as a docent at Nashville Zoo, but there are so many other ways and this relates to Richard Louv's The New Nature Movement. On the site click on "Connect" to be a part of the blog or go directly to the Connect page

McKendree Birds Photo Book

Just finished my latest photo book

A 7 x 7 inch 40-page paperback or hardcover

with photos of 16+ species of birds photographed

in my first 5 months at McKendree Village

See FREE PREVIEW at

http://www.blurb.com/b/4173010-mckendree-birds

or click book image above

Husband/Wife House Finches

On my kitchen window maple tree

Fishing at the Zoo

Blue Heron fishing on Entrance Road Stream

Nashville Zoo

Note the tiny fish in his mouth!

First Day of Spring

My backyard as seen from a neighbor's

on the vernal equinox, fist day of spring,

with snow forecast for tomorrow

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker from my kitchen window

Bluebird House Resident?

This Eastern Bluebird has been sitting 

on my new bluebird house for several days.

Hope this means I have a resident!

Great Kiskadee

The Great Kiskadee is one of my favorite Central American birds

This one was shot in the gardens at Cancun Courtyard by Marriott

Birds in Zapata Swamp

White Heron, one of many wading birds we saw on our boat ride through a lagoon in Cuba's version of our Everglades, next door to the notorious Bay of Pigs. We saw more birds here than any other place, including the West Indian Woodpecker below. 

A Mountain Rainforest

The Escambray Mountains of Cuba

We traveled up into the mountains in old Russian trucks before hiking through tree ferns and orchids

The National Bird of Cuba

Red, white & blue like their flag

Jutia

Jutia or a "tree rat" with rodent teeth like a beaver found in the Caribbean

This one was in captivity at the tobacco farm we visited in Cuba

Rose-throated Tanager

This is just one of 8 species I photographed after breakfast at Courtyard by Marriott in Cancun, all in the gardens around the swimming pool. In Cuba only Zapata Swamp had as many species in one place. To see the other 7 birds photographed in Cancun see    http://www.pbase.com/charliedoggett/travel_cuba_cancun

Vinales Valley in Cuba

Now that I am feeling better after my bad allergies attack, I wills tart sharing a few of my nature shots including flora, fauna and landscapes. This is my favorite landscape - 3 shots stitched together as a panorama  in the most beautiful farming valley I have seen almost anywhere. It is in Western Cuba in Pina del Rio Providence. HOPE YOU KNOW YOU CAN CLICK IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION!