A Morning Ritual Chez Nous

     Whenever we are at home in the morning, Miriam and I take great delight in having a coffee and a muffin at around 10:00 am. It has become a very enjoyable ritual and of late we have been confined to the house a little more than usual, due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus. 
     I am quite sure that Miriam's blueberry muffins are beyond compare, and as soon as we start to get low, she bakes another batch.

     Does your mouth not begin to water just looking at these confections?

     And when you have the odour too the pleasure is magnified.
     Ever resourceful, Miriam also made the perfect table mat to accompany this morning treat.

       Coffee and muffins! It really doesn't get any better! My choice of coffee is black, Miriam prefers to add a little milk.

   
     Now, the important thing to remember is that this is the house of a couple of birders.
     As you turn into the kitchen what could be better to greet you than a Canada Goose? This is an original watercolour I bought at fund-raiser a couple of years ago, and I think that the artist, whose name I am unable to read, has done a great job in capturing the stance of the bird. I was very pleased to acquire it at reasonable cost.

       We have a breakfast area in the kitchen and that is where we eat most of our meals, only moving to the dining room when we have guests for dinner. 
     Obviously you cannot be expected to eat without a few birds to provide company!

     And look at this wonderful wall hanging Miriam made to hide the outlets, stunning in both conception and completion, with every bird individually quilted.

  
     I am singularly fortunate to have a number of original works by Barry Kent MacKay, an extremely talented Canadian wildlife artist, who has an uncanny ability to capture the essence of the bird in its environment.
     I was very happy when I acquired this picture of parrots feeding on a clay lick, recalling our experience watching exactly a scene such as this along the Río Napo in Ecuador.

     Take a look at some of the detail.

     On my first trip to Vancouver Island, I saw Red-breasted Sapsucker; in fact it was common at the B&B we stayed at. I had never seen this species before, but it put in an appearance almost every morning, and it was delightful to say the least.
     Barry captures it so well.

     I should mention that every time I visited Barry's studio I returned home with a painting other than the one I had intended to purchase. So much of what he did had personal associations for me, and every painting of his that decorates my walls has a story to tell.
     Some of you are perhaps familiar with the blogger known as Noushka. I met this charming and talented lady six years ago and actually stayed at her home and birded with her at an ornithological refuge (Le Teich) on the Atlantic coast of France. In addition to her skills as a renowned photographer, she has created a good deal of original art, and I was thrilled when she presented me with this work featuring a Hazel Grouse.

     I am reminded of that happy time each time I see the picture - which is every day!
     But there is more! How about this Blue Jay perched atop a stack of bird books?

     Underneath the little side table, Canada Geese stand on guard.

     A Common Kingfisher flashes at us from the hutch.

     And inside the hutch birds perch on wine glasses.

     And some look stately rendered in white.

     And we haven't even got beyond the kitchen yet folks! You ain't seen nuthin' yet!

Blueberry Bran Muffins

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup All-Bran Original cereal

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 egg
3 T vegetable oil
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup of fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, stir together cereal, milk and juice. Let stand 3 minutes or until cereal softens. Add egg, oil and sugar. Beat well.
3. Add flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter evenly into lightly greased or paper-lined muffin tins.
4. Bake at 400° F for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown and tops of muffins spring back when lightly touched.

Yields 10 - 12 muffins

Dragons and others of Bassa d'Oles

Discoveries at Bassa d'Oles, Spain

16 July 2014

     When visiting Bassa d'Oles with our dear friends Noushka and Patrick we were in the company of two dragonfly experts and realized how woefully inadequate is our knowledge of these fascinating creatures. They are enchanting and we always pay attention to them, and even though our knowledge is not great, we at least have a little greater knowledge of the species we find locally.

     I do not have a guide for the dragonflies of Europe so all but one of the pictures below will go unidentified. Please help with identification and I will add the title to each picture.

     The credit for these pictures by the way should go to my wife, Miriam. It was her patience that garnered these results.

Yellow-winged Darter Sympetrum flaveolum

Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum

Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata

Common Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus

Hoopoe in the Hole

Eurasian Hoopoe (Huppe fasciée) Upupa epops

Near St. Marcet, France

17 July 2014

     Thanks to advance knowledge by good friends in the area, we were able to view for as long as we wished, this young Eurasian Hoopoe peering out from its nest cavity in the wall of an old farm building.

     If I knew how to insert one of those arrows to point to a spot on the picture, I could indicate the location of the bird, but I can assure you it was well camouflaged, and had we been on our own we would certainly have driven by it.

     This youngster appears ready to fledge and fills the entire hole in the wall. It was cheeping noisily as it begged for food from its parents, but they did not return during the half hour or so that we watched. Perhaps they were deliberately trying to get it to leave the safety of the nest, the only world it has known so far.

      Even though the young bird has advanced well into adult type plumage its gape is clearly apparent in all the pictures.

     

       Hoopoes are enigmatic birds to say the least, and a sighting of one is always cause for rejoicing, but this study of a young bird at this stage of its development far eclipsed any previous encounter as far as I was concerned. It was a special moment in my birding life.

     Thank you Noushka!