...Dude! Where's the party?

Well, nothing says "party" quite like a Common Grackle (quiscalus quiscula - seriously, WHO thought up these crazy Latin names, anyway???) This was taken through my not-quite-pristine window this morning, and at a ridiculously high ISO, all of which accounts for the "softness" of the image. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

I rarely see grackles at our feeders so when I came down this morning and saw this fellow sitting on the railing, looking all ticked off, I knew he had to be blipped. And when he was considerate enough to dance over to the berries, well, it was in the bag.

The squirrels are up to their usual shenanigans, one of them managing to get trapped UNDER the squirrel baffle hanging from the deck. I thought for a few minutes that I was going to have to undertake a squirrel rescue, but then the little guy flung himself into the air and over the railing of the deck. A small grunt when he landed, then he was off as if the hounds of hell were on his fluffy tail. He was back in under 2 minutes, apparently fully recovered from the trauma. Sheesh.

Hubs and I went to one of the feed stores and picked up 40 pounds of sunflower seeds and assortment of other goodies for the critters. I love the feed store - where else can you buy a bird feeder AND 100 pounds of hog chow in the same aisle? It's a goopy day outside, so I am going to work on our Christmas letter so I can get our cards out this week. Tic toc.

Thank you for sending my little house finch flying into the Spotlight yesterday! I always feel so victorious when I can catch one of the song birds in flight - they move so erratically and quickly that I find it difficult to capture that kind of shot. Worked out well that he flew right in front of the fake poinsettia, allowing me to keep the holiday theme going!

Oh, and breaking news on the spider - there is a chance that HE may actually be a SHE. Stay tuned for details...

Happy Saturday, blippers!

xx00
Debbi