Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
One day, a man and woman were driving along and saw a flash of blue in a field of stubble. Oh, how pretty to see a bluebird. Another bird flew past with only a touch of blue on the wings and landed on a nearby tree branch.
Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
The man and woman didn't think the tree looked pretty at all. It had no green leaves like all the other trees were getting, and the branches were wiggly and sharp.
The Bluebird tree, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
The man and woman drove away, but later at home, they looked in their bird book and saw that the bright blue bird was a Mountain Bluebird male, and the one with only a bit of blue was the female. A week later, the man and woman went back to see the pretty bluebirds. They were surprised to find the male poking his head in a big hole in the dead tree.
Mountain Bluebird, male, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
As the people stopped to look, the male pulled his head out and flew away. The people were sad they had scared him away, but happy when the female came out of the hole to take a look.
Mountain Bluebird, female, May 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
And the people knew that the bluebirds had built a nest in a hole of the dead tree. Soon, baby bluebirds would hatch from eggs laid by the female. The woman took a picture of all the trees near the bluebird tree so they would remember where it was, and then they drove quietly away.
Before the storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
One week later, a terrible wind blew across the prairie and many trees were damaged near the man and woman's home. They drove out to check the dead tree that held the bluebird nest. But where was it? The people knew they were at the same place because they had a picture of it. But where was the bluebird tree?
After the Storm, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
The bluebird tree was gone! Everything in the picture was the same, but the tree wasn't there. The man walked over to take a look.
Looking for fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
He pointed to something that the woman couldn't see, and then he took a picture of something laying on the ground.
Taking photo of fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
The man showed the woman a picture of a tree on the ground with a big hole in it, and they knew the mighty prairie wind had pushed over the bluebird tree.
Hole in Fallen Bluebird Tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper
Then the man showed a picture of inside the hole. It was empty. Only bits of old grass and small twigs lay at the bottom. The nest was gone.
Empty hole in fallen tree, Jun 2019. Source: Nelson Draper
The man and woman were heartbroken. The pretty bluebirds were gone and they didn't know if they had even survived the storm. For several days, the man and woman stayed away. It was too sad to drive by the fallen tree. They prayed that God had taken care of the birds that He had created. One day when they couldn't wait any longer, the man and woman drove to the fallen tree. From a distance, they saw that nothing had changed. But then they saw a flash of bright blue zip past their car. Right behind it flew a bird with a bit of blue on its wings. The bluebirds! Yes! As the man and woman watched, the bluebirds flew past the fallen tree and deeper back into the trees behind it. Somewhere in that bush, they had built another nest, sheltered from the prairie wind. So deep, that the man and woman couldn't see it from the road.
Mountain Bluebird, male, on stubble, Jun 2019. Source: Anita Mae Draper
It was the last time the man and woman drove that way, but one day, they'll be back looking for new bluebirds. Meanwhile, they look at the pictures and imagine the male bluebird out on the stubble and new crop, watching out for insects to bring back to his family.
After an almost snow-free winter where the only wildlife seemed to be common house sparrows, also called English Sparrows, it's wonderful to see all the birds and animals return. I spend time every day taking photos of anything that catches my eye and so when Nelson Draper wanted a good camera to use on his daily travels, I gave him my Nikon P500 to see if he liked it. I had upgraded to a Nikon P520 and really like the hybrid camera with it's long zoom, but without the need to carry around extra lenses.
And now we're getting into a nightly ritual of comparing the photos we've taken throughout the day.
Here's the best of our shots for April 13th:
Common Snipe, Southeast Saskatchewan, Apr 13, 2016. Photo by Nelson Draper
My best shot was actually a video of a Long-tailed weasel who had come poking around our yard. Here's the screenshot of it followed by the actual video:
Long-tailed Weasel, Montmartre, SK, Apr 13, 2016.
Photo by Anita Mae Draper
The video is silent because I was shooting through the picture-window of my living room. Yes... it came right into our yard.
I'll be posting more photos and video as soon as I can. Please enjoy this brief glimpse into Saskatchewan wildlife.
I can't believe it's been a month since I posted here. I have to blame it in part on my other blogs here on my new website. Under the Blogs tab you'll find 4 of them including this one, but there's the Book Review blog under the Books tab and the Recipe blog under the Fun tab. My latest recipe is for sugar cookies and I have one of Nick from last year decorating a delightful Christmas tree sugar cookie. :)
I've also posted a whole page of Christmas theme jigsaw puzzles under the Fun tab.
Meanwhile, I've been busy at church taping all the worship sessions including this one with Nick and Nelson leading with O Little Town of Bethlehem. You can find more videos of Nick and Nelson on the Glenavon Church on the Hill YouTube Channel.
And if you're wondering what our weather is these days, this photo is a fairly good representation. Lots of frost, but not much snow with temperatures averaging 5 below freezing.
I'm really missing Jessie this year because she would be coming home right about now to help with last minute preparations. Instead, she flew out at noon today to Vietnam where she's a relief worker for the orphanage missionaries so they can come back to their families for the season.
But she'll be home at the beginning of January to spend a couple weeks with us. Meanwhile, please pray for her.
Crystal won't be home for Christmas this year, either as she'll be coming home when Jessie comes in January.
Bonnie and Magnar are our other Christmas regulars but they won't be here this year either because they're helping Sonya Rose move to Fort McMurray, Alberta during the holidays. However, we'll get to see them this coming week when we meet them in Regina so it won't be too bad.
I've got a big weekend coming up because I'm baking tomorrow and decorating (finally) on Sat/Sun. I am in the minority here with all these men/boys around and for some reason, they don't want to sit around listening to Christmas carols or even decorate. But I intend to get them moving this weekend. I'll let you see how it goes. :)
Oh wait - that's Nelson and a pair of Broad Breasted Bronze Heritage turkeys, not 3 turkeys. My bad. Hahaha
Lots of info about preserving rare breeds.
There's also info about The Canned Quilter and her site about canning, quilting, and making things yourself. She lives at Hickery Holler Farm in the Ozarks and her Nov 14 blog is about making your own Swiffer dust pads. Neat!
And finally, there's a YouTube video about 3 Royal Palm soccer-playing turkeys. Too funny. Here, watch:
The questions for discussion today are:
- Were you aware of the roles the ALBC and RBC play?
- Have you ever looked a turkey in the eye? Touched one?
- Which variety do you think looks the nicest?
- Do you eat turkey for Thanksgiving/Christmas?
- Have you heard about the plight of the tigers?
