tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47289870436738290712009-07-13T15:21:54.863-07:00Welcome to my little corner of the world where I like to share some of my favorites in nature photography, places I like to visit, my pets, what I like to read, and occasionally my favorite local sports team.Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-17830476373982716792009-07-10T21:05:00.000-07:002009-07-11T09:07:45.093-07:00

The month of May we experienced a multitude of color from most of our plants. Here are some of my daylilies I was quite pleased with. For years I had all of my lilies in pots, but finally, last year we put them in the ground. We planted all the daylilies around our crepe myrtle tree, and they apparently love their location. Here are a few photos I took during the last half of May.If you look

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-41443776748847911442009-07-05T19:15:00.000-07:002009-07-05T19:30:24.545-07:00

I posted this photo (here) on a previous post. This was our side yard earlier in the spring, mostly in May. During the last week of June my son and husband started revamping that part of our yard. So the yellow flowers are now all gone. I don't remember the name of these flowers, but I've always called them (and that's what they look like to me) marguerite daisies. At the moment, the rose

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-62764424825782823472009-07-01T20:28:00.000-07:002009-07-02T07:27:38.828-07:00

Well, I've been missing in action again! Another whole month has gone by; I can't believe I didn't post anything during the month of June. Granted, we've been busy, but it seemed like the desire wasn't there as well. At least I've been trying to keep up with everyone else's blogs, and commenting now and then. I spent a few minutes going over my photos trying to find the last ones I posted.

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-14907299147707093842009-05-29T21:49:00.000-07:002009-05-29T21:56:16.276-07:00

Heidi (aka Red) and I visited our local county park a few weeks ago. We had not been there since November, so we were fairly certain that we would see a variety of birds we may not have seen last fall. We didn't know what to expect, except we thought there should be some birds nesting in Vasona County Park in Los Gatos. We both have Mondays off which helps when one wants to visit a popular

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-11471369884532092192009-05-23T21:20:00.000-07:002009-05-23T21:24:47.910-07:00

Heidi and I went back to Palo Alto Baylands at the beginning of the month because I thought we would see the snowy egrets nesting there. But there were none to be found. Nonetheless, there was plenty to see there that day. We saw several red-winged blackbirds, but I had a difficult time finding one that would sit still long enough for me to get a photo.Over by the ranger's station there were

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-71314645403456398902009-05-20T11:29:00.000-07:002009-05-20T11:29:00.704-07:00

Chinese goose at Palo Alto BaylandsMay 4, 2009

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-18955285766398396662009-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:002009-05-19T17:35:45.108-07:00

I'm submitting a California Quail for this week's Bird Photography Weekly # 38Check out others' submissions for this week. Click on the link above.

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-30101942946751629322009-05-18T17:15:00.000-07:002009-05-18T17:24:40.548-07:00

The month of May has given us some lush looking blossoms in our front and side yards. Even though our front yard is still lacking ground cover for the second year, the plants are still putting out some really nice colors and plenty of blossoms on each plant. For the past two years my husband has cleaned out the rock/gravel we used to have as ground cover in the front yard. It was so blah

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-75030443549714074402009-05-06T20:51:00.000-07:002009-05-06T21:19:19.184-07:00

One of my favorite birding spots is about a mile or so from where I live. One can find several different types of birds, especially water-type birds there. Besides a creek and a trail, there is also a set of percolation ponds there. This place is called Oka Ponds and is part of the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Back in January, on a nice day as I was about to leave the area, a belted kingfisher

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-77765782163724588052009-05-06T08:17:00.000-07:002009-05-06T08:21:52.741-07:00

Sageleaf Rockrose, Santa Cruz, CAApril 2009

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-3432357217447879502009-05-03T22:45:00.000-07:002009-05-03T22:45:00.561-07:00

along one of the trails in Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. This place is one of 26 preserves owned and maintained by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, an organization that was created in 1972 by a voters' initiative here in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Out of the 26 preserves 24 of them are open to the public, consisting of 57,000+ acres of riparian or marshland,

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-75200271043311122612009-04-28T09:00:00.000-07:002009-04-28T09:00:01.237-07:00

Early in March, Red and I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather we were experiencing. We went to visit a nearby park that neither of us have ever visited before, yet I knew that local birders frequently visit. The park is located in Los Gatos, about a couple miles southeast of where we live. The park itself is nestled in a residential neighborhood at the foot of Blossom Hill, and the

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-92042353544811541262009-04-27T11:23:00.000-07:002009-04-27T11:38:57.044-07:00

I had anticipated and mostly hoped to see a few orioles this spring. So to prepare for their arrival I put up the oriole feeder and added a new item that I had purchased a couple years ago, but never did put up. I think I purchased this fruit feeder from Duncraft. Anyway, I only put the nectar feeder up in late March, and finally around mid-April saw my first hooded oriole which thrilled me.

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-74461551175536421352009-04-22T00:03:00.001-07:002009-04-22T00:13:10.554-07:00

I'm still in the midst of editing photos and uploading them to my Webshots page. But here are a few of my favorite photos of our "babies" who became a year old last month.TangoCashTango and Cash - inseparable

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-2592803832519281542009-04-06T19:46:00.000-07:002009-04-06T20:03:38.647-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've noticed it's been about 3 weeks since I last posted, but life's been busier than usual. This is the season of Lent, and that usually means an extra worship service on Wednesday evenings. But we also get to participate in a soup supper before the service begins. My problem is that I have been getting home from work after 5:30 and we usually need to leave home

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-52674332174507510702009-03-17T20:08:00.000-07:002009-03-17T20:45:32.566-07:00

A week ago, Saturday the 7th, my husband, daughter Red, and I went to San Francisco for the day. We met Ruthie J of Nature Knitter and her brothers for lunch at Castagnola's next to Fisherman's Wharf. While waiting for Ruthie to arrive, we were seated at the Captain's Table where you can get a 180 degree view of the boats docked at Fisherman's Wharf. While waiting, I could see a black-crowned

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-82012365131924272792009-03-09T23:08:00.000-07:002009-03-10T00:02:49.235-07:00

This past Saturday, most of my family had the opportunity to meet Ruthie J of Nature Knitter and part of her family. My husband, daughter Red (aka Heidi) and I met Ruthie and her brothers in San Francisco. We met for lunch at Castagnola's. And it was such a bright sunshiny day in "the city" as we South Bay folks call San Francisco. Typical of this city, especially on weekends, it was

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-2836668142197511532009-03-05T18:19:00.000-08:002009-03-05T19:00:15.687-08:00

Back in early January, my family and I visited Elkhorn Slough Reserve on a late Sunday afternoon. My daughter Red (aka Heidi) and I took a relatively short trail around the Reserve knowing it was close to closing time. This old "barn" looks like it had been used for storing grain. But it also shows that before this land became Elkhorn Slough Reserve it used to be private farmland.As we got

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-61068130333892983442009-02-24T22:37:00.000-08:002009-02-24T22:53:56.175-08:00

I like to feed our scrub jays, but I try to be creative when it comes to putting the peanuts out for them. You see, we have squirrels, quite a few of them. And they have their own "feeder" where we continue to put peanuts in the shell in their container. But back in mid-January, on a Saturday morning, I actually saw a squirrel, a determined squirrel attempt to steal the peanuts I put out for

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-49435385146459341432009-02-09T22:53:00.000-08:002009-02-09T23:27:22.787-08:00

About a month ago I visited Pacific Grove's Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Other family members who also attended were my husband and my daughter Red. As a matter of fact, Red posted her photos on her blog several weeks ago. If you haven't visited her blog yet, here is the link to the Monarch Butterfly post.As we were walking around the grounds we came upon a

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-32074052632632865172009-01-29T18:30:00.000-08:002009-01-29T18:47:49.398-08:00

These are northern pintails found at the Bosque del Apache in November.Check out some other great bird photos at

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-38536110729991070022009-01-28T22:33:00.000-08:002009-01-28T22:42:11.368-08:00

I saw this meme on several other blog posts, so I figured it was time to share some personal trivia with the rest of my blogging buddies. So, here goes: 1. Do you like blue cheese? not really2. Have you ever smoked? no - I'm extremely smoke sensitive3. Do you own a gun? no4. What flavor Kool Aid is your favorite? cherry sounds good - I like most flavors5. Do you get nervous before doctor

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-14949622413216770952009-01-20T17:45:00.000-08:002009-01-20T18:04:40.323-08:00

One of the most fun things I look forward to each year is my vacation in New Mexico. And it always includes the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It's always held the week before Thanksgiving, and the attendance has been increasing every year. Appropriate for this Bird Photography Weekly # 21, I present to you some of my best photos of sandhill cranes

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-34762902502049359642009-01-15T23:28:00.000-08:002009-01-15T23:32:45.606-08:00

We had a beautiful sunset one evening during the Festival of the Cranes at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Actually, New Mexico has many beautiful sunsets throughout the year. So to see this beautiful sunset while on the refuge was an added bonus to what we had already seen earlier in the evening.Amazingly enough, I took these photos within a few minutes of each other. But the

Mary Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08077077785157768787marycarlson10@gmail.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4728987043673829071.post-402957471287999712009-01-13T17:50:00.000-08:002009-01-13T17:50:01.259-08:00

I think this quiz has been going around for a while, but it's fun to repeat it now and then. I think I tried it once before, and I think I had the same result as the last time I tried it. Have you tried it yet?Your Power Bird is a CardinalYou believe that each day is precious, and you spend your times as best as you can.You see the wonder in small things, and you are often content with what you

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