Eyes Wide Green

I made a friend today. She told me photographs are an illusion. And I have to say I tend to agree. But there is also a part of me that says, if it is an illusion, then let me be illusioned. For it is none other than the hand of Master Illusionist, playing out his dream. And in this dream one drifts forever on the wind,

sipping nectar from cherry blossoms,

or standing in the willow's shadow.


If in this dream I loose all sense of time and space. Let me sleep

with my eyes wide green.

Equinox Birds

Still no sign of migrating hawks, but the warblers are beginning to run. Some summer holdouts remain, and I got to check out the last of our seasonal visitors before the Fall sets in. At Wildflower Meadow were all sorts of surprises.
A brown thrasher,

Well, thrashing about.

And a yellow-bellied flycatcher with a female ruby throated hummingbird.

I was equally surprised by to see the hummer feeding on the goldenrod!

But the star of the show was this spicebush swallowtail!



I also ran into these guys...


could this be the black throated gray-warbler??? (Nope, it is a palm warbler).

Later on at the Conservatory Garden, I caught up with some other hummers!
She was dozing on a rosebush...

She also did some preening,


and feeding!


She wasnt the only one after a meal. This male house finch was gorging on cherries!

At the Meer, I found this wonderful bird--a female gadwall!


Finally, this green heron came in for a landing!

Bring on the raptors!