Spring Moves

Jay
© 2013 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 on canvas panel
 

Well, it is not quite Spring yet here in the Southeast, but we sure have a lot of moving going on. 

The sandhill cranes have moved on.  At least they are not feeding in the yard every day now.  I am hoping they are happily nesting someplace nearby.  In their place, the robins have moved in.

 

My elderly mother has moved back home to Florida to live with us.  We are so happy to have her here again.  But it means some adjustments. 

My studio has been relocated from Mom’s rooms into shared space with my office.  It is tight quarters with all my framing stacked behind the easel, but I am getting it sorted out and back into working shape.   Just in time for me to “get a move on” with painting.  Have a possible show coming up in April as well as some dog shows to prepare for. 

 

For me Spring is one of the most moving seasons....the return of blossoms and birds and butterflies!  Time to dust off winter's cobwebs and start fresh.

Sandhill Cranes Are Back

 

The sandhill cranes have returned for their winter migration. We have heard them overhead on their flight path from their feeding areas in the wetlands along the Cross Florida Barge Canal and their nighttime roosting spots inland.  Last week on a really overcast day with dropping temperatures and a light drizzle, I heard them honking overhead on their way home for the night and stepped out the back door to look up and see them.   Nothing overhead.  Once outside, I realized the noise was way too loud to be overhead.  I raced back through the house and out the front door to see a pair landing in the ditch.  With a lot of flapping and boisterous trumpeting, they hopped out of the ditch and proceeded to march right towards me and down the side of our house, made a left turn into the neighbor’s yard and circled her house. 

As soon as I could safely move without alarming them, I headed back inside to grab the camera and stalked them around the neighbor’s trying to remain unseen.  Took some photos and given the bad weather headed back to the house.  Hearing an even more raucous outburst from the pair, I turned in time to see three more cranes land.  There was much flapping and preening and trumpeting among the group.  Perhaps they were waiting for the dawdlers to catch up.  They poked the ground for insect snacks for some time and eventually before total darkness, flew on to their “beds” for the night.  It was like having National Geographic in our own yard.

Bonnie and Big Bird

Evening Deer

©2012 Claudia Ballard

Matted to 8x10 acrylic on Arches WC paper

Dark wood frame under glass

One day last week I heard my husband calling me softly to come to the back door.   He had heard a ruckus in the backyard from our usually quiet cocker.  A small flock of wild turkeys had wandered through the yard and Bonnie did not know quite what to make of such big birds.  Apparently she charged the fence and the gobbler turned on her, ruffling his feathers, and charged back.  Totally taken aback for a bird to behave that way towards her, the bird dog, she retreated. 

The gobbler was shielding his flock by staying between us and the hens while they made their way into the woods on the edge of our property.  Bonnie studied this some more and rushed the fence and gave one small bark, just to let him know this was her yard after all.  Once the hens had slipped into the cover of the undergrowth, the gobbler too disappeared into the woods and they vanished.

When we first lived here, before development around us, we would see huge flocks of turkeys on a regular basis, pecking their way through the tall Bahia grass and snacking on the acorns under the large oaks.  It was a grand sight!

Squirrels Are For Chasing

Out On A Limb
c. 2012 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas panel

Apologies for having been missing in action so long.  I had a serious skin infection that landed me in the hospital for a bit.  But I am on the mend and loaded up with antibiotics for quite some time to come. Hurray!  It is good to be back home and back in my studio.

Of all the dogs I have known, only a couple of small poodles were not inclined to chase squirrels.  Sam, our “granddog” golden retriever, spent hours slowly stalking them...like they could not see his 96-pound frame approaching.  They would taunt him by waiting until the last second to scamper up a tree.  Sam would try to follow them up the tree, jumping wildly in a futile effort to get them to come back down.  He gave a few of the squirrels a near heart attack as his tactics improved.  ;-) 

On the farm we had a beagle named Barney…scrappy and fearless.  His hunting partner, Shelly, was a shaggy, white female, a wild dog who was adopted as a puppy and tamed (sort of).  She had good instincts for hunting.  They would each chase the same squirrel, working together, one straight on and one sneaking around the house to come up behind it.  The squirrels still usually won.    I think the real fun for them was in the chase.  Goodness knows it provided lots of entertainment for us watching them.

 

 

 

Spring is for the Birds

Jay
@2012 Claudia Ballard
5 x 7 acrylic on canvas panel

Long after the bulbs have died back and the azalea blooms have dropped, there is the happy sound of chirping in the trees around our home. First the robins pop in on their migration, which of course makes the resident mockingbird crazy trying to protect his territory. Then the cardinals and jays and wrens add to the chorus. And the pine siskin which is so tiny it is hard to see.  But the final sure sign of spring for us is the evening we hear the first whippoorwill call.  We are always longing to hear that sound…kind of haunting but so beautiful.  In the next few weeks, as they seek mates, there will be long evenings of calls back and forth until the chorus becomes so loud, we have to close a few windows to be able to hear.  Now we have to scurry to get the feeders out for the hummingbirds who will land next.