Project 365 / photos no. 11,12,13 & 14

Today's photos had a small bit of a theme: "bird", birdhouse=tree house, tree  &  back to "bird"

I should add that I came upon the small bird (a wood pecker?) at a nearby sledding spot. I actually thought it was a colored feather from some sort of children's toy-from my vantage point of several feet away. As I walked over to take a closer look I recognized the poor bird -my husband will tell you my heart breaks every time I see animals who are injured (pigeons with limps are quite common for some reason) or dead. I used to take walks along the North Fork and if you take enough walks you come across dead seagulls, dogs , fish and even (large, soft shell ) turtles. There is a definite sadness to this kind of sight, for me. The bird house sits in another  nearby park. I do not think it has ever been inhabited. The tree caught my eye because of it's "seeds" hanging like Christmas balls, against the blue sky. And the last bird is my attempt at window decoration from a window painting kit.  

"Project 365": #2

We are supposed to have really rainy weather tomorrow so I'll use that as the excuse to post photo #2. (Real reason is just after spotting Job I walked past the children's section of the park and caught site of ...a bird house! Funny how -  once  you start really LOOKING you see things you never noticed before. Perhaps that is another benefit of a year long project like this=developing a keener eye...) Perhaps the most charming feature of this faux birdhouse is the 5 small birds that perch nearby. They are so small that I did not at first see them. That camouflage is something that happens with "real" wildlife too.  As I went for the remainder of the walk I would often hear leaves rustling -an audio indication of birds or squirrels nearby. I have to stop  & closely  study the leaves and branches to be able to spot the actual creature since they blend into the landscape so very well this time of year.