Winter Wildlife

It's been a while since I've posted some photos of our local backyard wildlife (or front yard as it generally is around here).

This little opossum was scrounging around the bird feeder and eating up the sweet potato fries we had thrown out for the birds.  The birds didn't touch them, but he located all of them, even the ones still under the snow, and had a nice little meal.  I felt bad for him because he was limping and favoring his back left foot.  I hope he heals up soon and doesn't become an easier prey target because of it.

We feed the birds throughout the winter and the little Tufted Titmouse is one of my favorite little birds. When food is scarce they appreciate the feeders and become very brave when we refill them. They want to be on standby as soon as the new stuff gets loaded into the feeder!

The Northern Cardinals and Mourning Doves aren't so brave, but they do sit in the closest tree waiting for me to move back a safe distance.

This little mourning dove wasn't concerned about the food - he was peeping inside the french door window while I was clearing off the table.  (Pardon the blurry shot - my windows are very dirty).

Today's Visitor

Today as I was getting out of the truck from my trip to Costco, the dogs were more than usually excited for me to come home.  I stepped around the truck to greet them and spied this opossum sitting about 6 feet away from the dog yard under our maple tree.  I'm not sure what s/he was doing out during the day - blind as a bat - but s/he allowed me to get photos { I didn't get that close - I was working with my 200mm lens }.  Once we got the dogs and groceries inside the opossum when along its merry way.

This also gave me the opportunity to really try out my new Samsung NX300 with the new 200mm lens.  I'm highly impressed with the sharpness of the photos due to the distance I was from the bird and the opossum. I don't think my Nikon was quite that sharp with my 200mm lens on it.  Makes me happy!

Here is another view of the opossum and one of the tit mouse.

Spring is in the Air!

Ahh spring is in the air!  In the last week I've actually been enticed enough to pick up the camera and snap some shots (see below). We had our first good thunderstorm of the year today and the grass is more green than brown again. Jason has been prepping the mower for his 6 acre mowing sprees and the garden is partially tilled.  This is, by far, my favorite time of the year.  New life, fresh smells and porch dwelling becomes the norm over tv watching - bliss!  I even sat on the back porch swing for a couple of hours yesterday reading and got quite a nice sunburn on my arms and face.  And finished a book too - on a windy day in broad day light - have I mentioned how much the Kindle rules?!

To regress a bit, at the end of February, one month after my 35th birthday, I had a routine mammogram.  The results landed me back in the Women's Diagnostic Center to do maginifactions due to microcalcifications that were found.  The next day led me to a breast biopsy.  And then the next day led me to a diagnosis of breast cancer. What?!  Yeah, that was exactly my reaction.  Fast forward two weeks later after an MRI and meeting with my surgeon and it was confirmed. Though I'm very lucky.  Diagnosis of DCIS grade 3 at a size of 3.1cm, which basically means non-invasive and caught at one of the earliest stages possible, much to my relief.  So I'm scheduled for a lumpectomy and sentinal node biopsy on April 14th, out-patient sugery, with 33 days of radiation and 5 years on Tamoxifin as a preventative.  All in all, not bad for what it is.  At this point I'm just waiting for the surgery to be done and recovery to begin.

In the meantime, I'm embracing spring!  We're making our summer plans, deciding what we are going to do with the yard, expanding the back deck and looking forward to our first spring and full summer at the new homestead, which we so love!  We see so much wildlife here it's awesome. And the peace and quite, compared to neighborhood living, is rockin'!

Speaking of wildlife and our awesome new homestead, here are a few photos to get a peak into our world.  :)

Tis a 'Possum, I Tell You!

Yesterday we were sitting on the back porch having some beverages with friends and enjoying the warm weather when we saw an opossum walking down to the pond to have a drink. I have never seen an opossum during broad daylight (aside from those squished in the road) so it was quite a treat!  He eventually made his way around the pond closer to us.  Since the ducks have been laying eggs daily (and not bothering to sit on them), Jason got a few and tossed them in his direction. He managed to find one (they don't see so well) and snatched it up and ate it.  Then he made his way around the rest of the pond. As he did this I grabbed my 80 - 400mm wildlife lens and got as close as I could to him.  Him, being mostly blind, didn't see me, but he did hear me and smell me, however he didn't seem bothered by my presence. I got within about 20 feet of him and whistled at him, causing him to look up and allowing me to get a great shot! Usually the adults I don't find very appealing, but he was a handsome little devil!