Life in the Bristolwood

Well, technically neither “bee” nor “hive”…..

This is what I saw as I turned into our driveway after my little outing yesterday.  I kept wondering what the “ball” was on the lines….I had to walk up the road a bit to photograph this, as I didn’t have my telephoto lens on at the time. As I looked up, I realized I was looking at a paper wasps’ nest.

This isn’t the first time we have seen these nests hanging about. They are usually found drooping off trees. This was was neatly placed on the wires.  

 

 This morning, I walked down by the pole and photographed the nest with the telephoto lens….look at the size of this thing!  Hmmmm….do you suppose the cable company might object to their equipment being used in such a manner? If so, I wonder if they might send someone out to remove the nest!

 

 Okay, enough of that! This is the type of insect I would rather photograph! (taken as I was walking back up from the road)

Totally off the topic of bees and insects, this afternoon, it became as dark as night outside. The thunder began to rumble, then lightning was flashing about here and there.  The Scotties, who are never disturbed by thunder, huddled closely to me as the thunder became startlingly loud!!! The skies opened up, and the rain poured down!!! The picture below was taken during this bout of “showers” that the weatherman called for!!!

You can see it was rather dark outside. After about an hour of this (although the rain did curtail quite a bit) the sky lightened back up and we resumed more typical daylight!!!!

Ah yes, I drove into the parking lot, parked the car, and went inside to buy the Scotties their beloved “cookies”.  (otherwise known as contraband that will cause the boys to do most anything we want them to do!!!)

As I was picking out the bags, I heard a lot of commotion over in the “bird’ section of the store. Well, I love birds. I love the noises they make, the colorful plummage, and well….I just love them.

As I walked over, I kept saying, “Oh, you are such pretty birds!” Suddenly, I heard, “Hello!”. I turned my head in the direction of the voice, when another voice….different from the first….uttered “Hello!”. As I stood and watched, for only a brief time, it became obvious that each of these little individuals was totally unique!

There were several birds, and several varieties. Each was more beautiful than the next, and their curiosity made me giggle to myself from time to time!

I so wanted to capture just a little of their marvelous essence on the camera, so I asked the man at the checkout if I might take some pictures. He said “Sure!” without any hesitation.  I nearly danced out to the car, swooped up my camera, changed the lens, then went inside to “visit” with these characters!

These Cockatoos were the greeting committee.

The Macaw below was one of a few. Gads, they were SO loud! They were not allowed to leave their cages. In looking at the size of their beaks, maybe this was for the better!!! They surely do have beautiful faces, though!

I think this is a cockatoo. This one was like a gang leader, showing me around.  It was looking at me with its head turned, but as soon as I snapped the picture, it turned its head….”So…what do you WANT from me?”

These little innocents are very colorful, adding to their “cuteness”. They were also quite inquisitive. So much so, one flew over and landed atop my camera for a few seconds. I was laughing so hard at this point, the poor birds must have thought I had lost my mind!

Several birds were aloft in high places. There, they preened themselves and observed from above!

This guy grabbed a nugget of food, then used its claw to hold on while it nibbled.

As you can see, appearance is of prime importance to this group. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours!

And this gray parrot (African Gray?) was content to chew away at the wooden perch.

This was one of the most fun times I have had with “animals”. Yes, I know, they are birds. Who would have known they are such characters?