Solid Rock to Stand On

It has been a bit cooler here this afternoon after the cold front began to move through.  We got some rain, but last night, the bird bath was filled with the rain we got.  I was afraid that the rain getting on the bird feeder food might discourage the birds from feeding, but that has not been the case.  I actually saw some different birds at the feeder this morning.....through my 2 windows and screens.

This is a Chipping Sparrow.  According to Birds and Blooms, they are the most common sparrow in North America.  They winter or spend the whole year in the southern states.  You know you are looking at a Chipping Sparrow by its chestnut cap and black eye line, both of which fade somewhat in the winter.  The males and females look alike.

This is the female Brown-headed Cow bird, from everything I could find out.  And, it makes sense, being this is the only day I have seen her, and......................

.....him.

And, guess who came to breakfast with Mr. Cardinal?

Why, Mrs. Cardinal, of course!  She hasn't shown her face in public much!

And, I'm pretty sure this is Mrs. Bluebird, even though her feathers don't look very blue in this picture.  But, she did NOT come to eat breakfast with the other birds.  She came to........

.....gather nesting material from the pine needles that Calvin put down yesterday.

Well, believe it or not, in 10 minutes time, I took 178 pictures of these birds this morning!  Aren't you glad I spared you the agony of looking at all of them?!  :D  Actually, how I managed to take that many photos is because I found a "Bird-Watching" setting on my camera and you have a choice of setting it for multiple photos with one click OR the usual single photo.  I chose the multi-photo setting.  That way I could pick the best photos AND I would be able to capture them if they decided to fly away suddenly! 

Tim's mom told me the birds would probably not like the slick, painted bottom of my bird bath and that I should add a rock that they could stand on and feel safer.  So, I dug through some of the aquarium stuff we have down in the basement and, voila!  I found a nice, flat rock!  Actually, I found two, but even one is so big and takes up so much of the bathing area that I might have to buy a bigger dish anyway!  But, we will see how this one does!

Like the birds need a solid rock to stand on, we need a Solid Rock to stand on when we are fearful, or troubled, too, and He is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Can't even begin to count the number of times I've needed to climb on my Solid Rock for strength and support!  I need His firm foundation!

Of course, the first (dumb) thing I did was to drag the rock from one side to the other, to move it to the deep end, and scratch off some of the blue paint in the bottom.

Well, the Chipping Sparrow came back for another visit after lunch, and also tonight.  And, believe it or not, a chickadee ran him off tonight, even though the chickadee is a bit smaller!  Little bully!

As the clouds began to roll back in, and the cold front started moving through, the temperature dropped pretty quickly and the sprinkles started.  Lori and I were sitting out under the car port, but we had to come inside.  She had brought over a heating pad and some angels to add to my collection.

I love the cloud formations when the storm clouds start rolling in.

Another thing I found the "bird-watching" setting to be useful for.....capturing bees in flight.  Do you see two bees in this picture?

This one is in flight.

This one was starting to move, too.

Maple tree helicopters.  Love the color of them.

LOVE!

Cheryl shared these photos that Nat took and sent to her.  He has Addy.  Looks like he is teaching her well, LOL!

Addy and daddy enjoying being goofy together.

Looks like it's a case of like father, like daughter!  I think Addy's hair is getting lighter.

And, I think I shall fix some coffee and sit in my chair to read with a heating pad on my back.  I did something to it yesterday.  I am thinking when I went to the Goodwill outlet store, that I overextended some muscles stretching across those big bins to dig through the books.  I've done it before, even though I try to be careful!  I might just have to quit going and doing that.  I don't find much, anyway, for all the time I spend digging!  And, my hands are always filthy black by the time I get finished.  No wonder some of the people you see there have rubber gloves on!

Anyway, nite to all!  Have a wonderful weekend!