Two Magical Moments Not Captured

Chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens) by Minette Layne, CC-BY-SA 2.0

Today, I was lucky to spot two new bird species in the backyard, just a few minutes apart. The first was a gorgeous Chestnut-Backed Chickadee on the suet feeder, eight feet away from me. I thought I had glimpsed one last week, but couldn’t be sure. This time, though, the rich brown back feathers were clearly evident in the bright sunshine.

The second was the elusive Anna’s Hummingbird, who discovered the new nectar feeder today. I was within seven feet of this flying jewel as he zipped in for a couple of sips. 

My Review of Happy Feet

Happy Feet (soundtrack) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From George Miller, the director who brought the beloved Babe to the big screen comes the equally enchanting Happy Feet, the story of Mumble, an Emperor Penguin who doesn’t quite fit into society because he, unlike everyone else, lacks a heart song–among other important things.

Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) is slow to hatch (the last egg to do so, in fact), is tone deaf (and causes icicles to crack and fall in class when he attempts to sing), and prefers to dance instead. As a result, he is shunned from the others in his peer/age group.

Even upon graduation (of which he is denied), Mumble retains the same downy

Pretty in Pink

Here is a nice splash of pink with which to wish winter away! An unidentified pink daylily that I photographed at the Bloedel Floral Conservatory in 2011. Normally I wouldn’t put the subject front and center, but this attention grabber couldn’t be anywhere else!