New Cardinals

About a month or two ago or so a pair of cardinals built a nest in a large shrub right outside our bedroom window. Three eggs appeared and the female spent increasing time on the nest. And then one day I looked out the window to check on them and found that they had hatched! Here's the mother with her babies:



I watched them and took pictures every couple of days. The male would fly away as soon as I appeared at the window, but the female did not seem to mind, and pretty soon the babies were looking right up at me. Here are some more photos from their time in the nest:



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And then one day it was clear they were thinking about leaving. Here is one perched on the side of the nest, about 3 hours before it did successfully fly away.



This one left the nest but stayed in the shrubbery for quite a while before taking off. It kept jumping from branch to branch--getting up its courage, I guess. You can see the distinctive crest that cardinals have, even at this young age.



We've seen them twice so far since they left--once I saw them fly over the roof of the house near where the nest was, and DH saw one with the male in a tree in the back yard. I wish them luck!

North Carolina, April 2009

It was time for the twice-yearly trip to western North Carolina, so off I went.

I went out for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway first thing. It's spring in the low areas and the higher you go, the fewer leaves you see on the trees. Interesting transition time.

Of course when I saw this overlook for Cold Mountain, I had to stop!



I also passed several overlooks with views of Looking Glass Rock.



And I made several stops just to enjoy the view.



I decided to continue on to Graveyard Fields, a very popular spot for hiking and for photographing (and swimming in, weather permitting) waterfalls. I walked to the lower falls and took many photos there and along the path.



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This little stream meandered toward the hiking trail.



On another day, I decided to visit the Nature Center in Asheville. I particularly enjoyed this peacock (they are very strange-looking, don't you agree?).  It was roaming free and made a lot of noise, which could be heard from any spot in the center.



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I watched one of the black bears for a while. It was a warm day and this one decided to go for a dip in the pool they had provided.



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On another day I went to do some shopping in Biltmore Village. They were having an Earth Day Festival there, and someone had brought some live birds of prey, which he tethered to perches. It's a little odd for me to take a photo of a bird that is leashed, but I couldn't resist this great horned owl.



Another great trip, and the weather was perfect every day.

At the Horse Show

I found out about a horse show that was being held this weekend not too far from where I live. I decided to take the camera and see what I could see. When I got there, the kids were doing their jumping rounds.



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These two beauties were waiting for their turn in the ring.



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It was a great day!