circadianreflections

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Eastern Phoebe

May 23, 2025May 22, 2025Posted in birding, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged Eastern Phoebe, Friday's Feathered Friends, Nature, Nikon, Ohio Birding, Spring Migration43 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

With this sighting of the Eastern Phoebe on May 13th while birding in Ohio I have now seen all 3 Phoebe’s that reside in the Unites States.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

The Eastern Phoebe can be found throughout the eastern half of the continent from the Northwest Territories all the way down to Mexico.

The other two Phoebes are found in the Western regions of North America. They are the Say’s Phoebe, and the Black Phoebe.

Fun Facts:

In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe’s leg to track its return in successive years.
The use of buildings and bridges for nest sites has allowed the Eastern Phoebe to tolerate the landscape changes made by humans and even expand its range. However, it still uses natural nest sites when they are available.
Unlike most birds, Eastern Phoebes often reuse nests in subsequent years—and sometimes Barn Swallows use them in between. In turn, Eastern Phoebes may renovate and use old American Robin or Barn Swallow nests themselves.
The Eastern Phoebe is a loner, rarely coming in contact with other phoebes. Even members of a mated pair do not spend much time together. They may roost together early in pair formation, but even during egg laying the female frequently chases the male away from her.
The oldest known Eastern Phoebe was at least 10 years, 4 months old. It had been banded in Iowa in 1979 and was found in 1989 in Alberta.
Fun facts gleaned as always from allaboutbirds.org

I hope you all have a lovely week-end!

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Yellow Warbler

May 16, 2025May 16, 2025Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Friday's Feathered Friends, YellowTagged Friday's Feathered Friends, Ohio Spring Warblers, Spring Birding Migration, Warblers, Yellow Warbler46 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Myself and He-Man went to Ohio for several days of birding Wood Warblers. I hoped to see some I didn’t see last year and see those I did see last year again. It was a great trip. Not only did I see a number of the Warblers I saw last year, I also saw some new species of Warblers plus a couple of other birds. 14 new to me birds or in birder speak ” Lifers”. On Monday the 12th (my birthday) I saw 7 Lifers! What a gift!!

I have thousands of images to cull but, I’m hoping I have a few good images to share in upcoming posts.

In the meantime here’s a cheerful Yellow Warbler I saw while there. These guys were everywhere on May 11th. They were singing and filling up on insects in all the trees in bloom getting ready for their over night migration to get to their breeding grounds in the USA, and some flew over the 26 miles of Lake Erie to get to Canada where their breeding grounds are.

On May 12th their numbers at the marsh were remarkably lower than the day before. I only saw a few.

I’m catching up with mail, email, bills, of course the laundry, and your blogs.

I hope you have a lovely week-end.

Fun facts:

In addition to the migratory form of the Yellow Warbler that breeds in North America, several other resident forms can be found in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Males in these populations can have chestnut caps or even chestnut covering the entire head.
The nests of the Yellow Warbler are frequently parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird. The warbler often builds a new nest directly on top of the parasitized one, sometimes resulting in nests with up to six tiers.
Life can be dangerous for a small bird. Yellow Warblers have occasionally been found caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web.
The oldest-known Yellow Warbler was a female and was at least 11 years old when she was recaught and rereleased during banding operations in New York. ~https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler

more to come…

Whatever Weds. A Mother’s Tender Touch

May 7, 2025Posted in Whatever WednesdayTagged Horses, Nature, Whatever Wednesday, Wild Mustangs43 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Common Yellowthroat

May 2, 2025April 30, 2025Posted in Photography33 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Looking through my posts I see that I haven’t shared an image of this cheerful Yellow Warbler since 2013 when I saw one for the first time.

Common Yellowthroat-Male

In truth I rarely see one. The most common Warbler we have here is the Yellow-rump Warbler which I see just about every time I go birding.

When He-Man and I were in Santa Barbara last month we took a wander around Goleta Beach heading north into the University of Santa Barbara Campus up to Beach Point then around the Lagoon. It was while on the trail on the west side of the lagoon I heard and saw this Common Yellowthroat.

It was a treat to see, and he wasn’t skittish. He sat there while snapped a few images then he continued on with his morning song.

I might be much slower getting to your blogs over the next several days. Janet from https://wordpress.com/reader/users/sustainabilitea is arriving today for a visit so if the weather is good I’ll be sharing my little corner of the world with her. We have rain forecasted this week-end though. I hope it’s not a lot so we can get outdoors.

I hope you have a lovely week-end and fair weather!

more to come…

Thursday Doors- Jensen Mansion

April 17, 2025April 17, 2025Posted in Architecture, National Register of Historic Places, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged chimneys, Doors, Fence, Historic Places; Cololnial Revival Style Houses, Houses, mansions, patio, pineapple decor, Thursday Doors, white picket fence, widow's walk43 Comments

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This week I’m sharing a house with a pretty door that I’ve wanted to photograph for ages. While shopping in downtown Gardnerville, NV a few weeks back I finally turned down Ezell Street to make a few photos of the Jensen Mansion.

This mansion was built by Arendt Jensen back in 1910. In the year 1887 when he was just 28 he arrived in Gardnerville, NV. There were just two houses in town.

There’s a plaque on the tree out front telling us a little about him and the house.

The Plaque says,” Arendt Jensen had this beautiful mansion constructed for his family in 1910. Mr. Jensen owned a general merchandise store in Gardnerville that became very prosperous. He later established the first bank in Carson Valley. The Douglas County Farmer’s Bank.

An advertisement in the Record Courier newspaper in 1906 stated at the “A. Jensen store you can buy anything at prices that are right.”

Meticulously restored, the Jensen Mansion has been a bed and breakfast in the recent past. The home and grounds also appeared in the movie “The Wizard” staring Fred Savage, and Beau Bridges. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.”

I found this website while doing a bit more research about the man and house. https://www.clairitage.com/2017/12/29/gardnerville-jensen-mansion/

There’s some interesting information on the Clairitage site. There’s a photo of the brick Mercantile building that Jensen built there, and the 3 arched building is still in town. The 3 arched building is a huge antique store that I love to poke around in. My last stop in I scored a lovely duck decoy that now lives in my bedroom. 😊 Okay let’s get back on topic. The door!

Here’s a somewhat closer look at the front door.

I like the privacy lace curtains over the door, and the pineapples at the gate.

The side patio and large front patio, and the widow’s walk are all nice too.

I think it’s a private residence again so I wasn’t able to walk around the grounds or get a peek inside. Maybe one day.

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at:

https://nofacilities.com/2025/04/17/mt-washington-pittsburgh-doors/

Hop on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

Thursday Doors- From Santa Barbara, CA

April 10, 2025April 9, 2025Posted in Thursday DoorsTagged Architecture, Doors, Houses, Lamps, Portals, Santa Barbara CA, Thursday Doors, vines47 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

He-Man and I went back to Santa Barbara, CA for a long week-end to celebrate our wedding anniversary at the end of March. While out and about I photographed a couple of doors, and a gate.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Reagan Ranch Center

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/

Head on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

I’m out photographing wildflowers and I hope waterfalls today so I’ll be late responding to your comments and visiting your posts, but I’ll get there.

more to come…

Whatever Weds. April Fool’s Fun

April 2, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged April Fool's Day Fun, Nevada32 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Yesterday in my Nextdoor feed was this message from the State of Nevada.

State of Nevada

Local Agency

Public Information Officer Hailey Foster·

23 hr ago

Introducing the Silver State Standard: The Nevada DMV mandates that all vehicles must be painted silver by January 1, 2026 according to the Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/ut7jukn6

Clicking on the link opens a page that says, ” Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act

Please ensure your vehicles are painted silver to adhere to the state’s mandate.

What is it?

In an effort to reinforce Nevada’s proud identity as the Silver State, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles is declaring the Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act, taking effect on January 1, 2026. Under this new initiative, all personal, commerical, and government-owned vehicles registered in Nevada will be required to be painted silver.

The purpose of this act is to promote state pride, improve traffic flow aesthetics and create the country’s first color-coordinated highway system.

The DMV encourages customers to begin painting their vehicles silver or purchasing vehicles that follow this guideline to avoid violation fees.

In Case You’re Still Reading

We cannot enforce a statewide vehicle color compliancy. We hope we made you laugh. Happy April Fool’s Day!”

I thought it was pretty funny and thought I’d share it since it was the most unique pun I saw all day. It had the most comments and likes I’ve seen on a Nextdoor post in my feed.

I hope you all had only fun pranks yesterday.

more to come…

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