Stanley, Seasonal Goose At Large

This is Stanley.  Stanley is a goose.  A goose who enjoys celebrating the passage of time with an exciting wardrobe of seasonal fashions.  

I've coveted a "Seasonal Goose" of my very own for many years now.  It was just the sort of ridiculously kitschy thing I was missing in my life.  Thankfully, I unexpectedly received Stanley this past Christmas (thanks Mom!) and was able to cross item #9 off my bucket list at last.

Stanley is currently featuring his "Winter Warmer" ensemble, perfect for today's snowy weather.  Upon the arrival of March he will be changing into some new duds so try not to let the suspense kill you while you're waiting.  And if anyone is looking for a birthday gift* for me, SEASONAL WARDROBE #3 would be a delightful choice.

* Rapidly approaching on March 21, 2012!

Oh, Deer!

The turkeys have turned out to be frequent visitors to the backyard since their first appearance.  This morning I saw them fly from the backyard into the surrounding tree-tops.  If you've never seen turkeys fly you are missing out!  They are not the most graceful and/or coordinated birds around, that's for sure.  It's very reminiscent of myself during my high school gym class years. 

Although we're excited with every turkey sighting, we've been also trying to attract a different animal to the backyard.  I'm very excited to have finally seen and gotten a few highly un-professional photos of this new forest friend.  Hopefully they will return and give me a chance for some better photography! 


Deer me, at last!



I don't understand how anyone could want to hunt
and kill a creature like this. 



You can just see the second deer
in the middle rightof the photo. 



Presenting...The Red-Bellied Woodpecker (at last!)

One of the best parts of this winter has been putting out the suet feeders for my feathered friends.  I have 2 suet feeders...1 I received as a gift from my parents, and the other I received as a gift from myself.  The suet has been attracting a lot more nuthatches (which are my favorite birds) and also, very excitingly, 2 different kinds of woodpeckers!  One of which is a woodpecker I had never seen before this point...the Red-Bellied Woodpecker (insert "Oooos" and "Ahhhs") click here to read about him.  He usually stops by for a breakfast of suet cake around 8am every morning.  And every morning for about a month now I have been trying to get a photo of him.  Apparently he is particularly camera shy.  I have felt like the bird-nerd paparazzi, sneaking around the windows and popping out to try and get my shot.  He'll be feeding for a good 5 minutes, and the minute I get my camera up to the window...away he flies!  So, FINALLY...I was able to get 2 photos of him this past weekend!  Ahh...success at last!

My elusive subject!

Woodpecker = 50, Kristen = 2

He's a "Red-Bellied Woodpecker" even though he
has a red head and a white belly!  What is up with that?