Mr. and Mrs. Woody

Mr. and Mrs. Woodpecker are on the way! As promised, the photos from the Botanical Gardens are processed, the “just right” shot chosen, and the happy little family is making it’s way into watercolor. The masking for the whites has been applied (which looks tan to you) and the sahuaro is emerging. I could hear a tiny little buzzing sound from inside the cactus, so the eggs have recently hatched, the guys are just not old enough to render the “woodpecker screech” yet!  If you think these guys are noisy, you are right. Woodpeckers believe that any medical procedure applied to them is torture, and have a tendency to LOUDLY protest! We manage to survive with most of our hearing intact and are able to rehab many of them and return them into the wild, where they can drum, screech, and continue their noisy assaults upon the world. You gotta love them though, as they busily bore holes in your wood looking for insects. You really did not need that wall or roof intact did you? Enjoy as the male flashes his red top at you and pecks away, giving the rest of the bird world holes for their nests. When it DOES happen to rain, and you are deluged with water coming through the roof, just smile as you think of all the little birds and critters who now have homes, Thanks to Woody. What is a little rain in your house anyway!?!?!?

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Just Steller

The first Bluebird is done, Candy is telling me to step away from the painting! So for my next number……..oops….. er, uh sorry, got carried away there. The next Blue Bird of happiness is…….drum roll……..going to be……….you guessed it…..after the commercial break. Actually, the next Blue Bird will be started after I get back from my travels the second week of June. In the meantime, hubby and I made a little trip to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens, where I saw a nesting pair of Gila Woodpeckers in a Sahuaro Cactus. I waited about twenty minutes to get a really good shot of the male poking his head out of the nest, while the female waited outside the nest. For all of you Woody fans, stay tuned for Mr. and Mrs. Woody!

If you LOVE photos of baby birds with a few squirrels and rabbits thrown in, please stop by my Facebook Artist Page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arlene-Powers/23414012357 Hopefully you will find one of the rescues from Liberty Wildlife to fall in love with! This has been a fun project! I have tried to post four to five photos a week of the onslaught of cuteness we experience each spring during orphan care season. The hardest part is to pick the photos  – there are SO many cute babies coming in. It is such a pleasure and privilege to watch these critters grow up and see them released back into the wild. If you haven’t “Liked” my page, please do, you might be the one to put the “Likes” over 1300!