Geese, a Moon, and a Few More Birds

Yesterday I was driving home and the big ol' moon was coming up. I decided to stop by the lake and try for a nice scenic shot.

Unfortunately, the geese started to mob my car! I guess our neighbor Sonny had not fed them yet so they thought I might be bringing some corn. I decided to get out of there before they wandered under my wheels. They've held me up before, as if to say, "We're not moving until you feed us!"

I backed up and drove about 100 feet, then pulled over and took a picture of the moon. 

Speaking of geese, I keep snapping pictures of the Canada geese, of which there are many. Some of these shots are misses. Here I caught them flying but when I pulled the image up on my screen, only one goose was clearly visible, the one in the air on the left. I lightened the picture, increased the saturation, and sharpened until more of the geese showed up.

Since every Wednesday is Wild Bird Wednesday, I'll show you a couple more birds. Is a house finch a "wild" bird if it lives under your rafters and allows you to get pretty close? And do they usually shelter in a bird house all winter? This one does.

The robin seems more wild. I usually see robins on the ground or in a tree, although occasionally one perches on a bench.

Also Linking to Not So Wordless Wednesday.

Peaceful Plow

When I first glimpsed this sculpture at Eastern Mennonite University, I thought it might represent a wave. I parked and walked over to to take a look.

It's called "Guns into Plowshares" and it's on loan from the Washington DC Police Department. In a 1994 gun buyback program, the police department collected 6,000 guns, which it planned to melt down. Michael Augsberger proposed using them in a sculpture instead. And here it is in Harrisonburg!

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” 

~ Isaiah 2:4: 

Sharing with Tuesday Treasures and Through My Lens

Colorful January Random-osity

The Good: I found this bright mural in Harrisonburg. It's next to Liberty Park. 

Sharing with Random-osity, Monday Murals, and Mosaic Monday

The Random: The color of this barn made me stop the car to take a picture. It wasn't until later that I realized the color purple is a reference to Strasburg High School's sports teams.

The Barn Collective

The Fun: Yesterday we met Frank's daughter Allison for lunch in Manassas. 

Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown

 This handsome granite building was completed in 1911. The stained glass windows were added in 1948. We were able to visit this during the "Historic Houses of Worship" tour in Hagerstown, Maryland

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A Bit of Nature, Late January

Bluejay.

I've seen plenty of birds this winter, and quite a few other critters. I happened to spot this black cat near Strasburg, watching his world in the late afternoon. For his second pose,  I used a couple of filters in Movavi including one called Acid.

Photo number four is a white-throated sparrow.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters, The Bird D'Pot, and Caturday.

I mentioned Canada Geese on Wednesday. We've been seeing so many of them!

It's Willy Nilly Friday Again!

Synonyms of "willy nilly" include haphazardly, at random, randomly, and in no apparent order.  So here are five random images, some with linkups and some without.

1. Do you remember Yogi Bear? Here he is near Luray, Virginia.

2. "Long Shadow" for Black and White Weekend.

3. I don't eat at this place but my spouse does. Note the reflection of the sky. I was attracted to the bright colors (including orange).

4. Here's poor Flash at the veterinary office today. He doesn't like going there.  I took him there for his poor appetite and gas and the vet prescribed metronidazole. I imagine he'll feel better in a couple of days.

5. When I was cleaning out a few files, I happened across this certificate from 1997. It shows I've been coding web pages for over 20 years.

The New Morgan Ford Bridge

 The replacement bridge at Morgan Ford finally opened to traffic on Monday. The road had been closed since spring of 2016, causing long detours for some motorists. My car's navigation system never got the word and directed me to go that way several times. Fortunately I realized what she was doing as soon as I turned onto 6th Street, so I turned around and crossed the Shenandoah on 340/522, although the bridge over the South Fork was also under construction at the time. At least it was not closed, since it was a main route into Front Royal, although there were occasional lane closings and delays.

The new Morgan Ford Bridge is twice as wide and considerably higher than the old one, which was a "low water bridge," safe only when the river was not at flood stage. Since the old bridge, built in 1925, did not have side rails, there were several tragic accidents there at times when bad weather made visibility very limited. Some local landowners opposed the closing of the old bridge, fearing the inconvenience of construction and also the increase in traffic that a modern bridge will bring.

Some residents liked the looks of the old bridge, but this one is much safer, and I think Virginia DOT does a nice job of making bridges look good.

There is still a parking area for boaters and there are plans to improve that too.

Sharing with Fences and Thankful Thursday

Hundreds of Geese and a Few Other Birds

Migrating geese continue to flock to our community lake. When I was a child, we didn't see large numbers of Canada geese in Virginia. That has changed. I love watching them land and take off.

One of the muscovy ducks was killed by dogs and another was rescued by some neighbors.  These ducks don't seem to like icy water so they stay on shore most of the time. This makes them more vulnerable to predators. By the way, animal control was called and took the dogs to doggy jail. Hopefully their owners will claim them but will not let them wander off again.

I took the final two pictures through a window.

Sharing with Through My Lens, Seasons, Not So Wordless, and Wild Bird Wednesday.

Along Plains Mill Road, Timberville.

Artists and Sunsets.

Random-osity.

The Good: This mural by local artist Billy Landis hung in the Triplett School for many years. It is now in the Mount Jackson Museum. 

The Random: Artist Barry Vance spoke at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley last week. A selection of his oil paintings are on exhibit there, and they are charming Shenandoah scenes painted from memory.

The Fun: I enjoy trying to capture sunsets. I take so many I can't possibly share them all, so I made a collage of four recent ones.

Grace and Mercy Ministries

Stephens City, Virginia. 

Dynamic Duos

Today's critter pictures are from my backyard, starting with one in black and white. 

These birds may be wondering who ate all the bird seed.

The geese don't bother the bird feeders, so we can't blame them.

Hmm... do you see the squirrel hanging upside down?

They try to look innocent but they don't fool me!