Silent Sunday: Curves

Tags

curves, jane magnolia, magnolia, photography, postaday

Jane Magnolia.

Jane Magnolia.

Jane Magnolia.

Jane Magnolia.

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Spring Flowers

Tags

alba, bleeding hearts, daffodil, Dicentra Spectabilis, magnolia, photography, postaday

It’s amazing how a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures brought forth the beauty of Spring as flowers rival one another to bloom and display their colors. I took the following shots over two different mornings around our house.

Daffodils.

Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra Spectabilis) “Alba”.

Magnolia Soulangiana.

Jane Magnolia.

Jane Magnolia.

Jane Magnolia.

Magnolia Fruit

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday

A few months ago, they were flowers like this one.

Southern Magnolia.

Then the flowers became fruit, which is ripening now.

Magnolia fruit.

And birds are beginning to eat the seeds.

Magnolia seeds.

 

Summer Magnolia

Tags

jane magnolia, magnolia, photography, postaday

“Jane” Magnolia, although not as prolific as earlier blooming Magnolias, never suffer from frost damage, and usually have a second blooming period in mid summer. When most other flowers have come and gone, the Jane Magnolias peek out proudly from upper branches, like the one I captured this morning.

Jane Magnolia.

Mid Spring Flowers

Tags

azalea, dogwood, magnolia, photography, postaday

Early Spring was brutal, and even today, in mid spring, it still feels cold enough to warrant a jacket when I went outside to take pictures. Many flowers were blooming, with a wide range of colors, from the most intense to the truly delicate.

Azalea Hino Crimson.

Another Azalea, but I don’t remember its name.

Jane Magnolia. Its first batch of flowers were destroyed by frost but there are just as many flowers in the second batch. It will continue blooming through the summer.

Cherry blossoms. This kind is named Shogetsu, or Blushing Bride.

The following pictures are from the same Dogwood tree that grows in the woods at the back of our house.

White Dogwood.

White Dogwood.

White Dogwood.

Hmm … Pretty Flowers

Tags

blue jay, butterfly magnolia, house finch, magnolia, photography, postaday

The Butterly Magnolia is in full bloom, and even the birds have to stop in their track and admire its flowers.

Blue Jay: Hmm, Butterly Magnolia, so pretty!

House Finch: Yeah, pretty flowers, I agree.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday, wordless wednesday

Jane Magnolia

Which Angle?

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday

Today I took two shots of the same magnolia flowers, from different angles. After you have looked at them, please take the poll below and tell me which photo you like more. By the way, no rain today, so no water droplets.

Jane Magnolia: photo 1

Jane Magnolia: photo 2

So It Rained!

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday, rhododendron

We received two inches of rain today and most of the time it was not only wet but cloudy and humid. However, there was a brief interlude when the sun came out which allowed me to capture our flowers at their best, covered with rain drops.

Butterfly Magnolia to weather: Go ahead, make my day!

Pink Magnolia: Who’s the fairest of them all?

Pink Magnolia

Not to be outdone, the PJM Rhododendron bushes also flouted their splendor.

PJM Rhododendron

Dewy Morning

Tags

daffodil, dew, magnolia, photography, postaday

Spring has finally arrived in our area. The magnolias have started to bloom and daffodils flaunt their bright yellow and gold around the yard, daring winter to come back. This morning dew covered all the flowers as shown in the following photos.

Daffodil still trying to open in the morning sun.

Daffodils completely covered with dew.

Magnolia Soulangiana in bloom. This photo was actually taken the previous afternoon.

Butterly Magonolia: it won’t fully open for several more days. The tree is the last one to bloom.

Spring Flowers Emerging

Tags

butterfly magnolia, daffodil, forsythia, magnolia, photography, postaday, soulangiana, spring flowers

Winter keeps lingering on in the Northeast, but there are sure signs of spring. Today, even though it was rainy and cloudy I went out around the house to take stock of which spring flowers are coming up. Many are, perhaps later than in other years, but, as the following photos prove, they will be in their full glory in a matter of days.

Daffodils

Forsythia

Jane Magnolia

Butterfly (Yellow) Magnolia. This tree is right by the bird feeder and the birds love to perch on it while waiting for their turn.

Magnolia Soulangiana 

Yawn and Other Birds

Tags

cardinal, house finch, junco, magnolia, photography, postaday, sparrow

If you are getting bored of my BIF photos, this following picture, taken at Holgate two weeks ago, is for you.

Gull yawning

All right, so no more BIF today.

The other day, while trying to capture the Red-bellied Woodpecker in flight, I noticed our magnolia tree was getting loaded with birds.

Three Cardinals and one Sparrow

That was not the end of it. One more bird hopped on.

Three Cardinals, one Sparrow, one Junco

Then there was our House Finch next to a Junco.

House Finch and Junco

Weekly Photo Challenge: Yellow

Tags

daffodil, goldfinch, magnolia, photography, postaday, sunflower, weekly photo challenge

I took the following photos earlier this year and will now submit them for this challenge.

Daffodils

Goldfinch

Sunflower

Yellow Magnolia

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/yellow/

Southern Magnolia

Tags

magnolia, magnolia grandiflora, photography, postaday, souther magnolia

We have two Southern Magnolia (magnolia grandiflora) trees which are the last of the magnolias to bloom each year. Their flowers are white and enormous, as you can see from the photos I took this morning.

Magnolia Grandiflora

Southern Magnolia

Star Magnolia

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday, white magnolia

Star magnolia, or Magnolia Stellata, is the first magnolia to bloom, with white flowers that look strikingly disheveled. I took the following photos on a weekend trip to Canada where the trees are still bare and nothing else was blooming.

White Magnolia

White Magnolia

White Magnolia

White Magnolia

More Blooms

Tags

magnolia, photography, postaday

Our yellow magnolia doesn’t have any leaf, but all of its flowers are open and clearly visible through our windows and patio door. They definitely brighten these first spring days which are still quite chilly if not outright cold.

Here are some shots I took today once I came home from work.

Yellow magnolia blooms

Yellow magnolia close-up

Yellow magnolia macro

Spring Flowers

Tags

daffodials, magnolia, photography, postaday, spring flowers

Spring is now beginning to display flowers in their full splendor. Yesterday afternoon, I walked around our yard and took the following photographs, which give you a range of colors, from yellow and green to pink and red.

Daffodils

The wind was fairly strong, and after a while I gave up trying to use my tripod and shot the following without it.

Magnolia

A close look at a magnolia.

Finally, here’s a full riot of them.

Pink magnolias in monochrome

You may like to view the images in full-size by just clicking on them.

Frozen Magnolia Winter

Tags

chicadee, deer, junco, magnolia, photography, postaday, titmouse, winter

This winter has really been the coldest we have experienced. On some days, when I left the house to go to work, the temperature has been as low as -5 F (-24 C). I have had to replace my car battery one night, and the AAA man who came to replace it said they never ever had to replace so many batteries in one month.

Here’s a photo of a branch of our yellow magnolia tree encased in ice. I hope the flower buds will survive and bloom again this spring.

Magnolia in ice

The animals of course have to find food any way they can. I saw the deer below nib at one of our neighbor’s tree. If you look closely you’ll see that it has lost one of its antlers. This is normal, and the remaining one should fall off eventually. Around this time of the year, deer shed their antlers, which will regrow in the spring.

Deer with one antler.

I put out sunflower seeds and managed to take pictures of some cute birds.

Chicadee

Junco

Our backyard cardinals were not to be seen. Maybe they got offended by the post I wrote the other day.