Friday Foto Friends~More Excitement on Still Water's Pond and Beyond!

Happy Friday everyone! I have some exciting news!

There are two eggs!!  Yesterday morning, on George Washington's birthday, our early morning view of the Sand Hill Crane nest showed TWO eggs!  So now, my plan to name the new "colts" in honor of President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln is going forward as stated earlier this week on President's Day, when we discovered the first egg.    I think we will call them George and Abe.  I know we don't know if they will be male or female, and it is actually quite difficult to tell the difference even when they are adults...but we could call them Georgianne and Abby instead. LOL.  

This picture was taken early in the morning, hence the lighting is not great, but I could clearly see the two eggs with my binoculars.

Mr. Sand Hill Crane continued to stand guard while Mama rested on the nest. Once in a while they would actually change places so that Mama could go get something to eat and stretch her legs a while.

As you can see, the Canada Geese are still out there swimming around, occasionally getting too close for comfort and Papa Crane takes off after them with loud shrieks and flapping wings...

They both continue to maintain the nest, adding more sticks and mud and repositioning the eggs to keep them in the best spot.

Yes, watching these proceedings pretty much occupies a good portion of our days right now.

And yes, the geese are still here...mostly just relaxing in the water, but with occasional forays into the Crane territory just to keep things popping.

It seems like they are gathering together to plot their next move to harrass Mrs. Crane!

I still don't know if the geese are building a nest here or if they are just hanging around to be pests, but either way, they keep things interesting and we enjoy all the activity.

So what else do we do with our time besides watch the birds?  Well, let's see, 

 We take walks in the woods and notice the contrast between life and death you might say...

This fungi is growing on this dead tree branch...the fungi is a living organism that actually feeds on decaying wood.

The woods are full of this Deer Moss, which grows on top of the sandy leafy soils of our woods. The deer do eat it apparently, hence its name, but it is really a type of lichen.

Just another way that God provides for His creation!

Amazing that this cut section of an old tree is still laying there in the woods...

I wrote about this same piece of wood HERE, about 4 years ago, when this tree was still fresh cut.

Same photo from 2020...when I thought it looked like a baby in utero, a child waiting to be born that was cut off from the living before it had a chance to be born...some poignant thoughts...

And here is another fascinating dead tree, reaching up to the skies, surrounded by living trees. The woodpeckers and insects also find this as a good food source and/or a place to build a nest.

Amazing the natural beauty that we can find around us when we open our eyes to God's wonderful creation.

Besides our walks in the woods, we also took a nice ride through the woods yesterday afternoon and had supper with some dear "old friends" from our previous neighborhood in the Ocala National Forest. I forgot to take any pictures, but we enjoyed a delightful dinner of homemade chicken and dumplings, and/or chili...salad, cornbread, biscuits, and a delicious cinnamon and nut Bundt cake for dessert. I was told not to bring anything, but I still took a couple of containers of fresh strawberries, which we enjoyed along side our cake with some whipped cream.  It was all wonderful. Our friends live on a small lake where I used to take a LOT of pictures back when we lived there.  And guess what? They also have a Sand Hill Crane couple nesting right now in the middle of their little lake!  It looks just like ours!  'Tis the season for new life everywhere!

This is actually a picture I took of a Sand Hill Crane nesting on that same little lake back in 2018.  Their current Crane Mama and nest looks pretty much the same now. It may even be the same family as it was back then. They do come back to the same nesting grounds over and over again!

Here's some thoughts for today from Proverbs chapter 3:24-26

24 

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,

Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

26 For the Lord will be your confidence,

And will keep your foot from being caught.

This morning's sunrise!

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1

Well, It is now nighttime and about time for me to start shutting down for the night.  Thank you for visiting here, and I apologize if I haven't gotten around to visit you yet. I am still trying to get caught up with everyone as I can. I probably need to quit watching the activities around here so I can read your posts!  Thank you for your patience!

God bless you all, and have a wonderful weekend!