Thursday, December 23, 2010

Birds flock to huge tree at the Krohn Conservatory...

Regional variations are detected!
Holiday cheer abounds...

A beautiful Great Blue Heron hand painted by a local artist looks up trying to see the top of the towering tree. Note the soft pink highlights, which are a winter plumage variation only found in Cincinnati in December...and then again, only in Eden Park at the Krohn Conservatory!

Officials at the Krohn have put out bird houses to handle the influx of birds here for the Holiday Season. The houses are claimed quickly. Here a Forked-tail Spiky Red stakes out its territory. You can only find this variation in December in the towering pine in Eden Park.

Oops...not birds, but super cute. These two Christmas mice needed to be photographed.

A beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird sips nectar from an equally beautiful Morning Glory! In most cities with snow, the hummingbirds have long since headed south, but the Cincy variations are tough. Note the pronounced white-tipped feathers. This adaptation helps the bright beauties blend into the snow-covered branches in this microcosm of the north.

An Egret tries to hide behind a bright yellow garland made of dried Black-eyed Susans. I think if I could find a beautiful, bright garland of Black-eyed Susans I'd hide behind it too!

Two little Walnut Pixie Owls (another local variation) peep from their home. Let's hope the mice on the upper branches keep an eye out for these adorable, but efficient predators. Looks can be deceiving...

The gargantuan tree itself!
All the ornaments on the tree were handcrafted from natural materials--all made by volunteers.


21 comments:

Cedar Ridge Studio said...

Love your blog but then I love birds. Watch my birds daily.'
Merry Christmas

Mary Ann

grammie g said...

Hi Kelly...every creative group of ornaments and artist...very interesting use of material and subjects...love the Owls!!
Merry Christmas!!

Montanagirl said...

What a nice variety! Beautiful ornaments and great pictures of them!

holdingmoments said...

Great post Kelly.
You certainly get some unusual seasonal birds there lol
Those Owls were excellent.

Enjoy your Christmas.

Midmarsh John said...

What a brilliant idea and a great display. Very best wishes to you and yours.

Anonymous said...

That is so unusual Kelly, what great idea.

JRandSue said...

Fantastic ornaments,love the colours.
Also Sue and I,would like to wish you avery Happy Christmas and agreat 2011.
John.

Atanasio Fernández García said...

Lovely tree, made of imagination and art! Merry Christmas and a happy new year from Spain!!!!

Linda said...

Beautiful tree of homemade ornaments I love your photos that show the detail and lovely tree needles that make a perfect background with the glowing holiday lights surrounding them! Your talent is amazing, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year Kelly!!

Jayne said...

OH, what a fun tree to see! The ornaments are so creative. Merry Christmas Kelly!

Anonymous said...

Those are some of the nicest decorations I've seen - I'm getting ideas for next Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Ireland :D

Pam Johnson Brickell said...

Wow! Thank you for sharing these wonderful treats! Now that's the way to decorate a tree :)
Merry Christmas, Kelly!

Warren Baker said...

Hello Kelly,
Those ornaments put my shabby old things on my tree to shame ! :-)

A very happy Christmas to you and yours :-)

Out on the prairie said...

A lovely selection of artwork. Have a nice holiday with your family Kelly. It is snowing hard here n SE Iowa.

Sondra said...

These are so cute--the walnut owls are my favorites--how creative all the ornaments are! Thanks for stopping by to see my Red Heads...I am so happy to have them close by, if I get down and out I can always go visit the red heads and Im instantly cheered up!

Tim Rucci said...

Hi Kelly... Just wanted to stop by and wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The Christmas oranament thing is a cool idea - lots of creativity went into creating them.

Keep warm....

Tim

Carol Mattingly said...

Lovely images of Krohn. I'll have to visit sometime. Have a Merry Christmas Kelly to you and yours. Carol

Johnny Nutcase said...

ahh! so much beautiful artwork, love it all. Thanks for sharing :) Happy Christmas!

Bob Bushell said...

Bautiful, just beautiful.

Kelly said...

...thanks, everyone. The Krohn is definitely worth the visit. I hope everyone is having a peaceful Christmas Eve...now time to watch the movie "A Christmas Story" with Matty and Rick.

Hilke Breder said...

Enchanting post, Kelly. Merry Christmas to you and your family!