Thursday, April 9, 2009

Our Dark-eyed Juncos have packed up and headed north for the summer, but the Tree Swallows are back at Pine Hill Lake!

Last Thursday evening I saw two Dark-eyed Juncos fly into one of the pine trees in our side yard, but since then I haven't seen any. I guess they took off that night for fun up north. I will miss their cute faces and sweet personalities. 

"Winter Visitor"
(pencil sketch/watercolor) 

Last night I played around in iMovie (a video maker on the Mac) and created a little video of our winter visitors. This is a total experiment. I wanted to learn how to use the program, so I jumped right in. It's pretty easy to use. The music doesn't really fit, but that's okay. I was just practicing. The stars of the show are the cute little birds that help get us through winter, always brightening our days!


Winter Visitors from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo

The Tree Swallows are FINALLY back at Pine Hill Lake! As soon as I got close to the meadow today at lunch I could hear them and started looking around for them. There were only three, but they were making enough noise for twenty squabbling over one nest box in particular (the old red one!). I only had about 30 minutes to linger and watch, but that was enough time to watch them swoop in over and over, chittering and fighting with each other, so full of energy with non-stop aerial displays!

20 comments:

Ginnymo said...

Beautiful slide show Kelly!! That looks like a nice program. I like the effects! The music is just fine with it. A little Native American. I didn't know that some Juncos went south for the winter. I have them all winter here. I love hearing the birds singing every morning now. There are so many different kinds out there now. Your pictures are beautiful!! So nice and clear. Great job!!

Laure Ferlita said...

Love your sweet little sketch! Love the added touch of watercolor!

The video was also very cool and I thought the music appropriate. Very nice job for a first attempt!

Kim said...

Love the video! The junco and horned lark photos are awesome!!

The sketch of the Junco is so pretty. I still have juncos here and I want them to leave. Not because I don't like them or anything like that, It will just mean that spring is closer. ;o)

Yay for the tree swallows. We have had them for a while now and they are fun to watch.

Cicero Sings said...

Hey! You're getting into this video thing too. Isn't it fun?! iMac makes it pretty easy. I thought your music was just fine too.

I wanted to add a song to a video about my Mom (to be published on the blog in the future) but You Tube doesn't allow me because of Copyright laws. Darn. Not near as fun when it is silent ... and you wouldn't want to hear me sing ... LOL.

I love the little Juncos and am glad they are all up visiting me at the moment.

Uncommon Depth said...

I saw our first Junco yesterday. He or she looked very tired from the trip. Love your artwork!

Unknown said...

Love that video, wonderful to sit down with a coffee and watch the beautiful images pass by.

Paul.

PS. Debbie says wow wow wow!

Jayne said...

Wow Kelly! What a great job you did with the slide show! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the music too. And your sketch is really wonderful. Have a great weekend ahead!

FAB said...

Hi Kelly. Once again you have surpassed yourself with a beautiful sketch & lovely video of your winter visitors plus great music.
The weather here is wet & drab so the only birding will be thro' the window. Lol FAB

Mary said...

Love the video...how creative! I liked how it moved from one photo to the next and the feel of looking at an album. The music was very relaxing! Your sketch is beautiful! I always wanted to be able to draw from nature, but am only good at copying other people's drawings. sigh

Warren Baker said...

Hi Kelly
Do you note down the last dates seen, of your winter migrants, and the first dates of you summer migrants? It makes facinating reding in future years.

Anonymous said...

Very cool video, soothing and professional looking, great! Your watercolors are lovely too:)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for putting this together for us. I really enjoyed it.

Kelly said...

Ginny...Thank you! Take care of our juncos for us!

Laure...thank you too! It was fun making the video...hopefully it hasn't created a monster. Now simple photos just won't do!

Kim...thank you! I know what you mean. When the juncos leave, I know spring is here!!

Cicero...thank you very much!!

Uncommon...maybe your junco is one of ours! It's amazing they make these long trips twice a year...amazing!!

Paul and Debbie...thank you!! It was fun to do too...

Jayne, thank you....you have a nice weekend and a Happy Easter too!

FAB...thank you very much! Well, I had to join you at the window. It turned rainy, and cameras don't do well in the rain drops! Hoping for a brighter tomorrow.

Mary...thank you! The program I used to create it is great. It's intuitive...I didn't even have to read the directions!!

Warren...yes, I do. I used to handwrite everything in my field journal with weather conditions, temp, etc., but now I take photos and report online. I need to centrally locate all the dates again, instead of only blogging on them.

Bookbabie...thank you for dropping by. I visited your site...how fun!! I'll be back to your site again!

Thanks, Steve! Not detailed and informative like your instructional videos, but it's a start and was fun. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant video Kelly and I love the sketch/water colour of the Winter Visitor. The 'eye' is perfect.
Glad to see you are a more discerning computer user as well.{:)

Chad said...

I like your video, very cool. Nice pictures also.

Kelly said...

Roy and Chad...thank you! I can't wait to do another one! Thanks for stopping by Chad and joining up!

Larry said...

I love your sketch. It makes me want to go out and try sketching myself.-Good video too!

Kelly said...

Larry...you should go out and sketch. I need to do it more. I used to do it a lot, but let stuff get in the way. I'm working on getting back into painting... Making the video was fun, thanks!

Heather said...

I really like that slideshow, and I also love your pencil sketch. I miss the juncos... if only the Pine Siskins would follow their lead!

Kelly said...

...your Pine Siskins are still around? We never did get any here...just too suburban I guess. I miss our juncos a lot. They are always so sweet and polite!!