Owls Through the Spotting Scope

We bought a spotting scope.

We had often thought about doing it - while watching wolves in Yellowstone, grizzlies in Glacier and moose in Alaska. Watching wildlife is one of our favorite pastimes on our travels. It's not just the thrill of observing these wild animals in their natural habitat, but connecting with other people who share the same passion. If we see someone with a spotting scope we usually stop and ask what they're watching. And usually they let you look through their scope - because you simply want to share the excitement. So it really was only a matter of time until we finally would buy one ourselves.

The owls were the final kick in the butt. While we went up to Mendocino, we went to a store called Out of this World where, among other things, you can buy spotting scopes. They are all lined up at the big windows, directed to the ocean and the cliffs, so you can try them out right there and then. The Geek - never one to make fast decisions - took a couple of hours to look through all the scopes and test them, until we finally made a decision (good thing the owner, James Blackstock, is a very patient person).

And you know what? He didn't like it. We took it to the owls last week and the first three photos here were actually taken through that scope. However, he didn't like that the viewing quality noticeably decreased with fading light and he wanted one with stronger "light power". So the following Sunday - last Sunday - the Geek and I went up to Mendo again while Kaefer stayed with a friend, and exchanged the scope. The one we have now, a Nikon, makes us very very happy. So it was worth the extra trip (I know, we could have shipped it, but I wanted to go into that independent bookstore again!).

The quality of this scope is amazing. And even better, with a point-and-shoot camera you can take gorgeous photos through the spotting scope. The photos you see here I took this evening through the scope - I love the result. And I want to share this with you since I know that there are many among you who followed "my" owls with me and want to know how they are doing.

They're doing great. Both owlets were sitting on a branch high up in a redwood tree, cuddling up. The light of the setting sun was warm and golden. So enjoy these photos - and if you have time, please let me know what you think.

My personal favorite.

WOYWW 102

So, we're getting closer and closer to the long anticipated second anniversary of WOYWW where the creative world spends the day sailing around the globe and looking at other creative souls' desks. And all this thanks to the wonderful Julia of Stamping Ground who consistently makes this blog hop possible every Wednesday. Julia, you rock!

My mojo had gone out the door for quite a while. I hadn't been very creative - I was either working out in the garden or I spent considerable time with the owls. As some of you might know, the "fallen" owlet had been released back to the site, and it's doing well. Last time I saw them on Saturday, and both owlets were cuddling on a branch with the mom close to them. The family really is reunited. I am so glad about that.

Yesterday, though, I was really frustrated. For one, the bad weather has returned - rain and cold, I actually had to switch on the heater because the house was so cold. And I'm NOT living in Minnesota, no, this is "sunny" California! Huh! That didn't really anything good to my mood and I was feeling useless, had this "I'm not good enough" mood - it was highly unpleasant. Then I grabbed my art journal and started to play around with my water colors - and that actually helped!!!

So I got out a small canvas, 5x5, and some acrylics.

And what is missing here? Yes, you got that right - an owl! I'm thinking of creating the owl with fabric, I have some nice fat quarters that I'm going to cut up for that. Sooner or later I had to start creating owls after spending so much time with the owl family.

Oh - and I made an owl book today - uploaded my owl photos and made a photo book at Shutterfly for my Dad's birthday.

I think my mojo is back.

Made in Germany 9 - Lake Constance

The Bodensee - or Lake Constance as it is known in the English language.

Some also call it "the Swabian Sea" - das schwäbische Meer.

It's the setting in many poems and novels.

The Bodensee is a huge lake in the South of Germany and it borders three countries - Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Bregenz in Austria hosts the famous "Bregenzer Festspiele" where the stage is actually built on the water.

It's a lively tourist area with old towns like Lindau and Meersburg (my personal favorite), the "fruit basket" of the country and it also produces some really great wine. The lake is home to some wonderful fish that make delicious meals.

The Bodensee looks calm in this picture, taken from the Birnau, a church/monastery close to Meersburg. However, it can be very angry and wild where boats get lost in the fog and people who are foolish enough to venture out on the water in weather like that die by drowning or just disappear. On really good days you can see the Alps in the distance - in this picture you get an idea of that.

It was a two hours drive away from my home when I still lived in Germany. I loved to go there, it was like feeding my soul. It still is one of my favorite places.

If you have anything German - a photo, a story, a memory, food - please share it with us by leaving a link in the comments.

Owl Family Reunited

A surprise was waiting for me when I went to check on the Great Horned Owls yesterday evening, and of course I wanted to inform you about that at once, but unfortunately, Blogger was down for a very long time - the "fallen" owlet that had been taken to the Bird Rescue Center last week's Wednesday was back!!! I had thought that they would release it when it was much bigger, but I guess that it was worth a try to reunite it with his family. Thus, it can learn all the life skills it will need to survive from its mom.

It was sitting in this tree and was obviously quite tired - and hungry, I think. It was released the night before and it seems that Mama Owl hadn't fed it yet. I was a bit worried that its parents would not accept it back to the family. Here's a look through our spotting scope:

Yep, with a good point-and-shoot camera you can take decent pictures through a spotting scope! We let a woman with her iPhone take a picture this way and that one turned out nice as well. So if you ever have a chance to do that, give it a try.

Mama Owl and the other owlet were still perching on the eucalyptus tree, their "home tree".

With the half moon behind the tree I thought it was worth a shot, even though it didn't turn out very well. But moon and owls just go together, don't they?

This morning I returned to see how the rescue owlet was doing. I was hoping that Mama Owl would take it in again.

I had a hard time finding the owls except for the dad who was sitting in his usual spot. Then I discovered Mama Owl and one of the owlets who turned out to be the bigger one, not the rescued one.  That one I spotted a little bit later high up in a redwood tree. It was hopping around, jumping from branch to branch, spreading its wings - and then it lost its balance... oh dear... was there another drama unfolding?

It was hanging upside down, flapping its wings until it lost its grip and trundled down - to the next branch where it flipped and sat upright again. Thank heaven! It's not that easy to fall down a redwood tree because of all its branches that are in the way - inconvenient for us photographers, but a life-safer for owls. I prefer it that way.

The owlet finally moved closer to the trunk of the tree where it seemed to settle down - and shortly after that Mama Owl came over and perched nearby, only three feet away. So she does care for her lost baby. It was good to see that.

WOYWW 101

Hello WOYWWers, it's 101, only three more weeks to the anniversary and the PiF. I can't wait...

Nothing to show you this week what's on my work desk since I'm mainly working in the garden, watching owls and preparing the last of my German lessons that I will teach tonight. After that I'm done with teaching for the season until October. I'm ready for a break!

Last Thursday I taught the "Tag It" class and these are the tags we made that evening. I actually had six tags, but somehow one has disappeared and since I didn't take a picture of it before class I cannot show you that one.

The "warm-up tag", the owl tag, of course, was inspired by the wonderful owl family I'm currently following. Last Sunday, while in Mendocino for Mother's Day, we bought a spotting scope and now it's even more fun to view the little owlet and its parents. If you're interested to see pictures of the owl family - they're Great Horned owls - there are several posts of them below. For the seastar tag I used a watercolor crayon - I love the ones by Caran d'Ache. This technique was completely new for the participants, and I'm always happy when I can teach them something they haven't tried before.

Here are two pictures that show what it looks like during those classes - the creative chaos!

If you're interested how the canvas turned out that I showed last WOYWW, "the girl who loved dogs" - you can find the finished project here.

If you actually want to see real work desks full of creativity, hop on over to Julia's blog who has an entire list of wonderful creative people and enjoy your visit to them.

Mother's Day Trip to Mendocino

On Mother's Day we went up to Mendocino, one of our favorite places along the North Coast. It's just a two hours drive from our home through the mountains on windy roads - the drive alone is very scenic.

Mendocino is a quirky artsy little town right on the headlands - when you come from the south along Highway 1 you see this row of houses - Main Street -  lined up on the cliffs. We were extremely lucky with the weather - it was sunny though windy and not really warm, but pleasant. It was almost perfect for some exploring.

First we had a delicious breakfast in this beautiful building, the MacCallum House Inn. The big whale made out of driftwood lives in their front garden.

I like its big fat grin.

Mendocino has many windmills, water towers and beautiful gardens...

...and driftwood benches.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to just sit here and watch the world go by?

Did I mention the gardens?

Wandering the streets of Mendocino you can find beautiful little stores and galleries.

This store sells unique clothes and handmade accessories and jewelry.

 The Ark has been in this gallery forever - I absolutely adore the little extra boat with the skunks! The artist even thought of the ladybugs.

My favorite independent bookstore.

More gardens...

Those white fences are typical for Mendocino.

Beautiful views wherever you look.

Then you go out to the headlands, but perhaps avoiding the (few) beaches, at least at high tide.

The headlands...

the beaches with all the driftwood...

the view...

This is the view of Mendocino sitting on the cliffs. It's spectacular.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to live like this!

And then we made our way back home on scenic Highway 1 along the coast. I simply love the Northern California coast in all its wildness and roughness.

But the most wonderful thing that day I got from Kaefer - this:

She had painted it for me especially for this day.

I love her so much.

Made in Germany 8

The Federsee (Feather Lake) in Southwest Germany.

It's a big lake that is completely surrounded by reed. It's a lot of reed, it's very dense and it is difficult to reach the lake. Therefore, long boardwalks were built that lead through the reed to the water. You can walk for quite a while right through the reed without even seeing the lake. Instead, you hear the lovely voices of many different birds who make their home there and raise their young.