Saturday, April 17, 2010

What is this in my back yard???


I was walking through the kitchen and I always glance out at the bird feeders to see which birds are visiting.  THIS really surprised me.  Where did they come from?  I live in town, not near any water.  That green head was really bright in the sunlight.






The hen is hardly visible because she is the same color as all of the seed residue.  I was patient though and she finally got up and walked around.





I wanted some colorful birds to visit my yard so I guess I got my wish.  The Mr. is about as bright as they come and their legs are SO orange.  The squirrel didn't seem to care if they shared the yard with him.









I had company today.  I bought a new laptop, printer and wireless router.  My desktop computer has been freezing up on me pretty regularly so I decided to make my purchase before the old one (7 yrs. old) dies.  I now have wireless printing from the laptop in a different room and networking between the computers.  I have transferred a lot of files to the new computer through the networking already.  I got a PC because a lot of my sewing machine programs aren't made in a Mac version.  Now I have to get used to Windows 7.  My photo editing program that came with my old printer (also 7 years old) got deleted along with the printer software so I have to learn a new editing program.  I see a lot of reading and experimenting in my future.

26 comments:

Millie said...

Wow. Not one, but TWO Geek Squad vehicles. Good luck!

Unknown said...

You had the Duck Squad and the Geek Squad!! A very busy day. Best of luck with your new computer!

Diane said...

Two Geek Squad units? How lucky is that. I can't get the Geek Squad to come to my home. I have to drive TO them. I changed over to Windows 7, and I do like it and am still learning its ins and outs. I hope you like it! You must be in the Ducks fly zone. What a nice surprise! Have a great weekend!

Gene Black said...

Ducks and Geeks - hmm... I think you could write a number one country song!

elle said...

I call my ducks the Slug and Bug patrol. 8^) They are much kinder to the plants than my chooks. In spring the males are very bright. His beak should be green now as well. hmm, greens, browns and a smidgen of orange; sounds like a good colouring for a quilt!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

The Geek Squad comes in handy doesn't it. If my husband wasn't so talented in that area that is what I would do.
Love the ducks
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

How neat to have ducks visit. You just never know who'll show up, do you? They say that learning new things helps our brains stay functional, so look at your new computer as "brain medicine". :)

By the way, if you don't have one already, the google photo editor, Picasa, is pretty good, and better still - it's free.

Marie said...

You had a busy day. I take my laptop all over the house (and porch) - I love the wireless connection.

Are the ducks visiting overnight or do you have a new nest in the backyard for longer term visitors?

julia said...

You must live in a flight path between two bodies of water that these ducks visit. They must have spotted your food. They'll probably be back regularly!
Your street is pretty!

Cheryl Arkison said...

Didn't I tell you, I sent those two down on my behalf?

dianen said...

My dad used to feed the birds every morning and evening every day. Mallards started flying in, first a single pair, then a couple, etc... until he had nearly thirty mallards every morning and evening. They knew when he put the food out and they would come in a flock, fly in, eat, waddle around, take a snooze and then come back in the evening for another round.

When my dad was too sick to feed them any more, my mother would go out and feed them because he got such a kick out of seeing them come in. He got to know them so well and knew their personalities.

When my dad passed, the mallards just stopped coming even though Mom still put the food out every morning and every evening. We never could figure out why they stopped coming. It was strange.

Mom and Dad didn't live near water. The nearest water was the river, about four or five miles away.

Maria said...

Love the photo of the ducks and squirrel.

AH!!! I also have a new computer with windows 7 and it is a whole new thing to learn. I am slowly getting there

Anonymous said...

Hi Wanda, New computers sound great ! The word
from here is that the ducks must be nesting near
by ? And no water ? jmh

Anonymous said...

Hi Wanda, New computers sound great ! The word
from here is that the ducks must be nesting near
by ? And no water ? jmh

Laura said...

When my work computer suddenly wasn't functional any longer right at the beginning of tax season I ended up purchasing my new Dell from Best Buy and bought their Geed Squad protection plan. It sounds like they did a good job for you. I normally buy Dell support so have been a bit nervous about using the Geek Squad. I called them about one thing while setting up the new computer and they couldn't help at all. We are thinking of taking the old computer to them to reinstall the operating system, which was what went south. Do you think they could handle that?

I also had to transition to Windows 7 and I have to say, I love it!! I was coming from Windows XP and they are very similar, but I think Windows 7 is better. Good luck with the transition!

Libby said...

Love the mallards...so funny! We had a pair randomly show up in my parent's back yard once, too, for no apparent reason. You gotta love unusual visitors :)

Anonymous said...

We have had several unusual birds come to visit our feeders... but never have had mallard ducks before. And we see them in the backwaters of the river, where we live, all the time. Knowing where you live, I was so surprised to see them at your feeder. And they are indeed a beautiful pair.

I have not seen a GEEK SQUAD van before... We are still serviced by the little bugs... and for our area the GEEKS, really need to be in a 4-wheel driver Hummer to say the least. (^._,^)

Enjoy your new computer... and in a week or so tell us what Windows 7 is all about.

J~MT

Needled Mom said...

Oh man.....so much to learn!!! Good luck.

Where did the ducks come from? We saw six of them flying right down Michigan Ave. in Chicago last week and wondered the same thing.

Cathi said...

Lucky you -- I love seeing ducks!! And a lovely new computer!

For about 3 years in a row, we had mallard ducks nesting on the roof garden. One year when the eggs hatched and they couldn't be moved, we put a big wading pool out on the roof garden and watched the little ducklings grow up and fly off. It was magical.

Barbara Strobel Lardon said...

This is funny because for the last two years we have had a mother duck suddenly appear in our back yard with all her babies. She just travels through but the river is about 8 blocks away!

Bob always sees them and I always miss seeing them but maybe this year I will be home for the event.

Can not believe that squirrel just sits there with them and they do not mind him either. Amazing!

Hope you are doing well with all your new "gadgets!"

Karen said...

I just got a new laptop about a month ago and I love Windows 7. Good luck!!h

hetty said...

I think Mallard ducks are not the smartest of birds. A few years ago we had a pair that decided to use our pool to swim in. We chased them away, but they came back the following year. And for several years, when I worked in a local high school, we had a pair who made an closed-in area their home. They had aropund 10 ducklings when we finally found them each spring. It was impossible for them to get out of the enclosure because it was too high for the little ones to fly up and over the school, so we had to round them up. Then it was my turn to take them to a local wetlands area to release them. After a few years we wondered how intelligent that female mallard was.

Patty Benner Young said...

We get visiting ducks in our pool...once we had a hen and 12 babies...I built a ramp so the ducklings could get out. Our visitors come from nearby golf courses.

Anonymous said...

Hi Wanda,
Love all your yard pictures. I love the bento box picture. I hope to make one myself. We have a small fish pond in our backyard and for the last 4 years we have had a pair of duck visit each day. some times in the morning but away about 4p.m. the land in the pond swim around for a few mintes get out and eat the bird feed on the ground. It's interesting to watch how the male watches out for the female. We sit on our porch and they don't mind us being there. Hope you are able to rest up after the long day. I don't think I could have done it.
Roberta

Anonymous said...

Photoshop Elements is a reasonable priced editor & highly recommended by reviews. Lots of free extras on their website as well as podcasts that teach amazing tricks. The software also includes an organizer to tag & store photos as well. I've been using it since it first came out and even though I have access to Photoshop (its big brother) I've rarely needed it. It often comes bundled w/pc's; maybe you already have it. Can probably get it for well under $100 somewhere anyway. Good luck.

Erika Mulvenna said...

Wow,you had all kinds of visitors! Must be that time of the year, my parents also just bought a new system and went wireless AND had the Geek Squad over to help out with the transition! Have fun with your new computer toys!