Azaleas in Bloom- Nothing More Beautiful!

 

What a joy these days to pull into our driveway, greeted by gorgeous azaleas 🌺 in full glory! Pink, red, pinkish red, reddish pink, salmon, white- such a rainbow of colors. 

The view from our front porch is also a show stopper. Our azalea shrubs have been a harbinger of spring during the many years we have lived here. 

And it never gets old! 

In early March, some of the long-dormant shrubs came to life. I took this photo in our backyard on March 7. The first day of spring was still two weeks away. 

This was March 11 in the front yard. The buds are formed, soon to pop open like the flower on the right. 

Red-shouldered Hawk Shines on Sign!

A relaxing walk in the park can produce some nice surprises and excitement, especially when I have my camera and am looking for birds to photograph. 

Such was the case last weekend during a stroll around the old Kings Grant Golf Course.

From a distance, I spotted a large bird perched on a Do Not Enter sign. I quickly surmised it to be a Hawk, a red-shouldered one. 

I took some pictures from behind like the one above, then slowly moved in the shade of a tree to see the bird’s face. I’m sure it saw me. These raptors don’t miss much I am sure.

The Hawk proved a good model! It let me take all the photos I wanted and didn’t fly away until I walked away. 

We saw a second Red-shouldered fly to a nearby tree. I wasn’t able to photograph that one but am very pleased with the ones I took of this beauty.