Western King Birds and The Apple Tree Surprise

Western King Bird

I do so love the twitter and chirps of the early summer. The  morning songs consist of sparrows, house finches, friendly robins, cooing doves, bright yellow orioles, starlings, a few roosters, hens, ducks, turkeys from down the road, ravens, and the western king bird. My, I do have quite a variety !




We had so many birds in the backyard and I was looking for some nests up in the big apple tree but could not see them for the leaves and the abundance of apples growing on the branches.



I noticed yesterday morning there were 2 western king birds up on the wires and they seemed upset when I came outdoors. I just chalked it up to their personality. I took some photos of them and thought it a good time to take a video of  them so others could see and here what they sounded like. I used the branch that was hanging low from the weight of the apples to support my camera. It was the perfect level. I took the video and walked around the hanging branch and my eyes zoomed in on a nest with 2 babies inside ! Whoa ! I must have been 1 foot from the nest as I took the video. Watch video so you can see and hear what the the adult birds sound like. It is 33 seconds.








Finding the nest gave me such a child-like magical feeling. I love it when these experiences happen.



Can you imagine finding a nest at eye level? 



 I carefully stepped up to take a photo. Look close in the center you can see their little black eyes.

Baby western king birds in the nest, Iron County, Utah

I made sure to walk wide around the branch and the parents seemed to trust me after awhile. I felt they could sense I meant no harm. So I scooted a bit closer. and Click* 

Two baby western king birds.

Oh they are so cute ! And they have their feathers and I think they will leave the nest soon. Precious little things. I am so glad I was able to see them before they left the nest. What a blessing to behold.

 By Deborah Moon Moen

Thank you for visiting Nature Loves Appreciation ! 
(3,750 page views) 

Until next time remember,
The more you appreciate Nature, the more Nature experiences will come to you. That is because Nature Loves Appreciation !

We Found A Yellow Bellied Marmot !

This Yellow bellied marmot comes in greeting cards, t shirts, and other products
 on Fine Art America www.deborah-moen.artistwebsites.com
http://deborah-moen.artistwebsites.com/featured/yellow-bellied-marmot-capitol-reef-utah-deborah-moen.html

My husband spotted this yellow bellied marmot amongst the red earth and rock on a slope in Fruita Camp within the Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. I was thrilled to hear the marmot was near us. My husband backed me up on the trail and pointed at the area where marmot was. It took me awhile to focus in on him as he blended so well with his surroundings. Not a movement, breath or blink did he make as I clicked * my camera.

Look at how he blends in with his surroundings.

I know about these yellow bellied marmots from the High Sierras in California at the base camp called Constellation Camp. My experience with them showed me a playful side to their nature.
They hide away till you make your ascent up Mount Whitney. Then while you are gone they search your camp for goodies and even get into your bags. My hiking partner made sure our gear was out of site and off the ground. Marmots are a member of the squirrel family and they are much larger than the ground squirrels we are used to seeing.  It was a thrill to see them for the first time. I also had encounters with them while backpacking in the Olympic National Forest in Washington.


Thank you for visiting !
Nature Loves Appreciation ( page views 1254 )

Until next time

Know that with a peaceful heart and mind the opportunities for appreciation will be revealed to you and the more you appreciate Nature and all other things the more there will be to appreciate.

Deborah Moen
Nature Lover

Prarie Rain



Rain falls over the mountains like veil separating day and night in Lund, Utah.
http://deborah-moen.artistwebsites.com/products/prarie-rain-lund-utah-deborah-moen-art-print.html
click on the picture to see a larger view.



"Have you ever seen the rain

falling down on a sunny day?"

by John Fogerty, Sung by Credence Clearwater

Well, have you?

The first time I saw rain falling from the sky at a distance was when I was in Yellowstone. I did not know what it was. Curious dark curtain stretching across the hills and valley it was. The memory of that is still etched in my mind or wherever our memories are kept. Some of us live in cities where the buildings obscure the sight of how the rain falls. We may smell that musty earthy scent of rain as it begins or enjoy the fresh clean air and sometimes sniff in the refreshing scent of pine needles that have broken off the branches. We see the water drops splat on the pavement and may look up and catch the slant of rain falling and also see the dark clouds. We can hear the rain drip, drip, dripping from the roof tops and trees.



Rain that falls from the cloud and evaporates
before hitting the ground is called Virga. 
Photo taken by Deborah Moen

But oh the sight of rain coming down from

 a big cloud  in the distance is a thrilling sight. Sometimes the wall of rain looks like a white wedding veil and sometimes it looks like smokey dark curtain. If the wind is blowing, the wall of rain will walk over the countryside. You can tell if the rain is coming near you or away from you. I so love the rain and how it squeezes and oozes out of the clouds.

 I feel the rain is mysterious. I have read this water is the same water the wooly mammoth waited in when it stood in the lakes and swam in the oceans. And to think of how the water on land actually becomes a cloud gives me goosebumps!



Cumulonimbus Cloud: Cedar City, Utah Photo by Deborah Moen
Comes In a greeting card
 http://deborah-moen.artistwebsites.com/products/prarie-rain-cloud-deborah-moen-greeting-card.html



Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
By John FogertyCreedence Clearwater Revival

Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm
I know; it's been comin' for some time.
When it's over so they say
It'll rain a sunny day
I know; shinin' down like water.

[Chorus]
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know; been that way for all my time.
'Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know; it can't stop, I wonder.

All of a sudden I am remembering all these songs about the rain that I listened to when I was a teen. I hadn't yet seen a wall of rain and these songs were fun to sing and listen to but the lyrics now mean so much more to me. Like a fine wine those lyrics and melodies fermented a great appreciation for Nature and most certainly became one of the reasons I am here. Dreams and desires do come true, you know.



Iron County, Utah Photo by DeborahMoen
Comes in a Greeting Card
http://deborah-moen.artistwebsites.com/products/cumulonimbus-rain-cloud-deborah-moen-greeting-card.html

Baby The Rain Must Fall 
By Glenn Yarbourgh

Some men climb a mountain,
Some men swim the sea,
Some men fly above the sky:
They are what they must be.
But, baby the rain must fall,
Baby, the wind must blow,
Wherever my heart leads me
Baby, I must go, baby I must go.
I do not love for silver,
I do not love for gold,
My heart is mine to give away,
It never will be sold.

Thank you for visiting Nature Loves Appreciation
(1124 page views)

Until next time, Take time to explore and enjoy Nature

The more you appreciate Nature
 the more there is to appreciate.

YAY !

Over and out here,
Deborah (Moon) Moen, Nature Lover

PS Catch this great example of Virga ( rain that evaporates before it hits the ground). Sometimes the wind blows and makes them look like commas. Write your own message inside this Greeting Card of Virga Clouds with positives words in a subtle heather print.

Uplifting Clouds Greeting Cards by SimpleSpark
Add your photos and text to blank greeting cards at Zazzle

Desert Big Horn Sheep Capitol Reef National Park

Postcards
http://www.zazzle.com/3_big_horn_sheep_capitol_reef_national_park_utah_postcard-
239000369575747480?rf=238540278403281540

Desert Big Horn Sheep Capitol Reef National Park, Utah: 

 Capitol Reef has the most magnificnt rock formations ever. This place is Sedona, Arizona and the Grand Canyon all in one and more. 

We were driving down the 8.6 mile long Scenic Drive at Capitol Reef admiring the scenery. My eyes caught "something " unique on the rocky burgundy cliffs of the  * Moenkopi Formation. It took awhile to register and when I realized what they were I spoke as calm as possible to my husband who was driving. "Stop",.... ( he didn't hear me) again I said, "Stop"....... ( I spoke a little louder)..."STOP ".  My husband heard me that time and came to a stop. He looked curious.  I looked him in the eye and whispered while pointing to the cliffs, "Big horn sheep !" 

One was sleeping and the other two were resting, enjoying their afternoon. Zzzz ... it was an unusual sight I will never forget. 

Sleeping Big Horn Sheep Capitol Reef Postcard by Shop_DeborahMoen
Check out more Rams Postcards at Zazzle

This was an epic experience for us. I put together the photographs and videos I made of them below. I was so blessed to be in that spot at that time ! Enjoy the video 3:38. 

Thank you for visiting Nature Loves Appreciation ( 657 page views)
Until next time

The more you appreciate nature the more their is to appreciate. 

DeborahMoen©

Nature Lover, Mentor, Writer, Photographer

Ah-Mazing Ecotones & Manifesting Lesson

Have you ever discovered something
amazing about Nature and had a burning
 desire to share it?

Lava flows, grassland, and forest on the
Markagunt Plateau, Dixie National forest, Utah
Photo by DeborahMoen©
www.naturelovesappreciation.blogspot.com 

My new discovery is Ecotone

I found ecotones a perfect metaphor for life and co-creation. An ecotone is like that place we enter after asking for our desires to manifest, that may be testing your patience, while you are thinking, "Hey, where's my stuff?"

Ecotones are the inbetween spaces like where the ocean meets the shore or where a grassland meets the forest.

The ocean is not yet a sandy beach and the beach is not the ocean. The grassland is not the forest and the forest is not the grassland. There is this amazing zone in between which marries the two in a fertile dance of creation.

We may see them as separate yet one is in the other,
..intermingling, integrating, creating, transforming, giving birth and sometimes churning relentlessly within this space of endless possibilities depending on the ecosystem, environment or mood.

An ecotone is a transitional place

An ecotone, a transitional space, is connected yet blurred , not yet formed or manifested, as this space transitions from one into the other. It is a stockpot for wonderous and delicious recipes for new ideas and species to emerge on the leading edge of creation..

Nature and the good orderly direction of life on earth, always provides us an ecotone, a transitional space to adapt, to get ready, or align to the new events in our life; between relationships, financial high's and lows, and emotional ebbs and flows.

We enter into this zone from the moment we ask and the moment we receive. An ecotone,  is a metaphor for where all the foamy and seeded goodness of life emerges, lines are blurred and out of focus, yes, however, this is where faith abides and preferences are birthed and opportunities abound.

Just chill out

If we are impatient with life, disheartened because we can not see, fearful of the next moment and the next; we are definitely destined to be upturned within the forces by default. it is like standing stiff with fear when you see a wave coming. You may certainly end up with sand in your pants.

Whether we tire from the fight and let go of the struggle; or relax, float and co-create along with the motions of change, we ultimately meet our good and desired wishes. Either way, resistant or allowing, it is a blessing, this ecotone zone. ~ DeborahMoen©

Thank you for visiting,

Until next time,

Nature Love Appreciation

Ceremony by James Hood Sonic incense that perfumes the air. Listen...

Click on this icon below to purchase or to see more at amazon.com

Two Ponderosa Pines Intertwined

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They were in each other all along.” ~ Rumi




Embracing Pines : Ponderosa pine photo: by ©DeborahMoen 
 Posters and greeting cards available at
http://www.zazzle.com/two_ponderosa_pines_intertwined-137718057904775982?rf=238540278403281540

As we walked, the meadow was active with antelope. As we entered into the forest we were surprised by a mystery creature lurking in the shadows. At lunch we enjoyed a friendly golden-mantled squirrel standing on his tree stump castle. We had a wonderful lunch looking out over the Markagunt Plateau.    I noticed these two trees next to us and wondered how they had grown together. I have a special relationship with trees and sense a great connection with them.





How to connect with the trees

There is something inside of us that truly desires to connect with trees.  Many people have shared their love of trees. John Muir a beloved mentor of mine, wrote volumes on the magnificence of trees, people engage in a practice called, Tree Sitting, to delay the cutting of trees, images in books and the internet of people meditating at the base of a tree, Professor Suzanne Simard's research on the interconnectedness of forest ecosystems, and even Smokey The Bear expresses his love for the trees and forests.  If this is a new idea to you, you may be wondering, "How would I begin a relationship with trees?"

Here's An Easy Ice Breaker

Just for now it is beneficial to just be in the presence of the tree. Here is a good exchange to start with:

1. Go outdoors
2. Get comfortable. Relax. Chill out.
3. Notice your breathing.
4. As you inhale be aware that you are receiving oxygen provided by the tree.
5. As you exhale, be aware that the tree is nourished by your carbon dioxide.

There ! It is really quite easy. The more you enjoy this exchange, the more experiences and well-being you will notice. More will be revealed...

 Can you Solve These Mysteries?

The Ponderosa pine reveals a bright cinnamon orange bark as they mature.

Look at the Pines Embrace photograph at the top of the page.

• Did the pines sprout at the same time?
• How did they get so entwined with each other?
• What makes a tree bend and grow in different directions?

"The more I appreciate Nature, the more there is to appreciate."

Thank you for coming to this site.

Until next time,

Nature Loves Appreciation.


This photograph of Two Ponderosa Pines Intertwined is absolutely perfect as a greeting card for someone you love, for slipping onto a loved one's pillow and also an earthy greeting card for that Nature Lover of yours, for weddings and anniversaries and just because. You can customized them with your own words or quotes and prose which I have provided on this site here. Pines Embrace comes on posters and greeting cards to inspire our relationship with the trees.

Two Ponderosa Pines Intertwined by SimpleSpark
Look at Trees Cards online at Zazzle.com

And see this image on Fine Art America in framed, metal, wood, canvas, prints, cards, duvet covers, mugs and more...



 Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated (Golden Field Guide Series)
C. Frank Brockman