Funny birds

Dear Noah,

I was looking through the pictures I took while I was kayaking yesterday and there were a couple that made me laugh.  I thought you might like them, too.  Pretty funny lookin' birds.

This is a Tri-colored Heron (also called a Louisiana Heron).  This is what he's supposed to look like:

But when he looks straight on you can't even see his bill and he looks all goggly-eyed.

This one was funny because he looks like he has a third leg...but he's pooping!  I thought that would make you laugh!  He is a Solitary Sandpiper (he likes to be alone).

Love you and miss you,

Nanny

The turtle that climbed a mountain

Dear Noah,

Today I went kayaking on the Blind River. I don't know why it's called that. Are there rivers that can see?

Anyway, I saw this little turtle up on top of this stump. 

He was pretty little, about the size of your hand. But he had somehow climbed up on top of that stump that was way bigger than he was. I was very impressed. How do you suppose he got up there?  Do you think somebody helped him?  Do you think he was scared up on top like that?  I don't think he was happy to see me. I think he was saying, "hey lady, it was hard work climbing all the way up here, don't make me jump off!" 

Have you ever held a turtle in your hand?  Sometimes they pee on you when they're scared, just like toads do. 

Hope you like this little guy!

Love, Nanny

Porkypine

Porkypine

Dear Noah,

Saw this today and thought it was cute.  I like it when she pokes his nose and he squeaks!

love,

Nanny

Mr. and Mrs. Banana Spider

Dear Noah,

I wanted to introduce you to the Banana Spider.  It's a common spider here in Louisiana and we see a LOT of them in the summer time in the woods.  It's also called the Golden Silk spider because its web is golden in color.  Can you see that in this picture?

This picture has two spiders in it.  Which one do you think is the daddy (male) and which one the mommy (female)?  It might not be what you think!

It's pretty cool that spiders can spin webs out of their body...like Spiderman :-)   Or I guess Spiderman is like a spider, since the spider came first!  Anyway, they can make this cool web stuff out of their body and they make a web but only the *inside* part is sticky!  It traps the insects that the spider will eat.  The outside part that connects the spider to the stuff around it is not sticky at all; it's just very strong!  How do they make two different kinds of web??  Pretty amazing stuff.

This picture is one of my favorites.  It's a picture of spiderwebs in the early early morning when the dew collected on the web and looks like diamond jewelry.  Pretty neat, huh?

love,

Nanny

Weekend fun

Dear Nanny,

I wanted to show you some funny pictures from this weekend! My momma and I played with the hose yesterday and we all went to the beach today. I asked my daddy to bury me in the sand :)

Love, Noah

On the farm

Dear Nanny,

My momma and I went to a farm last weekend. I was so excited to go I was jumping up and down when she told me. I really wanted to see some animals and we did! We saw goats, cows, a sheep, lots of chickens and turkeys. One of the chickens was being funny and trying to sleep in a hole it made in the leaves. We met a horse named Red who pulled us around the farm in a train. He was SO BIG.

Love, Noah

Birds in the swamp

Dear Noah,

When we talked on the phone the other day I told you I was going kayaking.  I love to kayak in the cypress lakes in Louisiana!  There are so many fun things to see.  I especially love the birds.  Here are a few that I saw when I was kayaking the other day...

Anhinga - the snake bird

Eastern Bluebird

Great Blue Heron
He's taller than you are!

Great Egret - hiding in the swamp

Little Blue Heron hunting frogs

Brown-headed Nuthatch
he sounds like a squeaky toy :-)

Golden swamp warbler
his nickname is Yellow Pop!

Isn't the swamp a beautiful place?

Maybe you can go kayaking with me next time you come to Louisiana!

Love, Nanny

Will there be Ibis here?

Pass me the Tony's! from Jane Patterson on Vimeo.

Dear Noah,

I don't know if you remember, but you and I went to look for a special duck one time.  We drove a long way and we went to a refuge where there were lots of ducks and geese and other birds.  When we got there, you asked "Will there be Ibis here?"  So anytime I see an Ibis I think of you.  I saw this White Ibis today.  He had just found his lunch...a nice big juicy crawfish!  It was still alive, of course, so the Ibis had to work on until the legs and claws came off, and then he was able to swallow it whole!  GULP!  I love to eat crawfish, but I don't think I'd like to eat it like that!  Would you?

love,

Nanny

Ribbet!!

Dear Noah,

I found some more frogs when I was out on the lake last weekend.  These are all frogs; they were all found near the water.  Toads like to live on land.  Plus they could really jump!  Toads kinda walk -- they can't do big leaps like frogs do because they don't have those strong back legs!  Did you know that people eat frog legs??  I noticed these frogs look kinda like they have warts though...maybe both frogs and toads are warty!

Ribbet!  Which frog is your favorite?

love,

Nanny

Baby Tiger!

Dear Noah,

This is a video I took when Nora and I went to play with a baby tiger at a zoo in Alabama.  The tiger's name was Sheena and she was 12 weeks old, so she really was just a baby!  She loved to play with those stuffed animals.  We liked playing with her very much.  If they still have this at the zoo when you are a little older, I would love to take you to play with a real live tiger!

love,
Nanny

Noah and the Tiger

Dear Noah,

I don't know if you remember this trip to the zoo when you were in Louisiana or not.  You were two and a half years old.  This tiger looks like he is very close to you...and he is, but he is on the other side of a very thick piece of glass!  Good thing -- we would not want him to eat you!  

I hope you like this picture of you and the tiger!

love,

Nanny

Painting animals

Dear Nanny,

My momma and I painted some animals yesterday and I wanted to show you. I chose the tiger because it's my favorite animal. I used all the colors we had.  My momma used a bunch of colors on her owl too. It was my idea to paint the owl's head red.

Love, Noah

Rainbow Bird

Dear Noah,

Isn't this a beautiful bird?  A bird colored like the rainbow....red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.  It's called a Painted Bunting.   They come to Louisiana in the spring time and nest here.  This is the male (the daddy bird).  The female (mommy bird) is solid green, like a leaf.  After they finish nesting and their babies grow up, they leave and fly far away to another country...but they'll be back next year!  I hope I can show you one when you come to Louisiana in the summer time some day...

love,
Nanny

P.S. I found this video I took recently of the Painted Bunting. Doesn't he have a wonderful song?


Rainbow come to life! from Jane Patterson on Vimeo.

Happy 4th of July!

Dear Noah,

Happy 4th of July!  Today is our country's birthday!  

Do you know what kind of bird these are?

Hope you had a great time at your block party today. Poppy and I got to see some great fireworks tonight. We miss you!

Love,

Nanny

Tons of toads!

Dear Noah,

A friend and I were walking on a trail through the woods the other day and we saw little critters hopping across the trail.  At first they looked like insects, but when we looked more closely we realized they were toads.  Tons of toads in the road!  I guess they all hatched about the same time - they were everywhere!  And so tiny - look at this picture!  If you would have been with me we would have picked up a bunch and put them in your pocket so you could show your mom :-)

Do you know the difference between a frog and a toad?

Love you!

--Nanny

Bird Igloos!

Dear Noah,

Can you tell what these are pictures of?  They are bird nests!  These funny looking nests are made from mud and spit by the birds that live in them.  The birds are called Cliff Swallows. They gather up mouthfuls of mud and fly up under a bridge and build these "igloos" out of mud.  Each igloo is hollow and that's where the momma bird lays her eggs and the babies are born.  In some of these pictures you can see baby birds in the igloos.  Kind of a funny looking house!  I like the way they build all the houses right next to each other, like the apartment building you used to live in in your old house.  

I hope you like these birds and their funny houses!

Love,

Nanny

Dear Noah...

Dear Noah,

There's so much I want to show you and tell you about, and it's tough because you live so far away.  So I thought I'd use this blog to try and share things with you.  So often I see something and I think, "Noah would like this, I wish I could show him."  And, so, with your mommy's help, I will.  I love you and miss you and think of you often.

Love,

Nanny