when windows open

When my windows are open it's because I am welcoming the cool, fresh air into my home! That's not happening enough these days! When windows of opportunity are open, I have been taking advantage one way or another.  Being "out & about" lately comes very early in the morning and for a shorter period of time.  While I have been working at getting my fill of nature, I have also been participating in searching for a boy from my neighbouring hood, who has gone missing.  Those walks are slow and deliberate, off trail, with 99.9% of my focus not on nature.    

When nature was my focus, the air was somewhat clear and my camera was in hand. 

 The Wild Roses are thriving!

Brown-eyes Susans are at or past their prime!

Wild Daisies are in abundance!

This season has been the biggest Bird Baby Boom I have ever seen! A fellow told me he noticed some birds have recently started their second round of nest building.  Cries for food are spilling out of the trees, shrubs and bushes.  While the babies are easy to photograph because they stay in one spot, they are a challenge to photograph because they are hidden amongst twigs and branches.  

This baby Grey-Catbird bellowed out the entire time I was in the area.

This baby House Finch fluttered and fluttered while hollering for food!

Only when it stopped for a second was I able to capture a clear photo.

The baby Northern Flicker was very hard to spot with the lighting.  

I focused on where the cry was coming from and eventually spied the right spot.

This baby Yellow Warbler was easy to find as the bright yellow stood out!

I saw many other baby birds crying out or being fed but my photos were not the greatest. What was great was seeing this beaver having breakfast. It was right there below the bridge I was standing on, it was not concerned with me.  To capture this shot of the Kingfisher, I was behind a bunch of bushes with a very small opening where I could zoom through. I like how the photo of the Deer turned out.  It looks like it is smelling the flowers yet it is not, it is just the angle.  

Shades of orange are my favourite colours yet not when this is the look.  A view like this happens when the wildfire smoke is at a high level.  On this morning the rating was on the lower  side of moderate.  For me this was a window of opportunity to get "out & about".  I took advantage of this open window and enjoyed getting my fill of nature and also opening the windows in my home. 

On Friday the rating was at the worst. I woke to quickly closing my windows and turning on the air purifier.  The wind shifted direction, not only did the smoke from the west and north make its way here, the smoke from the wildfires in Washington state in the United States arrived also. I accepted this as another category of when a window opens!

Windows in my home remained closed and the air purifier remained running. I settled in for a day of watercolour painting, a FaceTime session and trip planning. Lots was accomplished this day behind closed doors. These are the two paintings that filled a few hours.  Both reference photos were captured while I was in  Waterton Lakes National Park. 

It appears windows will open and close off and on over the next little while.  

I will find a way to enjoy all opens and closes!