feathered friends Friday...

*updated

Since I posted earlier I was on the phone talking with my sister and looking out the window. As we talked a kingfisher flew in and landed on the gazebo - a first time visitor in the garden! I told her I had to go get the camera and hung up and by then he had flown up to a tree branch. I zoomed in through the window to get a shot and as I was taking a photo a second one came in and knocked the first one off! Blurry photo but amazing to watch:)
With two of them around, I better start counting my goldfish. Original post below...

It's been raining here the last couple of days so the only bird photo I took this week was of a wet bluejay.
How about a metal bird...does that count? Rebecca clematis is such a gorgeous red variety.
Speaking of clematis...Huldine has grown to the top of two of the gazebo posts and is trying to climb the satellite. I have her planted on one side with Niobe and the other with Jackmani for wonderful color combinations. The Killian Donahue in the front is looking very sick these days so if it lives it will be transplanted this fall to another site and I will add another taller variety to that pole as well. The fourth pole is a combo of clair de lune and avant garde. One of them is to the top but they are only in their second year so a bit thin yet.
Have you heard of the blue hour? I first heard of it from my friend, Kathleen, who heard about it on this post from Susan of Between Naps on the Porch. I tried it for the first time the other night and was surprised at how blue the sky photographs - it definitely doesn't look that blue to the naked eye. For more info on capturing the blue hour - check out the bluehoursite.com website, where you will find out when the blue hour happens in your area.