Come along on an adventure with us!

Skip to content

About Us
Bird Weekly Challenge
Birding
Contact
Photography
Poetry
Published Works
Travel
Blog Feed

Our Eyes Open: a blog about my adventures in birding, travel & writing.

Friday the 13th

Origination of Friday the 13th It is believed that the taboo of Friday the 13th originated when 12 people sat at the Lord’s table with Jesus. 13 total. The last supper took place on a Thursday. Jesus was arrested that night and was crucified the next day on a Friday. Was this necessary? To murder…

October 13, 2023
Ovi Poetry Challenge 16: TRAP – Into Battle

It’s been a couple of years since I indulged in a writing challenge. I might be a little rusty. Thank you Ronovan for still being here. Into Battle Tracking through the woods Darkness, silence impedes, I stood To shake the gloom of the mood I move forward, regardless. Is it a secret trap ahead Temptation,…

October 6, 2023
ML Quinn – New writer

September 24, 2023
I’m back on a Very Limited Basis

Hello to all my friends in the WP community. I’ve been away for a long time. A lot has happened in the past two years. Some planned and some unexpected. Life has been turned upside down. I had foot surgery from a torn tendon in June 2021 and have had a rough go at recovery.…

August 25, 2023
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Common Birds in Your Area This Time of Year

Welcome to Bird Weekly Week #54 – Common birds in your area this time of year.

July 9, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #53

Week #53 challenge was Birds beginning with a “H” (if a bird has more than one word of the name, you can use it as long as it begins with a “H”, ie: Hermit Thrush or Great Blue Heron) (7/2/21)

July 9, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds beginning with a “H”

Bird Weekly #53, Birds beginning with a “H” (if a bird has more than one word of the name, you can use it as long as it begins with a “H”, (ie: Hermit Thrush or Great Blue Heron) (7/2/21)

July 2, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #52

Week #52 challenge was Birds with long tail feathers. (6/18/21). Guest hosted by Sarah at Travel With Me.

July 2, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds with LOng Tails

Week #52 Bird Weekly features birds with long tail feathers.

June 26, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #51

Week #51 challenge was Birds with stripes, spots or freckles. (6/11/21)

June 20, 2021
Sunday Stills – Pink – 06.13.21

When you have 2 daughters (grown now) and 3 granddaughters, there is a lot of pink in your life. From Disney princesses to Hello Kitty and beyond, life is one big pink plastered party!

June 14, 2021
Bird Weekly Birthday

On June 12, 2020, Bird Weekly was launched into the blog world. Since then, we have seen some incredible birds from all over the world. I find this to be a fun and rewarding challenge.

June 12, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds with Stripes, Spots or Freckles

Week #51 brings us to birds with stripes, spots or freckles. I thought of this challenge because I was a little freckle faced kid.

June 11, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #50

Week #50 challenge was Two or more bird species in one photograph. (6/4/21).

June 11, 2021
Thursday Trio – Whitetail

White-tailed Deer roaming the grounds at Princess Place Preserve in Palm Coast, Florida. Princess Place is a 1,500 acre preserve with a list of amenities.

June 10, 2021
Ghostly Spittle – Haiku

At home with the ghosts Sounds of weeping in the hall Trapped murmurs haunt us.

June 8, 2021
Sunday Stills – Celestial – 06.06 .21

Yesterday, which was Sunday, 6/6, D-Day for any WWII enthusiasts, Frank and I took a day trip to St. Simons Island, Georgia. I had been stuck in the house for over a week.

June 7, 2021
FOTD – Tweety & Lily – Haiku

Lily is in bloom Tweety sniffs at her beauty Close by end of day.

June 6, 2021
Last Photo – May 2021

The last photo from my Sony A6300 was taken on 5-25-2021 of the May supermoon rising up above behind our house. Seemed a little spooky coming up over and through the trees.

June 5, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – More than one Bird Species in a Photo

Welcome to Week #50 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #50 challenge is Two or more bird species in one photograph. (6/4/21) Your choice of birds.

June 4, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #49

Week #49 challenge was Black and white photos of birds with a spot of color (technical challenge). Your choice of birds for week of 5/28/21

June 4, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Using Selective Color

Week #49 challenge is birds using selective color with most of the photo being monochrome, black and white or sepia tone. Your choice of birds.

May 28, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #48

Week #48 challenge was BIRDS BEGINNING WITH A “G” IN THE TITLE

May 28, 2021
Selective Color Tricks #2 – Photoshop 2021

Selective coloring is a popular post-processing technique where most of a photo is converted to black and white, but some parts are left in color.

May 27, 2021
Photography Tips & Selective Color

Camera Raw is an image developer similar to when we used to get our 35mm film developed after shooting off a role. Photoshop is the image editor, but there are editing tools in Camera Raw that are quite useful and can be quicker than Photoshop.

May 23, 2021
Selective Color Tricks #1 – Corel PaintShop Pro 2021

Selective coloring is a popular post-processing technique where most of a photo is converted to black and white, but some parts are left in color.

May 22, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds beginning with a “G” In The Title

Week #48 challenge is birds beginning with a “G” in the title (if a bird has more than one word of the name, you can use it as long as it begins with a “G”, ie: Green Heron or Common Gallinule).

May 21, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #47

Week #47 challenge was Birds with a color in their name.

May 21, 2021
Quote – Healing – Week #25

The feature image is the balance between nature and creativity. It is a Zen Garden that Frank made that is interactive for anyone who wants to take it apart and put it together through their own meditation.

May 20, 2021
#Write Photo – Tower – Haiku

#WritePhoto challenge – Tower Hello Rapunzel! Are you there my dear beauty? Allow me to see.

May 19, 2021
Quote – Beauty – Mother’s Day – Week #24

The feature image is the balance between nature and creativity. It is a Zen Garden that Frank made that is interactive for anyone who wants to take it apart and put it together through their own meditation.

May 19, 2021
Water Water Everywhere #78 – Greenway

We went exploring in the the northern central part of Florida. We just followed brown signs to different county parks, wildlife management areas and this incredible view where you would put your boat in at Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway that winds into Lake Ocklawaha near Orange Springs, Florida.

May 17, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds With Color in their Name

Welcome to Week #47 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #47 challenge is birds with a color in their name such as a Yellow Warbler or Great Blue Heron. As long as it is a color from the color wheel in the title of the name, it will qualify for this challenge. White is…

May 14, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #46

Week #46 challenge was Birds perched on anything. Perched is defined as: alight or at rest. Well, we know that while birds certainly perch to rest, they also perch to eat and perch to take a look around as they are always on guard, looking for predators.

May 14, 2021
Thursday Trio – Ibises

A family of Ibises were hanging out at the boat ramp at Lake Deaton in The Villages, Florida. We had stopped here on our way back to Jacksonville from Tampa on Monday. My camera settings were set for close up shots so the other two birds were not in focus. The two adults were in…

May 13, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Perched Up

Welcome to Week #46 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #46 challenge is birds perched up on anything.

May 7, 2021
Bird Weekly Round-Up – Week #45

I guess Week #43 Baby Birds proved to be a hard week for everyone. Thank you for being patient with me as I try to recover from the past two days. I hope to post Week #44 Bird Weekly today by end of day.

May 7, 2021
Quote – Lighthouse – Week #23

The feature image is the top of the St. Marks Lighthouse at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge just south of the Florida state capitol of Tallahassee. I am sharing a few of the Florida lighthouses that I have visited over the years. It is not the total list, but some of my favorites.

May 5, 2021
Sunday Stills – Water – 05.02 .21

With Florida being a peninsula and water on three sides of it, the St. Johns River that runs north (uphill) and the Hillsborough River running through Tampa Bay, plus Lake Okeechobee, numerous lakes and springs, Florida is the place for water!

May 4, 2021
Last Photo – April 2021

The last photo taken on my IPhone was the fruits of our labor from picking strawberries at an Organic Farm called Frog Song Organics in Hawthorne, Florida. These berries are so good and the chocolate covered strawberries that evening was perfect for our anniversary!

May 2, 2021
SQUARES – Fresh & Bright Salad

One of my favorite things to eat is a fresh Caprese Salad or Caprese Sandwich. This salad consisted of bright Romaine lettuce, fresh mozzarella, Campari tomatoes, fresh basil and an Italian Vinaigrette.

April 30, 2021
Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds In Flight

Week #45 challenge is birds in Flight. Birds are hard to capture in flight.

April 30, 2021
SQUARES – Bright Berry

This bright red heart-shaped strawberry was hanging on it’s vine begging for me to pick it. I did and within a day, it was a deep dark red and tasty!

April 29, 2021
Thursday Trio – Mergansers

Three Common Mergansers swam next to our inflatable kayak that we took to Grand Teton National Park. There were actually six in total, but I was only able to get 3 in the frame at a time. They were close, the boat was rocking and I was trying not to lose my paddle while taking…

April 29, 2021
Quote – Balance – Week #22

The feature image is the balance between nature and creativity. It is a Zen Garden that Frank made that is interactive for anyone who wants to take it apart and put it together through their own meditation.

April 28, 2021
A-Z Challenge – U is for Upland Game Bird

Upland Game Birds are a select species of birds in the Phasianidae family with the exception of the Northern Bobwhite and Scaled Quail that are in the Odontophoridae family, plus the Plain Chachalaca in the Cracidae family.

April 26, 2021
A-Z Challenge – T is for Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse is a small gray bird with a loud voice that echoes through the forest that it inhabits. They are frequent visitors to feeders.

April 25, 2021
SQUARES – Merry and Bright

Do you realize that it is exactly 8 months until Christmas! In about 6 1/2 to 7 months, we will all be in the thrills of the holiday season.

April 25, 2021
A-Z Challenge – S is for Sanderling

Sanderlings are small plump sandpipers. In breeding colors, they have rusty, black and white mottling.

April 25, 2021
SQUARES – Brighter Times

Koi Ponds are always intriguing to me. Often times there is a waterfall of some sort which makes this not only eye pleasing but provides a zen feeling to one’s aura while observing the brightly colored fish.

April 24, 2021
Learning everyday!

Absolutely! Reading is FUNdamental! The day we stop learning is the day we die, unless an accident causes brain damage. Either way, life would be only the shell of your body. I consider myself pretty savvy with electronics; however, just the other day, my 40-year-old son taught me how to watch a movie from my…

July 12, 2026
Monochrome Monday

In April, Frank and I took a road trip consisting of about 3000 miles round trip. I’ll share more photos soon. We were there two weeks before peak migration…more to come! This Willet was hanging out on a fence post along one of the driving trails at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Anahuac National…

June 24, 2024
Childhood food

The food that takes me back to my childhood is an American cheese and mustard sandwich on white bread. Yep, something very simple. I never liked peanut butter and jelly. I didn’t like ham or mayo. I didn’t want tomato or lettuce or anything else on my sandwich. My mom would pack a cheese and…

June 21, 2024
What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without? The one luxury I would never want to live without is freedom. Without freedom to choose, we become refuges of our former selves. June 6th just marked 80 years since D-Day and the beginning of the end of WWII. Thank you to our troops then, now and…

June 10, 2024

1 2 3 … 77

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Subscribe Subscribed
- oureyesopen.blog
- Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.