Happy New Year!

Here's the whole gang!  They flew in from everywhere to the Enchanted Forest, just to wish everyone a Happy New Year!   

Hope you all have an interesting, challenging and satisfying 2014.

trienta

The Global Positioning Bird, or GPB (orbis locus avis) sees the world as one big map, and always knows exactly where he is.  

Red is hitching a ride, and the flamingos are trying to keep up.

vingt-neuf

The Wordbirds (avi lexia gemellus) are a truly unique phenomenon, Siamese twin birds that share the same book/body.  They seem to be content, even complacent, as they survey their scarlet world.

achtundzwanzig

The Orange Dawn singer (vates aurora luteus) is singing in a new day. 

I think she's practicing for singing in a new year.

Twenty-seven

The Francine (ultramarina waddler quisque) seems to be somewhere in the past with all those primitive petroglyphs everywhere.

Boxing Day

Oh boy, Mr. Mini (avis aluminium plumeria) looks like he took Boxing Day seriously - he looks pretty worse for wear!  Wonder who he tried to take on?   

Or was it just too much eggnog?

Xmas Day

It's the Mother (mater avis lana christus), with baby cranes and presents hanging from her everywhere.  Merry Christmas!

t'was the night

This is very strange.  Red seems to have harnessed a flock of flamingoes to a sleigh full of presents!  Is he really Santa or is he just pretending?  Will he try to fly down your chimney?

Twenty-Three

Red really likes to make us travel back and forth on our search.  We're way out at sea, and here we find Leggy (azure ovum tibiae longus) cruising over the waves.  It looks like one of those bluebirds followed us here!


PS- If you liked last year's calendar, you can see it as a classy little YouTube video, created by my very nice niece, with special music.  http://youtu.be/xNIaaJj0SdU

22

In the wildwood again, Red has found us the Barky (avis cortectio collectio).
If it weren't for his brilliant eyes and odd collections he would totally blend in with the trees.

Solstice

This must be the ocean again, and here is Mme. Schultz (liber collum longis schultzis).  

 She stands and guards the shore, 

and truly, only the brave will pass that beak and that all seeing eye!  

It doesn't look much like the winter solstice here on this shore, but it is!

Veinte

That whole flock of bluebirds must have given us a ride back down to a big lake.  And here we find another cousin of the Dick.  This is the Harry (Tripodes avis longis opulenti haroldis).  In days gone by he would harass and harry smaller creatures, but nowadays he's so full of himself he just stands around and sneers.

Nineteen

Now we're back in the Castlewoods, and there's a whole school of Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides digitalia).  I think they're making Red happy, how about you?

dieciocho

Look over here, another very strange visitor to the Winds.  It's a parrot (ara Macao metallica).  Wow, he sure must have gotten wound up tight to make it this far into the mountains.

diecisiete

We've ended up in the Wind River Range in Wyoming, but what is this flamingo

(Phoenicopterus Ruber Digitalus) doing here?  He is way out of his home territory.   

He must really be a climber!

Seize

Farther out on the plains we seem to be by a river, and the Shoefler (avis alter rufus pede) is flying into some storms.  She'll be able to navigate as long as the maps are visible.

Quinze

Whoosh! We travelled a long way from that cold ocean.  It appears to be morning, and the Yellow Dawn Singer (flavo vates aurora) is giving us a beautiful chorus of the Hallelujah chorus.  Even that little dragon has stopped to listen.

Quatorze

We seem to have come upon some friends of Red's, they look like some rare penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri metallica) .  I think they have strayed a bit far south, but hopefully the winter will be cold enough for them.

Treize

Red has taken us back to the forest, and there is Rose (avis pinula rosea), flying through the trees.  Such a lovely skirty color she is!  I wonder what those floating petroglyphs could be, have we gone back in time?

Zwoelf

This is a cousin of the Dick, that lives by the shore, the Tomas (Tripodes avis longis opulenti Tomasi).  It seems quite amazing that anything so complacent would be wandering out by the raging sea, but perhaps his belief that he is so superior keeps him safe.

Elf (that's Eleven auf Deutsch, not Santa's little helper.)

We got up extra early so we can see the brilliant reds of dawn. 

Red has led us to the God's Eye heron (herodio et oculus Dei ferus).
 I'm not sure what kind of god he's the eye of, but it looks like it must be a pretty ferocious one.

Zehn

Whew, we made it out of the storm.  We've found Jess Duck (rufus anas delirus tricyclum).   Riding all over the map on his trike, he's always trying to find his way to wherever he's going.  Or trying to find sanity.  Anyway, wherever he goes he’ll be there too.

Neun

Oh my!  It's the Great Storm bird (magna turbinis avia brollia) !  We had better run for cover, "Watch out Red!".   

This bird is only seen during major storms, and few survive to tell about it.

Acht (choo)

Doomed to wander on foot beside the sea, the Ronnie (hieronymus sine fuga litore) trots along the shore in search of the meaning of life, and running from the many demons in its head.

Sieben

This handsome golden creature, theEggl.Q.bird (ovum quid avis) is quite unique in the bird world.  Instead of discarding its shell when it hatches it stays inside it and makes it even harder - as a kind of permanent armor.  It has a somewhat deleterious effect on flying, however.

Six

He's trying to hide behind the trees, but the Bah Tiki  (collo avis batikius) is much too long and too colorful to succeed.  He will stand out in any company.

5

Aaah, you may think that this is just an ordinary barn fowl, but this is (gallus gallus metallikus).  With her chicks actually connected to her this super mother hen travels far and wide searching for bugs and seeds.

Four

Oh, wow, we're really fortunate.  Not many people get to see the Zauber Banjo (banjo Mozartia magicae).  She has a very compelling song, great to dance to, but it's said that you must stay away from the river when you hear it.

Three

This is an interesting bird, the orange Collector (collectoria avis reiectis cv).  Many birds collect things and hoard them in their nests, but this character adorns himself with all the bits and pieces he finds - he's actually made of trash.

Two

We're here in the Wildwood, and there is a real Dick!   (tripodes avis longis opulenti Richardum).  There's no need to be quiet, he's so full of himself he won't even notice us, especially if we stay behind a tree.

December First

This year we're going birding.  We're looking for interesting birds (to add to our life list). Our host will be Red, a particularly colorful member of the cardinal family (cardinalidae spotidae spectacularum digitalus).  He's checking out the map, trying to figure where we should go first.  Perhaps this will be our Big Year!

It's Coming!

OK everyone, get ready!    

The new December Story begins on Sunday!  

 Keep tuned right here for a post every day until the end of December!

(hint - get out your binoculars... )

If you want to read about the history of these calendars read here:

 http://belowthesurfaceblog.com/december-calendar/

Happy World Penguin Day

 World Penguin Day coincides with the annual northward migration of penguins. This happens each year on or around April 25th.  

This made me remember one of my older prints...

Penguin Pond (detail), digital painting.

Someone made a book!!!

I sent out a challenge, and someone responded!  

Anyone else out there making X-books?

Doris Muramatsu sent me this wonderful recipe book....  I'm making the cookies tomorrow.  Or today!