October-Feburary Birds on the Farm

 Northern Cardinal

 Red-bellied Woodpecker

 House Sparrow

 

Tufted Titmouse

As the conclusion of a glacial February staggers  to a welcome conclusion, I will begin another series of photographs that will chronicle feathers on the farm until the term's conclusion.

Most of the 70+ photographs I uploaded to Flickr.com describe what I call "The Usual Suspects" of my Yard Birds, including the Blue Bird on the right and the White-breasted Nuthatch on the left.

These months did not provide a lot of sunshine, but enough light broke through clouds now and again to allow me to capture some good shots of everything from a Disckcissel to a Pewee, the latter pictured on the right--and the Dickcisses on the left in the next paragraph.

Anyway, I look forward to taking and eventually posting pictures on the blog.

Look, too, to the Prairie Fire: The Progressive Voice of the Great Plains, for I will by June have two articles published there.

The first of the two-part series--"Birding in and around Peru, Neb:

  Fields, Water, Hills and Woods"--just got published in the March edition as part of "Prairie Fire's Migration Field Guide 2014."

Part Two, "Yard Birds of Peru" will focus on my backyard birding and "Feathers and

Verses" and other activities that join creative writing, birding, and photography.

So, join Prairie Fire, for you will pay nothing and enjoy some excellent reading.

 American Goldfinch

 Downy Woodpecker

 Dickcissel

 Eastern Bluebirds

 Tree Sparrow

European Starling

Hoyt Steet Blues and Concert Band

 

On Sunday afternoon February 23 in the PSC College Theater, the Hoyt Street Jazz Ensemble and the Concert Band put on an audience-pleasing show.

Unfortunately, I managed to screw up my movie camera by not charging the batteries correctly.  And by the time just how to record video with my regular camera came to my addled mind, the Hoyt Street portion of the show had concluded.

Well, I will film them when the band plays on the green this spring.

I did, however, get some pretty good pictures of both performances on which students

and parents tagged away on Facebook this previous week.

The following video from the Concert Band features a short part of a piece, New York, and some folk pieces--the titles are in the video.

  

I will do a better job in the future! 

The next major event takes place on 5 April, Piano Extravaganza, the 25-year celebration.

Peru State College Open House

On Friday, February 21,  Peru State College featured an Open House for students looking to find out more about Peru State.  I posted photographs from the event.

Over thirty students and parents visited the campus, going on tours and taking part in the activities listed at the conclusion of this posting.

The foyer in the Arts and Sciences Building served as headquarters for the day's activities.  

Here students, parents, and relatives met with the deans of the schools and with

people connected with Residence Life and other student-centered groups.

I enjoyed the bustle of activity and the chance to talk with folks and take photographs of the enthusiastic visitors. 

And during the lunch period, visitors gathered their meals in the cafeteria and took advantage of reserved seats.  As a special treat, PSC's Misty Blues performed, a show everyone in the student center enjoyed.

Honor Choir

On Tuesday, February 18, 2014, at 6:30 in the evening, the PSC College Theater once again with a chorus of music as Peru State College once again hosted the Choral Festival Honor Choir.

Directed by Dr. Thomas Ediger and accompanied on the piano by Mr. David Norris, this special concert with over 170 select singers from twelve high schools sang with the Peru State College Concert Choir.

The twelve schools included, Auburn (Director:  Megan Knipe); Bruning-Davenport; (Director:  Brian Leisher);  Conestoga (Director:  Dwight Rose); Douglas County West (Director: Kelly Everson); Doniphan West (Director: Curtis Stroud); Fillmore Central (Director: Ben Kayne-Skinner); High Plains Community School (Director: Quentin Zeller); Johnson-Brock (Director: Dana Overfield); Johnson County Central (Director:  Thomas Doran); and McCool Junction (Director: Heather Stahr).


The students arrived at PSC early in the morning and practiced all day before showing their talents at the evening show.

In addition to many photograph from the event--that included the PSC Misty Blues,

who filled the theater with energy to open the evening--I made recordings for your enjoyment.

The first of the Honor Choir recordings features two songs, "O Sing!  Rejoyce! from Handel's The Choice of Hercules  and "The Road Not Taken" the Robert Frost poem from Randall Thompson's Frostiana:

The second video is of the Honor Choir's performance of "One Day More" from  Les Miserables.  This song features the solo voices of four students from Auburn High School: Chelsea Haynes, Mallorry Parrish Cameron Victor, and  Eliis Clopton,  son of PSC's own Deb and Rich Clopton.

 And I save here first for last, the Misty Blues' rendition of "The Boy From New York City," an energetic and entertaining song and dance that features the soloists Faith Nelson and Alyssa Karasek.

See you all at the Band Concert on Sunday afternoon at 3:00, February 13, in the PSC College Theater.