Seen About Town – Wildlife

Seen About Town – Wildlife

I spent Sunday carrying my “big” camera – my Canon Rebel T1i – around with me when the hubs and I walked to the duck pond and back. Thank goodness for digital! All the fun of taking pictures and none of the pain of getting them printed if we don’t like them!

We got the best of the day for photography – amazing clouds, amazing birds, and no rain. That came later, while we were at Lowe’s for seeds and plywood…but the photos of the rainbow I tried were just meh. Ephemeral mist just wouldn’t behave.

First up is a particularly devout mourning dove. They are remarkably tame (at least, around me) and won’t fly away unless you startle them.

A mourning dove, paying respects to Buddha.

Next up is a hawk’s nest. It’s high in the trees by the duck pond and the golf course near my house. Yesterday on our walk, the hawk was sitting there, and – wait for it – cheeping. At least it sounded like cheeping. Nothing mean or scary, like you might think a hawk would sound like.

The hawk’s nest, high in a tree by the duck pond.

Lastly, this is the bird feeder in our back yard. This morning, around 5:30 as I was puttering around on the internet, I heard a lot of songbird cheeping and twittering. Once the sun came up, I snapped this photo of a brave lad who didn’t leave when I stepped out on the patio. The only time our yard isn’t full of birds now is when a local hawk (maybe the same one that owns the nest, above?) swoops down through our yard, barely missing our heads. For some reason, all the small birdies go hide for ten minutes or so after that.

Our back yard bird feeder. At breakfast this morning, a squirrel trying to get at the seed almost fell off the top of the feeder.

Thanks for stopping by. What do you tend to take photos of these days?

~ I love your comments. Let’s chat! ~

Demon Soul, Blood Dreams and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?

 

My Visit to the Arroyo

My Visit to the Arroyo

I’d spent most of the day today working. First a blog post (which will go up tomorrow) and then on the play. The first half is being read aloud by actors at Fierce Backbone, the play development group, tomorrow.

But there came a time when I desperately needed to get outside. So I grabbed my camera, panicked because the battery was dead, found the fresh battery, charged the other one,and finally set off for the arroyo, where the hubs and I walked last Sunday morning. Here’s a little of what I saw. All photos, of course, taken by me.

A photo of the arroyo.

The Arroyo.

Gorgeous, ain’t it?

Then I caught sight of the birds. Here we go, lots of pretty birds.

Crane, posing.

Crane, posing.

And this one…

Crane, upset.

Crane, upset.

Here’s another one…I really liked this bird…

Crane, showing his wingspan

Crane, showing his wingspan

And we switch to a peaceful pond…

Peaceful pond

Peaceful Pond

But the most majestic animal still waited. I probably passed him on my way downstream; but I didn’t see him until I was on my way back.

Gray Bird

I managed to get him as he flew away, below.

gray bird in flight

Leaving for the evening.

After such a wonderful walk, I felt much refreshed and went to the grocery store, where I promptly bought a turkey which I shall cook this coming weekend, since we’re going to my nephew & niece’s house for the actual feasting day.

Thanks for hanging out and checking out my photos. I had a wonderful walk. The only thing that would have made it better is if Tom could have been with me. But I know we’ll both be out there again. I took over 400 photos in around an hour…easy to do with a digital camera.

What do you do when you need to unwind?

~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~

Demon Soul, Blood Dreams and Demon Hunt are all available for the Kindle! Have you fallen into the Caine Brothers’ world yet?