Daily Photos 2012
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This is kind of lame, but this was the best shot I got yesterday. Suffice it to say, I have a lot to learn about nature photography. Thanks for your kind comments. 3.1.11
Another morning looking for birds. Saw a bald eagle right off the bat, but he was having nothing to do with getting his picture taken. There were a lot of these ducks, but once again, I couldn't get close enough. Did I mention the wind was biting cold?? I finally said, what the hey, I'll take what I can get and made this image. View in large size and you can see the red berries or buds on this tree. Spring is coming people. Hope everyone made it OK through the storms last night. It was a real nail biter. 2.28.11
Every time I see one of these ducks I am amazed by their beauty. It warmed up a little bit here in STL today so we got up early and headed for the zoo. I spotted this duck tucked away almost underneath a small observation deck. It is by far my favorite of the day. Now, I'm going to rest up and charge my batteries in preparation for the Academy Awards. No kidding, you can take decent pictures from the TV. Have a good one everyone. 2.27.11
Woo is me... This neon orange fish seems so sad. He seems to be saying, "Get me out of here."
TGIF, have a great weekend. 2.25.11
We are over the hump and on our way to Friday. Another gloomy day here in STL. I shot this real quick this morning. Dreaming of warmer weather. Has anyone been to South Texas birding. There are several photography "ranches" there. Just wondering if it would be worth the expense. They charge a whopping $125 plus guide fee for a half day. A little steep for me...
I wouldn't recommend the aquarium at the City Museum unless, of course, your main objective is reptiles and more specifically, turtles. They love the skanky water and warm humid atmosphere there. My disapointment of the City Museum sparks my eagerness to go to Chicago to the Shedd Aquarium. I'll try to post something a little more interesting tomorrow folks. I really admire the great photography posted to the daily community. It is very inspiring. Have a good Wednesday. 2.23.11
Another resident of the City Museum St. Louis. He didn't seem to notice the drop in temperature...looks warm and toasty here. 2.22.11
OK, something bright and cherry. I have lived in St. Louis for 10 years now and just today made it to the City Museum. This is a 1-year-old macaw who was hatched from an egg at the museum and fed every 1-1/2 hours by the staff as a chick. As you can see, he has grown a lot. Such a beautiful bird. Winter is flirting with us today, but I am hopeful the worst is behind us. 2.21.11
Yep, come July Randy is going to have grandchild #2. We're all hoping for a boy.
Thanks for all you kind comments. Have a great day!! 2.20.11
Trying to break up the monotony of my posts, I literally randomly selected a photo from my files and shut my eyes and clicked on a PS action and voile, here it is. This action is weave by PanosFX.
These daisies were growing wild on the bank of Fern Lake in the Adirondacks. Eye candy for a photographer...
Thanks for the positive feedback. YES, I'm ready to soak up those rays of sunlight!!
Just a reminder that winter is not over. We have had terrific warm weather for the past few days, but the cold will be coming back. This shot was taken after the "blizzard" we had in January. Glad the snow is finally all gone. Have a great weekend. 2.18.11
Been doing a LOT of birding lately. Definitely suffering from a bad case of birditis. This eagle was just finishing up a meal at Horseshoe Lake. If you look closer in the foreground you can see the residue/remains of his fish lunch. Thanks for your support of my obsession. Have a great day! 2.17.11
It has warmed up a bit here in St. Louis, but it's a little windy as you can see. Oh, and muddy, all that snow has melted and yuck we have mud where the snow used to be. Have a great Wednesday!!
Took a drive to Modoc, IL on Sunday looking for hawks. Saw a lot of red-tailed hawks, but couldn't get close enough to get a decent shot. HOWEVER, this shot is one of those serendipities of life. The trees were full of eagles, mostly golden eagles. You really can't appreciate their true beauty until they go airborne. They are surprisingly not that skittish. I was able to get pretty close before this one took off. I have to say, this looks like one "bad-ass" eagle. 2.15.11
OK, so tomorrow is Valentine's Day. This is SOTC. It's been one of those days. Everybody have a great Monday. 2.14.11
Went looking for eagles and this is what I found. Oh, well it's warming up here. Going to be 50-something on Sunday. Yay!!
I am making this my daily photo today because I would like everyone's opinion on this topic: Obviously, I put out food to attract larger birds. It worked, but does this fact diminish the quality of the photo? Please be totally frank. I'm a big girl...I can handle whatever you throw at me. 2.11.11
Another shot from my archives. I got lucky with this. It was taken with available light from the kitchen window. Thanks again for all your comments. 2/10/11
Ran across this photo while looking for something else. Forgot about what I was looking for and decided to use this for my daily. Taylor was such a pleasant beautiful baby. I think she is eating a Ritz cracker here. She still loves to eat. 2.9.11
Finally got a shot of this bluejay in backyard. He is very skittish. It seems that almost all the birds that come here like suet. I am more than glad to provide all they can eat in exchange for their portrait. The perfect symbiotic relationship. Hope everyone had a greet weekend. Randy spent the weekend in the hospital but managed to get discharged just in time for the Super Bowl. You know where his priorities are. Thanks again for your comments.
Another dreary day in the Midwest. We did get a little color for awhile. This was shot at Horseshoe Lake in Granite City. The lake is only a few feet deep but attracts a lot of water fowl. I saw eagles there that day, too. Mostly have seen blue heron, but excited for spring to come. Hope everyone had a glorious weekend. Thanks for commenting on my photos.
There's nothing worse than ice on your tail feathers. I took this photo the day after the big blizzard went through here. This mockingbird is a regular at my feeders. I hope he made it. Things weren't looking too bright that day.
Went out today looking for something of interest to photograph. After losing a glove, slipping on ice and hitting the ground hard, and just plain freezing my butt off, I gave up and headed home. I think I have an angel assisting me because just as I rounded a curve in the road, this bird flew out of no where and landed on a tree branch right in front of me. No skill needed to spot this one. I figured he would spook and fly away as soon as I got out of the car, but he sat atop that limb and groomed himself with no regard for me whatsoever. After about 10 minutes, the fingers on my left hand felt as if they were going to break off, so I had to stop and head home. Got a lot of good shots. Have to say thanks to Ol' Pops for this one.
Please notice the feather floating in the air between the bird and tree branch. I had never seen a bird grooming like this. What a treat!!!
Since over a third of the country is getting blasted today, thought I would post this shot I took Saturday at the St. Louis Zoo. Notice the BLUE sky. This little starling had his head stuck out of his hole that you see there, then hopped out and took a look around. I find juvenile starlings very beautiful with their spots and iridescent colors. Stay warm and be safe.
You never know what you will find to peak your interest. I saw these in a barn lot on my way to Mascoutah. They were very interested in me which was a real treat. Most of my subjects either fly away or run away as the site of me and my camera. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Get ready for February, it's just around the corner. Thanks for all the positive comments on previous dailies.
Sometimes you are lucky and then sometimes it is just persistence that gets you what you want in life. This was the sixth hawk I chased this morning, and finally the one that sat pretty for me. I spotted him on a telephone pole and as soon as I got out of the truck he flew down to the ground about 50 yards in front of me. Then, he spread his wings and I thought "crap say goodbye," but he landed on this old pole. I got off about a dozen shots before I had to lower my gear. I was using a 500 mm lens and it was just too heavy for me. Thank the Lord for his one. Amen.
Would you buy a car from this guy? He can talk the talk. My beloved Jordie. And I am his Barbie.
This is one of half a dozen blue herons hanging out at Horseshoe Lake in Granite City, Illinois last week. He was quite the model, not seeming to mind me moving around taking different shots. Really a beautiful bird, such detail. Nature is truly amazing. Been playing around with a different look watermark...
Happy Monday everyone. Been under the weather here, no pun intended. Randy brought some wicked bug home from the hospital, I's sure. He was sick first and voile it jumped from him to me. Hopefully, it has about run its course at our house. Despite the fever, headache, and runny nose, I was thinking I'm truly grateful that my little world has not been significantly impacted by all the bad weather that has been plaguing the country. It has been cold, but hey, it is January. That being said, nothing is better in the winter than a warm comfy nap like the one Adrienne's kitty, Gizmo, was having here. You have to be thankful for the little things you know...
Trying to get a jump on uploading today. I took this last week right at sunset. I used a flash to help with the light and hopefully avoid some noise. Seems to have worked okay. This chickadees pound my backyard feeders. They are pretty shy, but I got lucky with this one. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I sent my 70-300 zoom in for repair, so won't be getting any birding done until it comes back. Bummer. I must be getting old because I'm really digging this birding thing...
Scraping the bottom of the barrel for something interesting. It is bleak and gray outside. We are about to get slammed with a snow storm, but today is about as boring as it can get, so I looked through some old files and found this. This is Randy's granddaughter when she was a baby. What a sweet baby she was. She 5 now and hell on wheels.
Still thinking about spring here. Spent the morning in the cold chasing herons, but they were too shy today and wouldn't let me get close. This is another shot from my trip upstate New York. I've never seen this bug before and haven't seen it since, but thought it was interesting at the time. I'm definitely thinking green... Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Another shot from my trip to the Adirondacks. They have about a foot of snow on the ground there now. Thought I would post a little reminder of summertime.
Late getting this posted today. Had no luck getting anything decent outside today, so looked around in the archives and ran across this shot. I was standing on the bridge over the AuSable River when I took this, sometime around the end of July 2007. AuSable is a sleepy little town in Upstate New York in the Adirondacks. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.
Guess this is rather macabre. There's a cemetery up the street and all the bright colors are accentuated against the snow. It adds a bit of brightness to the dead of winter...
Hello, trying to do something a little different today. This photo was taken last summer. I happened upon a flower garden filled with zinnias of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Needless to say, I had to go by there nearly everyday usually an hour or so before sunset. I really enjoyed the closeups, always something different, no 2 alike. Looking forward to spring, this is zinnia #1.
Another bird photo today. It snowed here last night, and they have flocked to my feeders galore. The wind is so bitterly cold, I don't know such little creatures like this survive the winter. I spent an hour or so in my blind which had absolutely no snow, and my feet are still cold. Buurrrr...
Something a little different today. I wasn't expecting to find this little snowball of a chicken on my outing this morning. She was quite tame and had this comical walk that was absolutely hilarious to watch. Hope you find her interesting as well.
Max waiting to get back in the house. I thought this pretty much summed up the kind of weather we are having here in the Midwest. There's no snow, but cold as hell and wind cuts right through you. Max doesn't have much hair to insulate him from the cold, and my bank account can't handle paying a big vet bill for a sick dog. Maybe if it would snow it would actually warm up around here...
I'm really excited about today's daily. This is Joe and Owen as you can see. Two delightful and unique little boys, brothers, and couldn't be more different. Never a dull moment around their house. Well, anyway I have been working on this photo off and on now for about 6 months and I finally have it just as I had envisioned. Thanks to everyone for the positive comments on previous photos.
Doing something different here. This was taken last Spring. This makes me wonder, "Are all clowns grumpy."
Today we are having extreme weather changes with heavy winds and tornados all around. No chance of going outside and getting any bird shots today, so I found this shot in my files from the fall. Something definitely ruffled this owl's feathers...
I stumbled upon this gray egret in a park in Coppell, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Actually, there were half a dozen at any given time, but they were a little camera shy so I wasn't able to always get this close. I got this shot on my first visit to the park. Boy was I glad I had my camera...
Seems I am on a bird kick. Anyway, I like the intensity of this photo. Hope eeveryone had a safe and happy holiday.
This is my Christmas Day photo, think I will call it "My white Christmas". My gift from Santa--more great white egrets in 1 shot than I could ever have imaged...I'm beginning to think Texas is a birders paradise. Spending Christmas this year with my son in Dallas, not the warmest Christmas on record. All of us, the birds and myself would have preferred it be 80 and balmy instead of 37 with a strong north wind. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.
Enjoying the weather here in Dallas. Couldn't resist this shot of my son's bulldog, Sue. Happy Holidays everyone!!
