Saturday, January 28, 2012

Fur At The Feeder

Earlier this month, I posted Feathers At The Feeder which showed the various birds visiting our backyard feeders. Well, not surprisingly, birds aren't the only ones dining on the sunflower seeds and suet. It started with one squirrel, then there were two tree rats, and now it's up to three. The main feeder may get a baffle before winter is over. (Eastern Gray Squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis)









Linking to Camera Critters


Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Stand Without The Crowd

The crowd won't always be there...



Sometimes you just have to stand alone.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Beautiful In Brown II

Much like the female Cardinal in Beautiful In Brown, Mallard hens can be just as striking as their male counterparts. This gal was taking a little siesta on the ice.




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Portraits Of A Heron

These photos were all taken of the same Great Blue Heron on the same beautiful day, but in different locations around the lake. Herons frequently stand on or next to things like stumps, dead falls, trees, posts, railings, etc. Rather than zooming in close on the bird's head, I wanted these shots to include some of the heron's element.










Sunday, January 22, 2012

European Darlings

I doubt many people think of starlings as being darling. They're noisy, aggressive, and a nuisance, especially in large numbers. They're not exactly graceful and they almost have a sinister look at times. Starlings are the black sheep of the bird world.


The one area I will give them credit is plumage.  At a distance, they're just black-colored blobs, but up close their plumage is quite striking. I wouldn't call it pretty, but it is unique. With that said, I still don't invite them to my backyard dinner table, but they tend to crash the party, anyway.











Friday, January 20, 2012

"Moonset" And Sunrise

I was in the woods very early one morning during hunting season and was able to watch the moon as it slowly disappeared in front of me while the sun was slowly rising behind me. The moon remained quite visible for a while even after the sun was above the horizon.





Linking to Skywatch Friday


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ring-billed Gulls On Ice

Some Ring-billed Gulls winter in Kentucky and these photos were taken at a lake not far from where I live. In the first shot, the gulls were resting on a section of ice in the middle of the lake. I was extremely lucky to get the photos I did. The gulls generally wouldn't fly close enough to make the shots worthwhile.













Friday, January 13, 2012

Water Color III

These were taken at night while it was raining. I shot through one window and zoomed in on various lights that were being reflected in other windows some distance away. By using a very slow shutter speed (1/8th handheld), throwing out the focus, and being very close to the water running down the first window, I was able to achieve these results.