Blue Jay

I have waited (mostly) patiently to get some good blue jay shots at the feeder. Sunday turned out to be the day! I made many trips back & forth to my spot at the window, shooting first through the screen then with the screen pushed up. I love the coloring of a blue jay, those shades of blue, gorgeous!

Patience paid off here, got two in one shot!

Sassy little creature, maybe he thought the first hundred images were enough!!

I will be at a training for my job in Harrisburg, PA for the next 3 days. The Canon will go along & hopefully during the evening hours I can get lots of shots of places I don't usually see.

Thankful Squirrel

I mentioned in an earlier post how amazed a squirrel was when he found the top of a bird feeder open. Well, they went a step further... one or more learned to open the latch on top.

Sometimes my images surprise me showing something I didn't see with the camera. It appears this guy is giving thanks for his skills & his dinner!

I think about how much bird food squirrels consume, then again how much I enjoy watching them. Pretty low cost entertainment!

Not for a Million Bucks!!

If this zoo employee likes to swim one would think he has the perfect job.........guess whose window he is washing!

You got it, the shark tank! Like I said not for a million bucks! Hope Mr. Shark had a BIG breakfast.

The shark tanks was a very nice set up. We were able to walk thru a tunnel of beautiful blue water with sharks swimming on either side. Then, we got to the end & this worker was scrubbing away. YIKES!!!!

A Few More Birdfeeder Visitors

A couple "just for fun" shots.

The squirrels provide lots of entertainment. There is a group of 4 smaller (young ?) ones hanging out doing all kinds of stunts. I laughed this evening......we had a quick thunderstorm which must have blown the lid off the feeder shown just below this guy. He ran all over the feeder as usual trying to force food thru the small openings. Suddenly he stepped into the open area. You could almost see his surprise & delight as he dug in!



Another non bird visitor. This feeder will only open for smaller birds. Usually the finches feed here. He must be the correct weight cause he sure was enjoying his feast.


This tells me why the other birds flee when he & his troops land.


Notice the point on the woodpecker beak. I'd give him plenty of room too!

Spring at the Birdfeeder

After enjoying a relatively healthy winter, spring gets here & I get a cold! Decided to stay home from work today to give me one more day to find some energy. My afternoon was devoted to the bird feeder & camera. I have never watched birds as closely as I have through out the winter & now as spring arrives. What a treat these beautiful creatures are!

The cardinal is as lovely with a green background as he was in the snow.

This change amazes me. The male gold finch brightens up in the spring. They are so very beautiful.

A crowd gathers under the feeder. The clean up crew?

This is another finch. He spent the cold months brown & black with just a bit of red showing, but look at him now. What a change!

Soccer

Trinity's first soccer game was this morning. What a beautiful day for it, sunny with blue skies. Excellent light for pictures until about half way through. We had the 11 -12 game, as the sun rose higher in the sky I began noticing some wash out on the shots. Trinity did a good job, ran around alot, got her foot on the ball several times & played most of the game. Mady hung out with her mom, dad, & I. She would yell "go sister" once in awhile & had her own soccer ball in case the urge to play got too strong.


The way every young athlete ends any game. Good game!

I forgot to mention her team won. I needed to clone on some of the shots. A process which can be tedious. If ya gota clone a grass field is wonderful!

Skywatch Friday - Mercersburg Academy

I am fascinated by church steeples, courthouse bell towers, any of those lovely bits of architecture that reach into the sky. This one is a beauty! I have long admired it on trips thru the small town of Mercersburg PA, procrastinating about stopping to capture some images. On the trip home after the Good Friday shopping trip I noticed my timing looked just about perfect for a sunset background. Amazingly enough I made it just in time to get set up & shoot. Above you see a few of the results. My biggest problem was the steeple was crooked on a lot of the images.....I did ask Andy why such a beautiful structure would have been built so crooked! (he didn't believe me). Thankfully post processing contains the magic needed to make everything OK. I plan to stop again for more shots, maybe with a blue sky or some lovely fall colors, but will try hard to remember to keep that Canon straight.

To view skies from all over - be prepared for breathtaking shots - or to share your own skies click here.