Okay, it's not actually within our backyard, but it's just beyond it. The yard behind our house borders a large park that is just being developed. The park was recently seeded, and the straw was put down as mulch. I took this shot while standing on our backyard deck. I think these Sandhill Cranes must have been eating the grass seed.

I know that there's not a lot going on in this image. But I rather like the repetitive poses of the birds, and I thought it was kind of cool that I could get this shot without leaving home, so I decided to go with it. The abundance of Sandhill Cranes in the area near our new home in Michigan has been one of the pleasant surprises of living here.

Eigentlich hätte ich jetzt Lust auf Fußball!

The Mute swan actually gets its name from the fact that its is less vocal than other swan species and is one of the heaviest flying birds. A male swan is known as a Cob while the female is known as a Pen and has a lifespan of around 12 years in the wild and can reach 30 years if in an protected environment. One of three species of wild swans to be found in the UK and is the national bird of Denmark. The Mute Swan is unique in making a vibrant throbbing sound with the wings when in flight. A large group of swans can be called, school, ballet and regatta. No swan has ever broken anyone's arm, this is a actually a complete myth.

Jay - Garrulus Glandarius

Although they are the most colourful members of the crow family, jays are actually quite difficult to see. They are shy woodland birds, rarely moving far from cover. The screaming call usually lets you know a jay is nearby and it is usually given when a bird is on the move, so watch for a bird flying between the trees with its distinctive flash of white on the rump. Jays are famous for their acorn feeding habits and in the autumn you may see them burying acorns for retrieving later in the winter.

The word jay has an archaic meaning in American slang meaning a person who chatters impertinently.

The term jaywalking was coined in 1915 to label persons crossing a busy street carelessly and becoming a traffic hazard. The term began to imply recklessness or impertinent behavior as the convention became established.

In January 2014, Canadian author Robert Joseph Greene embarked on a lobbying campaign among ornithologists in Europe and North America to get Merriam-Websters Dictionary to have a "Jabber of Jays" as an official term under bird groups.

Population:

UK breeding:

170,000 territories

There were actually a couple of parrots roosting in the top of this tree stump about 5 feet above the woodpeckers nest hole and every now again this woodpecker would check out if anyone was at home and hold this lovely pose for a few seconds.

actually

At yet another birthday party with the kids this past weekend, at Quassy amusement park located on Lake Quassapaug. The kiddie park area, where I inevitably spend most of my time, is separated from the water by only a fence. So of course, with the sun setting, my attention is being torn by this lovely sunset glittering on the water...and like usual, I feel like I'm the only one noticing the beauty.

I took some shots, but this time for kicks, I tried a few shots in sunset mode, which is something I very rarely use because I don't like the result. It seems to take away the colors and adds an almost sepia tone...maybe because it's an older camera, I don't know. But I actually like the result here, giving everything an amber glow...reminding me of tiger-eye contrasting with the dark areas.

Have a wonderful day, my friends :-)

Actually not. This is a Douglas C-47 Skytrain mounted above the roof terrace of the Deutsches Technikmuseum (German Museum of Technology).

This particular C-47 was delivered to the USAF in 1945 and was initially used by the weather service based on Jamaica.

From 1962 to 1977 it was used by the Spanish Air Force, in 1986 it went back to the USAF, who displayed it on Tempelhof Airport to remember the Berlin Air Lift.

In 1994 it was handed over to the Deutsches Technikmuseum.

Click here for a different perspective.

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

I was actually hiding behind a wooden kissing gate in a dry stone wall, trying to obtain shots of a Stonechat pair ahead of me on the footpath, when this Robin that had been hanging around on the cliff-side fencing and posts, flew down in front and landed on this isolated, dead bramble stem protruding from the bracken field margin. He was quite distant, so this is a huge crop, but at the time it landed, I was immediately taken with his pose and the bracken background, so fired off a quick burst of shots.

Thank you for your faves and comments

but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does :-)

John Berger

HGGT! HFF! Justice Matters! No one is above the law!

prunus mums, japanese flowering apricot, 'Nicholas', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina

... actually with full sun and 37°C ... TGIF !

Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'

in our garden - Frankfurt-Nordend

..... Henry Matisse

Actually this asparagus fern is a weed in our garden....but it did look pretty sparkling with dew drops in the morning sun. Not really able to get out much at the moment, but can still do some processing. So .... HSS :))

Actually, I don't like spiders - sort of arachnoid. But I couldn't walk past this spider web beautifully positioned in front of backlit heather. Unfortunately, the beast was at home, fortunately it didn't kill me 😄

Focus stack of 22 images to get the front part of the web and the entire wasp spider sharp, but let the back part of the web disappear in blur.

Actually, if you look closer, there are two trees.

Actually, the plant was already dried, but our good care and enough water help sometimes miracles

The bird is actually being mobbed by a crow, but the latter was a little way behind at this moment, having just made a pass, so I cropped for the buzzard only.

IT came a bit closer than on my first visit on Wedneday, but still middle distance and heavy cropping of the frame.

A pleasant day spent with Stuart Allen and nice to meet up with Paul Coombes again back at the cars.

Thanks for viewing and for your faves and comments

Actually after sunset. This is twilight after the very cloudy day.

<3H - BINARYHEARTS

<3H - BINARYHEARTS - StoneCat

[Eternus]

Eleanor dress

Compatible with:- Maitreya+Petite- Legacy+Perky- Kupra Original+Kups

Heartsdale Jewellery

[HJ] Mangalsutra Collection

all info in the blog

blog

Well actually it isn't Bonny but a very amusing birthday card sent to my wife from the family! If you want to know more about the people who produced the card please visit www.avantipress.com

Our Bonny Lass was born in Ireland and was originally thought to be a labrador/collie cross - but our dog trainer thought she is a 'Heinz 57 Varieties' with some Lurcher and Staffie thrown in! Whatever she is, she is adorable!

She is now thirteen years old and although she's slowing down she can still give dogs half her age a run for their money in short bursts!

If you are looking for a rescue dog in the UK, please visit www.pupsneedinghomes.co.uk/ as they do such an outstanding job in rehoming unwanted dogs!

Actually it's in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon but I couldn't help but think of that great water storage that kept so many invaders outside the walls of Constantinople. You can see it in that great movie Topkapi

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Antiquorum/159/139/22

Actually it marked the fish for this Tricolored Heron.

After yesterday's play, today is the motif for which I was actually on the road on Sunday. It took a total of only 2 hours until I passed this young birch tree that was standing very elegantly by the wayside.

Nach der gestrigen Spielerei kommt nun heute das Motiv, für das ich am Sonntag eigentlich unterwegs war Es hat in Summe nur 2 Stunden gedauert, bis ich dieser jungen Birke vorbei kam die da sehr erlegant am Wegesrand stand.

more of this on my website at: www.shoot-to-catch.de

This was actually taken a couple of weeks ago during a snow storm as I scurried around the valley floor trying to get as many shots as possible before the storm broke up. I was fortunate enough to set up my tripod at the tunnel that morning at 6 AM next to Willie Huang and Aaron Meyers among several others.

More snow covered Yosemite photos and my top 10 tips for shooting Yosemite in the snow may be found at:

The Resonant Landscape: Tips On Shooting Yosemite In The Snow

I will definitely be missing the snowstorm that's moving in today at Yosemite with a snow level down to almost 2000 feet tonight as I will be with my wonderful family. I wish safe travels to all who are out there tonight, and a very Merry Christmas to all of you!

-----------------

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Actually not a jungle, but the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

A zoo on the Gold Coast. Queensland, Australia.

I actually worked on this image last year on my return from NZ/Canada. This shot was taken on a wet day re-tracing my steps to my primary school. The tree ferns were all along the pathway and they sheltered me from the rain. I have added the water to this image - i wasn't wading through it!

Posted for Sliders Sunday

I actually have a title in mind for this one, but the theme for this week's Looking Close on Friday group is "Title Wanted."

So have at it. :-)

Also for Our Daily Challenge: "In A Box"

HLCoF

Addendum: Thanks to Ben Edge for the title!

Actually it is a nesting pair of bald eagles who have eggs laid on Christmas day. This shot is of the male on the left calling the female back to the nest.

Best wishes to 2020 my friends.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcHPNUN-U8E

Actually, I wanted to photograph dew-wetted insects, but at this time of day it doesn't work out so well. At least the lavender is still glittering a little (probably it hadn't moved enough yet as it was fixed with the spider's thread). Happy weekend everybody ☀️

Olympus E-M1 Mark II + Olympus 60mm F2.8 Macro

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to watch or leave a comment or award :)

All my photos are © All Rights Reserved. The pictures are for viewing, not to be downloaded and shared on any other site or for personal use without my explicit permission. And definitely do not post ads in my photos!!! Thank you! :)

- Living Jewels of Nature 14, Precious Living Jewels of Nature 12, Members Choice 11

- Nature's Carousel 10, Nature's Golden Carousel 10, Nature's Platinum CArousel 13

Actually he is a bison; but most people call them buffalo. I took this image in Yellowstone National Park on a sunny beautiful day and he just stood there contemplating life I suppose and gave me ample opportunity to capture his picture. (Edited in Lightroom, Photoshop and Topaz).

Actually they're two bridges here - the Brooklyn and the Manhattan bridge.

* addition - one more in the comments...

Have a wonderful Friday!

© All rights reserved, don't use my pictures without permission.

actually - today is not a beautiful day, it's most worse weather this winter, roads and streets are like ice rinks and ice rain instead of snow.

Actually there is a nice pile of rusty junk out front and on the porch. Anyone need a wheel barrow? I think someone ran into the left side of this house with a lawn tractor. HWW

actually, I was going to go to sleep ... :-)

good night!

Actually, I did see this Snowy owl, but two years earlier at Zoo America in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 😄 My dream of seeing a Snowy on the snow-covered dunes could only be realized through Photoshop😜

I was actually shooting the copper leaves next to the track and decided to widen the view to include the trees on the other side of the track which resulted in this off-centre image which I'm quite happy with. Taken as I neared the end of my ramblings through Hillock Wood, Buckinghamshire.

I actually took this shot as a drive by shot, very quick and last minute as it came up fast and cars behind us at the time

So, I had actually given up hope in finding a suitable location to shoot sunrise. my first pick was inside a cloud. washed out, so I went to a backup location that I just KNEW was perfect.... sun was rising behind me. Tried three other locations with similar results. I was defeated, so on my way back home from much further than I wanted to try I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, and checked my sun tracker app one last time.... Low and behold there it was, with ten minutes to get set up before rise I pulled everything out and hoped the mist I was sitting in would clear enough for the sun to shine through. I wasn't disappointed, and I hope I managed to do it some justice as the light just exploded around me.

ISO 160

Aperture f5.6

SS 1/4th

Focal Length 16mm

Haida filters stacked both the 3 and 4 stop soft grad filters.

Actually the lighting looks like sails and its inside the Oculus--a transportation hub!

Actually between Chapel St Leonards and Anderby Creek there are 3 car parks with fine expansive beaches (not unlike the vast beach in the Time and Tide Bell photo) on one side and reed beds bordering the path behind the dunes and marram grasses on the other and nicely sheltered from the wind coming off the North Sea. The reed beds are a bird watchers paradise actually. The car parks are all named - being Chapel Six Marshes, Wolla Bank and Huttoft Bank (where there is actually a car terrace) facing and level with the beach which gets hundreds of people parking their cars and picnicking with barbeques adjacent to the beautiful beach. We almost always park at the centre car park Wolla Bank for no other reason that I just love that name lol.. The Placard type board at the far end of this small fence says to Keep Dogs Out Of The Reed Beds -just in case you were wondering. Have a wonderful weekend everyone Sue x

Just to make you smile btw…..

I actually photographed this fence for the first time in April 2010 for one of my first ever Fence Fridays. See that picture here.

Happy Fence Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. :)

Actually, some reflections were supposed to be created on the idyllic, smooth mountain lake, but the strong wind didn't want that. www.gamssteig.de/touren/wildbarren-bichlersee

“Actually, they didn't have chocolate in Ancient Greece, but Aphrodite was fond of apples. That was her sacred fruit, maybe because it was pretty and sweet, just like her. ”

― Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Credits . . .

Actually ALL horses are my valentines, I love them so much. Wells County, Michigan.

Actually, it was a quartet -- see the one in the upper left?

Beautiful roses, beautifully colored. Isn't God a great artist?

Thank you for looking.

Actually, I do not want to have people in this picture. But this place is a place for everyone to do it, and this man is still sitting quietly. That's a long shutter. The photo was taken, he was sitting still.

The feeling may be similar to this song.

youtu.be/6X2Nvx--k1U

Actually the fluffy white turned out to be feathers, probably of a night heron, so the young owl was telling the truth😄.

This picture actually lived in my camera for about six years it was an edit of an original photo from a photo shoot of a girl I took in Gainesville Florida back in 2014 or 2015 I knew there was something I wanted to do to it but I didn’t know what exactly, so I was going through my camera roll and I found it and I took it out and I played around with it and this is the outcome I hope you like it. 12/16/20