An abstract of nature's beauty, bits of color shine in the confusion of glowing limbs & branches.

Thanks for stopping by

Went for a wander in Abbeyford Woods with my friend Fran (who managed to get us lost ... which was rather amusing) ... the light wasn't great and avoiding copious amounts of dog poop meant I didn't get a great deal of interesting images ... but I love this one :D

Think I used the Takumar 55mm ... but to be honest I forget :D

Something a bit different today. Yesterday was my neighbour, Will's birthday. Among his gifts was a huge floral arrangement that blew his mind and brought him boundless joy. He invited me in to see his flowers and I took some photos. Today's theme: Will's birthday flowers.

The star of this shot, one of two King Proteas and a Hydrangeas.

large, antique drill bit

Bit of a maze!

www.instagram.com/bernard.languillier/

Images captured in the breathtakingly beautiful Urabandai area in Northern Japan.

A mild winter so far gave us the chance to witness these early December sceneries one month late.

This image was captured with the new Nikon 19mm tilt lens on the D810.

Happy Slider Sunday

"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." - Oprah Winfrey

Credits . . .

Bits

A bit of fun , well he was asking for it posing like that ! Thanks to my son Robin for the photoshopping.

A bit of a miracle getting so close to this species as they are extremely shy and wary. Normally they spot you and hide. However, on passage migration they appear to be much more confiding. They are usually found on desolate moorland and mountain sides but on passage migration they have been recorded on the coast and even in peoples gardens. They will stay if you have berries!

www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/b...

Slightly smaller and slimmer than a blackbird - male ring ouzels are particularly distinctive with their black plumage with a pale wing panel and striking white breast band. The ring ouzel is primarily a bird of the uplands, where it breeds mainly in steep sided valleys, crags and gullies, from near sea level in the far north of Scotland up to 1,200m in the Cairngorms.

Breeding begins in mid-April and continues through to mid-July, with two broods common, and nests are located on or close to the ground in vegetation (typically in heather), in a crevice, or rarely in a tree. The young are fed a diet consisting mainly of earthworms and beetles.

Overview

Latin name

Turdus torquatus

Family

Chats and thrushes (Turdidae)

Where to see them

Ring ouzels can be found in upland areas of Scotland, northern England, north west Wales and Dartmoor. When on spring and autumn migration they may be seen away from their breeding areas, often on the east and south coasts of the UK where they favour short grassy areas.

When to see them

Ring ouzels arrive in March and April and leave again in September.

What they eat

Insects and berries

UK Breeding:-

6,200-7,500 pairs

Conservation

22 July 2011

The first national survey in 1999 estimated the UK ring ouzel population at 6,157-7,549 pairs, with further range contractions and a likely 58 per cent decline in population size since 1988-91.

Recent studies aimed at understanding these declines suggest that low first-year, and possibly adult, survival may be the main demographic mechanisms driving the population decline. The large population decline qualifies the ring ouzel for inclusion on the red list of birds of conservation concern.

Blogged...

www.lilmissfashioncupcake.com/2014/02/a-little-bit-of-lov...

This younger more subordinate ram to a bigger, probably older male, shows quite a bit of wear on his horns.

This is the view of the top floor of the structure next to Wind Tree in the Winyard Quarter on Auckland's waterfront.

It is a strange structure but certainly has some nice lines. I watched the Matariki lights on the bridge from up here. I totally expected there to be lots of people, I was mistaken.

PLAY►

'It was way past midnight

And she still couldn't fall asleep

This night the dream was leavin'

She tried so hard to keep

And with the new day's dawning

She felt it driftin' away

Not only for a cruise

Not only for a day'

After a bit of a hike, we found this cow moose eating and drinking. The scenery was gorgeous and the experience with her was one we will remember.

Grand Teton National Park

Most the time it was arches, stacks, cliffs, but this valley was a bit different.

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Tools: Bits

enjoyed a couple of hours strolling along the shores of loch Awe, in Wester Ross, Scotland. the light was nothing special, so I had to work hard to get a composition. quite liked the grasses in the water, and the reflection of the clouds.

A shallow bit of Ruby creek seen from the bridge that goes to the East Bank Trail.

Voigtländer 40/1.2

A bit of an experiment. I joined a group called The Weekend Ruiner founded by Mr Vanmoer (frenchbloke.vanmoer). Every week you get random items. Some of them are like movie sets in a way -- like a long hallway missing one wall so you can do a photoshoot. This week I got this house. It's awesome. A cartoon neon house.

www.flickr.com/groups/3353476@N24/

I had a body I never wore from the Meta-Body experiment of 2011 called Frame Girl which was all lines. I've always wanted to use that body but it's not exactly something you wear out to dinner. It needed the perfect occasion.

www.flickr.com/groups/meta_body/

And the umbrella? It's raining in Norway. Nope, I'm not in Norway. I'm in Arizona where the sun is beating down on us. It's just one of those random things that worked for me.

Camera and lighting:

Firestorm, as is

Additional lighting by Lumipro

Also I added a light on the umbrella

Location: Nykus

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nykus/66/199/659

(note: I'll leave it out until Monday night. But Nykus has a landing point. So once you land, look for a round transporter thing and click on 1 to take you to the virtual room or megatrak -- anyways should be 1. Or click this again after you hit the landing point)

Setting:

wr special - 80LII glowing wireframe house thing with stool by Doctor Zimberman

Me:

{ Poppins } White Umbrella by Belle Epoque

Frame Girl shape and skin by Meiló (meilo.minotaur)

A bit of Sunday trivia

Daisy Bell" was composed by British composer Harry Dacre in 1892. When Dacre first came to the United States, he brought with him a bicycle, for which he was charged import duty. His friend William Jerome, another songwriter, remarked lightly: "It's lucky you didn't bring a bicycle built for two, otherwise you'd have to pay double duty." Dacre was so taken with the phrase "bicycle built for two" that he soon used it in a song. That song, Daisy Bell, first became successful in a London music hall.

In 1961, an IBM 7094 at Bell Labs was programmed to sing "Daisy Bell" in the earliest demonstration of computer speech synthesis. This recording has been included in the United States National Recording Registry.

Science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke witnessed the IBM 7094 demonstration during a trip to Bell Labs in 1962 and referred to it in the 1968 novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the HAL 9000 computer sings "Daisy Bell" during its gradual deactivation.

So now you know:-))

Actually, a bit of a tweener here with this capture of a young Tri-colored Heron catching another tasty treat on the bayou. The colors in the plumage are beginning to fade from the juvenile colors to the adult colors on these herons. He/she was getting its fill of bait fish along the banks of Horsepen Bayou. And yes, the nictitating membrane is half closed in this capture.

I guess that a bit of an explanation would be nice to let everyone know what is happening. The back still remains an issue, but I was able to pay a rare visit to the bayou this morning even if it was a cloudy day and a bit windy. The back is troublesome, but my fourth infestation of termites is far from what I was expecting. We found cell in the kitchen below the ovens, and I have no idea how long it will take to kill this cell. I’ve had a pest control service for years, but they can’t be blamed for the issues that exist within my OLD house that make it easy for the little devils to set up within the house. I had some extensive work done on the house to try and thwart their next attack, but nothing is guaranteed. Finding this colony was an incredible sucker punch and money had to be spent to try and stop their progress. The other issue was the five days of work required to do a two-day job. Just a bit disheartening.

There are other things going on as well with more work on the house set to begin next Monday. This is also some follow-up work where damage was done several years ago. Finding contractors to work on houses after having termite problems is next to impossible because the damage is never straightforward, and most contractors just say that they do not repair those types of damage. Will just add that the funds required to take care of the issues would pay handsomely for four or five first class vacations to exotic places. I’ll get my mind wrapped around everything and move forward.

Will try to get to your posts and comment in the coming days as well. Hope that everyone is doing splendidly and hope that you’ve had a lovely day as well.

A7R03427uls

Bit of automatic street with the Ricoh GR. No offence intended, just liked the yellow echo

A bit all squeezed into shot but I couldn't get any further back. A group near another little T junction in the village and small road bridge over the crystal clear chalk stream of the River Lambourn.

Somewhere in that sizable, much extended cottage are the bones of the old, much smaller original one.

American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus)

New Jersey

A reprocess and post of this older image..

This is the first image in a three image set, which will show this Oystercatchers mollusc feeding technique. Each image will tell a bit of the story...

The Oystercatchers long orange bill is not only for probing in the sand and mud, but is excellent at prying open molluscs like clams and mussels. I've read that some Oystercatchers have a more blunt shaped bill tip and will use it to smash open the shell of some molluscs species to get at its meat. Although I can't imagine the bill being strong enough to smash through this hardshell Cherrystone Clam.

When this Oystercatcher (pictured above) located a clam. It pryed it open, then worked it around a bit and sniped the adducter muscle (which opens and closes the clam) and split the clam in half exposing the clams soft edible tissues.

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A bit of a failed experiment here. We walked so far to get to the waterfall, but facing a hairy descent, Jules and Antonio decided to turn back. That was a good decision, as the going got very, very hairy thereafter. By the time I'd clambered to the falls, it was actually a bit disappointing, and I'd really scared myself with some of the journey on my own with no phone signal. As such,, I tried my hardest to get a composition and do it justice, so this is a stitch of 32, yes 32, images to try to get a shot worthy of the adventure I'd inadvertently set myself. It'll do I guess...

Bit's n Bob's at the edge of the Harbour Walkway near the water's edge.

At Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

These are bits from a tiny screwdriver set used for working on electronics. That makes this photo a macro, as well.

in Berkeley, where there mostly is very little. This is the edge of a private club where they have planted special trees in keeping with a lovely environment. It borders the street, so we can all benefit!!

Bit of abstract sand tide detail from Charmouth 2 weeks back. I liked how it looked like a little beach forest