Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much.

Two goldfinches, a male and a female, visiting a bird feeder. Bright sunlight overpowered this photo, washing out much of the color of the birds' plumage. I like the placement and shapes of the two birds, however, so I manipulated the image in Topaz Studio 2 to highlight the aspects that I liked and add contrast between foreground and background.

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Smiling,

used: Photoshop, Pixabay, Filter Forge

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations. if you wish you can see my non-manipulated photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Every winter I swear that this old lodge will fall down under the snow weight - and every year I am wrong. The building is sway back and is sinking into the ground - but each spring the snow melts, and there she be! An old rhubarb bed springs to life beside her, and around the month of July, some folks from out-of-state show up - pull the plywood from the doors and windows, and move in for a month or two. How they deal with the small critters that take up residence inside that lodge each winter - I do not know. That will remain a mystery until either an earthquake or snow destroys the old landmark. Until then - I'll keep watching it, until there is nothing more to watch.

..... seeds shed

I love the colours and the tortured shapes of the shrivelled ,leaves, and the architectural shape of the seed heads, of Sweet Cicely, at this time of year. For a bit of a change, I played around with some sliders on this image.

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An abandoned cache - for Sliders Sunday. HSS!

Doc and I stood watching a busy beaver prepare for winter, as he swam between his lodge and the trees that lined his pond. In this photo you can see his wake in the water, and his head between the trees on the left.

I thought that this delightful poem by Del Ray told the story of beaver life in Alaska perfectly . . .

There’s a trail no one walks in the forest

that’s lined with a quilt of leaves,

webbed feet of the largest rodent*

scamper as fallen trees grieve.

Trees wilt with the sound of gnawing,

as wolves in the distance, howl,

and moose clamber over rocks fallen,

while wildcats stalk prey as they growl.

The beavers are content with their chewing,

they gather and chew chew chew,

not like old steam engines of trains

that chug through the valleys of dew.

They chew through the aspen and birch,

those beavers take down the sweet maple;

they gather the twigs and the branches,

that’s fodder on their muddy table.

And quietly in their spiky lodge,

their kits, as cute as they are,

they plan their dam of destruction

under the shiny north star,

reminding the race of humans,

we’re not the only ones chopping down trees,

they weren’t just meant to be hats,

like us they have families and needs.

So beavers keep growing and gnawing

through the winter as snowflakes fall,

yet seeds of change will soon sprout

in the spring, when song birds call.

Poem by Del Ray

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations. if you wish you can see my non-manipulated photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

...added to this locked in ice composition are the shard of ice and goose reflections.

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

“Noses are red fingers are blue. I’m tired of winter how about you?”

Eleven o'clock in the morning, and the sun refuses to appear. The Wrangell Mountains were shrouded in clouds, so needless to say, it was not a good day to capture the beauty of Alaska.

The road you see in the bottom right of this photo is classified as a "highway" - but to me it is a plain two-way "road."

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Prague

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations.

By early August, wild Alaskan blueberries will be ready for picking. In fact, all of Alaska's wild berries will be harvested in August. As residents wander through the forests and hillsides in search of their favorite berries - the bears are doing the same thing. Also sharing the forest at the same time, are hunters who want to harvest their winters meat.

When you put the whole scene together - you picture; folks with buckets bending over the forest floor picking berries, as bears tiptoe by wanting their share of the fruit, and hunters with guns at the ready, in search of wild game. Now what could possibly go wrong? LOL

Happy picking and hunting to all. May your freezers be filled with Alaska's bounty.

HSS!

Posted for Sliders Sunday - Processed to the MAX!

One more day to shop for Christmas!

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

While many people around the world are now watching their gardens grow and looking ahead to harvest time - we in remote Alaska are watching the grasses on the forest floor change from summer greens, to browns, as they wither away and die. A sure sign that we are in the early stages of autumn. (Best viewed large)

I like the following descriptive quote regarding fall . . .

“It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.”

― Sarah Addison Allen

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much. You are welcome to visit my original Nature and wildlife Photos at: www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

I see the Light,

used Filter Forge, Photoshop, Pixabay

One of my favorite car hood ornaments

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feed-back very much. You are welcome to visit my original photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations.

Thanks to everyone for visiting , commenting , awards and invitations. if you wish you can see my non-manipulated photos at www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations

By the end of May, most of the ice covered lakes in the far north begin to emerge after their long winter's nap. It is a beautiful sight after 7 long months of bitter cold temperatures. HSS!

Thanks to everyone for visits , comments , awards and invitations, I appreciate your feedback very much. You are welcome to visit my original Nature and wildlife Photos at: www.flickr.com/photos/soes_nature_and_art/