View allAll Photos Tagged LifeIsGood
... Sometimes Silly : )
Found this Night Heron Guarding the pond at a local park. He gave me the once-over and indicated I should “move-on, nothing to see here.”
Life is Good : )
Black-crowned Night-Herons are small herons with rather squat, thick proportions. They have thick necks, large, flat heads, and heavy, pointed bills. The legs are short and, in flight, barely reach the end of the tail. The wings are broad and rounded.
They are common in wetlands across North America, including saltmarshes, freshwater marshes, swamps, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, lagoons, tidal mudflats, canals, reservoirs, and wet agricultural fields. They require aquatic habitat for foraging and terrestrial vegetation for cover. They spend the winter in southern and coastal portions of their breeding range as well as across Mexico and Central America.
Black-crowned Night-Herons are opportunists feeders that eat many kinds of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine animals. Their diet includes leeches, earthworms, insects, crayfish, clams, mussels, fish, amphibians, lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents, birds, and eggs. Black-crowned Night-Herons normally feed between evening and early morning, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day.
Black-crowned Night-Herons nest colonially and behave socially all year long. Both males and females vigorously defend feeding and nesting territories, sometimes striking with their bills and grabbing each other’s bills or wings.
Night-herons are monogamous. The male advertises for a mate with displays that involve bowing and raising the long plume on his head. Both the male and the female incubate the eggs and brood the chicks, greeting each other with calls and raised feathers when switching over duties. The young leave the nest at the age of one month and move through the vegetation on foot, forming nocturnal flocks in feeding areas. They learn to fly when they are six weeks old, and then disperse widely.
600 mm, 1/500 @ f/7.1, ISO 800, edited to taste)
...is to Lose Yourself in Others (Mahatma Gandhi)
A day of my life in India... never to be forgotten.
(Canon Powershot G1 X Mark III, 1/1000 @ f/4.5, ISO 100)
Let’s Shake this Covid thing and get back out there !!
(Nikon, 70-200 f/4.0, 13 sec @ f/14, ISO 100) Edited to Taste
The Mrs. and I were visiting the Maine coast on the day Tropical Storm Henri came rolling into the Northeast United States.
The clouds over the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse looked ominous, and I got soaking wet and a bit cold while shooting photos.
All difficulties were forgotten, however, when I found a Lobster for lunch and my favorite cocktail. Enjoyed both while drying off and warming up.... Life is Good : )
____________________________________________
(From a Local News Report... On the 30th anniversary of the last hurricane to make a direct hit on New England, the region warily braced for Tropical Storm Henri as it gathered strength and headed for the northeastern U.S).
____________________________________________
The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is located in Bristol, Lincoln County, Maine, at the tip of the Pemaquid Neck.
The lighthouse was commissioned in 1827 by President John Quincy Adams and built that year. Because of poor workmanship (salt water was used in the mortar mix), the lighthouse began to crumble and was replaced in 1835.
The second contract for the construction stipulated that only fresh water be used. Keeper Isaac Dunham oversaw the construction and wrote in a letter to the US Lighthouse Establishment that the agreement was upheld and the work went well.
The original light was an Argand-Lewis parabolic reflector, lit with candles and with a visibility of 2 miles (3.2 km). Augustin Fresnel invented a superior way of focusing light in the early 1850s and most lighthouses in the US were converted to the Fresnel Lens, with Pemaquid Point receiving a fourth order Fresnel in 1856. The lens is one of only six Fresnel lenses still in service in Maine. The keeper's house was built in 1857.
Marcus A. Hanna, the only man ever awarded both the Medal of Honor (earned during Civil War for bravery on July 4, 1863) and the Gold Lifesaving Medal (for rescuing life on January 28, 1885 at Cape Elizabeth), once served as keeper of the light.
By popular vote of Maine residents, the lighthouse was chosen to be featured on the Maine quarter, the 23rd in the 50 State Quarters Program issued by the U.S. Mint.
Exposed bedrock descends from the lighthouse to the ocean creating a unique, scenic landscape. The geological history of these formations dates back hundreds of millions of years.
(Nikon Z6, 24-200/f/4-6.3, 1/100 @ f/22, ISO 360)
It’s such a thrill to view the antics of young Western Grebe chicks as they frolic in the water, then scurry safely back under their mother’s wings to ride in comfort, waiting for their next meal. In this photo, one of the two chicks currently riding on Mom’s back eyes something that may be delicious.
Setting off crisp black-and-white plumage with a yellow bill and red eye, the slender Western Grebe is an elegant presence on lakes and ocean coasts of western North America. Along with its close relative, the Clark’s Grebe, it’s renowned for a ballet-like courtship display in which male and female “run” across the water in synchrony, their long necks curved in an S-shape. These water birds rarely come ashore, instead taking long dives to catch fish and other aquatic animals.
Western and Clark’s Grebes were considered the same species until 1985, after scientists learned that the two species rarely interbreed (despite sometimes living on the same lakes), make different calls, and have substantial DNA differences.
Male Western Grebes generally have longer and thicker bills than females. The difference may permit males and females to feed on different-sized prey, reducing food competition between the sexes.
Western Grebe plumage is very dense and waterproof. In the nineteenth century the birds were hunted and their hides used to make coats, capes, and hats that cost as much as luxury items made from mammal pelts. In some areas, grebe populations crashed or even disappeared altogether. In time, the garments went out of fashion, sparing this species (and Clark’s Grebe) further losses.
Western Grebes, along with other grebe species, often swallow their own feathers as they preen. These feathers wind up lining the stomach, where they may help protect against punctures by sharp fish bones. They periodically regurgitate pellets containing the feathers along with bones and other indigestible material.
The oldest recorded Western Grebe was a female and at least 11 years old when she was found in Minnesota, where she had been banded.
(Nikon, 500/f4.0 + TC 1.4, 1/2000 @ f/6.3, ISO 720)
A True Artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.
-Salvador Dali
Shared an enjoyable morning with a painter at the Doubling Point Lighthouse in Arrowsic, Maine.
Doubling Point Light is a lighthouse on the Kennebec River in Arrowsic, Maine. It was established in 1898, fifteen years after the founding of the Bath Iron Works, a major shipbuilder, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) upriver.
The lighthouse was part of a major upgrade of the river's lighthouses, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Doubling Point Light Station on January 21, 1988. It remains an active aid to navigation.
The Doubling Point Light is located on the lower Kennebec River, at a point where the normally south-flowing river makes a sharp turn to the east, followed by a turn back to the south.
The light station includes a tower, keeper's house, shed, and oil house. The tower is an octagonal wood frame structure, finished in wooden shingles, with an iron walkway around the lantern chamber. It is accessed via a three-span footbridge.
Near the tower is the keeper's house, an L-shaped 1-1/2 story wood frame structure with hip-roofed porches. Also nearby are the gable-roofed tool shed, built in 1898, and the small brick oil house, added in 1906.
The city of Bath, located upriver from this point, had been a major shipbuilding port for much of the 19th century, and the river was a major transportation artery all the way to Augusta.
In 1892 the river below Bath was identified by the United States Lighthouse Board as needing improved navigational aids, and a series of improvements were authorized. Funding was made available by Congress in 1895, and Doubling Point Light was built in 1898, along with the keeper's house and shed.
(Nikon Z6, 24-200 f/6.3, 1/400 @ f/8, ISO 320)
This guy was so at ease with me that after a good shake it decided to lay down next to me and have a nap... light was quite harsh for photography but the sun felt so good to an oystercatcher sunbathing :).
... Can Change Your Whole Day.
- Zig Zigler
_________________________
The Mrs. who is now 3 weeks post op on right-arm shoulder-surgery, strongly suggested that I get out of the house and do some photography; mainly to reduce her stress about me hovering over her.
So, I snuck out to a local open area and practiced catching birds in flight. Didn’t find an Eagle but found one that made my heart happy ;-)
Nikon Z, 600/6.3, 1/3200 @ f/6.3, ISO 900, edited to taste)
A Greater Yellowlegs with a tiny crab.... I get my best lessons and inspiration in life from watching wildlife.
A Snowy Egret Fishing in the Morning Light
________________________________________________
These are medium-sized herons with long, thin legs and long, slender, bills. Their long, thin neck sets the small head well away from the body.
Adult Snowy Egrets are all white with a black bill, black legs, and yellow feet. They have a patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill. Immature Snowy Egrets have duller, greenish legs.
Snowy Egrets wade in shallow water to spear fish and other small aquatic animals. While they may employ a sit-and-wait technique to capture their food, sometimes they are much more animated, running back and forth through the water with their wings spread, chasing their prey.
Snowy Egrets nest colonially, usually on protected islands, and often with other small herons. They concentrate on mudflats, beaches, and wetlands, but also forage in wet agricultural fields and along the edges of rivers and lakes.
(200-600 @ 450mm, 1/1000 @ f/6.3, ISO 1000)
Enjoying a beautiful sunset moment, where everthing is painted a warm pastel pink at Remic Rapids! Best viewed large. Happy weekend my friends =)
Caught this Snowy Egret showing its stuff while on landing approach at a local pond.
Snowy Egrets are medium-sized herons with long, thin legs and long, slender, bills. Their long, thin neck sets the small head well away from the body.
Adult Snowy Egrets are all white with a black bill, black legs, and yellow feet. They have a patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill. Immature Snowy Egrets have duller, greenish legs.
Snowy Egrets wade in shallow water to spear fish and other small aquatic animals. While they may employ a sit-and-wait technique to capture their food, sometimes they are much more animated, running back and forth through the water with their wings spread, chasing their prey.
Snowy Egrets nest colonially, usually on protected islands, and often with other small herons. They concentrate on mudflats, beaches, and wetlands, but also forage in wet agricultural fields and along the edges of rivers and lakes.
(Nikon, 500mm + TC 1.4, 1/500 @ f/5.6, ISO 360)
...But girl, let me warn ya?
It burns, man, it burns.
A little twist on the lyrics 😎
Its been a couple of days since many parts of my community were under mandatory fire-safety evacuation.
Fires start in the mountain canyons (in the background) and Santa Ana Winds push the flames west toward the Pacific Ocean. If you happen to be in between, bad things can happen.
The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry downslope winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California. They originate from cool, dry high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin.
Santa Ana winds are known for the hot, dry weather that they bring in autumn (often the hottest of the year), but they can also arise at other times of the year. They often bring the lowest relative humidity of the year to coastal Southern California. The low humidity, combined with the warm air mass, plus high wind speeds, create critical fire weather conditions. Also sometimes called "devil winds", the Santa Anas are infamous for fanning regional wildfires.
(Wikipedia)
(Nikon, 14-24/2.8 @ 20.5mm, 1/80 @ f/22, ISO 200)
Edited to taste
So 2020 is behind us and a new year has come. Hopefully this new year will be much better for everyone. Hopefully it will be the year that the pandemic will be over and life will return to normal for most of us. Lots of things has changed because of this virus, and some of them have changed permanently (the work from home concept is something that will stick for many people). Whatever the case may be, at the end of the day we will keep our hopes alive that this new year will be much better than the previous one. I understand that this is not any sort of masterpiece photo from a photographic perspective. It's just a shop at the Portsmouth downtown area, a store that I have walked by probably 20 times and never noticed it. Today, though, I read its name and I felt it conveys a positive message, something that many people are in need these first days of the new year. Happy New Year to all of you!
This guy was so at ease with me that after a good shake it decided to lay down next to me and have a nap... light was quite harsh for photography but the sun felt so good to an oystercatcher sunbathing :).
Nothing spells summer like the hot sun, blue skies, salty air and sandy feet.. I am 90% happy and 10% burnt 😁
A 2 minute long exposure view of Tacoma, WA's twin Narrows Bridges. It was a fun one to shoot with my new Z8 and 10 stop ND filter. A 6 stop would have been better, as I had to increase ISO and use a wider aperture with the 10 stop. This scene would be easier to shoot in the early morning light I think, since there are deep shadows here in the evenings. I tried lifting the shadows to no avail.
Thanks for you very kind visits and comments my amazing friends. You are the best of the best! 💙
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ernie.misner