On a delightful Spring evening, the Grand Canyon prepares to lay low for the night, rejuventing for more spectacular shows the following day.

Keala Settle

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BNRBgxiS2c

I am not a stranger to the dark

Hide away, they say

'Cause we don't want your broken parts

I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars

Run away, they say

No one'll love you as you are

But I won't let them break me down to dust

I know that there's a place for us

For we are glorious

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

Another round of bullets hits my skin

Well, fire away 'cause today, I won't let the shame sink in

We are bursting through the barricades and

Reaching for the sun (we are warriors)

Yeah, that's what we've become (yeah, that's what we've become)

I won't let them break me down to dust

I know that there's a place for us

For we are glorious

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I am brave, I am bruised

I am who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh

This is me

and I know that I deserve your love

(Oh-oh-oh-oh) 'cause there's nothing I'm not worthy of

(Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh, oh)

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

This is brave, this is proof

This is who I'm meant to be, this is me

Look out 'cause here I come (look out 'cause here I come)

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum (marching on, marching, marching on)

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out

I'm gonna send a flood

Gonna drown them out

Oh

This is me

Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus)

Its wings were still fluttering as it landed.

Male Kestrel coming in to settle on a fence post at Frampton Marsh.

The same Owl as the in the previous post settling on a fence post in northumberland.

View over Mouraria, originally a Moorish getto, then settling place for immigrants from Africa, Asia and Brasil, birthplace of fado music and still a culturally diverse area, an oasis in the increasingly globalized Lisbon.

Puffin coming in to land, taken at Inner Farne Northumberland.

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Netherfeild/189/167/23

Netherwood

31 days of pink breast cancer awareness challenge

Taken Rutland water

Male Widow Skimmer dragonfly resting briefly on a tangle of meadow thatch.

Common and abundant summer resident.

🎧 Rolling Stones

Taken at Holy Island Northumberland.

Taken at St Marys Lighthouse Northumberland

Taken at Newton pool Northumberland.

Wigeon at Frampton Marsh

Credits <3

Cock Pheasant settling in front of my lens.

jusssss 4 fun.

Snow geese descend on a winter day into an Oregon wetlands.

Of the 30 or more birds roosting in a tree on the far bank, only one White Ibis decided to come down to the water to feed. Happily, it picked a spot just a few feet from where I was floating on Horsepen Bayou, as though it thought I knew where the best worms and such were hiding.

Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea) female male

This pair have been spending a lot of time in the Vic Uni Pond lately.

Three mute swans settling at Swithland reservoir.

Incoming Wigeon at Frampton Marsh.

Taken at St Marys Lighthouse.

Grand Lake Saint Mary. Ohio. Photo: Lou T.

The River ribble in spate

Early AM at the Johnson Etang, in northeast Haiti near the Dominican Republic, these BNSTs move together in their Stilt flock choreography from one side of the pond to the other... there is safety in numbers is the BNST mantra...

This Great Blue Heron is the same one I posted in flight a few days ago, just as it landed. At Jackson Bottom Wetlands in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Avocets at Cresswell Pool Northumberland.

Somewhere in Maine.

Thank you for visiting!

An Indian desert fox (also known as white footed fox) settling down to bask in the afternoon Sun.

Thanks for the views, comments, faves...Cheers ^_^

Here a song from Norah Jones for all of you :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTxythHY09k&feature=relmfu

Greylag Geese settling at Frampton Marsh.

Dandry Mire/Moorcock Viaduct.

This viaduct is just a few hundred yards from Garsdale Station on the Settle to Carlisle Railway. Another stormy day with great opportunities for photography; glorious heather on the hillside.

Roseate Spoonbills settling into a perch with Snowy Egrets in the wetlands at Seabourne Creek Nature Park, Rosenberg, Texas.

A couple of interesting observations about least terns from this encounter:

1. The "nest" is just a shallow scrape in the sand. The eggs are laid in the scrape and are subject to predation by various critters, and loss due to wind driven high tides depending on where the eggs are laid. Here at Anastasia State Park, the colony was located within a roped off area making it less likely that foot traffic would disturb or destroy the nests.

2. For whatever reason, the entire colony of adults would suddenly fly off. They would fly back momentarily and settle back onto their eggs. The trick was to catch a tern as it landed and then stay focused on it until it reached its nest. This time the strategy worked!

My sincere thanks to all who spend the time to view, like or comment on my photos. It is much appreciated!

© 2023 Craig Goettsch - All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use without permission is prohibited.

Dunlin and a few Ringed Plovers settling on the shore at Boulmer Northumberland.

“Autumn Settles In” with changing colors and falling leaves, it’s a season that I think is highly anticipated. Cooler weather arrives to the area pushing out the Summer heat. The air seems cleaner and crispier for morning walks and or yard chores and maybe even a bike ride. Whatever you choose to do stay safe and be kind. Thanks for viewing my work. Wash your hands again🙏.

Barn Owl arriving at a favourite listening post first thing this morning.

Dent Head Viaduct, Cowgill, Dent, Yorkshire Dales National Park. Part of the Settle to Carlisle Railway built between 1869-1875 for the Midland Railway Company and consisting of 10 Arches and measuring 100ft high

Happy Cozy Sunday! It's a sunny but *freezing* bitter-wind sort of a day. Stay in, and spoon with someone cuddly all day if you can!

I am somewhat overwhelmed by the attention my gauzy shot got yesterday. Thanks to everyone for this. It's a bit daunting, I must say. But I am finally on my way to see everyone's streams today. Which I am very much in need of.

Brent Geese settling at Lindisfarne nature reserve.

Teal on the river Coquet Northumberland, a regular roosting spot for many wildfowl.

Every day at the billabong ends with a huge party of birdlife.

One last burst of life as night falls, so noisy it's deafening, and frantically busy.

Massive numbers of these rainbow lorikeets, as well as the big white sulfur-crested cockatoos, and the pink and grey galahs, all chattering, screeching, swooping and zooming about, and having their last feed, way up high in the surrounding tree tops, before finally choosing which tree to settle in for the night.

Here's one pic I thought I'd never capture, due to the height they're at, and their speedy antics in the fast fading light.

Actually held the camera way above my head as high as my arms could stretch, just to get a bit closer on zoom, and tilted it at the best angle to catch whatever light possible.

I really couldn't see a darn thing on the screen in such low light and holding it so far away - surprised I got a few, not perfect focus, but hey, I was delighted :)