taken in Taijiang National Park, Tainan, Taiwan

The sun was about to rise on this early spring morning at Windsor, Ontario’s Blue Heron Park. The dawn sky had been incredible, as I got down into the tall grasses by the side of the pond. These remnant grasses, from the previous season, were still stretching to the sky, as another new day began.

Lu, the neighbour showing us how good a full stretch is but she also was ensuring that I would be won over and wouldn’t shush her out of the garden and it worked. I just laughed out loud.

yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes)

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iPhone 12 Pro

A close up of a little, geometric metal ornament with stretched diamonds on a blue painted door.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Great Horned Owl stretches its wing and leg. Sky Replacement added to get rid of a mostly white background.

This Marbled Godwit comes up with a sand worm between incoming waves.

I've perfected my yoga stretching technique a bit 😁

Thanks to Serab for Concept} Warm ! Love it 😊

五股溼地

RKO_2639. An African elephant crossing the road at Amboseli, Kenya!

Copyright: Robert Kok. All rights reserved! Watermark protected (sorry for that).

More of my work and activities can be seen on:

linktr.ee/robertkok

Please do not use my photos on websites, blogs or in any other media without my explicit permission.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and faving my photos. Its very much appreciated!

Stretching with Glamour

Posted for the Smile on Saturday theme "Orange".

Posted for the Happy Caturday theme "Glamorous".

I wish you all a wonderful and very Happy Caturday.

Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) male

One of the Red-rumps that have been in our area.

Happy Wing Wednesday!

I could not resist posting one more photo of a Female Goldfinch gathering fluff for her nest. The females are still hard at work even though it seems they have been doing it for weeks. They really must be creating the deluxe version of their nests this year :)

To start the week!

Hyacinth Visorbearer (Augastes scutatus) at Serra do Cipó - MG.

Thanks a lot for your visits, comments, faves, invites, etc. Very much appreciated!

© All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. All rights reserved. Please contact me at thelma.gatuzzo@gmail.com if you intend to buy or use any of my images.

STIRATINA

Giving the tele-lens a bit of a work out, Colas 'Shed' 66847 hauls the 2.40pm Ribblehead - Chirk Kronospan logs (6V37) through a sunny Frodsham, one early summer's evening in 2014.

The line seemingly disappears beyond the end of the train, but in fact it tops out for the viaduct (which the train is crossing) over the River Weaver. The heat-haze from the exhaust is pretty evident.

Rework of an upload that falls well below current QC specs, and now deleted. Comments off for this one, thanks.

7.19pm, 6th June 2014

Gland, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland

This long term exposure (300 sec.) has been taken at the very beginning of the sunrise. A pure moment of peacefulness on a very still lake with no wind.

----♥----

11:49pm

Vibe

Taken at Valium Sea: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Valium%20Sea/75/43/24

A New Holland honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae stretching getting ready to feed on a Banksia flowerspike above it. For more information about this bird see: here.

Thank you for visiting. I appreciate the faves and kind comments very much.

Giraffes photographed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Great Egret stretching its wings on the nest. Rookery at O'Fallon Park in St Louis, Missouri

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature…the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

These 60+ degree February days in Indiana have me holding my breath for spring that is just around the corner.

An American white pelican stretching out after its morning preen at Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel Island Florida. Taken a few weeks ago on 26 January, 2022.

Mi agradecimiento a Ricardo Menor, que encontró a este macho de Cordulegaster boltonii, en aquel tramo del río Vinalopó, y pude hacerle algunas fotos, con el nerviosismo al ver por primera vez a esta especie.

Fotografiado en: Molí de l’Ombria. Banyeres de Mariola. Alicante. España.

Cordulegaster boltonii, ♂ Golden-ringed Dragonfly

My thanks to Ricardo Menor, who found this male of Cordulegaster boltonii, in that stretch of the Vinalopó river, and I was able to take some photos of him, with the nervousness when seeing for the first time to this species.

Photographed in: Molí de l’Ombria. Banyeres de Mariola. Alicante. Spain.

It will be a while before it is Easter, but Easterbear is already in the Netherlands. He visits a good friend: Ballet dancer Piggolina Ballerina.

PIGGOLINA BALLERINA:

How nice to see you again Easter Bear. It's been a year since we've spoken. You look good.

EASTER BEAR:

Thank you Piggolina. You're looking good too.

PIGGOLINA BALLERINA:

I'm just really busy you know. Soon I will have a ballet performance with the famous Scoutlova. I practise 6 hours every day.

EASTER BEAR:

Can you show some of your exercises?

PIGGOLINA BALLERINA:

I'll show you the splits.

EASTER BEAR:

Wow! How do you do that?

PIGGOLINA BALLERINA:

It's just stretch into splits

EASTER BEAR: (trying the splits....only half way)

Ouch....help Piggolina....I can't go any further.

PIGGOLINA BALLERINA:

Come...give me your paw....I'll pull you up.

Let's go for a drink...that seems more sensible to me.

EASTER BEAR:

I will never do this again!!!!!!!!!!!!

An immature/non-breeding starling stretching it out.

A Roseate spoonbill stretching its wings in the early morning light.

*

Very satisfying stretch by this little urban fox. Seen in Hampshire, UK.

Stretching!

Thank you very much for your time and for your faves!

All together

Same direction

The whole family

It's like Earth will become

In the future

Just have to be patient

I will never give up that idea

That Love will win

Conquer our hearts

Soften them

Let us be pure love in the flesh

Earth will be a marvelous place for us all

All we need is to begin with ourselves and the ones we have around us

Mmmmmmmmm I love being in love

Cats have a gymnastic repertoire of stretching poses each with its unique charm and purpose.

Masters of non-verbal communication, the majority of their intra-species communication is non-verbal, and stretching is one of their subtle ways of expressing affection and strengthening the bond.

Common Stretch Spider/Longjawed Orb Weaver (family Tetragnathidae)

When I first spotted this one I thought it was a small twig caught on a web, then it stretched its legs out!

I have no clue as to what species of spider this is.

Thanks to Marilyn ( www.flickr.com/photos/186318456@N03/ ) for her help with the ID!

I never knew that limousines are just normal cars cut in half and extended! I’m gonna go build a Yugo stretch limousine.