For those who celebrate it....and those who don't in this particular way on this particular day......I wish you all a most Happy Thanksgiving.

I wish you all many reasons to be grateful.

I wish you all many more ahead.

I know there are many out here who have serious challenges these days. I wish you strength, comfort, the very best of outcomes, the arms of loved ones to hold you up.

And the support of friends.

I was held up and supported this summer and there was an outcome that felt nothing less than a miracle to me.

I am forever grateful for it.....and grateful for all of you.

I send you my love and hold you all in my thoughts.

I wish you blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. 💕

Close up view of a Bald eagle watching at the park.

For those who may have lost someone recently to Covid-19 or some other disease, or who are facing death themselves, I hope you'll find comfort in this story.

Discovering Heaven

~ Adapted from the BBC series, Rev

“It’s very difficult to know what to say in times like this. … Some people don’t believe in Heaven, but I do. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do know a story which gives me an idea. It’s a story about a lot of little bugs that lived at the bottom of a river. And every now and then one of the bugs would crawl up a plant through the water and into the light. And it would never be seen again by his friends. One day, one special little bug felt that she wanted to crawl up the plant, too. So she did. Crawled up the plant through the water into the air. And she turned into an amazing, colourful dragonfly. And she flew around the air. She was the happiest she’d ever been! But when she tried to fly back down into the water to tell her bug friends how wonderful it was she found she couldn’t. Couldn’t get down into the water anymore because she wasn’t a bug anymore. She was a dragonfly. And this upset her until she remembered that one day all her friends would crawl up the plant, too, and join her in the sun.”

Those are not chicken bones under the shade tree.

Most important - the eyes are out of focus ;-)

For those of you who enjoy black and white photography, please visit and join my new group www.flickr.com/groups/fabworldinbw/ where a lot of very talented photographers and artists are sharing their extraordinary work.

Those elixors to help comfort the night with a head cold.

#macromondays#stationery

I love her green eyes.

Dushara Cathal Caithlin (Somali cat), 19.01.2025

Olympus OMD EM5 Digital Camera

The Falklands have 2 Steamer Duck, "the Falkland Steamer Duck" and the "Flying Steamer duck". This is the Female Steamer duck and the next image is the male Steamer Duck.... both are "Falkland Steamer" and they do not fly. They are very common ducks and I have seen large flock of them floating at a distance on the ocean, especially when we visited Sea Lion Island. It is very difficult to distinguish the one who can fly from the other one when they are on the water. Robin Woods tells us that "the best distinguishing features are the shape and colour of the bill. Both male and female have slightly longer, more slender and concave bills." We have seen and photograph both species of "Steamer" ducks but I find it hard to distinguish which is which even when examining the pictures closely.... I only know that we saw both type of "Steamer" because we saw them flying. Local names for the non-flying duck is "Logger" or "Loggerhead"

This little chap was enjoying a really good scratch in the dappled sunlight.

The expressions and poses these little guys make never cease to amaze and enchant me.

Grey Seal Pup - Halichoerus Grypus

Donna Nook Nature Reserve

As always I extend my sincere appreciation to all those who take the time to stop by and comment on my photos.

Even though it is technically a falcon, the Crested Caracara is much slower than the rest of the falcon family, and mostly live off carrion.

youtu.be/QptZ8tYZAkE

Those guys doing the bad things had better get out of my sight.

Zürich, Switzerland

Leica M6, Ilford HP5+

Jacob series @ CKey Poses

Find it here

Those who dream by day have knowledge of many things that escape those who only dream by night. (Edgar Allan Poe)

Please, no invitations to award/forced comment groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.

A medium-sized arboreal bushshrike that is dark gray or black above with a white eyebrow and white underparts, sometimes with a buffy breast. Prefers disturbed and forest edge habitats with large trees, where it forages deliberately in the foliage. Often in pairs, sometimes accompanying larger species of bushshrike. Gives a rising chatter with a descending whistle at the end, as well as other chatter notes and whistles. (eBird)

---------------

Sitting on the veranda, trying to eat breakfast while watching all the new birds that flitted around the property. This was the first of two to be seen. The other was in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I'm not sure why it is called "gray-green" when it is grey and black, but bird names don't always make sense :-)

Chosen as cover photo for Nature Square group, December 3, 2024.

Buhoma Community Camp, Uganda. January 2017.

Uganda Eco-Tours.

This is Lake Josephine there in Glacier National Park. Along some of the shore section there you can find these amazing colored rocks there under the water. My wife and I were enjoying the pretty day and hike there along the lake. Had this whole area pretty much to ourselves for about 45 minutes, which was nice! Liked this view with the shadow of the tree leading out to the clouds there in the sky.

Yesterday was one of those autumn days that you hope for on a day off- crisp dry sunny and not too much wind for cycling. We set off from Cardiff, past Pontypridd, through Aberdare and Hirwaun to climb the Rhigos mountain. You may remember that there has been another cycling adventure up the Rhigos ( I was promised stunning views) which was a misty wet drizzly day. This is the view from the viewpoint near the top of the climb. There are more to follow, but this one made me smile, for the small lake is called llyn fawr, translated from Welsh mean big lake. Hubby and I had quite a chuckle at its name. We don’t have huge lakes or reservoirs in Wales, and I’m sorry to disappoint any local residents in the Rhigos area but this is not a big lake. Frustratingly I don’t know how to selectively turn on the geotag for this photo.

One of the hairpins which we climbed is also shown.

Before we left yesterday we were chatting to a fellow cyclist who said that he preferred the climb from the other side of the mountain as from this side there was a straight uphill section of the road which he found quite disheartening, but once one gets to the trees it’s not too bad. Knowing this made the climb easier and this time I got some stunning views for sure.

Oh and we decided that as we had come this far, we might as well throw in the Bwlch (another of the classic welsh climbs) too!

68 Miles later we were home, having had a wonderful day out.

HSoS

Those nice colours of autumn.

__________

Esos bonitos colores del otoño.

Those of you who watch my videos here and on YouTube will know that a local famer let's me use a strip of his land as a bird photography reserve.

A couple of days ago I paid my first visit to the reserve in several months. I've not been to the reserve due to my ongoing back problem and the fact I've been out of the country for a while.

The place is a lot overgrown and I have plenty of tidying up to do. I also have new drinking pool hide to erect courtesy of my birding buddy Dave Soons.

Before I get stuck into all that, I wanted to put out some road kill pheasant on a feeding platform to entice the Buzzards back in and help them thrive through the autumn and winter months. Encouragingly, as I arrived on site, a juvenile Buzzard flew from one of the perches.

I fought my way through the undergrowth to the feeder. When I was about a metre away from it a bird flew up and away, I just caught a brief, rear end glimpse of it, thinking it was a Sparrowhawk, which encouraged me still further.

The following morning, at around 5:30 am, I was rudely woken by an alarm from my phone. It was a motion detection alarm from a camera fixed in front of the Buzzard feeder. A bit early for Buzzards I thought in a dreamy state, but well worth a look to see what was going on. I fumbled for my phone in the darkness and took a look at the live camera feed. Two small eyes staring at me from the corner of the platform. I just couldn't make out what bird it was, and what would be up at this time in the morning. Too small for an owl and too early for other birds of prey.

I watched the footage until dawn started to break and I was beginning to feel a warm sensation inside. I thought I knew what bird this was. I was beginning to realise that the brief encounter I had yesterday wasn't with a Sparrowhawk after all.

I quickly threw on my clothes and sped off to the reserve to take a closer look. By the time I got there the light was up and my excitement too.

My hunch was right. Not a common bird to Wiltshire these days and passing through on its way back to Africa. A European Nightjar hunting and roosting on my reserve. How amazing is that?

It's a shame the weather wasn't great and that some of my birding buddies couldn't get across to share the moment. Swindon Town or Nightjar? I know what I would have chosen.

Today, the rarity had gone. Maybe it's gone to continue its migration or maybe it's gone to another roost nearby, either way, it was a visit I'll never forget.

Thank you for taking a look at my images.

Of course I love everything about Tofu but I admit that when I first saw him I immediately fell in love with his big baby blue eyes. In the comments I add another photo of him showing his fluffy paws. :)

Posted for the Happy Caturday theme "Best Asset".

Thank you, I appreciate you all stopping by. Enjoy your weekend.

Every week at school we get a board assignment. Basically we come up with a photograph relating to the theme given for that week, we print a 8x10 of it, put it up in the school, and the staff have green dots they put next to the photos they like for the week. At the end of the year the photographer with the most green dots gets some sort of prize. This weeks theme is Season Change. I actually really like how it turned out. Wish me luck for those green dots ;)

"To those who think as we do, all things themselves are dancing: they come and offer their hands and laugh and flee- and come back. Everything goes, everything comes back; eternally rolls the wheel of being. Everything dies, everything blossoms again; eternally runs the year of being. Everything breaks, everything is joined anew; eternally the same house of being is built. Everything parts, everything greets every other thing again; eternally the ring of being remains faithful to itself. In every Now, being begins; round every Here rolls the sphere There, The center is everywhere. Bent is the path of eternity." ...

"A long twilight limped before me, a sadness, weary to death, drunken with death speaking with a yawning mouth. 'Eternally recurs the man of whom you are weary, the small man' - thus yawned my sadness and dragged its feet and could not go to sleep. Man's earth turned into a cave for me, its chest sunken; all that is living became human mold and bones and musty paste to me. My sighing sat on all human tombs and could not longer get up; my sighing and questioning croaked and gagged and gnawed and wailed by day and night: 'Alas, man recurs eternally! The small man recurs eternally!'"

... those days of Love, Peace and Music ...

Where Have All the Good Times Gone by The Kinks (1965)

VW T2 (1967-1979) in the rainforest

of Tofino Botanical Garden, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Hoi An is an old town which may be little too touristy in normal time, but lucky me, I visited after pandemic was declared. Notice those twins on bike, I only noticed them later, when I deliberately took a photo of them.

427. TMR Hoi An 2020- Feb -21, P1370690; Uploaded 28. June 2020, Lmx -ZS100)

Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.

{geek}

- Leaf Wings Green

- Mendhi Tattoo

- Pearl Horns -> for the Saturday Sale Marketplace -> marketplace.secondlife.com/p/geek-Pearl-Horns/26374823

[Rezz Room]

- Unicorn Animesh

Keep those bows and boxes

Keep those three wise men

No need for a North star

To show me where I will end

'Cause all I ever wanted

Isn't on a shelf and

Santa, can't you hear me?

◣◥◣◥◣◥ ◣◥◣◥◣◥ ◣◥◣◥◣◥ ◣◥◣◥◣◥ ◣◥◣◥

тнαηк уσυ тσ му ѕρσηѕσяѕ ♡ Shop the Look!

✿REED - VESPER✿

✰ Find this at LEVEL DEZ/2025 ✰

✰ All Things Reed ✰

✰ Find this at Santa Inc Nice Sim ✰

✰ Santa Inc. Naughty Sim ✰

✰ Find this at Santa Inc ✰

✰ Off-Line Mainstore ✰

✰ Earthstones Bows & Bells ✰

can't resist them.

Those beautiful wild flowers were spotted in the highland of Ladakh Himalayas, India

For those in the United States, I hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! Make sure you get the wishbone!

331/366 #SecondLife

Magical,moody clouds over the hills of Harris yesterday which looked like a dragon lying down l thought?

Please, no invitations to award/forced comment groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.

An overall sooty-colored cuckooshrike with broad white tips to the tail feathers. Male is dark sooty-gray with a slaty sheen, slightly paler on rump. Underparts paler toward tail; wings black. Female is very similar to male, but paler in general, often weakly barred with dark and pale gray on underparts. Male has a black mask, while female has dark lores and a faint eyering. Juvenile is blackish-brown above and brownish-gray below, heavily scaled whitish all over, with broad white tips on wing feathers. Immature like female, but more strongly and extensively barred below. Song is a loud series of whistles “pe-pe-pe-peew-peew-pew”; sometimes the starting notes are skipped. Found in all types of woodlands, including broad-leaved forests, sometimes even near cultivation during non-breeding season. (eBird)

----------------

During a very sobering visit to the tunnel systems used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, I caught a glimpse of this bird high in the canopy. It brought a little peace of mind, knowing that birds were once again inhabiting this place of war and destruction.

I had originally id'd this bird as an Ashy Drongo but I was wrong. The long tail misled me, but of course, the eBird reviewer let me know my mistake right away :-)

Cu Chi Tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. January 2025.

Emerald River Cruises.

Happy Scarlet Sunday!

it's always a dilemna-Scarlet Sunday or Bokeh Wednesday-so many decisions!

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope it is filled with good things! My whole weekend has been fab, and I was thrilled to bits that I got to hang out with my beautiful friend, Rhiana. We shopped for dresses and birdies, and then decided to go exploring.

Somehow, we determined that our shortest dresses and highest heels would equate to the absolute perfect outfits for a hike through Luane's scenic, pretty sim! Before long we faced the reality that we were really only dressed appropriately for posing, but still a win ... photo memory!

Rhiana, I had such a blast! You and I have been friends for so long, and I can't believe we have taken three forevers to get a Flickrszzz together!! Yay for this!! Love you lots, beauty queen, and thank you so much for this time together, and for these birdies. So utterly adorable! Just like YOU!

Hugs to everyone! And happy new week ahead! ❤️💕

Thanks indeed everyone for your personal comments and also your support from selected groups.

Awards are encouraging and especially from those who add my work to their 'faves'.

Cheerz G

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

Another one of those Bitterns!! by Tim Matthews

Those temple builders back then knew a thing or two about balance.

Featured items...

SYNNERGY.TAVIS//Girlfriend #17 Pose @the main-store for SOS Weekend Sale - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreamer/144/122/28

SYNNERGY.TAVIS//Starry Night [360]Backdrop @the main-store for SOS Weekend Sale - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreamer/144/122/28