View allAll Photos Tagged comical

This male Evening Grosbeak was putting on quite a show for a female perched right below him. In years past I have seen the mating display involve some fancy foot work and comical wing movements, but this Dude must have felt his handsome hair-do was enough to do the trick. She sure seemed interested.

 

As I almost always do for individual birds that I love, I did a little more research this morning. This is from a "Project Feeder Watch" blog:

"One of the most common winter visitors to bird feeders across North America is becoming less common. The Evening Grosbeak is an irruptive migrant, occasionally moving out of its boreal and montane breeding areas to winter at lower latitudes and elevations. According to a recent study, reports of Evening Grosbeaks at FeederWatch sites declined by 50% between 1988 and 2006. At sites where Evening grosbeaks continue to be reported, average flock size had decreased by 27%"

 

I am so blessed to have had these very pretty visitors every year since I started feeding birds. Something I did NOT know until this morning is that they tend to "hang out" in areas heavily populated with Maple trees. Hey, Vermont IS the Maple Syrup capitol of the world -- no wonder I continue to see these guys, even as other folks are lamenting their disappearance from their feeders.

 

Because of facts like these, I will continue to be a STRONG advocate for feeding Birds ALL year long -- to make up for man's destruction of forests, wetlands, and meadows and thus food and habitats of our precious winged creatures.

There is a fine line I travel when it comes to discouraging Bears and still providing extra sustenance for particularly my Grosbeaks this time of year. I've eliminated all but one hanging feeder and now just have large "platforms" sitting on top of tall stands. If that big Bruin continues to come round like he has for 3 nights this past week, at least all he will do is knock down things like planter trays and 5 foot metal lamp stands -- easily up-righted and refilled the next morning.

Taken at Ulley waters, a comical clip in my book

Soviet postcard by photo department Ed. 'Molot', Rostov-on-Don, no. 06453, 1959. The card was issued in 75,000 copies. The price was 75 K. Pictures from Po tu storonu/On the other side (Fyodor Filippov, 1958), Devushka s gitaroy/A Girl with Guitar (Aleksandr Faintsimmer, 1958), Devushka bez adresa/Girl Without an Address (Eldar Ryazanov, 1958), and Oleko Dundich/Aleksa Dundic (Leonid Lukov, 1958).

 

Sergey Filippov (1912-1990) was a comical Soviet film and theatre actor, best known for his parts in films like Priklyucheniya Korzinkinoi/Adventures of Korzinkina (1941), Notchnoi patrul/The Night Patrol (1957) and the adaptation of Ilf and Petrov's classic The Twelve Chairs (1971), which granted him the People's Artist of the RSFSR title in 1974. His life ended as a tragedy.

 

Sergey Nikolayevich Filippov (Russian: Серге′й Никола′евич Фили′ппов) was born in Saratov, Russian Empire, in 1912. His father was a factory worker, his mother a dressmaker. Expelled from school for bad behaviour (involving, reportedly, dangerous experiments in the cabinet of a chemistry teacher), he tried several jobs (a baker’s boy, a carpenter, a factory worker) before joining a ballet studio, which in 1929 sent him to Moscow for further education. Filippov enrolled into the recently formed Popular Music and Circus college which he graduated in 1933 to join the Moscow Ballet and Opera Theatre troupe. A heart problem forced Filippov to drop out, though; soon he found himself in the Saint Petersburg Comedy Theatre, led by Nikolai Akimov, where he became one of the leading actors. In 1937 Sergey Filippov made his film debut, playing a Finnish soldier in Za Sovetskuyu Rodinu/For Soviet Motherland (Rafail Muzykant, Yuri Muzykant, 1937). In the following years, Filippov was cast in several major films. He was a provision store wrecker in Kozintsev and Trauberg's Vyborgskaya storona/New Horizons (Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, 1938), and an old railroad worker in Arinka (Nadezhda Kosheverova, Yuri Muzykant, 1939). He also played a sailor anarchist in Yakov Sverdlov (Sergey Yutkevich, 1940), and an enemy saboteur in Zarkhi and Kheifits' Tchlen pravitelstva/Member of the Government (Iosif Kheifits, Aleksandr Zarkhi, 1940). Both directors and critics praised Filippov's improvisational talent as well as his plasticity and physical strength, which allowed him to perform dangerous stunts with ease.

 

In the 1940s, Sergey Filippov created a gallery of crooks, loafers and eccentrics on screen. Well-versed in the history of film, he never copied his favourite comics. The cultural climate in the USSR was hardly conductive for eccentric comedy at the time, yet Priklyucheniya Korzinkinoi/Adventures of Korzinkina (Klimenti Mints, 1941) with Yanina Zhejmo in the lead, became hugely popular. In the film, Filippov played a reciter, performing Lermontov's 'Death of Gladiator' on stage, while tormented by a mouse inside his jacket. His performance was small but unforgettable. Mid-1950s saw another rise in Filippov's popularity. "I usually play the Soviet people, my contemporaries, so in each character I look for a social motif," he once said, cited by Wikipedia. His parts were small but memorable: silly and arrogant Almazov in Ukrotitelnitsa tigrov/The Tiger Trainer (Aleksandr Ivanovsky, Nadezhda Kosheverova, 1955), absurdly dull Znanie society lecturer Comrade Nekadilov in the box office hit Karnavalnaya notch/Carnival Night (Eldar Ryazanov, 1956) and two-faced official Komarinsky in Devushka bez adresa/Girl Without an Address (Eldar Ryazanov, 1958). One of his best-known parts of the time was that of a crooked shop director Polzikov in Notchnoi patrul/Night Patrol (Vladimir Sukhobokov, 1957). In retrospect critics deplored the unadventurous way Filippov's comical gift had been exploited by directors, who often used his very presence to save otherwise mediocre scenes or films. Wikipedia cites actress Lyubov Tishchenko, who told that Filippov's major grievance in his latter years was never having received a tragic role he was craving for.

 

In 1965 Sergey Filippov underwent a brain tumor removal. He continued to work with the same fervent zeal, though. In 1971, he starred as Kisa Vorobyaninov, next to Archil Gomiashvili's Ostap Bender in a highly popular adaptation of Ilf and Petrov's Dvenadtsat stulyev/The Twelve Chairs ( Leonid Gaiday, 1971). This proved to be the peak of his career. In 1974 the actor was awarded the People's Artist of the RSFSR title. In the 1980s Filippov's health began to decline. His final film appearance was a bit part as a veteran in Chastnyy detektiv, ili operatsiya 'Kooperatsiya'/Private Detective, or Operation Cooperation (Leonid Gaiday, 1990). After his second wife, Antonina Golubeva, who was thirteen years his senior, died in 1989, he was left alone, disabled and destitute. Aged 77, Filippov died of lung cancer in 1990 in Leningrad, USSR (present-day St. Petersburg, Russia). His body was not discovered until two weeks later. Lenfilm refused to subsidise any funeral service and according to fellow comedy star Evgeny Morgunov, it was actor Aleksandr Demyanenko who personally collected the sum needed. Filippov was interred in Saint Petersburg Severnoye Cemetery. Filippov's first wife was the ballet dancer Alevtina Gorinovich, with whom he fathered a son, Yuri Sergeyevich Filippov. In the early 1950s, soon after his first marriage ended in divorce, Filippov remarried, to Antonina Golubeva (1899–1989), a children writer.

 

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Hello??

 

So comical....

She looks like she is looking right at me, but I doubt it. I was inside the house with a longer lens on the camera.... finally I am able to balance the lens with my wrist that is just barely healed from a break in January....

I think they seemed to be nibbling at the ends of the new blossom buds on the crabapple tree.... I hope we still get blossoms!

 

"Bumblebearies"

Comical Male woodducks battling last spring. They really go at it for a few weeks. I find it very hard to photograph cause it happens very fast and without being able to zoom i always clip things badly and it never seems to be in focus. This wasnt so bad! Anxious for the warm days to return!

Again Can you lot think of a better title!

  

Sunday morning at Brew Street. Comical Ned, with the funny shaped head has a heart of pewter as he comforts Beryl due to the scrapping of her not very trusty Austin 7. She’s had the old heap for 25 years, but now having lost her licence due to joy riding it’s time for it to go. Poor Beryl you silly old girl.

Third brother triplets (it’s complicated I know), Comical Ned (with the funny shaped head), former boxer Gaylord Grip, ‘oh my gawd’ Oliver assisted by Deidre Dinkle - flirty darling of the butter making department at the creamery and Rufus the Hound have formed a splinter moonshine collective. The old shelter and disused loading gauge hut being an ideal location for such an operation for a week or two. Though the occasional passing trains could be an issue, but their crews will easily be bribed I’m sure.

 

Barry Bullhead, the corrupt official from The Ministry of Misery and moonshine moonlighter Deliberation Dave have heard about the new collective on ’their patch’ and have visited to ‘have a few words’.

 

Barry and Dave might struggle here, because the third brother triplets are big chaps, Rufus the Hound has the ability to lick forever and Deidre has well known magic charms with any men she meets, even charmless types like Barry Bullhead.

 

This story will continue I’m sure….

A brown hooded parrot in Costa Rica

Another one of those comical shots. This one was following my every move and I'm sure he would have followed me home given half a chance.

 

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Comical little critters who hang in our canal....long claws to dig roots underwater.

In the comically named Breedstraat in Enkhuizen

Explored.Highest # 332 Tuesday 1st June 2010.

 

Little robin (Erithacus rubecula) having his morning bathe in my pond. Sorry about the quality, but I couldn't get too near and so he had to be blown up and cropped!!!

Playing about with layers...Just for fun! :0)

 

www.samanthanicolartphotography.com/

 

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Dr. R. T. Ustik as an Italian organ grinder and Mrs. Will Butterworth as his monkey were voted the most comical costumed pair during Field Day in 1918. Dr. Ustik was one of the first few physicians in the Tri-Village area. The Congregational Church, now known as First Community Church, inaugurated the first Field Day event in 1916. Held in June on the Saturday closest to Flag Day, Field Day was an expansion of the church's Sunday school basket picnic, and residents of Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, and Marble Cliff were invited to attend. The third annual Field Day was held June 22, 1918, and included a parade consisting of cars, bicycles, costumed marchers, and floats.

 

This image available online at the UA Archives >>

 

Read the related "Norwester" magazine article at the UA Archives >>

 

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

 

Identifier: hinw09p006i01

Date (yyyy-mm-dd): c. 1918-07

Original Dimensions: 5.8 cm x 7.3 cm

Format: Black and White Halftone Photograph

Source: Norwester, July 1918, page 6

Original Publisher: Upper Arlington Community (Ohio)

Location/s: Grandview Heights (USA, Ohio, Franklin County)

Repository: Upper Arlington Historical Society

Digital Publisher: UA Archives - Upper Arlington Public Library

 

Credit: UA Archives - Upper Arlington Public Library (Repository: UA Historical Society)

“Happy Manikin in Manners Town,” the merry book of good manners. Illustrated by Mildred Lyon. Written by Laura Rountree Smith, author of “Jolly Polly”, “Tiddly Winks Books”, etc. “A Just Right Book” published by Albert Whitman Co., 1922.

On the pub door - you just know that the staff have a great sense of humour when you see a sign like this!! Made us all smile.

 

That's our daughter's reflection in the glass.

 

Comical sign on a Souvenir Gift Shop near our hotel in Vegas.

At first this behaviour looks almost comical - a bit like Punch & Judy - but it can be deadly serious. It's common for the two largest chicks to turn on the smallest one and try to kill it, often by throwing it out of the nest. However, in this particular nest it was the two larger ones who were fighting each other while the little one tried to keep its head down and stay out of trouble. The mother stood by and watched dispassionately. In Nature it's all about survival of the fittest, of course, but I couldn't help hoping the little guy managed to keep out of harm's way.

A very comical young dog, this toy was a prize at Toormina Agility Trial it had a thrashing!!

It was comical watching this pair, one the parent and the other a juvenile House Sparrow. The parent (on the right) was feeding the young one, but this view shows a little 'impatience' displayed by the young one. "Mind your manners!" I heard the parent chirp out.

This is a Black Swallowtail caterpillar in full party mode, including comical hat and jaunty angle.

 

When excited (ok, when it's concerned something is about to eat it), it inflates an otherwise hidden orange sac out the back of its head. Instant hat for surprise parties!

 

It is known as the osmeterium, and is said to stink. I thought it had a pleasant citrus smell, "eau du lepidoptera" would be a nice perfume line. It is also said to taste foul to attackers. I did not lick the caterpillar, so regrettably I cannot verify the culinary applications of the appendage.

 

Lighting and other Info:

-SB80dx in small soft box camera right, snooted SB28. camera left and behind.

-Triggered with rf-602's.

-Some demonstrations involve gently squeezing the caterpillar to get the osmeterium to display, I gently tickled the head of this guy with a little paint brush, which was probably still terrifying for it.

Ah ha ha these comical dormers interrupt the gutter and necessitate multiple downspouts haha.

 

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In East Lansing, Michigan, on April 11th, 2020, a student rental on the west side of Kedzie Street between Albert Street and Grand River Avenue, built in 1937 and owned by "GTW Investment Properties LLC."

 

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Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names terms:

• East Lansing (7013674)

• Ingham (county) (1002502)

 

Art & Architecture Thesaurus terms:

• brick (clay material) (300010463)

• chimneys (architectural elements) (300003933)

• Colonial Revival (300018146)

• downspouts (300052560)

• gable dormers (300002247)

• gutters (building drainage components) (300052565)

• houses (300005433)

• overhangs (300002713)

• rental housing (300000312)

• shutters (opening covers) (300003173)

• siding (300014861)

• side gables (300164837)

• tan (color) (300266248)

• two-story (300163703)

• university towns (300387527)

 

Wikidata items:

• 11 April 2020 (Q57396701)

• 1930s in architecture (Q16482516)

• 1937 in architecture (Q2811680)

• April 11 (Q2501)

• April 2020 (Q55020106)

• Central Michigan (Q2945568)

• Lansing – East Lansing metropolitan area (Q6487493)

• roof drainage (Q41902561)

• Treaty of Saginaw (Q1572601)

 

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

• Dwellings—Michigan (sh94006015)

These guys have a somewhat comical face.

This comical looking creature with the oversized wings is another member of the planthopper family, this time in a sub-family with the tongue-twisting name "Dictyopharidae".

 

Dictyopharidae is a family of bugs in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha belonging to the suborder Fulgoromorpha.

 

Technical info:

 

100mm f2.8 macro lens + 20mm ET

ISO200

1/125

f11

DIY diffuser

Where's the Mandrill Sergeant when you need him LOL

 

-

 

The mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) is a primate of the Old World monkey (Cercopithecidae) family, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill (monkey). It is found in southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. Mandrills mostly live in tropical rainforests and forest-savanna mosaics. They live in groups called hordes. Mandrills have an omnivorous diet consisting mostly of fruits and insects.

 

Taken in Amsterdam Artis Zoo. Their compound looks seriously pre WW II though, all concrete, no vegetation and pretty depressing altogether. These amazing creatures deserve much better.

Here is another Collage I made early today, showing some of my comical bird shots.

Top left, a confusing looking Sulphur-crested-cockatoo

Middle left A Crimson Roeslla with marching orders.

bottom left Chicken little giving directions.

Center shot, Chicken Little looking surprised.

Top right Chicken little stood on something sharp.

Middle Right Mr Wattle looking quite surprised.

Bottom Right A Sulphur-crested-cockatoo doing push-ups.

In this comical setting, the man holding the umbrella is looking up at the holes in it as the two women on his sides try to maintain some composure. One of the things I find funny about this image is how you can clearly see the various crudely painted backdrops in the background. Note the door just to the right of the group on the edge of the frame. I doubt this photographer took many landscape oriented photographs as his studio certainly was not set up to do so. I am thinking the man in the photo may actually be the photographer himself playing around a little. It's hard to image that a customer would have payed for this portrait. In all, it is a great example of Victorians having a little fun with a photograph. Photograph by Rose Studio, Lima, Ohio. Found in Ohio.

Before I hurl comical comments, I have to remember that this is someone's pride and joy. Just look at the care the owner took to preserve this. How could I possibly ponder a barge or trawler? No, no, no! I won't do that.

 

But shouldn't the hood have markings for a helicopter pad? Perhaps they are trying to be inconspicuous?

Time-lapse video of one set of ducks scaring off another set of ducks. It's rather comical given the time-lapseness of the video.

I was a funny fella

The crowd would hoot and holler for more

I wore a drunk's red nose for applause

Oh yes I was a comical priest

"With a joke for the flock and a hand up your fleece"

Drooling the drink and the lipstick and greasepaint

Down the cardboard front of my dirty dog-collar

 

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,

now I'm dead, now I'm dead

And I'm going on to meet my reward

I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was scared

He might of never heard God's Comic

 

So there he was on a water-bed

Drinking a cola of a mystery brand

Reading an airport novelette, listening to

Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Requiem"

He said, before it had really begun, "I prefer

the one about my son"

"I've been wading through all this unbelievable

junk and wondering if I should have given

the world to the monkeys"

  

I'm going to take a little trip down Paradise's

endless shores

They say that travel broadens the mind, till you

can't get your head out of doors

 

I'm sitting here on the top of the world

I hang around in the longest night

Until each beast has gone bed and then I say

"God bless" and turn out the light

While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe and

you beg and you promise

And you bargain and you plead

Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus

It's the big white beard I suppose

I'm going up to the pole, where you folks die of cold

I might be gone for a while if you need me

 

Now I'm dead, now I'm dead, now I'm dead,

now I'm dead, now I'm dead and you're all

going on to meet your reward

 

Are you scared? Are you scared? Are you scared?

Are you scared?

You might have never heard, but God's comic

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7dzTCvLfN0

  

His expression was quite funny and comical!

This giraffe had a cheek full of food, hence his comical look.

Florence Nightin’owl is our tribute to history’s most famous nurse and to all the nurses, past and present, who have worked tirelessly to care for our children, young people and families. With her smart blue uniform and comical glasses, Florence represents the cour-age, compassion, trust, respect, commitment and sense of fun that our teams show every day at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and throughout the NHS.

 

Artist: Deven Bhurke

Is an artist and graphic designer with a versatile style. He has previously been involved in similar WIA public art events and he was commissioned by Marwell Wildlife’s Go! Rhinos in 2013, by the National Literacy Trust in 2014, and by Transport for London.

Website: www.devenbhurke.com

 

Sponsor: Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Trust

 

Auction Price: £6000

 

The Big Hoot captured the imagination of everyone in Birmingham and beyond, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets with their Big Hoot Trail maps to explore the colourful invasion of individually designed owls. Taking in the city’s 10 districts, tourists and residents alike enjoyed their owl adventure, discovering and celebrating the extraordinary creativity produced by many of Birmingham’s artistic community and over 25,000 young people.

 

The Big Hoot owls went under the hammer on 15 October 2015 at The Big Hoot auction sponsored by Vodafone and we are thrilled to have smashed our target by raising the incredible sum of £508,035!

 

The money raised from the auction will support Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s £3.65m Star Appeal. This appeal will enable us to create a first of its kind, a Rare Diseases Centre in the UK specifically for children. It will provide co-ordinated care, treatment, support and most importantly hope to children and families living with a rare or undiagnosed condition.

 

In addition the auction raised £15,000 for G’owl’d by Temper with proceeds going to Edward’s Trust, and £7,800 for Fleet and Free with proceeds going to Birchfield Harriers.

 

So thank you - we simply couldn’t have done it without you.

 

Artists have played a major role in The Big Hoot, creating almost 100 owl sculptures. We would like to thank all the artists for their incredible creativity and hard work.

Professional artists from Birmingham, the wider Midlands region and further afield have created extraordinary giant owls that are all unique in style and character and represent the city’s creativity, history and heritage, music, fashion, architecture and attractions.

Birmingham is home to a wealth of artistic and creative individuals and communities and many award-winning and nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. We are delighted with the response from Birmingham’s creative community and are thrilled to work in collaboration with them to transform the streets, squares and parks of the city.

For five months artists have been creating owls in their studios, at home and in The Big Hoot Artists’ Studio at the Custard Factory in Digbeth. Their inspiring and innovative designs have been realised in genres including graffiti, illustration, fine art, graphics, typography, mosaic and new media. They have worked with both community groups and with corporates to realise ideas and create their stunning designs.

The Big Hoot not only provides a high quality and ambitious free public event for families but also supports the creativity of artists and celebrates talent and diversity. The Big Hoot has provided an inspiring relationship between the city and the arts.

The artists have also reached out to communities enabling more people to participate in the arts, to experience working with professional artists and to be inspiring and inspired. From the north to the south of the city residents groups, youth groups and older peoples’ groups have been collaborating with artists to generate ideas, design and create owls for The Big Hoot.

Creativity is everywhere but the opportunity to participate is not. A range of activities have been programmed within Birmingham’s diverse communities and people from the age of 3 – 97 and from wards within the city boundaries have contributed to The Big Hoot and helped make the event extraordinary. Our projects have seen artists working with hundreds of residents and community members including children in looked after care, older peoples’ clubs, young people and residents organisations to design and decorate the owls displayed as part of the 10 week public event.

This comical sow came up to check me out, making sure I wasn't a threat as she had her youngsters nearby.

High ISO so please excuse noise.

 

Charismatic and sometimes comical, these burrowing owls just seemed annoyed when I visited them in Lubbock and at Caprock Canyons State Park. :)

 

By the way, the flowering yellow bush you can see in this shot is full of wicked thorns!

 

Carismático y a veces cómico, estos tecolotes llaneros sólo parecían molestos e irritados cuando los visité en Lubbock y en el Parque Estatal Caprock Canyons.

 

A propósito, el arbusto que se ve con las flores amarillas tiene unas espinas horripilantes.

its becoming a bit of a mantra on here isnt it? I may even make it my personal moto – “you can never have too may robins!”

 

another from the archives this little chap had sat right in from of me in a bush when the wind picked up and ruffled all his feathers – i loved the comical look on his face as he faced what we would describe as a 'bad hair day'!

 

this didn’t faze him though as as soon as the wind let-up, he started ‘a-preening and a-plucking’ and generally having a head-to-talon makeover! he even seemed to pull a few feathers out! (possibly finding greys? well, we’ve all done it!)

 

hope everyone has a fab weekend!

 

(PLEASE NO AWARDS OR PICTURES OR FLASHY BADGES)

Believe it or not, I had never seen a Brown Pelican before! We only get the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) here. However, there were several of these beautiful birds hanging around the Blue Waters Inn, on the Island of Tobago, when we were there mid-March. Sometimes, they were flying or floating on the aquamarine water of the Atlantic Ocean, or else perched on a small, wooden, floating platform out in the bay.

 

"The Brown Pelican is a comically elegant bird with an oversized bill, sinuous neck, and big, dark body. They feed by plunge-diving from high up, using the force of impact to stun small fish before scooping them up. They are fairly common today—an excellent example of a species’ recovery from pesticide pollution that once placed them at the brink of extinction." From AllAboutBirds.

 

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/id

 

Bear with me, everyone, as I think I am going to have to post 5 (I posted 6 the first two days) photos from my trip each day, otherwise it will take me many months (years?) to get them on to Flickr. Obviously, no comments expected, unless you happen to like one photo in particular. Actually, I am so disappointed with my photos - never have so many photos come out blurry, many totally blurry and no use at all. I'm not sure why, though the light was often really bad and maybe the humidity had some effect. For some species, I will be posting awful shots, just for the record.

 

It will take me forever to do much of a write-up about this trip, but I hope to add an extra bit of information about each photo to the very simple, basic description. Right now, I'm not quite sure where I was and when, lol! We arrived back in Calgary in the evening of 21 March 2017, and I have to get myself somewhat organized and should see to all sorts of important things. Totally dead beat after such a busy time away, dealing with extremely early mornings and hot, humid weather. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a dreadful night-owl, so getting up around 5:15 am was an absolute killer. Also, heat and humidity don't agree with my body, so each trip out was quite exhausting. In the morning of 21 March, we had to get up around 2:00 am, as we had such an early flight (5 and a half hours) from Trinidad to Toronto - followed by a four-hour flight back to Calgary. On our very first day, we had three flights in a row, as we flew from Calgary to Toronto, then Toronto to Port of Spain on Trinidad, from where we had a short flight to the island of Tobago.

 

This adventure was only the second holiday (or was it actually my third?) of any kind, anywhere, that I have had in something like 30 or 35 years! The other holiday was a one-week holiday with my great friends from England, Linda and Tony, when we went down south to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons in September 2012. I have had maybe half a dozen weekends away, including to Waterton National Park, which have helped keep me going.

 

Six birding/photographer friends and I decided that we would take this exciting trip together, spending the first two or three days on the island of Tobago and then the rest of the time at the Asa Wright Nature Centre on the nearby, larger island of Trinidad. We decided to take a complete package, so everything was included - flights (we were so very lucky to get Black Friday prices, which were 50% off!), accommodation at both places, all our food, and the various walks and day trips that we could chose from. Two of my friends, Anne B. and Brenda, saw to all the planning of flights and accommodations, which was so very much appreciated by the rest of us. I could never have done all this myself!

 

What a time we had, seeing so many beautiful things - and, of course, everything was a lifer for me. Some of these friends had visited Costa Rica before, so were familiar with quite a few of the birds. There was a lot more to see on Trinidad, so we were glad that we chose Tobago to visit first and then spend a longer time at Asa Wright. It was wonderful to be right by the sea, though, at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago.

 

The Asa Wright Nature Centre on the much larger island of Trinidad is such an amazing place! We stayed in cabins up or down hill from the main building. Really, one doesn't need to travel away from the Centre for birding, as so many different species visit the Hummingbird feeders that are right by the huge, open veranda, and the trees of the rain forest high up a mountainous road. The drive up and down this narrow, twisting, pot-holed road was an adventure in itself! Never would I ever do this drive myself - we had a guide who drove us everywhere in a van/small bus. I had read many accounts of this road, lol! There was just enough room for two vehicles to squeeze past each other, and the honking of horns was almost continuous - either to warn any vehicle that might be coming around the next bend or as a sign that drivers knew each other. The drive along this road took just over an hour each way.

 

I'm already missing the great food that was provided every single day at Asa Wright and the Rum Punch that appeared each evening. I never drink at all, so I wasn't sure if I would even try the Punch - glad I did, though, as it was delicious and refreshing.

EXPLORE; Explored May 24, 2010.

 

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These are all real roses that I have grown in my own gardens; photographed; then applied what my photography instructor has coined "the Russell Technique."

 

If you would enjoy viewing more please visit my set, "Psychedelic Roses:"

 

www.flickr.com/photos/motorpsiclist/sets/72157621827383615/

 

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My photographs and videos and any derivative works are my private property and are copyright © by me, John Russell (aka “Zoom Lens”) and ALL my rights, including my exclusive rights, are reserved. ANY use without my permission in writing is forbidden by law.

 

©2008 LSC All Rights Reserved. Not to be used without permission.

 

Cheetah (captive)

 

This beauty can run upwards of 70 mph or 115 kph.

 

Must be viewed Large On Black!

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