View allAll Photos Tagged everything_imaginable
"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer."
- William S. Burroughs
Thanks to Rachel (Larisa Lyn) for creative input and having everything imaginable in her inventory. : )
...Feel🌌
"With cities, it is as with dreams: everything imaginable can be dreamed, but even the most unexpected dream is a rebus that conceals a desire or, its reverse, a fear. Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else."
Italo Calvino; Invisible Cities
Route 89A goes right through the heart of touristic Sedona. Diverse shops selling everything imaginable; restaurants, promotional jeep tours, and helicopter rides, lined both sides of the street. The place was bustling with activity the day of my visit. So good to observe life getting back to "normal" after the lockdowns at the height of the pandemic.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Babette Plana 2022
This image is fully copyrighted and may not be copied or downloaded on any website, blog or periodical without explicit permission and consent from the copyright owner!
Eins für zwei. Und zwei zum Tee.
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Dark and light, contrasts attract. And as far as I remember, our hair is like that :-). Of course, that's not the most important thing. But these two work out pretty well, right? And the passion to capture everything imaginable with the camera is something we have in common. Which makes me very happy. All that's missing is a joint cup of tea in Berlin or somewhere else – or coffee, that would be fine with me too ;-) Happy birthday in retrospect, dear Silke!
By the way, I met the horses on the lush green (!) meadow on your birthday, as you must have noticed ;-)
Taking photos is possible, but at the moment I mainly sit at the screen and mostly too much because of work – and Flickr suffers from that too ... In summer it is just a shame not to go out ...
///
Dunkel und hell, Kontraste ziehen sich an. Und soweit ich mich erinnere sind so unsere Haare :-). Die sind natürlich nicht das Wichtigste. Aber bei diesen beiden macht sich das doch ganz gut, oder? Und die Leidenschaft, mit der Kamera so alles erdenklich Mögliche festzuhalten, ist uns wiederum gemein. Was mich sehr freut. Fehlt nur noch eine gemeinsame Tasse Tee in Berlin oder sonstwo – oder auch Kaffee, das wäre mir auch recht ;-) Alles erdenklich Gute zum Geburtstag nachträglich, liebe Silke!
Die Pferde auf der saftig grünen (!) Wiese traf ich übrigens an Deinem Geburtstag, wie Du bestimmt bemerkt hast ;-)
Fotografieren geht, aber am Bildschirm sitze ich momentan hauptsächlich und meist zuviel wegen der Arbeit – und da leidet Flickr auch drunter ... Im Sommer ist es einfach schade, nicht rauszugehen ...
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I hope you like the little song as much as I do: ///
Ich hoffe, Dir gefällt der kleine Song genauso wie mir:
What a day! The poor flowers in the garden have had everything imaginable thrown at them. It was an endless parade of storm cells bringing rain, snow, hail, sleet, thunder. lightening, high winds, and yes....even sunshine. It truly was one of those days where you could honestly say...."if you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes."
Open since 1902 and still run by the Harper Family in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. A typical country store in that it has a little bit of everything imaginable. But Harper's is essentially a living museum and is well worth exploring even it you do not need anything.
Proprietor of Doc's Leathers motorcycle gear on Queen St. W in Toronto. A must-see spot filled not only with biking gear but also a vintage museum filled with everything imaginable from pistols, transistor radios, typewriters, telephones, animal skulls, minerals, etc. A great trip down memory lane.
Across Minnesota's rolling green countryside, abandoned barns and weathered sheds stand as silent memorials to a way of life that once defined our state.
A generation ago, small farms dotted nearly every township. Their fields were tilled by families whose livelihoods depended on livestock, corn, beans, or wheat. But these farms were more than places of hard work as they formed tight-knit communities bound together by the rhythm of seasons, church suppers, local sporting events, and the daily responsibilities of chores passed down from parents to children.
Today, those family farms are disappearing. Economic pressures, industrial agriculture, and the consolidation of farmland into corporate holdings have all hastened their decline. What once supported thriving rural populations and the small towns around them has given way to mechanical efficiency, leaving behind empty houses, sagging sheds, and hollow silos.
Each deserted farmstead tells its own quiet story of children raised in cramped upstairs bedrooms, simple suppers shared after long days in the fields, harvests celebrated, and lean years endured. Now, only deteriorating fragments of that life remain.
A lone shed, with its faded boards and patched roof, stands on a farm site like a weathered signpost to the past. Its solitary presence evokes memories of the people who once worked this land, of the sweat and hope they invested in every acre.
Though fewer family farmers remain to carry forward those traditions, the old buildings stand as wooden reminders of the resilience of those who built meaningful lives through hard work and perseverance.
Things will never return to the way they were, but we can still honor the countless lives shaped by Minnesota's small farms. On a quiet day, if we listen carefully, we can still hear that rural heritage whispering from the fields and from the ramshackle buildings that anchor deserted farm sites.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Like many Americans today, I haven't been to a movie theater for at least a decade.
Years ago, in my career, when I was managing large geographical territories, I would often find myself in a city with a free afternoon, and to fill my time, I would go to a movie if one piqued my interest.
The afternoon matinees were definitely my favorite time to attend. Sparse crowds, fresh popcorn with too much butter on it, plus no bunch of rowdies who would spoil the movie with their incessant chatter.
Often, there is an early show of nature that loads of people never see, as they are still embracing their pillow when it starts in the early morning hours.
When my wife and I go out in search of wildlife to photograph, there are times when we stop our vehicle, put the windows down to listen, and savor the scenery.
One of our favorite times has been this unique summer. We have had numerous mornings with heavy fog, although when there are only pockets of fog, as in this photo, that is simply the best of all worlds.
Couple that along with the color-tinged skies and the rush of a small flock of geese coming in for a landing, and you have a scene worthy of a painting.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
For nearly a week, my wife and I watched these two juvenile Eastern Kingbirds joust for supremacy over perching space on a country wire fence. The one on the left appears to be instructing its sibling where there was more room to sit rather than to crowd him.
Born earlier this summer, these two are already showing a taste of their feisty temperament that will characterize their adult life.
Adult Eastern Kingbirds are summer residents across much of Minnesota. Easily recognizable when perched upright on fence posts, shrubs, or treetops, they survey open spaces for flying insects that make up the bulk of their diet. Their crisp black-and-white plumage with a tail that looks like it was dipped in white paint gives it a regal appearance.
The bold character of the Eastern Kingbird sets it apart from other birds of its size. Weighing barely 1.5 ounces, they are very aggressive defenders of their territory.
During nesting season, kingbirds will launch fearless attacks against much larger intruders like hawks, crows, herons, and even bald eagles.
Their relentless harassment usually causes the larger birds to retreat, simply to escape the harmless but annoying attacks.
Kingbirds place a strong emphasis on family as both the male and female work tirelessly to defend the nest, feed the chicks, and ensure their survival. Their staunch protective actions have earned them the title of “tyrant flycatcher” from many birdwatchers due to their assertive, territorial behavior.
These small but fierce birds remind us that courage is not always defined by size.
Now, if the parents could only get these two to stop quarreling with each other.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Perched delicately on goldenrod blooms, this Nashville Warbler appears like a splash of sunshine come alive. With its soft gray head, striking white eye ring, and yellow breast, it almost glows against the September wildflowers of Minnesota. Though small and delicate, this warbler carries within it a remarkable story of nature, the call to migrate.
Unlike other birds that migrate overhead in noisy flocks, the Nashville Warbler journeys alone, without accompanying family. Each fall, it alights from Minnesota’s fields and forests to begin a solitary passage south.
Nights are its chosen hours of travel, when it is guided by stars and Earth’s magnetic field. At dawn, it drops into thickets and bushy hedges to glean insects and other foods. These rest and refueling pauses are essential, as without frequent fill-ups, the tiny traveler could not fly the thousands of miles that stretch between Minnesota and its winter home in Mexico and Central America.
Its migration is not hurried. Weeks may pass before this warbler reaches its destination, each mile a testament to the miracle of its endurance. Each bird follows its own inner compass. Bird scientists say that no family members accompany it.
Yet there is some kinship in the skies as they join ad-hoc flocks of other warbler species and small birds that share the same invisible highways, forming temporary associations.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Marrying a foreigner brings both great challenges as well as a multitude of great delights. During the first several years of our marriage and before I met my wife’s family, my only contact with them was over a wall-hung phone on a $3 per-minute, scratchy international telephone call.
The call was facilitated by two phone operators, one in the US and the other an International Operator. Often, a state-side person had to wait for half an hour after placing the call until an International Operator called you back to connect both parties. (Try explaining this to a teenage grandchild.)
I told my wife I needed her to translate for me when I first heard her coal-miner dad’s deep Aussie accent. When we traveled to meet her family for the first time, in the first of over a dozen visits, I soon picked up a lot of Australian slang, some of which I dared repeat in polite company.
The Aussies used many terms I was not familiar with, such as “having a chin wag.” This was a roundabout way of saying a couple of people were having a good chat.
This adult Pileated Woodpecker and a youngster look to be taking some time out from hammering their heads against a utility pole to have a chin wag about life. The young one was probably hatched just over a month ago and is learning the flighty ways of life from an adult.
These two woodpeckers will not leave Minnesota this winter (probably a result of brain damage from striking wood), but will find adequate shelter in dead trees in which they have hollowed out a spot to retreat from the bitter winds.
The nesting areas they dig out are rarely used more than once and serve as an important cog in the forests, as the holes go on to serve as a shelter and as nesting cavities for owls, squirrels, and a plethora of other creatures.
A single nest cavity can take up to 6 weeks to excavate, and while doing so, their drumming can often be heard up to a half mile away.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Fawns grow up quickly. Just a few weeks ago, this one was spindly-legged, trying to stand up without falling. His main exercise came from trying to keep up with his mother.
Now, those legs have gained strength and agility along with about a foot or more of growth. Though he and his peers are still not as alert as they will become this fall, they no longer stand by the side of the road gawking at passersby.
When startled, fawns of this size can become airborne without notice, their white tails bounding over rows of beans, while racing their mother to the woods to find cover.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Perched on a rusting post sticking out of a green, scum-covered wetland pond, an Eastern Phoebe waits patiently early in the morning for an unsuspecting insect to fly by and turn into breakfast.
Though a diminutive bird and adorned by modest colors of gray and white, the Eastern Phoebe is one of Minnesota’s faithful arrivals in spring, when it often returns in March while snow still lingers after a long winter. Their appearance is a sign to winter-weary Minnesotans that winter is about to make its anticipated retreat.
The life of these wee birds is a busy one. Mates use mud and moss to build hardened nests, much like a barn swallow, where they will raise one or sometimes two broods during a summer. After the hatching of their young, both parents fly often from their perches to catch insects in midair, which they repeatedly bring back to feed their hungry nestlings throughout the day.
As the days grow shorter in September, the phoebe prepares for a trip south, to the southern US or Mexico. The trip often takes weeks as it stops often to feed and rest, taking refuge near woodlands and waterways.
Unlike many other small birds, such as warblers or blackbirds that travel in noisy flocks, the small, dainty Eastern Phoebe will make the trip by itself, a lonely journey of over a thousand miles.
But, come March, this faithful bird will return to our state, threading together spring and fall while living part of its life here.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Part of my Surfcoast /Great Ocean Road trip. Bay of Martyrs - There are plenty of lookout areas to enjoy along this stretch of coastline, particularly at sunset when the sky turns a milky pink
This weathered dairy barn, with its handsome brickwork and distinctive gambrel roof, stands as a century-old survivor from the early 1900s, when similar architectural combinations defined rural America. The gambrel design itself traces back to Dutch settlers who brought this practical roof style to America in the 1600s.
On the modest family farms of that era, a substantial barn like this served as the farming operation's heartbeat. From their initial construction until the widespread decline of Minnesota small dairies in the 1970s and 80s, these barns witnessed generations of farmers housing their cattle and storing tons of hay in the loft above. The upper level sometimes held grain bins for winter feeding, making the barn a complete storehouse.
That cupola crowning the roof wasn't a mere decoration as it provided essential ventilation to prevent hay from spoiling and kept air circulating throughout the structure, protecting both feed and livestock.
Around the time this barn was built, St. Cloud served as a Minnesota brick manufacturing center, with the industry established in Stearns County during the Civil War era. While smaller brick yards operated closer to this barn's location in Kennebec County, practical considerations likely meant these bricks arrived by rail from St. Cloud's larger, more established kilns.
The farm children who grew up around barns like this remember them as centers of endless daily labor, but also a place where they learned lessons about life's fragility through caring for animals from birth to death.
Those same youngsters, many of them now elderly, carry vivid memories of Saturday morning conversations with fathers long gone, shared while mucking stalls and the infectious laughter of siblings goofing around at milking time, their voices still echoing despite needing hearing aids now to catch them.
Most of those once-young farmer boys have aged beyond heavy labor, but their hands remain calloused from decades of pitchfork handles, five-gallon feed pails, and the cool feel of snapping metal stanchions together before milking the trapped cows.
So forgive us old-timers for our wistfulness when we see an empty barn standing silent on a farm place. For during very formative years of our lives, structures like this one were at the heart of everything we knew, even if that heartbeat has now slowed down and grown faint.
(Photographed in Kennebec County, MN)
The molting process of a Wood Duck is fascinating to watch, not only for the transformation of its appearance, but also to see the difference in how it operates during the day. The late summer molt is the major molt of the year. It usually happens over the course of 2-3 weeks around late summer.
I caught the earliest rays of the sun hitting this male wood duck as it perched on a small dirt hill rising out of a scummy pond. There were probably another 20 or so other ones hanging around, some perched on dead tree limbs hanging over the pond, while others swam near the reeds around the pond.
Since they have no weapon of flight right now, they try to be as inconspicuous as possible. Sometimes, when they spot my wife and me as we approach in our vehicle, they will glide quickly to the reeds and disappear amongst them.
However, if they are patient, they will soon regain their vibrant colors and will once again become the beauties of the water.
The overall molting process takes a few weeks total, but the flightless period is shorter because flight feather regrowth begins before all other feathers are fully replaced.
This timing is crucial for wood ducks because they need to complete their molt and regain flight capability before fall migration begins.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
📍 La Habana
Havana is a synthesis of all Cuba, capital of the island and one of the most beautiful cities in Latin America.
The charm of the “Pearl of the Caribbean” continues to act, whoever knows it returns enriched and conquered.
Renewed, it offers everything imaginable in terms of colonial architecture.
Its most important neighborhoods, Old Havana, Vedado, Miramar, Centro Havana and the Malecón will make you enjoy the memories of the old architecture.
Havana is the tropical splendor, which gathers the best of Spain, the best of Africa and the best of the Antilles. Havana, with its old American cars, its hustle and bustle, its bare buildings, its history, its people and its rhythms leaves no one indifferent.
If you wanna learn in the field, please check out and join my next trip to Cuba , check below:
🌎 Planet Cuba Photography Tour Workshop 2023 & 2024 🌎
👉 tristanphotos.com/tours/cuba-photo-tour/
===========================
Now your turn !
Would you like to visit La Habana ? Or maybe do you have any question ? Either way let me know in the comments below ! 🎉
Traipsing through some snowy woods yesterday I was surprised to hear and then see a Belted Kingfisher alight on the top of an old dead tree above an open stream. He didn’t stay long but long enough for me to locate him from 30 yards away and shoot a few frames. I wondered why he was still here in Minnesota near the end of November.
When I got home I did some research and found that Kingfishers are considered a partial migrant and can survive cold temperatures if open water is available. Most Kingfishers that breed in Canada, Alaska and northern Minnesota migrate to the southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America or even northern South America.
However, it is not uncommon to see them remain near open water during the winter in the central or southern part of our state. It is a mystery to me how they make the choice to stay or migrate.
One migration fact I found interesting is that when migrating long distances, females tend to fly further than do the males. Probably a lesson of some sort there.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
📍 La Habana
Havana is a synthesis of all Cuba, capital of the island and one of the most beautiful cities in Latin America.
The charm of the “Pearl of the Caribbean” continues to act, whoever knows it returns enriched and conquered.
Renewed, it offers everything imaginable in terms of colonial architecture.
Its most important neighborhoods, Old Havana, Vedado, Miramar, Centro Havana and the Malecón will make you enjoy the memories of the old architecture.
Havana is the tropical splendor, which gathers the best of Spain, the best of Africa and the best of the Antilles. Havana, with its old American cars, its hustle and bustle, its bare buildings, its history, its people and its rhythms leaves no one indifferent.
That being said, if would you like to visit Cuba check out my next Photography Tour !
We'll get amazing shots in the beautiful Havana, Viñales & Trinidad !
🌎 Planet Cuba Photography Tour 2023 & 2024 🌎
👉 tristanphotos.com/tours/cuba-photo-tour/
===========================
And if you would like to learn more about La Habana , please check out my FREE travel guide full of valuable tips and beautiful photos
🌎 La Habana: Complete Travel Guide 2022 🌎
👉 wego-planet.com/havana-travel-guide/
===========================
Now your turn
Would you like to visit La Habana ? Or maybe do you have any question ? Either way let me know in the comments below ! 🎉
The Great Blue Heron when standing knee-deep in murky water hunting for careless fish can often appear almost like caricature of a pre-historic creature. It has curves where no bird should curve and long, bony knees that look like hollow straws with claws at one end.
But when they are airborne they take on another dimension, one of grace and if caught in good light, a surprising amount of color.
In our area, I have never seen a heron winter over but bird experts say some do in the far southern parts of our state or where there are open waters such as around power plants or on parts of the Mississippi River that are ice-free.
Herons are well-known for their ability to pause in place, sometimes for minutes, before striking with lightning speed to capture the object of their hunt.
Though best known as great fishers, they do add other things to their diet. During their summers here in Minnesota they can eat snakes, frog, insects, small mammals and even small ducklings. Gophers and voles also have to be very wary around herons.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
To the most wonderful & special mother in the world, best wishes for this coming year! You deserve the very best of everything imaginable! Love you always, con tanto amore =)
Photographing this fine buck on an early summer morning brought back memories of the first logo that made an impression on me when I was a young child.
My father must have had a policy with The Hartford Insurance Group, because we often got unsolicited mail from them in the late 1940s. Their logo of the outline of a stag was prominent on all of their materials.
The Hartford Company is an old one, founded in 1810 in Hartford, Connecticut. When a huge fire destroyed New York’s financial district, the company’s president, Eliphalet Terry, used his own money to cover all the resulting claims. (It is rumored his wealth came from collecting $10 from everyone who laughed and commented on his first name.)
The origin of the logo is not known, but it is pretty ancient. However, the earliest record of it being used was in 1861 when it was found on an insurance policy issued to Abraham Lincoln.
Some historians suggest the image of the stag came from a well-known painting in 1851 by Sir Edwin Landseer, entitled “The Monarch of the Glen.”
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
📍 La Habana
Havana is a synthesis of all Cuba, capital of the island and one of the most beautiful cities in Latin America.
The charm of the “Pearl of the Caribbean” continues to act, whoever knows it returns enriched and conquered.
Renewed, it offers everything imaginable in terms of colonial architecture.
Its most important neighborhoods, Old Havana, Vedado, Miramar, Centro Havana and the Malecón will make you enjoy the memories of the old architecture.
Havana is the tropical splendor, which gathers the best of Spain, the best of Africa and the best of the Antilles. Havana, with its old American cars, its hustle and bustle, its bare buildings, its history, its people and its rhythms leaves no one indifferent.
That being said, would you like to visit Cuba ?
If the answer is yes, so you may want to check my new Photography Tour !
This journey is completely different than any other trips. We will travel at the rhythm of light, and the focus is to take time to enjoy the place and meet people.No endless exhaustive excursions collection tourist sites. The Goal here is to be there, and live the country.
And the best part ?
You'll be accompanied by a photographer (alias me 😁 ), that will give you all his secret tips to build award winning images that will Wow your friends and family !
What else could you dream about ?
🌎 Planet Cuba Photography Tour Workshop 2023 & 2024 🌎
👉 tristanphotos.com/tours/cuba-photo-tour/
👉 Link in Bio
And if you would like to learn more about La Habana , please check out my FREE travel guide full of valuable tips and beautiful photos
🌎 La Habana: Complete Travel Guide 2022 🌎
👉 wego-planet.com/havana-travel-guide/
👉 Link in Bio
Now your turn
Would you like to visit La Habana ? Or maybe do you have any question ? Either way let me know in the comments below ! 🎉
Staying with the St Leonards theme, this image was taken some 20 minutes after the last image I posted of the Sirens Boathouse & Kiosk. I could not believe how quickly Mothers Nature can turn things around to produce an amazing colour display. Hoping you enjoy the tones as much as I did.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
We all have slow days, off days days we feel tired or uninspired, but they are nothing to concern yourself with. Like the ocean, the stillness is just another of its natural states. Soon the winds will return, the waves will rise and your imagination will flow freely again.
- Beau Taplin
This species of hawk does not care for Minnesota winters.
During fall migration, Broad-winged Hawks gather in large flocks that can number in the thousands as they migrate to South America, as far as Brazil, to spend the winter.
They usually begin returning to our area in April.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Is it real... Or is it Photoshopped?
...Hmmmmmmmmmmm...
No... I'm not gay...
I just like rainbows, alright!
This image is ©Mike Jones Photography, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, and not part of the public domain. Any use, or posting of this image is prohibited without my consent.
(In other words, I am SICK of this image being STOLEN and put on everything imaginable! I put MANY hours of work into shooting and photoshopping this original piece of work)
Fashions for men, women and children and Spanish and international designers take up shop around the streets of every huge city in Spain .
Shops selling traditional articles such as espadrilles, fabrics, ropes, hats and religious articles.
Open-air markets. The Rastro is the most famous of the flea markets which opens on Sundays. Everything imaginable can be found here from valuable antiques to used clothing, including collector cards, books, records, paintings, etc.
I LOVE THIS PLACE :)
Despite the twists and turns in the road plus the houses, hotels, trees and just about everything imaginable trying to block our view, we kept getting glimpses of what looked like a really spectacular low lying mist/fog, whilst en route to Derwent Water last Sunday.
We hadn't planned on stopping before we reached Derwent Water but frustration started to set in as there was nowhere safe or legal to pull over, so we could check it out.
After driving around we finally managed to find somewhere to park so we could walk to the edge of Windermere and take a look.
Iv'e never grabbed my gear so quickly, but we were not disappointed,
Thick mist just seemed to hang over the lake with the landscape peeping out in the distance and the boats on the lake, shrouded in mist.
That was pretty special in itself, then I turned around.......and saw this.
It was the most breathtaking, impromptu scene I think we have come across.
Hand brake turns are becoming a frequent manoeuvre while en route to our destinations!
Yesterday, when my faithful spotter and I were dawdling on a country road that bordered a couple of wetland ponds within a mile of each other, we saw an eagle perched high on a dead tree overlooking the first pond. On the other side of the road, a smaller pond held a young Blue Heron.
Driving at the breakneck speed of 13 mph, we proceeded to the next pond that had been bereft of waterfowl since late July. It nearly dried up, then refilled as we received more rain, but no waterfowl have yet returned.
However, next to the pond, there are some scrub trees on one side of the road and large ones on the other side. We often see birds hightailing it from one set of trees to the other as they see us approaching.
I only had a few seconds to shoot this particular bird before it flew off into the depths of the trees, where I lost sight of it. Although we waited for a few minutes for it to reappear, it did not.
Often, when I photograph smaller birds, I have to wait until I get home and bring the photos up on my monitor before I know what I have. As a birding neophyte, even after I bring them up, there are some birds I have absolutely no clue what they are.
When this bird filled my monitor, I immediately knew two things. One, all four shots I took were lousy. Secondly, I had no idea what the bird was as I had never photographed it before.
Running the photo through a few birding sites, they all agreed it was a Hermit Thrush, a new one for me, not only to capture but also to discover that such a bird existed in our state. I felt fortunate to have photographed it before it leaves in a few weeks to winter in Mexico or Central America.
Such are the things that still make an old man’s heart flutter a little.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Labadee, Haiti
The Haitian flea market contains shops and stalls offering local arts and crafts, coffee and cognac. Alongside an informal local artisan's market has grown up, the colourful merchandise consisting of everything imaginable from baskets and beads to carvings and clothing. Bartering is expected, and adds to the fun, the norm being to start negotiating at around half the asking price.
I photographed this juvenile Eastern Phoebe as it started its day early, while night's damp blackness still surrounded it. In the darkness, the young bird sang with all its might, seemingly unconcerned whether its song would be answered.
When it comes to unrequited singing, my dad, who grew up attending silent movies, once said I had a singing voice uniquely suited for them.
Now at an age when I can sense the fading light of my life's day, I have witnessed in others and felt within myself the suffocating darkness that falls when life threatens to squeeze out the will to continue.
Familiar shadows touch many of us: wayward children, the crushing weight of losing a spouse or child, financial ruin, significant health problems, or lives once brimming with promise now filled with broken dreams.
Each of us handles life's dark times differently. Some people collapse and never fully embrace life again. Others try to fill their losses and disappointments with destructive habits, frantic activity, or material possessions.
However, some sing in the darkness, not because they feel joyful, but because singing gives voice to hope.
To sing in life's dark times is to refuse defeat. It is an act of defiance and faith, the whispered response of a heavy heart that tomorrow may bring light again.
This young Phoebe understands something about living a solitary life. Its family stays together for only a few weeks after fledgling, and then it faces the world alone. In just weeks, this tiny bird, weighing no more than a large grape, will fly thousands of miles to Mexico and Central America to spend the winter.
No family member will accompany it on this journey.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
This is the closest I have ever been able to get to a Double-crested Cormorant. My compliant spotter and I took a 50-mile wander through Isanti County early Friday morning. Before we got more than two miles out of town, we encountered this young juvenile on a shallow lake, swimming amongst about a dozen swans less than 10 feet from the road.
I think it might be a little confused or colorblind at this age.
Its coloring gives a pretty good clue that it was hatched only a few months ago. Since then, it has been learning how to swim, dive to depths of 20-25 feet after minnows, hold its breath for up to a minute underwater, and follow its mother, well, most of the time.
As this juvenile matures, its brown plumage will darken until it mirrors the glossy black of an adult.
One unusual characteristic of Cormorants is that, unlike ducks, their feathers are not fully waterproof. While this allows them to dive more efficiently in pursuit of prey, it also means they have to spread their wings to dry after emerging from the water.
Cormorants will begin their migration in another month. Leaving our state, they will winter in southern states in the U.S., as well as Mexico and the Caribbean. In late March, they will begin their return here.
The average lifespan of a Cormorant summering in Minnesota waters is about six years.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
And yes, she does throw herself toward the water.
So, we have nation this and that day and world what-so-ever week and tributes to everything imaginable animal and thing in the universe, and that includes the Discovery Channels Shark Week. Poor ol’ Mr. and Mrs. Gator get absolutely no credit, but I’m going to change that and begin a week-long celebration of these Lumpy Lizards. Does Lumpy Lizard Week sound better than Gator Week? I think Gator Week is a bit catchier and could catch on… Ha ha ha!!! So, here’s the start of it, but don’t expect it to run the entire week as it could bore some of the people even though I have enough gator shots to do a Gator month.
I’m going to begin with one of THE most skittish alligators on the bayou and one that I was never able to capture until last week. I must admit to cheating a bit as it took me quite some time to stay in the shadows on the far side of the bayou and inch my way toward her before she EXPLODED toward the water. I was extremely fortunate to finally capture that launch.
At least I think it’s a female, because she looks mature and quite trim when compared those overweight males. You get two shots to show the launch toward the water and how it happens in a split second. Photo taken on Horsepen Bayou in Alligator Alley. I’ll also add that I have no explanation as to why there is all of the red mud on the mouth.
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