Brown Shrikes are migratory birds and sighted in winters across the country. I suppose they migrate from Northern Asia / China. They are not common as compared to their other cousins, the Long Tailed Shrike and the Bay Backed Shrike which are seen lot more. This year, we have seen several Brown Shrikes during the summer too much to my surprise.

This kind of surveying from a tall perch is a typical behavior demonstrated by Shrikes. This bird family prefers to perch on dry branches around 2-3 meters high and survey the nearby area, often within 10 meters for any insects or small larvae etc... Once it identifies the prey, it quickly dives, catches and gets back to the perch. On this occasion, this juvenile was excited, fluttered its wings several times, but think it lost sight, so it didn't make the jump.

Thank you so much for your views, favorites and feedback. Much appreciated!

I am very excited about the update of Luanes World @ Slice of heaven:) I have been slaving all day to give the sim a spring make-over, and for the big part the work is finished:)

Where Luanes Magical World @ Morning Glow is all about magic, mystery and fairytales, Luanes World @Slice of Heaven is a 'normal' but very romantic sim with a lot of nice spots all around.

Come see for yourself, and please take a lot of pics on both sims - post them here :)

There's a palamedes in the house... Okay, it's in the yard and not in the house but I always get so excited when these beauties visit. They are more rare than most of the other butterflies that visit. I say most because the zebra swallowtail is the most rare butterfly visitor I get. And yes, I will chase the palamedes and the zebra swallowtail all over the yard.

I have red bay and swamp bay in my yard, both are host plants for the palamedes. I have yet to find any eggs to raise in protective custody. Maybe one day :) The same goes for the zebra swallowtail, I have never found one to raise indoors. I do have paw paws, which are the host plants for the zebra swallowtail I saw one of those through the window the other day but when I went out to chase it, I was out of luck because it was no where to be found.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope your day is splendid. Happy snapping :)

♫ My Favourite Time of Year - The Florin Street Band ♫

Credits: Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Lis.Blog

Verse 1

Lanterns lighting up the town,

Peace on earth is all around,

Everything is calm on Christmas Eve.

There's goodwill in the air tonight,

Angels sing by candle light,

Their voices carried on the wind.

When carol singers gather round,

When I hear that festive sound,

I wanna join with them and sing!

Chorus

They sing a merry song and we all sing along,

A festive melody that tells us Christmas time is here.

See the stars tonight; they're shining bright,

'Cause it's Christmas time and it's my favourite time of year.

Verse 2

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

Give me mistletoe; it's the season to be jolly,

Wrapping presents, writing cards, helping decorate the tree,

But there's one thing that makes it all for me.

When carol singers gather round,

Angel voices fill the town,

It's like the world is joining in!

(Noel, Noel, Noel)

Chorus

They sing a merry song and we all sing along,

A festive melody that tells us Christmas time is here.

See the stars tonight; they're shining bright,

'Cause it's Christmas time and it's my favourite time of year.

Middle 8

Christmas Eve,

Still believe,

So excited,

Can't sleep,

When the morning comes,

Church bells ring,

And he's been!

Chorus

They sing a merry song and we all sing along,

A festive melody that tells us Christmas time is here.

See the stars tonight; they're shining bright,

'Cause it's Christmas time and it's my favourite time of year.

And it's my favourite time of year

(Noel, Noel)

I get pretty excited with anticipation when I see her in the chute because I know its going to be good every time, this ain't her first rodeo. I'm not on the right side of the buck but I felt I had to showcase her anyway. It is like she's going to buck herself right off the screen.

My favourite, catchy tune right now called "First Rodeo"

Love to dance to this song even when I'm by myself. The words could have been written about me back in the day. lol

www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ItjGhVhoM

(the cows like it in the cow barn too, their heads bob up and down to it)

Kemphaan kleurrijk 150523(1xxxxx)

...to get excited about home-grown produce.

Another photo of the Merlin that decided to visit my yard. This was taken in low light because it was snowing, through a window and with a camera held by shaky hands because I was so excited to see it. Taken in Calgary, Alberta.

Thank you for your visit and comments. They are very much appreciated.

A rich purple color winding out of a soft but clean white. No Photoshop. This is the actual purple color. Amazing what nature can offer.

Well ..... it's ALMOST Spring! :)

There I was, feeling frustrated doing an errand instead of taking a walk in the park (it's an either-or situation these days, as I'm not able to walk as much) when there they were .. a beautiful assortment of crocus, blooming among the weeds along Denman Street in Vancouver's West End. I got so excited I almost forgot why I was there in the first place!

VIDEO - Crocus flowers open to the sunlight and close again as the sun sets, or on dark days. Here's the link to a video of the flower opening and closing.

www.britannica.com/video/181071/video-spring-crocus-flowe...

BEST VIEWED LARGE

On the Iowa side, I think I'm most excited about being able to explore the CN more when I move out this way. Tonight after I dropped a carload of signal parts in my storage unit, I heard the CN local getting an eastbound warrant out of CB. With an SD60 and creamy light, I had to make an attempt on it. I hit my primary spot here with the old code line, but was thwarted by traffic on my super-backlit zoom shot.

I’m so excited and admittedly a lil anxious! My Dawgs are Omaha bound for the College baseball World Series! It’s been a dream of a season for UGA and my little proud alum heart is filled to overflowing with joy!

Perfect for chilling while pondering pitching rotations (albeit nervously!) is this COCO LOUIS Unzip Me outfit which can currently be found at the Dubai Event event. I paired it with the super gorgeous crystal adorned Votta sandals from PANDORA, also currently at Dubai.

As ever, COCO LOUIS and PANDORA have the most beautiful color palettes and uniquely lovely designs. Cannot go wrong!

COCO LOUIS main store

PANDORA main store

I hope everyone is having the best week! Sending tons of love … xoxo

Colossus in neon by Jeff Johnson, Live Worms Gallery, North Beach, San Francisco, October 2006.

✼ CHN F23 herohelmet ✼

12 Colours + 3 Additional on Deluxe Pack

4 Glossy Levels

Unrigged

✼ CHN F23 heroshirt ✼

12 Colours + 3 Additional on Deluxe Pack

4 Glossy Levels

Legacy | Jake | Anatomy | CZ Slim | Kario Fit&Flex

✼ CHN F23 heropants ✼

12 Colours + 3 Additional on Deluxe Pack

4 Glossy Levels

Legacy | Jake | Anatomy | CZ Slim | Kario Fit&Flex

All Set Available at Cheerno Mainstore

While I've seen my share of ruby-crowned kinglets, not many share with me their crown ... for which they're named. I think that he was excited to see us. :-)

© Debbie Tubridy Photography

I am excited to share the outcome of my latest collaboration with a commissioned client! The ocean evokes power and

a mix of emotions - from melancholy to mystery, every brushstroke carries a wave of emotional energy. Can't wait for you to view the artwork and feel the whispers of the sea

A Tufted Titmouse watches with great anticipation as some peanuts are placed out after heavy rains over the past days.

A little Pine Warbler rapidly downs some tiny berries.

I was real excited to get head-on shots of this Killdeer. They are very noisy so he gave me some warning as I was shooting some Sanderlings on the ground. I got a series of 7 or 8 shots, all in decent focus.

Excited to be able to show you the two new two awesome hairs that EXILE created for C88 event.

SOON! at maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/8%208/170/193/1086 Hope you Enjoit it! ♥

"If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you."

William Gladstone

© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.

These Terns were loving chasing the waves and catching eels too.

Ridiculously excited to see for myself yesterday evening something I've only ever seen in other people's photos before! A bee roosting by clamping its' jaws onto a plant! Thanks to Ed and afterforty‽ for the ID help. It seems this is a Sharp-tailed Bee - Coelioxys sp.

This is the only picture which I DID NOT do any color, brightness and etc adjust. Direct converted from RAW to Jpeg.

I was pretty excited when I found this building down in Aransas Pass - 5 second exposure at f/16

Excited by my newest camera. I new when I shot this on my Olympus XA it would not be able to focus close enough, but hey.

(Rotnackenwallaby Albinos)

von den weissen Kängurus war ich so begeistert und möchte davon noch ein paar Aufnahmen zeigen/

I was so excited about the white kangaroos and would like to show some more of them

Here I am, standing on the shoreline just after 3:30 in the morning, the horizon is already ablaze with colour, I’m excited. My tripod is already out and waiting for the camera as I rapidly change my lens under the illumination of my head torch, I’ll use my super EF16-35 f4L, I’m excited. I look for an early composition, these rock platforms look fantastic, leading lines galore carved out by millennia of sea erosion, I’m excited. It’s still low light, to keep that colour on the horizon I need a ND grad, I decide to use a medium 2 stop to lift the foreground darkness, I’m excited. I frame the image, check the settings, f11, calculate the shutter speed, back to ISO 100 and bulb, this is fun, I’m excited. The first photo taken with a 76 second exposure, I check the results but no pressure it’s still 40 minutes from sunrise, did I say I’m excited. The first photo of the morning, the day before the summer solstice, the time is 3:40.

This little Tufted Titmouse is fired up about something. Carried that green wild grape around forever. Our beautiful world, pass it on.

Perched

I remember the first time I encountered the Beauty berry. My father and I had gone for a walk in his neighbourhood and he called me over, all excited, because of this strange and wonderful bush covered with purple berries that didn't look real. He was convinced that someone was trying to trick us and had put a plastic plant in their garden to trick us. It wasn't until he squeezed one of the berries in his hand was he convinced :)

This young Red squirrel appears to be enjoying its first venture out in snowy conditions.

So I work at Enchanted Forest. Which is like this little theme park, but today we're having this music festival! So all over the park are going to be a bunch of random local bands playing all day, so theres going to be sooo many extra people in the park. Its pretty much going to be all hell breaking loose at Enchanted Forest and I am so stoked. :)

But anyways, they did an article on it in the newspaper. I guess I'll have to update you all on how it went tonight :)

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

So it wasn't quite as hectic as I was hoping. Dang. But still a very nice change from the usual day. I definitely enjoyed it - as I sat in the Entrance booth taking tickets and explaining repeatedly what we were doing I got to listen to various acoustic bands not too far away. So I was happy :)

I'm excited to unveil my latest collection, inspired by the enchanting streets of Paris and its charming café bistros. This set features a variety of delightful items designed to infuse a romantic atmosphere into your space.

Collections is available at Access 6th Anniversary round!

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ACCESS/189/115/705

Hope you like this ♥

Merci beaucoup!

Excited

Male Red-legged Honeycreeper with his little crest raised in excitement. Costa Rica, Boca Tapada area.

Bald Eagles mate for life. The females are usually larger - perhaps the one on the left. She was perched alone with command of the beach below when her juvenile offspring caused her to momentarily "jump" to avoid his erratic landing. Her protests were notable and loud enough to summon Dad who also got in on the act. The youngster found a place to land a couple of trees down.

Canon EOS 5DSR

Canon EF 24 70MM L F2.8 II

This is the most prominent, busiest and popular side of Grand Canal. This part of the Rialto bridge is normally full of people all day long. Except if you go for sunrise/dawn; you will find the place for yourself. This evening was not an exception. As I had prior experience of what to expect, I went prepared and went early so that I have time to get the right spot and setup things properly. Setting up a tripod here is close to impossible. So I kept my little pocket tripod with me. It is a bit tough to setup, but it is pretty stable unlike most pocket tripods. It is ruggedly build solid aluminium and has a payload of 8 KG; which is very good for any DSLR. As long as there is a right base to set it up; it is good to go. So I took my time to set it up and then it was all about wait for the right moment to click.

Yet again the mobile photographers were real pain with people almost stretching their arm in front of the camera and even using flash to lit up Venice!!! I had to be very careful and kept the camera strap all the time on my neck as those super excited mobile photographers could anytime hit the camera to send it into the river. I wish there was no mobile camera invented and I wish we were still in the film world where photography was so hard that it was out of reach for most of the people. In modern world, specially with the mobile camera, serious photography is becoming more and more difficult. Specially at the popular places.

However; I am happy as long as people respect others. But unfortunately many mobile photographers have no respect of others and they are mostly unaware of photography. So probably they unknowingly put their arm in front of someone's long exposure without knowing that a camera can capture an image for several seconds. For them, it is just one click. At the same time, the flash is probably also unintentional as the mobiles are in auto and the flash triggers automatically. Many users of the mobile camera don't bother finding out how to switch that off.

Finally when I managed to capture one decent shot, I was super happy as I almost lost my hope. I immediately got out of there leaving rest of the people to fight with their mobile. It was a great relief.

At the end the image was all right and I did manage to capture some of the movements on the water. Even though I wanted a bit longer exposure. It was impossible in that circumstance. So I will content myself with this.

I have read a lot about Venice becoming over crowded. I can relate to it. I visited Venice few times with intervals of some years and indeed; this time I experienced the worse. Many tourists not respectful of the fragile situation of Venice. Throwing garbage all over the place. Throwing bottles into the water. It was a sad scene to experience in this amazing historic city. That is why I liked the dawn photography more. As I could enjoy the calmness with no one around and I could explore the corners at my own pace without any chaos.

Please have a look at my website www.avisekhphotography.com for all my recent works.

Have a nice weekend.

Hope you will enjoy the picture.

Any suggestions or criticisms are always welcome.

Red Kurt is all excited. Moonie and I are taking a week on the island. Hope the weather behaves....