Semipalmated Plover pulling / stretching a worm out

Tri-state region, CT, NJ, NY, USA

This worm put out a good fight. According to the EXIF data, it took 20 seconds for this plover to fully pull it out😮and another 30 seconds to eat it 😁

This photograph was taken at the location described on page 28 of my guide to photographing migrating shorebirds in the tri-state region: www.greggard.com/location-guides/shorebirds-tri-state-nj-...

If you preordered this guide from me, you should have received a copy already. Some of you got it at a 50% discount! Early bird indeed gets a worm 😜 Originally, I was planning on including 9 spots but I ended up describing 15 of my favorite locations in this ebook. I hope you will have fun exploring these spots and you will get some amazing shots there as well!

Thank you all for kind comments!

You can also follow me on:

- Instagram: www.instagram.com/greggardphoto/

- Facebook: www.facebook.com/greg.gard.9

- YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/gregsthings

www.greggard.com/blog/2021/6/semipalmated-plover-pulling-...

Dayle in Stardoll Pretty N Love and Bonjour Bizou fashion pieces, Cardi from Style Mantra Eden.

So effing CUTE. I could eat her up! Love this doll much more than I had thought when preordering.

This is the White lined Sphinx Moth, also referred to at the Hummingbird Moth because of its size. It has an approximate wingspan of 3 inches and flies at around 25mph.

We saw quite a number of these in one area in the Eastern Sierras. Lots of snow in the area it is like Spring in late July which produced lots of flowers and lots of moths. We were photographing 3 foraging moths in one area when out of a nearby tree a Western Tanager flew down and grabbed one of the moths. He landed in the flowers and readjusted his catch and quickly flew away with his bounty. It all happened so fast we did not catch the Tanager in the flowers, which would have been awesome. It was kind of a sad moment but could have made an outstandingly colorful photo if we had not been in shock.

Taken with my new Nikon Z8. Apparently the camera hasn’t been added to Flickr yet. I’m using my husband’s Sigma 150-600 until I get my preordered Nikon 180-600 lens.

I preordered my copy of Luminar 4 several months ago and got my copy this week.. So far I am really pleased with the investment.. I have a lot to learn about how to use it effectively but so far so good.. This was a shot of the lake that I took quite a few years ago during the day and with their Sky Replacement AI it was a snap to get a very nice new sky and conversion.. Happy Slider Sunday, Everybody!!

Fresh & Delightful Veronique

MAOVIM sandals

marcelojacob dress, that can be preordered at:

www.marcelojacob.com/donna-dress-vestido/

The doll that caused me to become a doll collector. Milou, by designer Wendy Roper, is made of white vinyl. She has a Art Deco air about her and a 40s wardrobe (well, just this one gown so far). I preordered her last December and production delays caused her to only just arrive last week. It was worth the wait for I am delighted with her!

I knew when I preordered this girl that she wasn't going to be one of my sweet little Poppys who would love wearing '60s shift dresses. Instead, she would want a more modern style, so to the rescue comes an outfit from Sal!

I'm hoping I have more outfits over here to suit her tastes!

Third Doctor just arrived today! I preordered him on July 26, 2019.. he was supposed to be out in June 2020.. then, the Pandemic happened! So, after 26 months, here he finally is! He looks great! I'm happy with this purchase.

so, i can honestly say that i always thought that these cats were cute but i never ever felt the need to have one... till i saw the yellow girl!

the coloring just jumped out at me and screamed "must have!"

i love the bright yellow and orange and the pink of her nose!

i'm glad i was able to find one since i hadn't preordered or anything like that.

since she's my first (and likely only) nikki cat, i'd love some advice.

any recommendations for clothes and/or shoes?

i have nothing for her to wear!

I preordered this Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece action figure of Marlon Brando as don Vito Corleone from the Godfather ages ago, but it didn't arrive until now. However, good things come for those who wait and this figure has really lived up to the expectations.

One of my most desired dolls of last 3 months (but ultimately most desired is Lucine, I preordered her and should get in a month)

Her original story remains unchanged, just has much more details according to my vision and interpretation. Yeah, I'm making some kind of Sinister Circus fan fiction.

Yvetta is a young special girl who is capable of understanding and speaking all languahes of all intelligent creatures (but not of birds and animals). Since sha was a child, she had strange dreams and visions. When Yvetta was 13, she ran away from her uncle's home (where she was raised) and spent some time rambling from town to town. Not because her uncle was cruel or something, no - he and his wife were kind and loved her, they didn't have their own daughter - only sons. Just because she didn't like the plans they had foe her future. They wanted her to become a scholar - she was not sure that was what she needed. And she wanted to see the world.

Then, some years later, in a small town, she found an old mage who had a shop selling various artifacts and books. He hired Yvetta firstly just to do the cleaning and various work for his shop. They became friends with that kind man. And finally he came to a conclusion she would make a perfect apprentice to him. He needed someone to inherit his knowledge and posessions, but couldn't find the right person before.

But just at that time when he offered to teach her, strange things started to happen. A lady named Morgana LeGrande visits the shop. Yvetta and the mage sense something really bad in her, they refuse to sell her anything afraid that she use it for evil purposes.

After that, however, Yvetta starts to have nightmares and hear someone calling her, hear screams at night. Though the mage told her to be careful, not even to go out while Mme LeGrande and her people are still in town - one night she finds them, follows them and...

Well, you know if you've read original SC press-release)

Featuring

Did you miss out on the pre-order? Don't panic! We're making sure you can get your hands on the Giverny Collection via the marketplace and in store pass the 17th December 2024

Hooray for dolly mail! My new Momoko Pastel Edge arrived! I was excited when I preordered her because it's not often that they have fantasy haired Momokos, and her hair looks so much better in person. It's a mix of soft grey and mint blue, it's pretty unique! Very happy with this doll!

Life Is Strange

• Cheat Table by IDK31 for free camera, no HUD and DOF

• UE3 .ini tweaks for pause

• GeDoSaTo for custom resolution

Believe it or not, I am still uploading the shots I made during my first playthrough back in October. I put aside a lot of pictures I didn't really like and it took me a while to make what I consider a good selection while also posting shots from other games. In all honestly I am not playing at all on PC right now... it's way too hard to properly sit down and run these heavy games with 30°C in my room. But, since Before The Storm has been announced (and I already preordered the Deluxe Edition) I felt in the mood again to post the remaining pictures. Only one is left after this and then I'll start posting the ones I took in my second playthrough and random ones I started using ReShade.

Also hey! The whole LIS game on Steam is 75% off ;D go get it if you haven't already!

Late post! This year we didn't have to wait till the souvenir shop opened to get our preordered convention collection. So it was a lot all at once with a touch of anticlimax but there's bound to be more scarier surprises this weekend. 💋

Introducing Project HILTED!

The January box is now available! Everyone who preordered the box has had it delivered to them.

If you are interested in buying this months box, it is for sale for 600L$ for the next 24 hours before going up to 700L$. You can get it at the reduced price here: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kremlin/179/210/2557

Next months theme is LOVE and is available to preorder at the mainstore!

Project HILTED is a box that contains 5 exclusive original mesh items that fit the theme of the month. These products are only available in this box!

The box is 500 L$ when preordered. The price will increase to 600L$ on the day of release, then 700L$ after the release date.

Taxi to preorder terminal: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kremlin/179/210/2557

What is in the box? It is a surprise, but the value of the box is worth over 1000L$.

This box is PG! No adult toys in it.

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

HILTED is an adult store based in Second Life. Come visit us in-world: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kremlin/192/193/2606

Find us on the Marketplace : marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/207463

Want HILTED at your store or want to get involved? IM ChildofPreservex Resident on SL!

Say hello to Galactic Hero, a limited edition pad printed custom fig!

Only 25 were printed, as this was only intended for a side project that I am working on.

For those who helped donate to help bring this limited edition fig to life for our project, thank you so much! I hope you like it! For those that supported this, I have recently shipped your copies out (except for those who preordered Pink Arachnid along with it, I will ship those when she arrives hopefully later this month) and they should be arriving soon! And to thank you for your support of this project, I've also included a special limited edition extra glossy print poster of a render of this fig just for you that I hope you will enjoy!

Lastly, I'd like to thank Kristi from customBRICKS who did a fantastic job dyeing the hairs dark tan. We've been needing this color for this hair piece forever, so it is great to finally have one for this figure! You're the best!

What do you guys think of him?

Hello Ladies! ♥ It's BishBox time and the theme this month is Femme Fatale.

My exclusive for this round is Natalia Dress fitted for Maitreya Lara. Four colors (black, gray, cement and wine red) are included, along with a blood splatter version and Bustier HUD, allowing you to mix and match as you wish.

If you missed preordering this months box, you can still get it (The only difference is now you will have to pay the full price)

Just head on over to the BishBox headquarters to pick it up!

Taxi: [CLICK]

♥ Zara

I recently visited NW Washington to explore Olympic National Park and the Puget sound. I took thousands of photos and it is quite exhausting to go through them all. Here are some photos from our first day there. That day we didn't have a lot of time so decided to explore a wildlife refuge on the way to our hotel.

My primary goal was to find a snake I have always wanted to see in the wild. The Puget Sound Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii) . These beautiful harmless snakes can have turquoise blue or greenish coloration in many populations. Blue is a color not often seen in reptiles and it is always special to witness in the wild. I was fortunate to see about 25 specimens that were greenish, blue and yellow and a combination of colors. Unfortunately I only got closeups of the greenish individuals but I did get a telephoto shot of one blue one in some grass. The blue specimens really look unreal.

Note this is one of the first times I have used the Olympus 12-100 f4 pro lens for a closeup of a snake. I bought it to be an all around lens for everything from landscapes to semi macro images like this at various vocal lengths. It largely sat unused since I purchased it earlier this year since a trip I planned it for got cancelled earlier this year. I decided to force myself to use it on this trip by not brining any dedicated wide angle lens for any of my cameras. I was able to see some strengths and weaknesses of using this lens in lots of different ways. It works probably 90% as well was my dedicated panasonic F2.8 30mm macro lens that I would usually use for such a shot as this but it is no replacement for a decicated wide angle landscape lens as it doesn't handle flair nearly as well and it doesn't give good sunstars. I have preordered the new Olympus 100-400 with the intent of maybe going with two olympus camera bodies when I go to Costa Rica later this year where I have one with the 100-400 and one with the 12-100 and cary my 30 and 60mm macros as welll as the 300mmf4 for situations where I have time to change lenses and want to get sharper better quality shots.

The final design! These were only made available to customers who preordered a MOTHER 3 Handbook. You can buy a bronze version for $10 though: fangamer.net/products/courage-badge

So back in December of 2019 I ordered this fig and despite it being nine months since the figure was first announced, it’s an astoundingly short amount of time for a figure to be produced by Christo7108. I still have figures on my waiting list from him from 2018! It’s almost become a running gag in the custom minifig community that Christo is the SLOWEST customizer these days (and sadly it didn’t used to be that way). Now I say all this because this isn’t quite the figure I preordered. It’s got different leg printing, there are thicker lines that look less polished, and the helmet piece is quite different!

You can see the other photos on my Patreon review that, in his original listing of the figure, you can note how it’s similar, but is by no means as sharp as what I’ve come to expect from Christo. It feels less like a custom figure worth $120 and more like an official Lego fig. Now I don’t know why the cowl in particular was changed, but custom parts alone can be what really makes or breaks a fig. The wrap-around winglets feel like a cheap choice when compared to the countless Flash figures he’s put out before. However I should note that it is nice to get a fig with leg-printing from Christo because we all know he’s been very prone to skipping leg print all together lately. Not to mention that there’s a strong lack of texture compared to his S1 CW Flash, or even a fig like PCB’s recent Rami Spider-Man making good use of dead color space.

As far as quality is concerned, it’s Christo. You’re getting what you pay for. Not a scratch or speck of dust on the figure until you pull it out of his branded fancy shipping container. There’s a collectors card dated for January 2018, which strikes yet another question for me… Did this figure begin production that long ago and only announced it in late 2019 to downplay the fact that this figure is well over two years old…? Not to mention that there is a 2020 date on the inside of the head piece which only further adds to the conundrum….

But you wanna know the weirdest thing?! ...I still like the fig (I think?)! It captures the essence of the Season 6 CW suit in the best ways. It’s got Grant’s cheeky smile, and the red and gold absolutely shines! It’s just a shame that there seem to have been compromises made to the fig over all.

But I’m curious what you all think! Is this figure a sign of the times that Christo is still trying to put out figures in good time? Or do you like the more adaptive Lego-Look he seems to have captured with this one?

***

Patreon: andrewcookston

Prints through Redbubble: people/andrewcookston

Instagram: a.cookston.photography

Preordering now..I already locked in one for myself!

Say hello to our newest creation, Fearmonger, a twisted villain who preys on the fearful in your LEGO collections!

Featuring a custom molded hood piece with printing on the front and back. He also features a double sided head (one with glasses, and one without) and printing on the front and back torso. A great figure to add to anyone's Bat collections!

He is shipping out on Wednesday to all those who preordered him, will be shipping out a week or so later to all those who are still ordering him. There are a few still available from our website and from our resellers. Get them before they're gone!

What do you guys think?

Preordered

I really love this refreshed Erin, as I was never a big fan of her older cartoony version.

Hello Ladies! ♥ It's BishBox time and the theme this month was Rock Rebel.

My exclusive for this round are Zoey Leather Shorts that are fitted for Maitreya Lara and Belleza Isis/Freya. Three neutral colors (washed out brown, mid gray and black) are included, along with three different metal options (silver, gold and black), all HUD controlled.

If you missed preordering this months box, you can still get it (The only difference is now you will have to pay the full price)

Just head on over to the BishBox headquarters to pick it up!

Taxi: [CLICK]

♥ Zara

Yellow rump Warbler enjoying all he could eat of our neighbors berries.

I finally got my preordered Nikon Z 180-600m lens after a 4 month wait. However, the day it arrived I was in bed with the flu. Recovery limited my photography. I got some Sandhill Cranes and a flock of these Warblers and look forward to other adventures with my new camera and lens.

So, finally, after two years, we finally have completed a figure I've been wanting to release for a long time - say hello to Fifty Fifty! This newest custom figure from Phoenix Customs features our professionally pad printing on the front, side, and back head, front and back torso, and left arm. He also features a custom injection molded, printed, and dyed headpiece that aligns perfectly to the head printing (scarring). He also features a custom printed coin piece along with a silver pistol from BrickArms.

We will be shipping him off to all our customers who preordered him from us over two years ago today and tomorrow - we have a lot of orders to fill so it will take some time. Thank you all for your enduring patience and understanding during this long process to bring him to life! You have no idea how thankful we are!!

Along with that, there are a handful left available to purchase. For those interested, starting tonight at 10 PM Central Standard time, he will go on sale on our website. Again, there are only so many available, when he's gone, he's gone. So, get one while you can. There are a few Night Crusaders still available, might go well with this guy ;)

Also, I will send out more information about other upcoming figures via our newsletter later today, so be sure to sign up for that if you haven't already.

So, what do you guys think?

Now I'm not a MH collector, but when news broke out about this doll, I was overjoyed that Mama Monster was being made in a doll form with one of her sickest looks from her Born This Way mv. Yasss Gaga!!!!

I've preordered her! I'm so happy! I can't wait to see her in person. She will be my first Raccoon doll. ^__^

Yesterday we went to the annual Gilfeather Turnip Festival in Wardsboro Vermont. There were numerous vendors there and one was selling turnip patterned bandanas for dogs - so of course I had to get them for my crew. I must say, that I do not like turnips at all, but I tried the turnip soup that they were selling and it was very good! Below is a little history about the Gilfeather Turnip:

The Gilfeather family came from Ireland in1 863. Then purchased their farm in Wardsboro., Vermont. John Gilfeather was the eldest of their seven children. He never married but lived with his brother William in the family homestead. The first record of his “Gilfeather” turnip dates to the early 1900s, when he began bringing his sweet turnips to market. They became so popular that it’s said Gilfeather would put notices in newspapers to announce his crops were available for sale, advising they should be preordered because they were going to sell out.

There’s still some debate about whether the Gilfeather turnip is a true turnip… it’s the shape of a rutabaga, but white like a turnip, with a taste that’s a cross between the two. The current owners of the original Gilfeather Farm, located on Gilfeather Road in Wardsboro, Vermont, still grow a patch of ‘Gilfeather’ turnips each season. In 2016, Wardsboro Elementary successfully lobbied the state government to make the ‘Gilfeather’ turnip Vermont’s official vegetable.

♥Blog♥

JEUNE BY ROWNE LILA NET DRESS - WHITE@ COLLABOR88

STEALTHIC - REPRISE BLANK AND WHITE HAIR @ MAINSTORE

G & D- PUMP NORMA WHITE ON MARKET PLACE

NOIR - L'ARMOUR BRACELETS @ COLLABOR88

EARTHSTONES - DALLAS DIAMOND HOOP EARRINGS @ MAINSTORE

MAITREYA BODY - LATEST VERSION 4.1 @MAITREYA

LELUTKA - MAY BENTO HEAD - LELUTKA MAINSTORE

POWDER PACK FOR SEPTEMBER - PREORDERED BUT AVAILABLE ON MP OR INWORLD

Have you preordered your Deco(c)rate yet? This rounds theme is Dolce Vita and here is a sneaky Work In Progress of what we're making on for our items.

You can preorder now for half price from our mainstore or the Deco(c)rate HQ - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SkyBeam%20Hideaway/167/126...

Find out more about Deco(c)rate and what designers are taking part in this months box here - decocratesl.com

Or keep up to date on WIPs and more by following their facebook page - www.facebook.com/decocrate/

After 2 years, it is with great pride (and a little relief), that I say - the Night Crusader is FINALLY here! Say hello to the next custom printed minifigure from Phoenix Customs. Featuring a beautiful custom injection-molded black cowl, and a custom cape from MMCB Capes, this figure is ready to strike fear to those who pray on the fearful LEGO figures in your collection.

Our professional pad printing is found on the front head, front and back torso, both arms, and front legs. He comes with a custom collector card and a case.

The release date is still being finalized - at this time, I anticipate that this will be released next weekend - it all depends on when the last batch of printed heads arrive from my printer. It is scheduled to arrive by Thursday, but I won't count my chickens just yet.

You can also check out some alternative pics and short video of the figure on my Instagram account, if you haven't seen it already. Go the site listed here, if you haven't:

www.instagram.com/phoenixcustomsllc/

We will be posting more and more behind the scenes and sneak peaks on this page in the future, so be sure to Follow us if you have an Instagram account.

Last, I personally want to thank all of my wonderful customers who pre-ordered this minifigure and have been brutally patient - FOR TWO YEARS!! I don't have the words to thank you for this. It goes beyond measure! The good news is that not only will those who preordered this figure get an exclusive, limited edition second printed Night Crusader head as a thank you, but they will also receive a free Lightning God eyepatch head (double sided) as well.

So, what do you guys think? I'll be sure to announce here before it becomes available on the website.

Have you preordered your Deco(c)rate yet? This rounds theme is Shabby Chic and here is a sneaky Work In Progress of what we're working on for our item.

You can preorder now for half price from our mainstore or the Deco(c)rate HQ - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SkyBeam%20Hideaway/167/126...

Find out more about Deco(c)rate and what designers are taking part in this months box here - decocratesl.com

Or keep up to date on WIPs and more by following their facebook page - www.facebook.com/decocrate/

I might not have managed much of anything from this year's con but I'm so, SO grateful I preordered this doll. A sketch isn't a lot to go on but I figured there's no going wrong with an Adele 2.0 sculpt and I was right ;D

Been wanting to take this picture for a long time. I got Phoenix Customs' Endgame Captain America a couple of months ago, and he's without a doubt my favorite minifigure in my collection right now. Preordered this guy back in May or June (can't remember now), and the wait was definitely worth it!

A ton of people have done reviews of this figure on Instagram, but I wanted to pitch in my two cents. First off, the intricately molded helmet is just amazing! Shield is great too, and printing is really crisp. I didn't get a good sense of how fine the torso detailing was until I got it in hand--the scales are really, really tiny and are kinda metallic too! The print on my figure's hands came kinda chipped, so I replaced them with dark brown hands. I think dark brown looks better anyway--although it's not entirely accurate to the source material, the color matches Cap's boots, and I like it.

In my five year quest to get the best Lego Captain America minifigure possible, this definitely fills that spot. I put some of my modified Lego Cap figures on the sides, but they can't really compare haha. What do you guys think about this figure? Comments are very much appreciated! :D

"The Force of Awaken" blu-ray movies is coming soon. Have you preordered yours?

"I am proud to see my grandson following my footstep" - Lord Vader

Day 82/365

Something a little less "pretty" for today :)

Also if you haven't yet, PLEASE stop by the link below and consider supporting my kickstarter and buying a book! If you're not interested in preordering a book I'd SO appreciate you taking a moment to share this project with your friends. This project means a lot to me and it has to be fully funded by Jan 15th or we don't get a penny and no one gets these awesome books :(

www.kickstarter.com/projects/337726028/creating-surreal-w...

Anxiety has kicked in!! Besides feeling a bit under the weather, I'm a teeny bit excited to see what's in store for us again when IT unveils the next portion of their 2013 collection. I have a hopeful feeling that it will be FRs and Nuface this time around.

What are all of you looking forward to this year?

I'm curious to see how the collection will look this year since the convention collection will be more glam (assumingly since it's Hollywood themed), will the FR set be more relaxed? Perhaps fall-winter as opposed to last year's spring influenced Style Directive collection?

Anywho, I'm just rambling. It's the anticipation along with the medication and it's early. It's going to be a busy day and I pray I will be able to narrow my list down to just a select few as I promised myself that I won't be preordering like cray-cray (like I have in the past years).

Anyways, that's all for now. List-of-Death coming Monday.

XXXO

Ah, the cutes of this guy <3

I decided the brown wig wasn't working out for him so I preordered a new one from LW for him

(I swear this guy is so freaking spoiled!)

I fell out of love with him for a while(Probably due to getting Texsus) but I'm falling again for him XD

Hamilton is a BlueFairy Olive Boy~

I'm better but I am far from well. I slept for like ten hours straight earlier today and I have been keeping food down I hadn't really been able to sleep or eat since like Sunday so there is improvement even if I still feel/look like death warmed over.

I preordered a Yeolume from Pullipstyle today, here's a pic of their production sample that I took last week but never uploaded ^^;

In the early morning hours of late Spring, a lone duck plied the quiet backwaters of the Snake River in Wyoming looking for a meal. The water’s peaceful surface reflected a wonderful muted blend of the dark green of the nearby trees and a bit of blue sky. It resulted in a great negative space in which to place the duck whose movement was highlighted by the ripples of its passing upstream. The result is a minimalist image that made more from less so that the compositional result is actually intensified.

With the success of my recently released “Intimate Landscapes” fine art photo book (there are still a few remaining if you wish to order), I am now working on the draft of my next book titled "Minimalism - The Elegance of Simplicity”. I hope to see it released later this year. I will be posting a launch announcement so stay tuned. My Flickr followers will get an advanced notice for preordering.

I don't normally do these kinds of posts, but I'm so hyped for the game.

Can't wait until May.

#injustice2

Finally!! It seems like ages since I've released a new minifigure (okay, yes, it has been ages), but here is our next one - Homemade Arachnid Hero.

This figure features our professional pad printing on the front and back head, front and back torso, both arms, and wrap around printing on the legs. A perfect addition - right in time for the Holiday Season!

This will be shipping out to all those who preordered it tomorrow, and available to purchase on the site starting on Wednesday, Nov. 29th at 10pm CST. (Please note, they will not ship out until the following Saturday).

Thanks again to everyone who supported the making of this figure, I truly appreciate your support! I hope you all like it!

So, what do you guys think?

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The figures will now go on sale on Wednesday, Nov. 29th at 10pm CST.

Preordered late 2015, received early August 2016.

Hey there, if you haven't already checked out my Kickstarter please take a minute I just updated the page with some more information and photos. Get yourself a preordered copy of American Restaurant the upcoming photography book now:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/americanrestaurant/american-...