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At the crossroads of the Flint and Holly Subs, what was one of the busiest diamonds during the peak of the passenger era, Burdakin Blue has made a comeback. Leading L500 into Durand, the fresh heritage leader looks right at home as they prepare to work the yard before heading over to Flint for the night.
Looking out our sunroom window I was hoping to catch one of the Bluebirds perched in this tree, which is more and more becoming a familiar sight.
The other day I saw the female bringing back several earthworms to her hungry babies and thought that was simply amazing to see. I never expected to catch her bringing home this feast!
Took about a dozen pics and this was one the best because you can actually see what this is. A cicada!
ERV's await the loading of food & supplies to be taken out to those affected by hurricane Matthew in Georgia.
You can help those affected by hurricane Matthew by calling (800) Red Cross
Thank you
Great Kiskadee (Great Kiskadee) at Pousada Piuval, Pantanal, Mato Grosso.
Happy Wednesday! HBW!
Thanks a lot for your visits, comments, faves, invites, etc. Very much appreciated!
© All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. All rights reserved. Please contact me at thelma.gatuzzo@gmail.com if you intend to buy or use any of my images.
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili...
If you're interested, you'll find a more detailed closeup here (it's the 8th photo from the top): www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (it's very brief but pretty unusual: a tiny wall lizard attacks two young great tits): www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqkSsyrm7E
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: MY LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY TO BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
If you've set yourself the challenge of exclusively shooting the wildlife in your own back yard, you might find - as I did - that bird photography is really, really hard.
It's not that reptiles are easy to photograph either, mind - but at least the ones in my garden stay (for the most part) on the ground, and one can learn how to carefully approach them with a camera. They're also clearly egoists, which from a photographer's point of view is is a great character trait: if a lizard detects a human in its vicinity, it's only interested in saving its own skin, and it won't alarm its buddies.
But birds... oh man. Over the years, my feathered friends and I have developed a lovely routine that now defines our peaceful co-existence. As soon as I as much as open a window (let alone the door), I'm instantly greeted by an eruption of panicky fluttering and hysterical shouts from my garden: "SAVE YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND FLY FOR YOUR LIVES: THE HAIRLESS, PINK MONSTER IS COMING!!! (Yes, I speak bird, and I know that this is exactly what they are shouting 😉).
Needless to say, with the exception of the redstart I already showed here, all my efforts to get the kind of detailed shots I usually strive for with my nature photography ended in complete failure and utter disillusionment. I was ready to give up on stalking the winged misanthropes in my garden altogether, but then winter came - and changed everything.
One day this past January I observed my neighbor Signora P - a kind, elderly Italian lady - putting something on the low garden wall in front of my house. At first I thought she was just putting some treat there for her cat Romeo; the young tom patrols that wall constantly (it's his favorite spot in the garden, and during the warmer months he usually lurks in the thick foliage next to it to prey on lizards).
But once I detected a lot of movement on that wall through my window, I understood she had put a little pile of bread crumbs there; she was feeding the birds who soon arrived in flocks. This was certainly well-intended on my neighbor's part, but her noble action came with a catch, and I'm afraid quite literally.
When I took a stroll through my garden the next day I discovered a suspicious amount of feathers on the ground next to the wall. Romeo had apparently switched from his low-calorie summer diet (lizard) to more energy-rich meals consisting of "fowl" (it was winter after all, so from a nutritionist's point of view this made sense).
I would find fresh traces of Romeo's victims (mostly feathers, but also the odd wing) in my garden over the following days; so my first intuition that my neighbor was feeding her cat hadn't been that far off after all, as Romeo was now clearly being "served" fresh birds on a daily basis. And although the hungry visitors seemed to be aware of the danger and became slightly more prudent, they just couldn't resist the tasty snacks Signora P put on that wall - and neither could Romeo.
It was obvious that I had to act, but talking to my neighbor - who is as stubborn as she is kind - would have been futile, I knew that much. I pondered the matter long and hard - until a light bulb went off in my head. The idea was genius. If successful, what I had in mind would not only increase the birds' chances of surviving Romeo's appetite, but also greatly benefit my own photographic endeavors.
I started to enact my master plan the very next day by buying a giant bag of bird feed (consisting mainly of sunflower seeds) from the store. Then I dragged a huge piece of a tree trunk (approx. 120 cm in height) that we normally chop firewood on from the shed out into the garden and emptied almost half of the bag's content on top of it. Signora P's buffet for birds (and cats) was about to get some serious competition 😊.
My reasoning was as follows: not only would the birds be lured away from the fatally low garden wall to a place where they were safe from the cat - there was nothing around that tree trunk that provided cover for a predator, and the birds had a nice 360° view around it at all times - but I was also able to photograph them while hiding in the shed.
However, in order for my plan to work there was one little extra measure I had to take, and it was one that risked lowering my own life expectancy considerably once the owner of the property - my mom - discovered it. You see, our shed is completely windowless, so if I wanted to use it as a blind, I had no choice but to cut a hole into one of its wooden walls... which I promptly did (I figured all's fair in love - and photography 😉).
Granted, I have absolutely zero carpentering skills, and it showed. That hole was an ugly mess: the shed's wall seemed to have had an encounter with Jack Nicholson's ax-wielding lunatic character from the film 'The Shining'. Needless to say, I was incredibly proud of my work (I mean, come on: there now was a hole where before there wasn't a hole, and it was big enough for the lens of my camera to peek through, so it was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned).
Now all I had to do was wait for the birds to discover the tree trunk. In the meantime I started to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable confrontation with my mom and go through possible explanations for that splintering hole in the wall (it was either gonna be a rabid woodpecker attack or an emergency rescue mission with a feeding tube for a little kid that had accidentally locked himself inside the shed - both seemed valid options, though I slightly preferred the locked-in kid due to the involved drama and heroism 😉).
A whole day went by, and not a single bird visited the sunflower seeds. I had expected that it might take a few hours until the first of the ever curious great tits or blue tits would show up, but given how tiny my garden is, an entire day seemed excessive. Then another day came and went: the birds kept flocking to the bread crumbs on the wall, and my tree trunk kept collecting dust. To add injury to insult, a few fresh feathers on the ground were proof that Romeo was still feasting.
It was incredibly frustrating: I provided my winged guests with a much better view - plus a higher chance of surviving the cuisine - than Signora P's place; I risked (almost) certain death at the hands of my own mother (OK, the act of vandalism on the shed I had committed for my own benefit, but still), yet the birds kept ignoring me.
Then, after three days, just before sunset, I spotted a single blue tit on the tree trunk picking away at the sunflower seeds.
When I got up the next morning I immediately realized that the loud noise that accompanies each and every tit activity had shifted from the wall to the shed. At last the dam had broken: there was a flurry of movement around the tree trunk, and I counted at least 5 different species of birds feasting on the sunflower seeds.
From day 4 onward my plan worked beautifully: the birds now indeed mostly ignored Romeo's "snack wall" and kept to the tree trunk. And yes, I was able to play peeping tom from behind the shed's wall and photograph them!! 😊
Thus, dear readers, I finally managed to produce some acceptable bird photos, and I had even saved my feathered friends from a deadly foe in the process. All through winter and spring I took advantage of my new bird hide, and in late May I started mixing some cherries with the sunflower seeds. The idea was to attract a Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), and as you can see, it worked!
It took me almost three weeks and more than a few tricks to capture that clever fella, but given how long I've been rambling here already, that's a story for another day. As for my mom, she still doesn't know about the hole in the wall, so please don't snitch! 😉.
I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments 🙏 😊 ❤!
P.S. if anyone has their own funny tale about the obstacles we photographers are prepared to overcome for a desired photo, please write it in the comments: I love such stories 😊
Calas de Roche (Cádiz - Andalucía)
Dedicada a Roberto, por ese precioso testimonial. Gracias de nuevo, amigo!
Sigma 10-20mm + Cokin filters : GND8 + Soft Sunset
Preparing to Strike
Bald eagle about to grab a fish from the Susquehanna River in Maryland
2019_12_11_EOS 7D Mark II_8805-Edit_V1
This picture was taken at Fort la-Latte Castle/Brittany.
I have to admit that staying away from photography (for different non-reasons invented by me ...) for almost a year was not a good idea at all. Felt like I was discovering the camera for the first time. All the processes took me forever: taking out the camera, figure it out which lens is better to use in different situations, making all the adjustments ... wow ... :). And the results are terrific :(... Well, I have to prepare better for my next trip and hopefully I will have some decent photos.
The young juvenile blue heron was preparing for touchdown when this image was taken. I had been watching him off in the distance when he decided to come across the water and touchdown and land near me. These birds are beautiful at this stage as they are preparing to finally receive all their adult feathers which will make them totally blue. When they are young they are completely white. Nature is always amazing !!!
Wishing you a beautiful and blessed evening !!!!!!!!!!!
Image may contain: bird and outdoor
A steamy and smoky night at Didcot Motive Power Depot with GWR locomotive King Edward 11.
Recreated by Timeline Events.
So trying something different.
Sunday at 11am pst (slt), I will attempt to live stream a full photo edit for those interested in following along.
The stream will be here
www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ-uhYr4WopyhYZhA1Iv7SA
Hope to see you :)
Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)
One of several fishing the waters of Eastern Beach Geelong.
Preparing for Winter…
Slowly shedding my summer clothes
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/iainmerchant/
Photography: www.iainmerchant.com
#IainMerchant #Photography #Beautiful #Leicestershire #PhotooftheDay #PickoftheDay #Art #TheArtofLife #ThinkingOutLoud #DigitalPhotography #MyPhoto
Photo by: Iain Merchant Photography (www.iainmerchant.com)
Swamp rocket ready to go as soon as it is jump started.
Combo of 3 Wombo images, layered and blended in Pixelmator Pro, enhanced with PicLight and my texture.
Using the prompt word, Steampunk, leads to some fun Wombo creations. HDR and VFX styles used here.
Time to take off! Thanks for the visit and your comments!
There are not many groups that I have found to display Wombo works, so I have created one. Please be patient with me, as I have never done this before. Please check it out!
Wombo World
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, young male
In my yard, hummingbird activity is at its peak around now, as adults and young prepare to migrate.
Making bunnies chicks. If you need an Easter gift please visit my shop www.etsy.com/listing/1422281959/
The White American Pelican
Hoping everyone's weekend is going well and wishing friends from the other side of the globe a good start of a new week!
Thank you so much for stopping by and for the kind comments! They are very much appreciated!
C-FFLC, a Boeing 737-86J, on approach to runway 24L at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario.
"W.J. (Bill) Hardy" was arriving as FLE296 (Flair Airlines Ltd.) from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Mr. Hardy was the carrier's Chairman.
"Though I cannot flee
From the world of corruption,
I can prepare tea
With water from a mountain stream
And put my heart to rest."
- Ueda Akinari
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