There 's nothing like cool temperatures and fresh air to raise the spirits. during my forays to the Alabama Hills the temperature can get up into the 100's and when they do, this is where I seek refuge. At around 9000 ft in elevation the difference in temperature is about 15 degrees and there nothing better the a fine mist that floats away from the falls right onto your weary soul.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my photos, and as always, your views, comments, faves, and support are greatly appreciated!! Have a great Weekend!! :)

If you have any questions about this photo or about photography in general, I will do my best to help, just post a comment or send me a Flickr mail and I will respond as quickly as possible.

For those of you new to photography, I would like to provide you with some very helpful videos that will help you get more from your photography. They where very useful to me while I was learning and I hope that they will help you out as well. Just click the link below and there are pre-made playlists on everything you could ever want to know about photography. I hope you enjoy them and as always my friends "Happy Shooting"

www.youtube.com/user/EricGaildot21Studios/playlists?sort=...

ALTHOUGH it is rather nondescript the corn bunting does have a distinctive song. It dangles it legs when flying short distances, and just look at its nails, they are very approachable with extreme care, I love seeing them at the Ancient Highway Sandwich Kent.

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THANK YOU for your support and comments, hope you are all enjoying the sunshine in the UK,

Stay safe and well, God bless.....................Tomx

Another from my archives with a re-edit.

Thank you for your visits and kind comments, dear friends. I do appreciate them all.

Red Fox Kit

Another photo from my special time with the Red Fox kits...priceless!

Thanks for your visits, comments on and Faves of this image! I greatly appreciate them! Have a wonderful day-stay safe and healthy!

SJohnston's Fauna Big winners Volime 16 2022 Page 8

FORAGING in low scrub, rather warbler like, picking and hovering from the underside of leaves, Was told of this uncommon bird to the Kotu area, and have to admit to spending more time looking or waiting for an appearance, than any other bird on the trip, but it did put an appearance just for a few seconds, would have loved to have got a side image, to show its full beauty.

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THANK YOU, for your visit to my Gambian images, hope you are still enjoying them, I love reading your kind comments and doing the same to your latest posting. Enjoy the Lord's day, God bless and keep you safe and well..............Tomx.

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UNITE IN PRAYER FOR UKRAINE

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It was a very splashy but empty ending for this Reddish Egrets fishing run.

Thank you for your visits, comments, faves and group invites. I do appreciate them all 🌹

Spindle (so named because the wood was used to make spindles) makes a fantastic hedge plant (or small tree in a hedge) because of its unique fall color scheme. In autumn we can enjoy the opening flaps of the fruits, from which orange seeds emerge. The berries are poisonous but the birds love them!!

Yes, it can land on such thin branches and hunt low on them.

Belted Kingfisher

Thank you for visiting, commenting on and favoring this image!! I greatly appreciate them!! Have a wonderful day-stay safe and healthy!💕😃

... in my garden.

Thank you dear friends for your visits and kind comments.

I do appreciate them all 🌹😊

Just follow me! And these two Grizzly Bear cubs will never be too far from moms side.

Switzerland, May 2021

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

You find a selection of my 80 BEST PHOTOS (mostly not yet on Flickr) here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)

ABOUT THE PHOTO:

So this photo is a bit of a novelty for me - at least here on Flickr, but it's also a journey back in time in a sense. I've always loved b/w and sepia photography; already as a very young teenager I would go out into the woods with an old Pentax Spotmatic (which I had nicked from my father) whenever it was a foggy day to shoot b/w compositions of sunbeams cutting through the ghostlike trees.

I used films with a sensitivity of at least 1600 (for those of you who remember what that means 😉 ), and the resulting photos had an incredibly fine grain which I loved; I blew them up to the size of posters and hung them on the walls of my teenage man-cave next to Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Slash.

But then I abandoned photography altogether for 20 years, and when I finally picked up a camera again, it was one of the digital kind. Now neither film nor grain played any role in my photographic endeavours - let alone b/w compositions: because the reason I fell in love with shooting pictures once more was the rare and incredibly colorful lizard species that had chosen my garden as its habitat.

It's this species - the Lacerta bilineata aka the western green lizard - that my photo website www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ and also my Flickr gallery are dedicated to, but I've since expanded that theme a bit so that it now comprises the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat, which is to say my garden and its immediate surroundings and all the flora and fauna I find in it.

I like that my gallery and the website have this clear theme, because in order to rise to the challenge of portraying all aspects of a very specific little eco system (which also happens to be my home of sorts), it forces me to constantly explore it from fresh angles, and I keep discovering fascinating new motives as my photographic journey continues.

Which brings me to the horse pasture you see in this photo. This playground for happy horsies lies just outside my garden, and it normally only interests me insofar as my green reptile friends claim parts of it as their territory, and I very much prefer it to be horseless (which it thankfully often is).

Not that the horses bother the reptiles - the lizards don't mind them one bit, and I've even seen them jump from the safety of the fly honeysuckle shrub which the pasture borders on right between the deadly looking hooves of the horses to forage for snails, without any sign of fear or even respect.

No, the reason I have a very conflicted relationship with those horses is that they are mighty cute and that there's usually also foals. The sight of those beautiful, happy animals jumping around and frolicking (it's a huge pasture and you can tell the horses really love it) is irresistible: and that inevitably attracts what in the entire universe is known as the most destructive anti-matter and ultimate undoing of any nature photographer: other humans.

Unlike with the horses, the lizards ARE indeed very much bothered by specimens of loud, unpredictable Homo sapiens sapiens - which makes those (and by extension also the horses) the cryptonite of this here reptile photographer. It's not the horses' fault, I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. I'm just telling you how it is (and some of you might have read about the traumatic events I had to endure to get a particular photo - if not, read at your own risk here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51405389883/in/datepo... - which clearly demonstrated that even when it's entirely horseless, that pasture is still a threat for artistic endeavours).

But back to the photo. So one morning during my vacation back in May I got up quite early. It had rained all night, and now the fog was creeping up from the valley below to our village just as the sky cleared up and the morning sun started to shine through the trees.

And just as I did when I was a teenager I grabbed my camera and ran out to photograph this beautiful mood of ghostlike trees and sunbeams cutting through the mist. There had already been such a day a week earlier (which is when I took this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51543603732/in/datepo... ), but this time, the horses were also there.

Because of our slightly strained relationship I only took this one photo of them (I now wish I had taken more: talk about missed opportunities), and otherwise concentrated on the landscape. It was only later when I went through all the photos on my computer that I realized that I actually really liked those horses, even despite the whole composition being such a cliché. And I realized another thing: when I drained the photo of all the color, I liked it even better - because there was almost a bit of grain in it, like in the photos from my youth.

Since then I have experimented quite a bit with b/w and sepia compositions (some of which I will upload here eventually I guess), but this photo here is the first one that helped me rediscover my old passion. I hope you like it even though it builds quite a stark contrast with the rest of my tiny - and very colorful - gallery. But in the spirit of showing you the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat (and also in the spirit of expanding my gallery a bit beyond lizards and insects), I think it's not such a bad fit.

As always, many greetings to all of you, have a wonderful day and don't hesitate to let me know what you think 😊

♫♪♫

Found you in the bedroom

Vacant, set in gloom

Jamming all your fingertips into all your wounds

Baby, it's a dog day

Don't you let it rule

Cause I could hold your whole weight

If you asked me to

I am starting to see stars and moons

(It's an awful sham, but I follow suit)

This is how it ends, a courageous boom

(Neighbours wave their hands, as we're passing through)

And it's awful sad that two lovers bloom

(Come and watch them dance, dance into their doom)

I am starting to see stars and moons

Smarter men than I have fallen

For the fraudulence

Braiding all their broken parts into sourness

So how could you believe me

When I say to you

That no one in my hollow heart

Holds a candle to you

Found you in the bedroom

Vacant, set in gloom

Jamming all your fingertips into all your wounds

A few days ago I stumbled across a field with a couple of traditional drying rack for grass. Not so many of them anymore. I had to google the english words for it, but I hope drying rack is correct, so please comment if you have a better word for it. I would guess that these straws will be used for “julenek” (Christmas sheaf?), as the whole oat grains are still on. “Julenek" is traditionally something we hang out for Christmas as food for the little birds, but mostly as decoration. I grew up in the city, but at the time there was still quite a bit of farming in the immediate area. Us kids often played hide and seek and other things around these racks. Hence the title ;-)

A hokey title, I know... :)

I'm not sure what these are but I saw them on a bush nearby.

Taken with Pentacon AV 80mm and 12mm extension tube.

Thank you for taking the time to visit, comment, fave or invite. I really appreciate them all.

All photos used are my own.

All rights reserved. This photo is not authorized for use on your blogs, pin boards, websites or use in any other way. You may NOT download this image without written permission from lemon~art.

Amsterdam - Vondelpark - Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat

Copyright - All images are copyright © protected. All Rights Reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of any of these images without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

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We have 2 pandas in this Safari Park named Cai Tao (male) and Hu Chun (female), which were adopted from the government of China on Sep 2017.

They both are 12 years old by this Sep 2022.

This one of them ...

THANK YOU so MUCH for your kind visits, faved and comments.

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But they are very hot when you eat them.

...Find the things that electrify your spirit and hold them in your hands like lightning. The darkness WILL come for you....make it never want to return.

I must look clueless when I am out shooting and have sad puppy dog eyes were friendly people want to help correct my ways.

On this sunset, I was at Panorama Point in Capitol Reef National Park. The "view" is the opposite direction, and I was set up with my tripod looking in the opposite direction from everyone else.

Three separate people came up to me, letting me know where I was supposed to be shooting. I thanked them for their kindness and stood my ground :-)

Pentacon AV 80mm f2.8

There are three male African lions at Zoo Atlanta: Azizi, Hondo and Hatari. They are brothers, and you will often find them inseparable. In fact, the lions are usually only separated from each other when they eat and when they are training.

and in the darkness bind them. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

I wish love and joy to nest in the hearts of people and to warm them, adding a note of happiness to the difficult daily life of this time.Stay Strong.. Stay Safe.. Soon all we will be better! Faith, Love, Courage.. Merry Christmas to all!!!Big hug! With Love Ela ♥♥♥

Believe..

Children sleeping

Snow is softly falling

Dreams are calling

Likes bells in the distance

We were dreamers

Not so long ago

But one by one

We all had to grow up

When it seems the magic slipped away

We find it all again on Christmas Day

Believe in what your heart is saying

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste

There's so much to celebrate

Believe in what you feel inside

And give your dreams the wings to fly

You have everything you need

If you just believe

Trains move quickly

To their journey's end

Destinations

Are where we begin again

Ships go sailing

Far across the sea

Trusting starlight

To get where they need to be

When it seems that we have lost our way

We find ourselves again on Christmas Day

Believe in what your heart is saying

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste

There's so much to celebrate

Believe in what you feel inside

And give your dreams the wings to fly

You have everything you need

If you just believe

If you just believe

If you just believe

If you just believe

Just believe

Just believe

Song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Avycrez66o&ab_channel=JoshGr...

"Them" by Cica Ghost maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sky%20Atoll/28/13/25

Black-throated Sparrows are not common in this part of the northwest although they are common in other parts of North America. Recent reports indicate that there may be as many as 3 near Vantage Washington where I took this photo. Ebird flags them as rare. Although I didn't see or hear two at the same time I had a feeling that there were 2 when we found this bird because we re-located them several times. This shot is more heavily cropped than some of the other photos I posted of this bird. IMG_4296

Hello Guys! (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

This is my new post for Mens! i hope you like it! (◍'◡`◍) ✿❥

♦You can to find this nice items in HONGDAE Event ----- - JANUARY 26th 2022 to FEBRUARY 20th 2022 at 1pm SLT -----

H A T ---> WARETA . - Youya Bucket Hat - Patterns @Hongdae Event

H A I R ---> Dura-B116-FAT

H E A D ---> LeLUTKA Kane Head 3.1

E Y E S ---> [avarosa] Ria Eyes

E A R R I N G S ---> QUIXE - Jin Earring @Hongdae Event

C O F F E E ---> hive // coffee on the go

S H I R T ---> {Rosier} / Joshua Shirt / @Hongdae Event

P A N T S ---> [CORDEWA] - *CORDEWA* GOLDEN DREAMS PANTS

PLACE ---> FOREVER BULLETPROOF, Club Persona

I want to thank my new sponsors for the opportunity to display their great items. hugs!!

EXPLORe#322- 12 de marzo de 2009

Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too.

Stir them in my witches' brew.

I got magic, Alakazamakazoo......

Read the rest and grab the event and designer info on Threads & Tuneage

Taken on Ippos

Love SL photography and looking for like minded artists or places to shoot? Come visit the Ippos Collective: 4 Picturesque SIMS to visit and/or settle. Come for the magic....stay for the friends. <3

.

“She didn’t belong anywhere and she never really belonged to anyone. And everyone else belonged somewhere and to someone. People thought she was too wonderful. But she only wanted to belong to someone. People always thought she was too wonderful to belong to them or that something too wonderful would hurt too much to lose. And that’s why she liked him– because he just thought she was crazy.”

― C. JoyBell C.

Credits . . .

I do not want to stand

under quiet skies.

I want them filled with bird song,

the intertwining symphony

of life breathing life

singing life

I do not want silent trees

or Silent Springs

without the buzzing

of hummingbirds

or the whisper-flight of wrens.

The grass has held worm

for robins, warm-breasted

and numerous —as far

into my memory as I can search.

Where are the robins now?

I haven’t seen one in so long.

The Aves are in decline.

I do not want to live

in a world without birds.

Without the intricacies of color

the dapper dancing for mates

the delicate strength of wings

teaching us to soar above things,

to be light as the wind

and quick on our feet.

How can I soar on wings like eagles, Lord

if there are none to inspire

my soul to lift?

Who will announce the gift of sun

after rain? Who will skip on delicate

feet along the shoreline, or lift

their notes on wind and wing?

Who will bring morning?

Coming too soon —

artist renderings,

a cross-stitched Avocet

on white linen, framed,

picture books and stories

telling of days when the skies

were ablaze with a flurry

of swift flying creatures

— this is what we give

to the generations?

Tales of them?

Empty skies

and our

remorseful eyes?

I cannot live

in a world without birds.

— forgive us our trespasses

Poem written by Christina Ward

There is something about handmade items that makes them incredibly special...if you've ever been the recipient of something handmade, or even made something yourself, consider yourself fortunate! Ayla brings you the new "Handmade Home" collection at the Cosmopolitan Event. Pictured from the collection:

Ayla. Handmade Home - Chair w/Drawings

Ayla. Handmade Home - Open Suitcase

Ayla. Handmade Home - Iron Tray w/Books

Ayla. Handmade Home - Cafe Table

Ayla. Handmade Home - Table Lamp

Ayla. Handmade Home - Breakfast Tray

Ayla. Handmade Home - Fireplace

The Cosmopolitan Event: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/No%20Comment/131/61/22

Ayla Mainstore: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/No%20Comment/131/61/22

Ayla Flickr: flic.kr/ps/3coNdw

I love love this set from Vespertine..the "Obscure plantscapes" collection. The are beautifully done and so unique!! Pictured from the set:

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - sarracenia plant 6

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - fig 1. - 1

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - teardrop plant 5

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - preserved fossil 7

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - fig 2. - 2

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - preserved roe deer RARE

{vespertine} obscure plantscapes - tillandsia medusa 8

Vespertine Mainstore: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pure%20Dreams/132/106/18

Vespertine Flickr: flic.kr/ps/GN4JK​

Other items used:

Build: Scarlet Creative Trinity Cabin

*alirium* DwarfForest spring green

elev8~Jasmine

Ayla. Nautical Refuge - Metal Side Table

Nutmeg. Home Clutter Rug

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for your support! ❤️

Just back from a trip to the Boonies folks and so so glad I'm back, pretty unproductive I might add, but there is always something.

This is a guy I got sometime last week and is probably the best image I've ever taken of this species, and will not be so quick in the future to pass them up.

Thank you for stopping by and for all the very kind words, much appreciated.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Each year thousands of these gentle giants rest, play and nurture their young in the sheltered waters of Hervey Bay. A real treat to watch them.

Hervey Bay, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland

Phil (Red-bellied woodpecker) certainly seems to be a bit of a show off these days. All of those red feathers are really starting to pop.

The addition of moss, bromeliads and staghorns to the oaks has proven to be a terrific habitat enhancement for my little visitors. Phil and Robbie (gray squirrel) are especially fond of the bromeliads and use them like little refreshment stands.

The next habitat enhancement project is adding resurrection fern to my oaks. I have been on the lookout for resurrection fern for a while now. As luck would have it, during my trip to Brooksville FL. over the weekend I met a couple that has the fern all over the oaks on their enormous property.

I asked if I could purchase some and they said no but I could have some. That certainly made my day! I was gifted a whole bin full, probably enough to establish the fern in all four of my oaks.

I hope that you have an incredible day, happy snapping.

The Hidden Language of theRoses

The Rose blooms are delicious creatures ! Not just because they are fragrant. Not just because they have magical colours and forms. Not just because the moment you stare at them, you are transferred to other , better worlds. Not just because they have an aura with divine energy around them!

But also, because, the moment you are found in the middle of your blooming garden, the Roses with their blooming blooms, captivate SO much your strong attention, that you… forget to… eat when you are hungry, you forget your tasks of the day, you forget your appointments, your calls!! The only thing you want, is to go very close to them and “see” them with all your being and your senses!! To capture their Divine Beauty, because you know it is ephemeral, like all physical things…In order to have them by your side when the winter approaches, with its loooong dark, cold days, while themselves have already started hibernating until your new rendezvous in the coming Spring…

❤️You can admire here the magnificent Rose bloom of a David Austin Rose : Grace !! Her blooms’ form and apricot color harmony, are especially attractive and original!

A Composite

With the exception of the fence I shot all of the elements in this image. I brought them together to create this leisurely scene while I pass the time in March…

Protected with PIXSY

A rather common warbler found throughout the Himalayan Belt. We sighted them almost everyday much of the journey. I know now that these are endemic to the Himalayas.

These are small birds - maybe less than 10 cms and incredibly active in the roadside bushes, trees and clumps of vegetation. I love the color of these birds and they are quite agile. The birds feed on small seeds, tree insects like Spiders, caterpillars and berries maybe. We never saw them on the ground anytime and most of the time were shooting almost 70-80 deg upwards. Except onetime when we were overlooking a valley and got this shot!

Thanks in advance for your views, faves and feedback if any.

I really like shooting kitchen things .It is always great to get that different perspective.

Happy Macro Mondays

''Treat This'' 206 ~ Kreative People group

Thanks to jus tt for fun for the source image which you can see in the first comment box below or here: flic.kr/p/PLNpNC

So, I've been experimenting with some new heads this past week - some for better, some for worse, all of them still works in progress. Bear with me! 💕

Featuring:

Seul Exposed Shoulders Blouse

Kitja Nalan Jeans - available at Kustom9 through 10-Jul

Zenith Lolita Leather Handbag - from Winter Lolita Gacha 2

Tram C409 hair

Taken at Sobe

Full details at Grumpy Kitten.

It was all about the colors. And I could 'feel' them only after I tried to be a bit more abstract than usual. Selecting a shutter speed of 1/8 sec finally helped me to get everything right