Glorious birds!

Here is a sampling of some of the glorious birds I have seen recently.

Tree Swallow
Mallard (with a mischievous look but is that a halo over his head?!) :-)

Wood Duck (female)

Red-winged Blackbird (female)

Two more insect photos

Just another quick post of two more insect photos. Butterflies are obvious choices as beautiful insects but I think this fly is quite stunning too!

I'm back!

Well, it has been almost a month since I last posted. One reason for this is that I was on vacation for a week and took so many photographs that I have spent all my time editing them since then. Also, of course, there was the usual "catch-up" to do at work and on top of that I bought a new computer and had it installed this past Friday. I was aghast to find out that data transfer (from the old computer) was not included in the installation (it was when I upgraded eight years ago!) so I have worked all weekend doing it myself. I am almost finished but my photographs alone have taken 10 hours to transfer!! What takes 1 hour on my old computer takes only 3 minutes on my new one so it was way past time to upgrade.


Now I am exhausted but thought I would post two dragonfly photos. I took these at an urban nature park that is a real treasure trove for finding dragonflies so I will go back often. I hope you like these in the meantime.


Eastern Pondhawk (female or immature male)


Widow Skimmer (female)

More spring babies (of the Woodchuck variety)

This week-end I checked out a Woodchuck den that was active last year and was delighted to see a new family with three little ones. I can't be sure but I believe the mother is the same one as from last year. You can see my gallery of that family here.

This den is on a wooded slope in a cemetery which is a very busy place on week-ends and holidays. Car loads of people kept arriving and, in order to be discreet for the sake of these animals, I patiently waited for about two hours hoping that as the day waned, the crowds would thin out. Sure enough, around five pm I could hear car doors slamming and engines starting. At last I would have some "alone" time with the mum and her babies.

Well, one's patience is sorely tested when photographing wildlife! Just after the last car left and I positioned myself near the den, a raccoon wandered by on the upper edge of the slope (where one of the babies was exploring). By its manner I don't think it was stalking the young one but at the very least, it startled it and there was a big commotion resulting in one terrified little Woodchuck hurtling down the embankment (gravity was helping propel it and amazingly it never lost its footing) and all three dove deep into the den. As well, a stone was dislodged in the process and it made quite a racket as it tumbled down into the dried leaves. All this caused the mother to leap into action and climb up to confront the intruder - however it was long gone at that point.

Needless to say, my photo op was quickly over! Instead, I decided to come back the next day at an early morning hour which paid off with many of the following pictures. I am also happy to report that all three babies seemed no worse off for the skirmish of the previous day!

Mother resting.
Two of the babies.

All three babies!

Watching the watcher.

A tender moment between litter-mates.

A young one with the mother.

Mother bonding with baby.

Mother and all three babies!

The little ones love to chew on branches and twigs.

Litter-mates.

Relaxing in the dappled sunlight.

I was amazed to see lots of tree climbing!!

A sweet and alert little face :-)

Spring babies

This week-end has been a delight and is due to having the good luck to see the new life that spring has brought. Here is a sampling!


Canada geese

Mallards

Didee's artwork

My sister, known in "blog" world as Didee, is an excellent artist. She has generously allowed me to post some of her artwork here. Some of her favorite media are represented in the selection below.

Watercolour

Batik.




Pencil

Watercolour

Pencil

Bokeh effect

Having just become aware of an effect called "bokeh", I thought I would post a few photos which seem to illustrate it. It refers to the way points of light in a photograph are rendered. This effect can be created by an editing program such as Photoshop or (as in the cases below) can be created simply by the choice of aperture on a telephoto lens.

Photo edited examples are shown here:

http://psdfan.com/inspiration/graphic-design/inspirational-examples-of-the-bokeh-effect/