Feathered Friends Everywhere

Well I took a snow day today so I thought I would catch up on my blog since I haven't posted in a while. Over the weekend we had warmer temperatures so it inspired me to go back to the river to see if the Eagles were out fishing. I got there and only saw two but also saw a red-headed woodpecker and a really different kind of duck. I'm not familiar with ducks and Rick said there are so many kinds it is hard to tell. I decided to call him a snow duck :) Oh I forgot to mention while I was there taking pictures I ran into a man shooting too. You know me - never met a stranger. I walked by him as he got back in his truck and said " Nice day for shooting pictures". He then asked,"what was I shooting with ?" so I replied, " A Pentax K10D." Low and behold he was too so you know my next words...."great ! then you can give me some tips" He got out of the truck changed some of my settings while he was asking "why are you shooting in this mode....etc..." My answer was I'm learning and have not read my books like I should. He said,"who needs books just get it out and shoot! " That's how my day all started. we stood and talked about pictures for an hour. I said my goodbyes and off I went- with a big grin on my face. Now enough of the blah,blah,blah let's look at some pictures.

This was the first picture for the day. This Eagle just sat there - through my whole conversation with Dan (my Pentax buddy ) I didn't zoom in more because I wanted to get the tree in the shot.

This is the "snow duck " I was talking about. It was the only one down there that I could see. If you know what kind it is please comment so I will know.

This sounds like a fisherman's tale but - this is the one that got away !

So here come the geese. I looked up and it was like rush hour in the big city. They were flying into each other and going crazy. I think the warm weather had their feathers in a tizzy.

This birds are amazingly HUGE and LOUD !!

As I was getting ready to head out I kept hearing a weird chirping noise. I looked everywhere in this big tree and finally found him. The re-headed woodpecker. He sat there only long enough for me to get one shot and then he was out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now for my snow day. As you probably know I don't drive well in this crap so I used a vacation day and made good use of it by taking pictures. I had just filled up my bird feeders over the weekend so my little friends were out singing in the Lilac bush early. Below are some pictures.

This little Finch was sitting here taking in the fight that was going on at the feeder.

Notice the bird on the bottom left. I think he is the "Boss of the feeder." It seems like he is squawking at the one on the right to get off of the feeder. I held the shutter open to see what would happen.

Here is the proof. He ran him off ! What a mean birdie !

I saw another finch sitting closer to the top of the bush and it looks like he was praying for all the other birds.Again with the shutter open I was able to get him bowing his head.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. Chinese Proverb

That's it for now- I have been on this computer for a long time. Dad & Mary Ann I hope you have enjoyed reading all my blabbing. Next week I will have pictures posted from our trip to Des Moines. WOW - city pictures....I wonder if there will be birds ?

Practice Makes Perfect....

So with the title I will have to say I'm learning new things everyday with my Pentax K10D. Rick has left town for work in sunny- warm Flordia so it is outside for me shooting whatever I can find. Although we have had snow and I DO NOT drive in this crap I get out in the yard looking for something to shoot. I shot this picture in RAW mode and then done some editing in Photoshop.

This is not that good of a picture but I made my dog sit and pose on this cedar bench that Rick made . Needless to say it was snowing at the time and she was glad to move. I did give her a treat.

I was standing under this tree looking straight up at the sky for this picture. I thought this looked liked something from a scary movie.

It is very cold - I had to come in and warm up by the fire. While I was in the house I had a funny thought for pictures so I bundled back up and back to the yard I went. I thought what could be more fun than smiling faces in the snow. This is a decoration I have on my tree. So as soon as someone pulls into my driveway they are greeted with a smiling face. The other one is a creation from my dad. He is always making things out of wood and carving. On one trip to Tennessee I took him a piece of cedar and asked him to make me a Welcome sign. Well low and behold this is what he came up with. Creative huh ? He actually made a whole sign but all I wanted to capture was the face. Dad says it is Rick.

The rest of the pictures below are taken while I was on the road to moms and on the trip home. I have always wanted to get a picture of this barn (same barn different view) so with no traffic behind me and my good ole compact Sony in my purse I was able to get what I wanted. ( that don't happen often ) There are also some of a little stream here in West Point and some random photos that I wanted to share. I hope you have enjoyed looking at them as much as I do taking them.

This one is of the catholic Church in West Point. The church is so big so I just focused on the steeple.

Weird-Bird
Birds are flyin' south for winter.Here's the Weird-Bird headin' north,Wings a-flappin', beak a-chatterin',Cold head bobbin' back 'n' forth.He says, "It's not that I like iceOr freezin' winds and snowy ground.It's just sometimes it's kind of niceTo be the only bird in town."

Shel Silverstein