Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a happy new year!!!

Black Squirrel

Wolf Creek

Bad Day

Not going to tell you how bad this day has been, but I will show you in one of the photos I took today...this photo is so dull and bad I don't even know why I sharing it. I guess it is true what the saying is..." You can tell how bad your day is by the photos you take!" I can't even think straight today...maybe tomarrow will be better.

Merry Christmas

Patches and Zoey

A new addition to my family. So much fun having them, but as they grow it will be even nicer. I really enjoy cats and make good subjects to shoot photos of.

Snow

Our first snow of the season is here and more on the way. This mornings visitor....Rusty Blackbird

Red-bellied Woodpecker

First image I have been able to get of this very skittish bird.

Frost Crystals

Winter is here and it is getting colder...time to go down to the river and search for ice shapes.

Textured Image

Now that hunting season is over I iwll be getting back out and shooting...in the meantime I have been working on textured art images. This one is of the AuSable River in the winter....I used an underlay and faded it to black and white.

Peanut Lover

I love watching Bluejays go crazy over the peanuts I place on the table feeder every morning. Thye fight each other to get them. It's fun to watch....about 30 jays fly in and swarm the feeders.

What we are missing!

It is so amazing how much we miss by not paying attention to the world around us. Like this lichen that I found on the limbs from the oak tree. If we only take the time to stop and look. The neighbors always see me on the ground crawling around with my camera. So take a few minutes and stop and look at the small things around us...you might be surprised what you will see.

Lichen

Now that deer season (Firearm) season is open I will stay out of the woods. I found this lichen on a large branch from an oak tree that we had cut down. There is so much on the limbs and I will be taking more photos of it.

Female Hairy Woodpecker

So far this Fall I have 4 different species of woodpeckers coming to the feeders. pieleated, Hairy, Downy, and Red-bellied.

Textured Art

I am learning to create textured digital art....it is fun.

Fussy Woodpecker

   This Pieleated Woodpecker is really fussy. I changed the suet cake and he would not touch it. He flew to the pine and called loudly and got my attention. So I went and changed the suet cake back to his favorite and now he is happy again.

Reflections of Fall

Heading out today and spend a few hours enjoying the color.

Looking Back

Was going through some of my past image files and some how over looked this one. It was taken back in August of 2010. One of the few sunsets that was worth photographing. I spent many evenings waiting for the right light and this night it all came together.

Fall is Here

   Once again I find myself sitting on the shore of the pond. The sun is low on the horizon and a gentle breeze is blowing. I relax to the sound of the small waves splashing on the shore. The birds are singing from the nearby trees and an Osprey is watching the water for a careless fish to swim along the surface.

   I live for days like is…but fall is here and there won’t be many more days that I can sit in the warmth of a sunset. Soon the days will get shorter and colder, but that’s ok with me. I enjoy the cold and the snow.

Finding Life

   It’s just after day break…I’m enjoying the warmth of the morning sun as I sit watching a brook. The sunlight is reflecting off the water and creating little diamonds. It is a day that is filled with wonder and life, but my heart is empty; I search for words, and nothing comes.


   I look up and notice that the trees are changing color…it is then that these words come to mind.

   How each day is filled with wonder? Whatever it will hold, it is governed by His promise: “All things work together for good to them that love God.”

   Whether this day brings happiness or heartache, He will be there. My life is watched by a divine Man still scarred from His battle with sin, who remembers what it is like to be hungry or tempted or to lose a friend.

   Day by day He is reconciling me to Himself, working out the imperfections of my character in His own good way. With the eye of God He sees the towering ideal He wants me to reach. With the eye of man He sees my frailties…and gives me grace to grow.

   It is morning...I face the day and say….”Whether in sunshine or in shadow, what blessings will this day hold for me?”

Thinking about Life

   Once again autum is almost here in my valley...Before this season ends, a whole new generation will feel the cold for the first time. Once again my mind is thinking about how many notions there are of how life began. Most are filled with scientific argument, supposedly beyond question. And most bother me. Because misuse of science has put my world beneath the horror of a great shadow.

   And because life, despite its problems, still seems too beautiful to have begun by accident. I turn from such theories and go down to my meadow, where the warm earth is solid in my hands and where I can see a little stream filled with winter's diamonds and summer's rainbows.
   And I remember that there is another story of the beginning of life, in a book written thrity-three centuries ago.
   It is an alternative. It is a love story.

Eastern Towhee

This young Towhee has been feeding at my feeder for the last week.

Brown Thrasher

This is the first time I have been able to get a good shot of a Brown Thrasher. This one does not seem shy...

Season is Changing

Leaf in stream...my first fall color of this year.

A couple images from the last few days...

Mio Pond Sunsets

Just a couple images from the last few days.

Mio Pond Reflections

It has been raining since 11:30pm last night. We needed the rain...

A Muggy Afternoon

Spent a few hours in a swampy meadow the other day when it was so muggy and hot. I did get a few good shots of dragonflies.

Jack Pine Meadow

As the summer passes in to fall...things are beginning to change. I love the change from summer to fall.

Underwing Moth

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This is the first hummingbird I have ever photographed. Everything came together for the shot.

Evening Light

Sunset on the Mio Pond

Sunset

This image was taken one summer evening. I had spent the day on the pond canoing. As afternoon wore on I noticed clouds starting to move in. So I decided to stay until sunset to see if I could get any good shots. I found a location and set up and waited. I did not have to wait long...as the sunset the sky started to glow. As you can s...ee by the image my decision to stay a little longer payed off.


Photo taken with a Canon Rebel XT, Canon EFS 18-55mm lens (24mm) ISO 100 F/16

Back to the Meadow

Went back to the meadow again today, but the lighting and wind was bad. I will try again when we get a better day. Did see plenty of dragonflies and butterflies, but no good shots. Sometimes that happens, but it is always nice to get out there...even if I don't get any shots.

Viceroy

I was lucky to get a shot of one of my favorite butterflies. This is the first one I have seen this year, but when I was out in the Swampy Meadow I spotted this one feeding on a Wild Bergamot. Planning on going back to the Swampy Meadow again tomorrow. I heard the weather report and it's going to be hot and muggy. I hope so...

Afternoon in a Meadow

I spent the afternoon in a swampy meadow. It was muggy and very warm...but the butterflies, Dragonflies and Bees did not mind. Spotted Knapweed and Wild Bergamot could be seen covering the meadow. I took well over 500 images and sweat enough to make my shirt wet, but it was well worth the trip. Will go back in a week to see what else I can find. I would like to go there early in the morning, but it's hard for me to do this...maybe I will try one of these cool mornings. Would be nice to find Dragonflies with dew on them.

Black Swallowtail Caterpiller

I have yet to see a Black Swallowtail Buterfly, but have found the caterpiller.

Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)

I found this species of Orchid growing in my ditch...it is the first time I have never mowed the ditch and I'm glad I decided to let it grow wild. This is a beautiful flower when you get up close to it. I have 11 plants growning and will be taking some more photos of it.

Sunset

Mio Pond Sunset...been busy. Will catch up on my posting soon.

Leaffooted Bug - Merocoris distinctus

This is one strange looking insect...

Yellow Warbler

Was out in a marsh this morning and took some great shots...these yellow warblers hung around. The parent was feeding the young one, but was unable to get a shot of that.

Hovering Honeybee

My first image for the month of July....this little honeybee.

Hare Bell

We have had lots of rain...so hopefully today I can get out and wander through the park and take some photos. My garden is growing and looking good.

Digital Art

Green Frog

This green frog has decided to stay in my rock pond. First it was Spring Peepers now a Green Frog.

My Birthday

Today I turned one year older....it's been a lazy day for me. I only took a few photos. This Golden-rod Crab Spider is one of them. I really enjoy watching spiders...

Robberflies

Robberfly-Diogmites Neoternatus

First View

Robberfly-Diogmites Neoternatus

Second View

Robberfly-Laphria Thoracica

This one mimics a bumblebee

Both of these were in my garden today.