I saw down here somewhere.
Here's a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) on the ground looking for an acorn. Acorns are the blue jays' absolute favorite. During late winter and early spring when there were a lot of acorns on the ground, the blue jays all but ignored my feeders. But I would frequently see them dropping out of the oak trees to the ground to grab an acorn.
"Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully with family and flock members or tending to nestlings." - allaboutbirds.org
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #BlueJay
Good morning. 🌅🌅🌅
6 August 2023
What do you know of caring people? You don't hear about them often because horrid people usually suck up the air. But caring people live among us as well. In that way, I'm lucky. My wife is the most caring person I know. The problem is that people constantly reach out to her with their problems. Some petty, some heart breaking, regardless, my wife always takes their calls. Compassion comes naturally for her, I, on the other hand have to work at it. I'm not sure if it's a lack of compassion so much as being able to sense other people's plight. Maybe, I'm just the Ying to her Yang.
“for there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” - Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #sunset #Caribbean #compasion
What's bluer than a bluebird?
This is an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea), many of these birds were around during early spring.
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #IndigoBunting
Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
I took this photo during early spring. There was a false spring this year that caused our crepe myrtles to bloom early, then there was one last freeze that ended up killing many of the branches. I've since cut them out. The plants themselves are still doing okay.
"The Red-bellied Woodpecker is named for a small quarter-sized patch of reddish tint on the belly, sometimes difficult to see but easier if you watch them at your feeders." - https://www.wild-bird-watching.com/red-bellied-woodpecker.html
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #RedBelliedWoodpecker
Good morning. 🏺🏺🏺
5 August 2023
It's Saturday, I just returned from taking Ben to the groomers. We take him every two months because his hair really does get out of control. If not, then we would start having to deal with dingle berries - sorry I know that's an unpleasant vision.
There's a trick to taking Ben, because Charlie gets jealous and feels left out. So, I usually let Charlie outside, then put Ben in the car. Sometimes Charlie will cry, in the way of a loud howl, when we leave. 😥 It's only a couple miles away, so I'm usually back within 10 minutes or so and Charlie is happy enough when I return.
When I go to pick up Ben later in the day, I'll sometimes take Charlie and let him sit in the back seat while I run in and get Ben. That probably won't happen today because it's way too hot to leave him, even for minutes.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of." - Ogden Nash
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #dogs #pottery #jar
There be monsters here 🏴☠️
These are a couple of black spiny tailed iguanas, we say at Roatan, Honduras.
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #BlackSpinyTailedIguana
Big Rock in the Sky.
Morning moon 20230804
August 4
Waning Gibbous
89%
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #moon
Good morning, friends. 🌸🌸🌸
4 August 2023
It's Friday again, isn't it? It's starting to seem like we get one of those, every week. I don't really notice a difference between Friday and any other day, except Saturday and Sunday. You see, my neighbors mostly all go to work during the day, but on Saturday and Sunday, their cars are still in the driveway when I go outside in the morning. When I worked, on weekends, I would sometimes set my alarm to wake me just so I could turn it off and go back to sleep. I wonder if they do the same.
A cool thing about where we live, we have neighbors, but their houses are at least a football field away. So, there is little that any of us can do that will disturb the rest of us. Not that there aren't those who try.
“If my boss knew how unproductive I am on Fridays, he wouldn’t want me here either.” - James Johnson
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #morning #Firday #flowers
Thirsty?
Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) must have had a successful breeding season, because I see about a dozen of these birds at a time in my backyard when it is still relatively cool in the mornings. This is a young female at my bird bath getting a drink of water.
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #NorthernCardinal
That was close.
This northern cardinal seems to duck out of the way of some unseen projectile.
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdsofmastodon #birdwatching #NorthernCardinal
A fly by.
This black vulture was flying by the house yesterday. The photos I snapped yesterday are the closest photos of a flying black vulture that I've taken so far.
"The black vulture (Coragyps atratus ), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Central Chile and Uruguay in South America. Although a common and widespread species, it has a somewhat more restricted distribution than its compatriot, the turkey vulture, which breeds well into Canada and south to Tierra del Fuego. It is the only extant member of the genus Coragyps, which is in the family Cathartidae. Despite the similar name and appearance, this species is unrelated to the Eurasian black vulture, an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae." - animalia.bio
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdwatching #BlackVulture #raptor #BirdOfPrey
Mighty hunter.
This is Ben coming out of the woods. during our walk, where he was investigating an interesting scent, probably a deer. This was yesterday.
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #dogs #dogsofmastodon
Snowy Egret.
A couple weeks ago, I posted a photograph of this egret flying and about halfway up to this utility platform at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. In this photo, the egret is just coming to rest on the platform. It's quite a beautiful bird, isn't it?
"Among the most elegant of the herons, the slender Snowy Egret sets off immaculate white plumage with black legs and brilliant yellow feet. Those feet seem to play a role in stirring up or herding small aquatic animals as the egret forages. Breeding Snowy Egrets grow filmy, curving plumes that once fetched astronomical prices in the fashion industry, endangering the species. Early conservationists rallied to protect egrets by the early twentieth century, and this species is once again a common sight in shallow coastal wetlands." - allaboutbirds.org
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #birds #birdwatching #birdsofmastodon #SnowyEgret
Snowy Egret.
I got several photos of this bird at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana. In this photo, the egret is just raising its head out of the water after striking at some prey.
"The Egret is Athena’s messenger: The Goddess of Wisdom. People would interpret its crackling shriek as an omen that the Goddess was watching over someone, sailors in particular." - whatismyspiritanimal.com
#photo #photography #photographer #birds #egret #snowyegret
Northern Harrier
I didn't realize until a few minutes ago that I photographed one of these birds. This was taken at the point the bird was closest - but still far away. The photo was taken at Holly Beach, Louisiana - a very small town on the Gulf of Mexico.
#photo #photography #photographer #birds #harrier
