Wait

One Word Sunday: wait

Symmetry

One Word Sunday: symmetry

Lens-Artists Challenge #163 — Keep Walking…three states of walking

Walking. It’s what I do. But I’m not the only one walking as you’ll see from my responses to Amy’s challenge to “Keep Walking.” Here are three states of walking…or walking in three states.

Walking on tiptoe in Arizona…

Walking warily with your mouth full in Illinois…

And how we (that would be the royal “we) walk in Wyoming (with the sounds of a running stream for accompaniment)…

Trust me, even though I’m not doing the walking in that video, it’s not easy to keep get my phone out of my waist pack, get it ready to shoot, start the video while holding the phone both tightly enough not to drop it and as straight as possible…all while holding the reins with my left hand!! I feel I did my share. 🙂

Lens-Artists Challenge #125 – You Pick It!

My first thought for “You Pick It” was to share flowers from my recent visit to Descanso Gardens, but after seeing Tina’s marvelous flowers, I decided to go “white.”

On a two-day trip to Yosemite in March a few years ago, we left on a magical day where we saw clouds filled the marvelous landscape.

Who could resist a shot of this cutie on my first visit to Descanso Gardens? I’ve given it an edit to take out any other colors.

Egrets are the new white in my life.

Light + spider web= white.

And a final whiteout from my first visit to Descanso Gardens. If I lived anywhere near, I’d have a membership and be there at least once a week!

for Lens-Artists Challenge #125 – You Pick It!

The cormorant and the egret…a fishy tale

Once upon a time I hunkered down by one of the lakes at the Preserve to relax and keep an eye (and lens) on one of my favorite birds–the cormorant. I’ve previously called the the U-boats of the bird world. They’re silent, deadly, and can hunt underwater for long periods of time, coming up a completely different place than where they dove. As usual they were fishing and my camera was clicking, although the first round wasn’t quite in focus. But the second round…

…gone fishing and…strike! Oh, yeah, I love Fish Fridays!

I’d be happy to help if you need it. 🙂

Going down. No, I don’t chew my food! What of it?

Hmmmm. Didn’t go down. Let’s try repositioning.

Lens-Artists Challenge #121 – Focus on the Subject

I was excited to see that the Lens-Artists challenge theme would be announced the prior week…until I saw that Patti’s theme was “Focus on the Subject.” OK. Maybe it didn’t matter that I knew in advance. 🙂 I felt marginally better when Tina said she had to ask Patti the direction she planned to go. Me? I figure as long as I can be on-topic (even if not Patti’s emphasis), I should be good to go.

“Focus” can be a noun or a verb. If you don’t literally focus (v.) on your subject, you might get something like I got here, the focus (n.) on everything other than the bird I wanted you to see.

Of course, you might also find that complete lack of focus (accidental) gives an impression that works, such as “speed” here.

The entire shot might be your focus and in focus…

…or your focus might be just what’s in front of you. Anything more would distract and cause the focus not to be on your subject. Let’s all say together, “Bokeh.”

So…if you focus (v.) on your subject, it will bee the thing that enables others to focus (v.) on your focus (n.), causing the flowering of a beautiful relationship. Ha! How could I resists when my focus (n.) is always on making a trip here as delightful an experience as possible? If it works that gives me a buzz! 🙂 Happy Saturday!

Finding the unexpected

Several weeks ago while I was walking at the Preserve on the lookout for something interesting and unusual, a birder with the requisite long-lensed camera hurried up and asked me if I’d seen the spoonbill. I had to tell him no, but instant spoonbill-spotting envy struck. Unfortunately I didn’t see hide nor hair of one . Maybe beak and feathers would be a better phrase.

Today I reversed my usual path and although it was a lovely, cool morning, I didn’t see anything exciting until I stopped at one of the little open areas along one of the lakes where I often see egrets, which by now are usual. I did see an egret…and then by golly, a roseate spoonbill! And I was the only photographer in the area. 🙂 Oh, yeah!

What’s your super power?

Everyone has a superpower. My dad’s is being able to call on the phone at the most inconvenient time: when I’m as far away from the phone as possible, on another call, forgot to take my phone off vibrate for the night, etc. My husband, in the same vein, starts a conversation when I’m in the bathroom, doing something noisy, or have just walked out of the room. He can also nap any time and any place, something not in my super power arsenal.

Some have the superpower of always being elegant,

while others look great in feathers and a hat.

I’m a mom, so I obviously have a multitude of superpowers! But one very useful super power is being able to pack well, whether estimating how much will fit in a container for the fridge or freezer or packing the most possible items in the space allowed, whether in a suitcase or boxes in the van. My other superpower is being able to drive for long periods of time without having to stop (gas stops and bathroom/food breaks should always happen together if at all possible) and actually enjoying it.

What’s your superpower? I know you have one! If I don’t see any responses, I might be forced to come up with one for quite a few of you who follow this blog, so get your choice in so I don’t have to do it for you. 🙂

BTW, I look great in hats, too. 🙂

Log rolling competitions ruffle my feathers!

for Six Word Saturday 9.12.20

Breakfast 1 and twice the price of gold

I know it’s rude to watch someone while they’re eating, and even worse, take photos, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. I caught this snowy egret mid-gulp and nope, I don’t feel bad about it at all.

Snowy egret or great egret? Egret or heron? If you’re not sure which egret is which, as I wasn’t, the site linked above lets you compare types side-by-side, which is really helpful. The snowy egret has a dark beak with yellow at the top and by the eyes as well as yellow feet, which you can’t see here. The great egret has a yellow-orange bill and is much larger. But I didn’t know that egrets are also herons. Did you?

And did you know snowy egrets were once more precious than gold? The allaboutbirds site says:

During the breeding season, adult Snowy Egrets develop long, wispy feathers on their backs, necks, and heads. In 1886 these plumes were valued at $32 per ounce, which was twice the price of gold at the time. Plume-hunting for the fashion industry killed many Snowy Egrets and other birds until reforms were passed in the early twentieth century. The recovery of shorebird populations through the work of concerned citizens was an early triumph and helped give birth to the conservation movement.

Talk about killer fashion! Makes me even happier to see crowds of these fashion leaders now at the Riparian Preserve!