voting for more humor and "unexpecteds"

post #403
     These are serious times, with serious repercussions from there being too many closed minds, and therefore a serious reminder to remember the artists in the mix! These folks are likely to be used to seeing the unexpected, the unusual, and even the far-fetched. They are either compelled to or can't help from sharing their perspectives, literally and figuratively. I'd wager we all have some artist within, though we may require some encouragement to acknowledge that and treasure it.

     The response to my first humor-focused post a few weeks ago was nice. Thanks for comments via the blog or in person. I do have a few more such photos to share -- though today's truly fall day (finally) also captures me. I'll save that for next week, to extend the season....

     First, a seasonal greeting from some treasured offsprings! Officially they are not in costume, nor wearing masks!! In any case, this photo makes me laugh.

OK, now for some stories:
       First, the day the pileated woodpecker stopped by -- and wouldn't leave. I was on one side of the living room window and he on the other, foraging in a very old apple tree. When the light is right, the window doesn't seem to detract too much from photos. It was just a lucky thing that I noticed his arrival -- I don't usually hang out in the living room. I took one quick photo, thinking he would leave right away, which he didn't do.  I believe my camera happened to be fairly nearby.  It was his only such visit in over 30 years!

        

rat-a-tat-tat

I heard a rustling sound on the ground, and all those little feathers stuck up, briefly! I barely got a shot.

      Another year, it was a downy woodpecker family outside the upstairs bathroom window!  My granddaughter, age 3, and I watched the feeding going on for at least 20 minutes. Again, that happened only once. You had to be there. No way to set up an appointment....

     One last one-time-only bird visit, this time two Northern Flickers, both males, both doing the territorial thing. It was like a ballet. At first I had no idea about what was going on. This all took place on the single old black walnut tree outside the kitchen/dining room -- and again a total surprise, requiring dropping every other thing I might have thought I needed to be doing during that time. I don't have any particular bird watching equipment, so I don't go out looking for birds. However, I'm so grateful they have sometimes come to me.

     I have had a last minute change of plans for tomorrow, so there's not time now to share more "unexpecteds". But I do have two current photos from the weekend, one from here in Kentucky and the other at Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station..... ending as I began today with grandchildren adventures, not necessarily because of them but because whatever they're into can be pretty interesting! (I didn't take either photo....)

Birds who have visited me, part 1: pileated woodpecker

post #277
       Finally, here is the whole story of the day the visiting pileated woodpecker decided the bugs in our old apple tree were worth the risk of me and my camera being on the other side of the window.  The tree trunk is only 3 feet from the house.  I can't believe he didn't know I was there. The photos are taken through the window so they are not picture perfect, so to speak, but obviously it is better to go with the photo you can get than waiting for some perfect situation!
       I was using my Canon Rebel, at least 5 years ago, and a 17-40 lens. No cropping that I remember doing. It is still a happiness to share these once in a lifetime photos.  It was totally a true privilege to spend all that time with this busy and determined visitor. 

To set the stage.... what I saw first from where I was sitting, and the only photo of the bird I expected to be able to make.

I learned later that the red stripe below the eye is a way to tell it is a male.

beak evidence

 

seeing beneath the feathers

 

These raised-up head feathers happened unexpectedly and briefly -- perhaps a warning of some sort? There may have been some rustling in the leaves on the ground.

 

        Please note that I have no idea why I never before put this series on the blog in the five and a half years I have been doing it weekly.  Earlier today I checked the images for this bird on Google, and there is nothing like this -- but there are fascinating photos of the holes they chip away at for eating and the ones for nesting, and great photos of babies. In those cases, the photographer probably was able to set up a way to keep watch on the nest. In my case, since I feel I had a proper visit, I just made what I could have from what transpired. Hard not to believe in good luck....

I love the lines here -- head/beak, elegant neck feathers, claw -- all that plus a single eye!

bird families, creeks and Cumberland Falls

post #136

       Spring continues, for just a bit longer.  A friend, Mary Camille, sent me a photo of baby robins newly hatched in a flower pot on her deck.  This photo says HUNGRY!  The parent had gone for a quick perusal, perhaps?  (Thanks for this birth announcement!  Please keep us posted on their progress.)

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         On my own recent day of birth, we were visited by not one but this time TWO pileated woodpeckers.  They were checking out our fallen willow tree.  I didn't have my 300m lens on the camera at that moment, but I did catch the following photo as record of the event, with my 25 - 105 lens.  I was pretty amazed to see this pair of pileateds -- from our kitchen window.
  
  
  
       For today's post, I want to share several images of our creek, which is so central to the natural life of this place.  Tonight, after so much rain, it would look very different than it does after weeks of no rain, but, as always, so much of plant and animal and insect life is connected to its ebbs and flows. The first image is what I might see when I first get to the creek, before crossing over it and walking along one side of it.
  
  
  
  
   The next view was taken during a dry spell, looking back at the creek after having gone a bit farther along.  Notice the dark tree trunk in the upper right of the photo:
  
  
  

       This third view is from not much farther along.  I am now standing with my back near the edge of what we call the first waterfall.   Notice the same tree, again in the upper right of the photo:

    
   I have been thinking about this creek and its variations and my many photos of it because this last photo is going to be used on the cover of a book that will come out in October!  However, for design purposes, the publishers have cropped the photo so that only the middle section is shown, in what is almost a square.  I understand their need to do this, but of course I am attached to the image as I took it.  Does that sound like some kind of worn out artist's lament?  In any case, I am so pleased the image will be used because the book is This Day: New and Collected Sabbath Poems 1979-2012, by Wendell Berry, to be published by Counterpoint Press; I will be saying more about this book in future posts. 


     To end today's post, I want to share two images from today when we returned from the wonderful Farm House Inn in southern Kentucky and stopped at the nearby Cumberland Falls.  It was exciting to feel the energy there after 24 hours of steady rain. I began thinking about how water comes from under the ground and comes from our creeks.  It becomes a river -- and then comes Cumberland Falls and such -- on the way to the ocean. 
      As I will say yet again, we all live downstream, and I just can't understand why we are not courageous enough to preserve sources of clean water, essential to the health and well-being of our planet and of our selves. 

      I enjoyed having my Panosonic Lumix waterproof point and shoot to use in the pouring rain, even though I don't use it often enough to remember all its bells and whistles.  Now someday I would like to see the famous moonbow these falls produce during a full moon on a clear night.  I am sure there is a bigger crowd for that than there was today, despite this spectacular show.

Pieces of a photo life

post #7 --  Today, some notes about this and that...

             This:  Had a wonderful visit Wednesday morning -- from "my" pileated woodpecker.  This time he came even closer to the house, exploring the aged apple tree just outside our living room window, near where I happened to be sitting briefly before getting ready to leave to run some errands.   He didn't seem to mind my using my camera from inside while he carried out his intense hunt for bugs.  Yum yum.  It is never optimal to take photos through glass, but sometimes the light angle does allow acceptable snaps. 

Several photos were a blur of moving head hammering.

Why the raised feathers?? Anyone? Squirrel alert??

         

       That:  Last Sunday I drove a couple of hours to Rockcastle County for a gathering of the Kentucky Women Photographers Network.   Over a dozen of us members met face to face for a change, mostly to discuss where next to put our energies.  I marvel how no one in this interest group is fascinated by the exact same aspect of photography.  We have done some group exhibits across the state, and we share all kinds of info on our Yahoo listserv, but we realize there are even more ways we could be supporting each other.  I share here one of the photos I retrieved that day after the return of our most recent traveling exhibit. 

             
       I am making a portfolio of my neighbors at work, and this image shows Sandy, Junie and Dorsie stripping the tobacco from the last crop of it they'll grow.  They are tolerant, patient friends -- I was standing on their work bench!  I am tall, but not that tall.

    a final note:  Yesterday was the annual art show run by MAGI in Morehead.  I entered the rooster Big Wheel photo (see post #5) in its large size version and actually received a monetary award! This was a much appreciated surprise. A lot of volunteers who care about art make the day possible. I thank every one of them, and thanks to you for reading this -- Ann

Of course the American People want the new health care!

post #6
       At least this American people does.  I am not happy to hear my senator tell the world that the American people want to repeal health care!  Many of us "people" disagree with him but you would never hear him admit that.  He won't even give it a chance.  Well, I guess I need to confess that as of Tuesday, despite a change, Kentucky still has TWO senators who are myopic and short-sighted and, in my opinion, not very democratic.
     So, to pass beyond dealing with the unappealing, I thought I'd share an unexpected photo, one I never anticipated or even hoped for.  It's "my" pileated woodpecker whom we often hear but rarely see so close to the house.  Plus usually these large birds stay on the hidden side of a tree.  This time when one visited, I was sitting inside near the glass door of our deck, and I looked out!  My camera was nearby, with the 300mm zoom lens on it, my favorite, all by chance.  I was then able to slide the door open a bit without scaring the big bird away.  Took the photo and got it sharp.  All this still amazes me.  The photo here is cropped, to get the feeling of being even closer than 15 feet away, but to me each piece of this process is a gift.  To share.
                                                                                    

      At this point, it is only fair to show an earlier photo from that day.  I call it A Pileated Woodpecker Checks Out the Local Rain Gauge.  This informal shot does give a better idea of the size of these charmers. 
 

      Enjoy your own miracles, and thanks for visiting my blog, Ann