Blue Jays

Tags

blue jay, photography, postaday

This morning I put out some sunflower seeds on our deck still covered with snow. The birds must have been hungry because there was a constant avian stream landing on or around the seed pan, and partaking lustily.

Among the juncos, sparrows, and warblers, I noticed several blue jays and took the following shots of them. These were taken through our patio glass door, and they are they closest I have ever been to blue jays.

Blue Jay: what is there to eat?

Blue Jay: sunflower seed, good!

Blue Jay: good, yummy!

Blue Jay: anything left?

Frangipani Therapy

Tags

frangipani, photography, plumeria, postaday

While I write this, it is still snowing outside, as it has been for the past seven hours. That definitely calls for some color therapy, and I dug up the following shots of some plumeria, or frangipani, flowers that I saw during an afternoon drive in Melbourne, FL two years ago.

Frangipani

Frangipani

Snow, again.

Tags

photography, postaday, snow

We got about a foot of snow today, with more coming tonight. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s one looking out on our deck and backyard.

Frozen Magnolia Winter

Tags

chicadee, deer, junco, magnolia, photography, postaday, titmouse, winter

This winter has really been the coldest we have experienced. On some days, when I left the house to go to work, the temperature has been as low as -5 F (-24 C). I have had to replace my car battery one night, and the AAA man who came to replace it said they never ever had to replace so many batteries in one month.

Here’s a photo of a branch of our yellow magnolia tree encased in ice. I hope the flower buds will survive and bloom again this spring.

Magnolia in ice

The animals of course have to find food any way they can. I saw the deer below nib at one of our neighbor’s tree. If you look closely you’ll see that it has lost one of its antlers. This is normal, and the remaining one should fall off eventually. Around this time of the year, deer shed their antlers, which will regrow in the spring.

Deer with one antler.

I put out sunflower seeds and managed to take pictures of some cute birds.

Chicadee

Junco

Our backyard cardinals were not to be seen. Maybe they got offended by the post I wrote the other day.

Birds of Prey

Tags

eagle, falcon, hawk, kestrel, owl, photography, postaday

Most people come to Orlando, FL to visit Disneyworld, and very few ever go to the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey nearby in Maitland.  Yet it is a very interesting site for those who want to have a real close look at birds such as eagles, hawks, falcons, and so on.

This is where sick or wounded raptors are taken care of and rehabilitated. Some are returned to the wild, but most can’t because of their disabilities. They have to remain at the center for the rest of their lives.

I was ambivalent during my visit there. I did not like seeing those beautiful birds chained, but was told that it was for their good because they would not be able to survive in the wild. I thought the birds looked sad, but the staff at the center assured me that they were well taken care of and were in the best possible environment for them, given their physical and mental conditions.

Bald eagle

Hawk

Falcon

Owl

Kestrel

Weekly Photo Challenge: Object

Tags

dam, gear, lock, object, photography, postaday

The object below is the gear for a lock of the dam at Carnegie Lake in Princeton, NJ. The dam was completed in 1906, so the gear must be 107 years old.

I took the photo with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens which is one of my favorites. I had to use a tripod in the waning light of an autumn day with the following camera settings: ISO 100, aperture f/11, shutter speed 0.5 sec.