29 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
Above the entrance of St Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church in Jackson, NJ is a mosaic reproduction of the famous Theotokos of Vladimir icon which dates back to the 12th century. It surely deserves its own blog page here. You can click on the image for a larger version.
Reproduction of a famous Russian icon of Our Lady of Vladimir above the entrance of St Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church in Jackson, NJ.
28 Sunday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
Today, I drove by two Russian Orthodox churches in Jackson, NJ. They were strikingly beautiful with their onion domes glittering in the sun, so unlike other Christian churches that we are used to seeing.
St Mary’s was dedicated in 1955 and has undergone several expansions and renovations since then. It is surrounded by a cemetery which belongs to the other Russian Orthodox church, St Vladimir Memorial Church located less than a mile from it.
St Mary’s Russian Orthodox church in Jackson, NJ.
St Mary’s Russian Orthodox Church from the back.
Mosaic reproduction of an old Russian icon representing the Virgin Mary at the entrance of St Mary’s Russian Orthodox church.
Construction of St Vladimir Memorial Church began in 1938, but for various reasons, the church was not fully completed until half a century later, in 1988.
St Vladimir Memorial Church in Jackson, NJ.
Main entrance to St Vladimir Memorial Church.
Back view of St Vladimir Memorial Church.
27 Saturday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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The half dozen tulips in the vase were supposed to be red. When the flowers appeared, it turned out that one was white.
White tulip.
It is probably an accidental arrangement, but it is intriguing to look at, and the effect is not bad at all.
Six tulips in a vase.
25 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/seasons/ and here are my entries, flowers grown inside the house to dispel winter blahs and hope for an early spring.
White tulip.
Red tulips.
Last but not least are these bright flowers from our Thanksgiving cactus which is blooming a second time in three months.
Thanksgiving cactus, second bloom since Thanksgiving.
24 Wednesday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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About two minutes after the mare scratched her back on the ground (see my previous post from yesterday), a male pinto pony followed suit. He started by using his right front hoof to paw at the ground, making clods of grass and dirt fly up and scatter. I thought he was mad at something, but shortly after that, like the mare, he simply fell to the ground.
Male Assateague pony starting his back scratch.
He rolled to one side.
Then to the other side.
Then he started to get up.
He shook off dirt and grass.
Finally he calmly strolled away to rejoin his band of ponies.
23 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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I was taking a photo of one of the Assateague ponies when I was shocked to see a mare drop to the ground.
What the heck?
The mare rolled to one side.
Then to the other side, while kicking and thrashing.
Note the expression on her face.
Ah, that feels good!
Finally, she got up, shook off the dust and grass, and nonchalantly walked away.
22 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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Assateague Island is a long barrier island lying off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. It is famous for two herds of ponies, descendants of horses from a Spanish galleon that sank offshore in the 1600’s. Living off the meager resources of the island, the horses gradually shrank in size and came to be known as Assateague ponies. Half of them lives in the southern part of the island, an area called Chincoteague. The other half roams the northern part of the island where Assateague Island National Seashore is located. The two herds are kept separate from each other and are raised by two different organizations.
Six years ago I went to Chincoteague and had a hard time finding the ponies, only seeing a few from a great distance. This past Saturday I went to the northern part of the island and was immediately rewarded with the sight of six ponies munching on very short grass near the entrance to the park.
Pinto pony at Assateague island entrance.
Assateague Island pony.
Signs everywhere warned visitors not to pet or feed the ponies, or even to come within 10 ft of them. However, those I saw were very peaceful and completely ignored the tourists, young and old, who surrounded them and took their photos.
Assateague Island ponies.
Assateague Island ponies strolling by the side of the road.
Handsome pinto pony at Assateague Island.
Another handsome pinto pony at Assateague Island.
21 Sunday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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Early this morning, at the Links at Lighthouse Sound, I took the following shot of the sun rising over Ocean City, MD. It was 6:19 AM and the place was totally deserted, not that I was complaining.
Sunrise over Ocean City, MD.
16 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
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We got some more snow yesterday, not much, but enough to make the Cardinals stand out from the mostly white scenery.
Female Cardinal in snow. She’s a beauty.
Female Cardinal. Same beauty, different angle.
Meanwhile a male Cardinal was dining at the bird feeder, unaware of what was going to happen to him.
Dark-eyed Junco and male Cardinal at bird feeder.
As I pressed the shutter a few seconds later, another male Cardinal streaked in, forcefully chasing him away.
Second male Cardinal chasing first one at the feeder.
First Cardinal was reduced to picking crumbs from the snow.
15 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
What do you do when hundreds of Snow Geese descend from the sky and started landing around you? This happened to me at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge two weeks ago.
Snow Geese falling out of the sky.
I initially tried to capture everyone of them in one photo! But I quickly gave up that attempt and concentrated on two of them. Here are the results, with all the following photos taken in less than 2 seconds.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 1.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 2.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 3.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 4.
Two Snow Geese landing, photo 5.
13 Saturday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
At the beginning of this year, you may remember that I posted the following picture of a Dark-eyed Junco with a very visible growth on its left side.
What is wrong with the left side of this Junco?
Since then I hadn’t been seeing it and was thinking the worst could have happened. However, today, I noticed a Junco that had the same lopsided gait, and took the following photos. If it is the same bird, the tumor is no longer visible, and only a few feathers are still sticking out.
Dark-eyed Junco, with left wing higher than right one.
Dark-eyed Junco with tumor no longer visible.
If it is the same bird, this Junco is a resilient bird indeed, appearing so bravely in a very cold an windy day. If it could talk, perhaps it could tell us volumes about how to cure tumors.
13 Saturday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
Temperatures are plummeting today and may reach 0° F (-17° C) by tonight, while the wind has started howling outside. I put out roasted peanuts for the birds, and the Downy Woodpecker, who had refrained from eating them in previous weeks, finally relented and started today.
Downy Woodpecker on nearby magnolia branches.
Then he landed on a deck railing.
Hmm, which one shall I take?
I’ll take half of one to start …
09 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
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Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, great blue heron, hooded merganser, northern pintail, photography, postaday
He was standing on a bank of the marshes, his back turned to me, his face to the water. I stopped to take his picture, and as I aimed my camera at him, he turned around, a severe look on his face.
Great Blue Heron: “You there, keep quiet. Don’t scare the fishes!”
So I drove on. The tide was falling, and water from the marshes was pouring out toward the ocean. At one of the outlets, I found a Hooded Merganser swimming by himself, coming very close to where I was, as if he had not noticed me. This was the closest I had ever been to these usually shy ducks.
Male Hooded Merganser.
Male Hooded Merganser.
Male Hooded Merganser, from the back.
Male Hooded Merganser stretching.
Male Hooded Merganser.
There were female Hooded Mergansers in the vicinity, but they were paired with other males. None paid any attention to our handsome bachelor!
I moved on to another pond and saw a pair of Northern Pintails busy in their favorite pursuit: dabbling in shallow water to find plants and crustaceans to eat.
Northern Pintails, male on left, female on right.
After a while, they paused and struck a classic pose, with water still dripping from the male’s bill.
Northern Pintails.
06 Saturday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
More snow is forecasted for several days next week, but today the snow that felt two weeks ago has melted almost completely. To help out our backyard feathered friends, I put out sunflower seeds and roasted peanuts for them. Many came out, and they did not mind me taking their pictures, even with the patio door partially open.
Northern Cardinal holding sunflower seed in its beak.
Tufted Titmouse with roasted peanut.
Downy Woodpecker looking toward bird feeder. He did not like peanuts and went for the sunflower seeds.
A pair of Blue Jays flew in, each grabbing several peanuts at a time.
Blue Jay eyeing peanuts.
Blue Jay stuffing peanuts in its throat pouch, perhaps to take back to nest.
Blue Jay gorging on peanuts.
Blue Jay: I can always fit one more down there.
Blue Jay with last peanut before taking off.
Within less than an hour, the birds had finished half a box of peanuts!
03 Wednesday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Vibrant is the challenge word: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/vibrant/
I took the following photo at Grand Canyon National Park almost six years ago, when I started getting interested in digital photography. I had a new camera and had never heard of HDR or any of the esoteric terms that photographers like to bandy about. I just saw the beautiful colors as the sun was setting, and they kept getting better and more vibrant by the minute. So, I took the shot.
Grand Canyon sunset.
I showed the photo to a person who knew a lot about photography, and who said: “Very nice, but how do I know this was taken at the Grand Canyon?” He said I should have used HDR to get some features of the canyon walls out of that mass of black at the bottom of the image. Oh well, one lives and learns.
01 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in Photography
Lately I haven’t had a chance to do any hiking to take pictures of wildlife, so the following photo comes from a previous outing in early December at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. It shows five Green-winged Teals foraging for food. They were very small dabbler ducks but they also swam very fast as evidenced by the long wake behind them.
Green-winged Teals.
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