Birds Flying In Sync, I love watching birds in flight, especially in a group or a pair. Amazing how the timeing of their wing beats can be so in sync for just a moment in time as you watch them. To see them fly in formation is breathtaking to me as well.
There are two well-supported and complementary explanations for why birds fly in formation. One is to conserve energy by taking advantage of the upwash vortex fields created by the wings of the birds in front. The other is to facilitate orientation and communication among the birds.
Christmas in the Park; Bringing some holiday cheer. Christmas is a time of year where I find time to reflect on years past and present. It reminds me to think; “What’s Your Purpose in Life”,
An age-old question that each of us tries to answer throughout our lives. In the cycle of life that whirls around us like a wheel from the time the Sun rises to the time the Sunsets. We only have two absolutes to work with to answer that question;
Birth and Death an absolute that cannot be changed.
Male and Female an absolute that cannot be changed
These are two absolutes that exist within our spirits that made us who we are. If you try to alter the absolutes. All one is doing, is trying to create life, by changing the Laws of absolutes. We all create an alternative reality that shines brightly in our eyes, like the moon at night, to displace the darkness that engulfs us all.
To give our lives meaning. We run to and fro from one event to the next event in our lives picking up colorful jewels to hide our hurts. That overtime lose their luster. Then we look for other jewels to mask our hurts from prior events. So, others cannot see. We create a pseudo reality from the colorful jewels we clothe ourselves with.
This happens to so many people this time of year. Getting lost in the things of this world. Trying to become something they are not, trying to become what others say they should be like. I know, it happened to me years ago.
So, to answer the question, “What is my Purpose in Life?”.
I walked back one year to the Garden of Trees and sat in silence so that I may hear.
I am the One that created you, I gave you my life, my breath within you. I gave you words within you to raise yourselffrom the dead to become like one of us.
I do not deny the One who created me. Cut out the middle man, the serpent that blocks your eyes to the One that created you. That will only happen when your desire to live overrides what man told you on how to live.
Through the Tunnel & Over the Bridge to New Adventures We Go 😉
Someday is Here
You know how some of us say; ” Someday I am going to go on that big trip”, or Someday I will do __________.
Well, the word someday usually means never. I heard that in a movie that the actor Tom Cruise is in. He said that line.
Someday is here and our journey continues. I look forward to sharing photos of God’s Country along the way. I wish you all a wonderful weekend. Try to never put off what you can do today until someday. Life is a gift,
Life is a gift and death is a homecoming to me. Our body’s are on loan to us just for a short time to enjoy the wonderful things He gives us. I did not grow up in a Christian family at all. A neighbor told me a little bit about it when I was 10 years old and I have been searching for the truth ever since.
He never meant for it to be a mystery; it is the gift of life. Finding my purpose has been the journey, the end will just be the beginning.
Rare Find of the Reddish Egret, We happened across a new bird to add to my list last week, as we walked along the shoreline looking for a different bird at the time. I had no idea what this bird was, but believed it to be in the Heron family.
When I got back home I looked it up right away to find that it is a non breeding Reddish Egret. The species was adversely affected by plume hunting in the United States and extirpated from Florida in early 1900’s (Powell et al. 1989). It was recorded again in Florida in 1937 (Davis 1937, Desmond 1939) and since then has recolonized much of its former range
Dark morph adults are rich grayish blue bodies with vivid pinkish-cinnamon head and neck.
This bird stood patiently as we walked by, it did not seem to mind us at all. We pulled up our chairs that we were carrying and sat for a spell. I did capture some video as well and will show that at a later time.
In the stately and dignified world of herons, Reddish Egrets are the swashbuckling cousins. These big, cinnamon and steely gray birds put on a show as they forage in shallow saltwater.
Twist and Turns is the design of this tree, plus it is a great spot for the birds to perch on high above the forest floor. The trees in the south have so many different designs to them. Amazing how the branches seem to go in all different directions.
She was framed by His words to represent His Creation
Riding the Waves, I went for a walk this morning along the beach and I came across Darren the Heron looking like he is riding the waves on a branch bobbing up and down. He is trying to get a better view of the beach, looking for a fisher I suspect.
But there wasn’t any fisher’s on this particular morning, not a person in sight.
A Wonderful Day to Give Thanks, flowers tend to dress up any thing we put them on. Whether it is our tables for special holidays like today, or like this old brick walkway, that has beautiful iron railings and worn bricks leading into a rose garden in this particular park. Video Below showing the flowers as we walk through this park.
They added cascading mum plants to this entry way, which changes the look to a more colorful vibrant entrance on it now. What I can not share with you here is the wonderful aroma coming from these flowers. I never realized mum plants smelled this good, but when you get enough of them together it is amazing.
Happy thanksgiving for many folks today, I hope everyone can enjoy a peacful day with family and friends or just spend some time out in nature. That is where I like to be the most.
Thank you to all of you who happen to come across my blog post here, I appreciate the time you take to view these photos and leave comments. I enjoy reading your words and am thankful for all the kind thoughts that you share every day. I enjoy sharing what I see through the lens of my camera with you and hope it brightens your day.
October November Flowers to Remember, Mums the word this November. I posted this first picture a couple of weeks ago and we went back to the same park yesterday and they had changed the flowers on the bridge to cascading mums. A beautiful sight to remember with colorful autumn mums.
All these colors have a way of brightning up ones day here in November.
Ship and a Boat, what is the difference? Well, I have always been facinated with ships, I don’t get to see them to often unless I am near the ocean of course. I have always thought about how they made the first boat and as time went by they now make ships like this one below.
We were driving by a ship yard and saw this huge ship being built for the Navy. I don’t know what it is, but there were actually 3 of them being built so I had to snap a photo of this one.
Of course as you walk by any marina down south, the boats are quite pretty. Or I guess you would call these yachts. These by the way are all for sale sitting here and they did not have prices posted on them. I can probably guess they are not cheap.
Then a huge container ship was headed our way so we sat on the edge of the dock and watched in amazement, just to see the sheer size of this thing up close is something to me. I have seen them way out in the waters before. But never this close.
Don’t Forget to Look Up, well I went for a walk to my favorite little lake here and they have a dock over the water and some benches to sit on. I walked up to the benches and sat down one early morning. I was enjoying the view in front of me and then I looked up and to my surprise, right above me stood this beautiful Egret bird, as quiet as it could be.
I slowly raised my camera up to photograph this bird high above me. Then it flew off, what a fun surprise this was. Sometimes I focus to much on what is right in front of me and I miss the beauty that surrounds me from above looking down at me.
Life on the Beach yes another photo with people in it. But, actually I was watching the Blue Heron bird standing on the beach by the water. The people just happened to be in the background. (video below)
I do post photos here a little ahead of the videos I make for You Tube, the videos take a little bit longer. But if you would like to see the videos that go along with most of my post you can check them out here at this link and there is a subscribe button as well to be notified when I post videos. Adventures Outdoors Photography by Sandra J You Tube
I try to put them on You Tube every Tuesday when I can, it is a way to make my photos come to life. Thank you all for visiting this blog and commenting, I do appreciate it and enjoy conversing with you and meeting new people through this thing called blogging.
New Birds to the Collection, well this first photo is a new bird to my eyes. It is called a green heron. It was at dusk when I took this photo, so it does not show the beautiful color this bird really is. It is a short stocky bird to say the least.
The Green Heron is one of the world’s few tool-using bird species. It often creates fishing lures with bread crusts, insects, and feathers, dropping them on the surface of the water to entice small fish.
This one is a Blue Heron, but I am thinking it might be a younger one. It is a lot smaller than the ones I usually see and its feathers were much bluer than the adults.
Of course one can not be on a beach without seeing the sandpiper birds. They are so commical to watch, they walk so fast, well they always look like they are running. They are not vey shy, they come right up to you most of the time to check out what you are doing on their beach.
Precious Are We, these two lovely ducks were walking along in the park. One looks a little ruffled, maybe it is the younger of the two. I added some flowers to the photo because they just looked like they should be enjoying flowers on this beautiful Autumn day. But there was another duck not far behind them. A grumpy looking duck to say the least.
Now it could just be the dark feathers around his eye, but he looks like he is having a bad day, giving my the ole stink eye like some of the deer did last year when I photographed them. 🙂
He is unique, but I have to say his feathers are just as beautiful as the two from above.
His back feathers look like a warm throw blanket, with a beautiful design all his own.
Two by Two, I took this photo of these two pelicans flying in unison and I was thinking, I wonder how many other photos I have of just two birds and I was surprised to find the photos placed below. None of these photos are photoshopped. They are exactly how I saw them. Two by Two
Two by Two – the Two Tablets were spoken by Him, to restore creation, to to become one as they should be for eternity.
The Two Tablets are the inside chambers of your Heart, “Love your Father” outside the chamber, “Love your Neighbor”.
Morning Noon and Night, there is always something going on at the beaches. From people just walking on the beach to fishing with very tall fishing poles. (video below)
To pelicans sunning themselves during the heat of the day. You can find them easy enough during the day stitting on a post in the water, cleaning their feathers.
But come sunset, the beaches empty out, the lights are low. That is when we enjoy a walk on the beach the most. Just remember to bring a flashlight if you lose track of time.
So the evening and the morning were the second day and the dry land could appear.
Trees of the South, I love photographing trees, in the south the moss is what captures my eyes. Elegantly flowing from the tree branches above. Natures way of celebrating the outdoors by decorating the trees with natural tinsel.
Eye Catching Colors, Green and Red. Wonderful colors of Christmas as well. I see roses in bloom down here in the south still and the palm leaves are such a vibrant green. Especially when the sun is shinning through them. It amazes me to see flowers in bloom here in November.
I am so used to seeing snow this time of year, so to see all this color right now is heart warming to say the least. He promises He will water the seeds we plant and bring them to life.
Hot Sand Hot Sand, or just doing a little dance. It is a very windy day and the sand is blowing giving these photos a nice whitish background. The birds don’t seem to mind the sand blowing, but the salt spray tends to leave a sticky residue on your glasses, cameras and skin.
She Blends Right In, there is a small lake in the campground we are at which is the home to this one alligator. When the sun is shinning in the late evenings, it blends right in to its surroundings as the cover photo. This is our first sighting of an alligator.
They are such a strange looking animal, I was wondering what they eat, especially in this small isolated pond. There are lots of turtles swimming all around it. So I am guessing if it is hungry enough that would make a meal.
There is a board walk over looking the pond, that is where I am standing looking down on it. I will put photos on tomorrow of the pond itself. The reflections are mezmerizing in the late afternoons.
For the Love of Pelicans, who’s bills hold more then their bellies can. 😉
The two pelicans species I have photographed here in the mid west. The Great White Pelicans and the Brown Pelicans. Yesterday I talked about the difference in their size.
They do look similar with their actions and how they hold their heads. But,
The White Pelican has the largest wing span reaching 108 inches across. Their wings are beautiful and uniform which makes them glidge effortlessly above. They swim on the water and catch their fish by scooping them up in their bills.
The brown pelican is made for speed and diving. Their wings spans are shorter, their feathers on the wings are ragged and torn.
Because, they dive sometimes from as high as 60 feet. Air sacs beneath the skin on their breasts act like cushions. Also, while diving, a pelican rotates its body ever so slightly to the left. This rotation helps avoid injury to the esophagus and trachea, which are located on the right side of the bird’s neck.
This is how a Brown Pelican catches food, diving in head first. They can’t be all pretty and preened when nose diving all day for food.
I am back in my favorite place, where I can see the Brown Pelicans everyday. Those of you who have seen my blog post from way back know that I have photographed a lot of the Great White Pelicans and I photographed them in Iowa of all places. But the brown pelicans are only found down south on the ocean waters.
The biggest difference between the two types of Pelicans is the color of course and then their size. The White pelicans have a wing span of 108″ and the Brown pelicans have a 78 inch wing span. I will show the difference on tomorrow’s post.
Deep Thoughts by Darren the Heron, My Heart Will Go On as I stand here alone on this beach, looking out over the water wondering where she went.
Play the video at the end and then look at the pictures again. That is what I was thinking when I first saw Darren the Heron standing alone on the beach looking out over the ocean.
