One More New Bird – I wasn’t sure what this bird was. A duck or something else. It took awhile to find it in my bird book.
But it is a Clapper Rail, it looks half duck and half something else. Even when I looked up information on this bird, this is what it says.
This bird is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands.
Group Art Project – at a campground we stayed at this winter, one of the local artist ask me if I would help her with a project she wanted to do. Which would involve having a dozen people help with the project. I said sure, sounds like fun.
So, step one. She drew on a piece of paper her idea of a painting she wanted to do. The photo below shows her rough draft of a bridge in the background, some of the local birds, water, sand, sea grass. She asked me if I could put all these items onto a photos that can be printed.
I made the print below. It is just what she was thinking about. I used photos that I had taken and made a composite of all the images into one.
I then applied grid lines to the image and printed a 20×30 copy. She cut the image into the 6×6 squares I made and had the volunteers pick a square, they in turn painted that square onto a 6×6 piece of canvas.
They wanted me to paint one, and I am not a painter at all. So I chose the top left square that only had some clouds in it.
The top left square in this picture below is my attempt to paint the piece I chose. This was actually a very fun project. The idea is that the final art piece will look more like a mosaic piece of art. The teacher of the project said she did not want the painted pieces to be perfect. It was just for fun.
Below is the final piece of art. 24 different people painted the squares. This project is now hanging in the club house at the campground. I am glad I was able to make the template for the project to bring this idea to life.
Heat Distortion – this light house is about 5 miles out into the gulf, I took this photo from the beach, it almost looks like the light house is floating out there. That is what heat distortion does to a photo.
The further away from the subject of your photograph, the more heat distortion will be present. The further distance means the light travels through more air before reaching you. Therefore, it gets refracted more in areas where heat distortion is present.
A long zoom lens usually means photographing subjects at a greater distance. That greater distance increases the chance that heat distortion can ruin your images. Heat distortion is most prevalent at ground level.
We have a friend that has a smaller boat and has offered to give us a ride out to the light house. But, not for me. He would have to have a much bigger boat. The waves and the tide can change dramatically 5 miles out into the gulf of Mexico. I really don’t need a good picture of this light house that badly.
Besides, there are plenty of photos of this light house on the world wide web, here are a few below so you can see what it looks like.
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin — only a narrow connection to the Atlantic exists as the gulf is surrounded by North America and Cuba.
It is the ninth largest body of water in the world, covering about 600,000 square miles, and is bordered by five US states in the north, five Mexican states in the west, and Cuba in the southeast.
Almost half of the gulf basin is shallow waters over continental shelves, though it contains a trough that measures as deep as 14,383 feet.
Ship Traffic Density Map of GULF OF MEXICO
They estimate that over 4,000 shipwrecks rest on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico from its nearshore shallows to its deepest abyss.
Springtime With Birds – springtime means mating season and fighting for territory. It may look like they are just doing a dance according to these photos.
But, they are scraping and chasing each other trying to keep their spot on the river.
Spring has sprung in some areas, have a wonderful day.
Snow White Feathers – These birds are not hard to find with their snow white feathers, especially in a grassy marsh. I am sharing some of my favorite Egret photos this week.
The Egret – Snowy white feathers that can be seen all over the country. Well, except up in the north country. I have never seen one up in Michigan. Such beautiful birds.
Little Blue Heron – A new bird for the year. Someone had told me they saw this blue heron and today I went for a walk, and their it was high up in the tree. I wasn’t sure what it was until I got home and looked at the photos.
Adult Little Blue Herons are very dark all over. At close range or in good light, they have a rich purple-maroon head and neck and dark slaty-blue body.
Sheepshead Fish – One glance at the picture of a sheepshead fish might make you assume this fish has stolen a sailor’s lost pair of dentures from the seafloor! Yes, there is a fish whose teeth are eerily similar to humans.
The teeth are composed of highly mineralized enamel and dentin, two components that also make up human teeth.
There are two rows of molars on the lower jaw and three rows on the upper jaw. This heavy dentition allows sheepshead fish to crush and grind the shelled creatures that these fish prefer to feed on.
The Sheepshead fish are finally coming inland, so the fishermen are out. There is a limit of 10 of these fish per person.
Sand Dunes or Snow Piles, well the trees in the background might give it away. But, these are sand dunes, but when I am missing snow, just a little bit. I sure can picture that these are snow piles by a lake.
Today it is 45 degrees down here on the gulf coast. So I can easily picture snow.
Who Has the Longest Wingspan – well the longest wingspan of all birds goes to the Albatross, a wing span of 12 feet. But they fly over the southern oceans and breed on islands just to the north of the Antarctic Circle. So it is a bird I will probably never see.
So lets look at the birds that I have photographed here in the states. My favorite large bird of all is the White Pelican. It’s wingspan comes in at – drum roll please –
Sea Glass – I have only found a couple pieces of sea glass. I have added them to my collection and am always looking for more.
Sea glass are naturally weathered pieces of glass, which often have the appearance oftumbled stones. Sea glass is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering processes produce natural frosted glass.
Imagination, photography lets one’s imagination go in all different directions. Take for example this photo here. I took this photo from the Jeep’s window as we were driving along the coast.
I saw this pier coming up on my right and the water is so calm around it, plus the clouds have a hint of blue in the background. But I thought right away, if the beach and the people and the logs were gone, it would really highlight the calm water and the tranquility of the lone pier.
Yes, I thought all of this as this pier was approaching, driving down a road. So I snapped a photo with my phone camera.
So then I had to change the vertical format of the photo to a horizontal format for composition with a horizontal pier. Next to remove the distractions in the foreground.
And this is what I saw in my mind when I saw this lone pier out in the calm water.
Artistry in Nature, The Wing, it never ceases to amaze me, the intricate detail and design of the wing on all of the birds. I count at least 10 different lengths of feathers on this white pelicans wing. But they look so perfectly in line and a master of art itself from our creator.
Each feather with a purpose that only the designer knows exactly why and how it works. If someone asked me to design a wing. I would just make all the feathers the same because I don’t actually know the true purpose of all the different lengths.
Ocean Vessels on the Gulf Coast. Shipping containers are spotted quite often heading south on the gulf coast. Occasional dredgers being pulled across the bay and barges going back and forth.
Always makes for some interesting sights when out walking on the beaches.
Mocha Latte is the name of this little dog. It is one of the cutest little dogs I have had the pleasure to photograph this past week. When it was a new born, it fit in the palm of your hand. Now it is a fiery ball of fur that is constantly on the go.
It is at the campground here and just another pup I have photographed this past month. Happy Monday. 🙂
My Pet Photography Board for February, and this is not all of them yet. I could not fit them all on one page.
These 3 cats are quite the buddies. I was watching these three for their owner while they were away. The owner was in the hospital and I took lots of pictures of her cats while she was recuperating. Yes, all 3 are one persons cats.
Well, I wanted to try and get all 3 together for one photo, but that is not easy with cats. So I did have to photoshop this one together. I happened to get each one to look up at me as I was holding some treats.
The owner loves this photo, she did ask how I got them all to sit together like that. I said it was impossible. But photoshop helped a lot. 🙂
Parade Horses Team Belgians, my second favorite photo from the parade. Northing pretty then a working team of Belgian horses. Their harness shimmering in the sunlight.
This is my most favorite photo that I took this winter.
There was a small parade where we were camping and a group of horses were headed my way as I stood on the side of the road with lots of other folks watching the procession of horses and festive floats.
When it comes to photographing animals, dogs, cats, or horses. I take a lot of shots because I am looking for that one photo that stands out from the rest. When the animal is moving, the more shots the better to get that right look.
Well, this shot below was exactly was I was looking for. The two horses in front both looked at me at the same time. The are draft horse mix breeds, the one on the right front is a Belgian mix and the one on the left is a Percheron Thoroughbred mix. Beautiful horses.
But the magic comes when I crop in to see only the horses face. I just love this shot. Both horses have their ears forward, which makes for a great shot as well. I have printed this one to hang on my wall. 🙂
Tiny Bird with Big Shrimp, Sand Pipers are just such cute birds. This winter the fishing was not good at all on the beach. We threw this piece of shrimp onto the beach when we were packing up to leave.
This little piper came over to see if it could grab a morsel of this shrimp for his meal. But, in the video below, it will show he had to scramble away as a Oystercatcher bird was coming to investigate what he had found. They are so cute when they run.
Good Morning March 1st, Hello all, how was everyone’s month of February? I had a wonderful couple weeks off, visiting with friends and family. I look forward to catching up with all of your blogs over the next few weeks.
Spring is in the air, flowers are starting to bloom down here in the south. I have been so busy photographing pets the last couple of weeks. Word got out from folks sharing their pet portraits and I have them calling me everyday to do more. Which I love to do, I will be sharing some of those in the coming weeks.
We only have a few more weeks down here in the south, and then it is time to start traveling again. Heading north for the summer months. Have a great weekend. 🙂
Good Morning March 1st
Stay well, RJ. Blessings to you, may our Lord guide you in all your days. 🙂 thank you.
Taking a Break – It is time for a little break from the world wide web. Here are some of my favorite photos that I have taken this year so far.
I like to take time off from the internet now and then. It is so refreshing to not be connected for awhile. We are bombarded with advertising and news that never seems to be uplifting at all. Except for sites like all of ours here in the blogging world.
But, I remember the days before there was any internet. Days were filled with activities and being in nature. Connecting with humans face to face. Spring time is a beautiful time to turn the electronics off for me. There is a lot to explore out there, and I am ready to dive right in.
I will be back next month, have a great weekend and see you all soon. 🙂
Birds and Bright Colors – When it comes to bird mating and breeding, colors play a significant role in attracting a mate and establishing dominance. During the breeding season, male birds often display bright and bold colors to attract females. The brighter and more vibrant the colors, the more likely they are to catch the attention of a potential mate.
Like this Reddish Egret below. Their bill is quite colorful during the mating season.
The Road Runner – What an appropriate name for this bird. I mostly saw it running down the side of a road when we were out west.
I am posting this because someone the other day was asking if I had a photo of a road runner. Which I do, so I thought I would share it here. During the breeding season you will see a bright blue and orange patch behind the eyes.
