“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
This post is part of the One Word Sunday challenge hosted this week by Janet of https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2025/03/23/pet/#like-41334
If you’d like to join in the fun head over to her post to linked above to see how. It’s easy!
Our Diva Dog. She’s missed everyday.
Box- Our Guinea Pig. I miss him too.
more to come…
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week I mentioned He-Man and I went on a not so spontaneous trip down to Henderson, NV. Not so spontaneous because I have been wanting to go down since December when the Long-tailed Ducks were first reported being seen there. They have wintered there since December! I needed two-three days with nothing planned so we could go down.
Henderson is just the next town south of Las Vegas. The ducks were continuing to be seen and we finally had a couple of days free to go so off we went on a little road trip.
There were 3 Female Long-tailed Ducks staying in the ponds at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. We arrived on Sunday afternoon after the Preserve had closed, so our plan was to get there when it opened Monday morning at 7AM. We arrived just a few minutes after they opened, signed in, spoke with the person working there about where to start in the preserve to see the Long-tailed Ducks. They gave us great pointers.
We didn’t see them on our first pass of the pond they were being sighted at so we moved on and explored some other ponds. There are 9 ponds in the preserve.
On our second pass by pond 5 He-Man spotted one! I moved to get better light and there they both were!
Here’s the first one we saw.
Here’s the second one. They were easy to tell apart because their bills are different. One has some pink on it and the other one has an all black bill.
The female tails are much, much shorter than the males, but still they’re so cute. I was so excited to see them. The male remains on my “hope to see” list.
I saw 4 other new to me birds while there which I’ll share in future posts.
more to come…
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
This week for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge the theme is something suggesting lunch or dinner.
Back in the day I was playing with my food more and setting up “food photography shots”. Here’s old image of mine suggesting lunch. A turkey and avocado sandwich.
Do you like chips with your sandwich?
Or how about tacos?
Let’s finish this post with dessert shall we? How about some fancy smores?
more to come…
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
When passing near Area 51 one does wonder.
We passed this store on the way down to Henderson, NV and knew we’d have to stop on our way home. It’s got an ice cream shop, and lots of souvenirs all on the Area 51 theme. It’s a fun stop along the journey.
This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2025/03/13/east-hartford-detour/
Hop on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊
more to come…
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
I was MIA with a post last week and reading yours. It was a busy week with lots of birding, a Gull ID field workshop, lunch and shopping with girlfriends, and a not so spontaneous overnight trip to Henderson, NV to see a rare bird. I’ll tell you more about that later.
I thought I’d use Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge to let you know I’m catching up with your blogs and getting back to my regular schedule of posting.
Here are two of my classic breakfasts. I made these images a long time ago but, they fit the challenge and I still eat these foods for breakfast most days.
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
I thought I’d share some of the birds I’ve seen the last couple of weeks.
Starting with a little Pygmy Nuthatch. It was flying to and from its nest the hole in a tree trunk you can sort of see behind it.
A female Downy Woodpecker who was cold that morning. It was 15 degrees F when we started birding. She didn’t move from that tree for the longest time.
Another morning I had the pleasure of viewing a posing Cooper’s Hawk. Look at that tail!
Then it showed off its wing.
Then it flew showing off its wing span.
Last but not least, I saw the pair of Bald Eagles in their tree near my house on my way out last week. He was obscured by all the branches, but she was up high and in the open. I had to stop for a photo of her.
That’s all I have for you this week. I may be late getting to your posts and blogs this morning as I’m birding with my bird group.
More to come…
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week Pit from https://pitsfritztownnews.wpcomstaging.com/2025/02/17/august-september-2024-three-country-tour-in-europe-a-walk-around-chur/
posted a bit about some time he and his wife spent in Chur, Switzerland, and I loved one of the doorways so, I asked him it it would be alright if I tried to draw and paint it. He said yes! Here’s the reference photo. Used with Pit’s permission.
I wanted to simplify the image a lot keeping the door and only a bit of the courtyard. thought the little entry stair would be the hardest for me to draw so did a little thumbnail sketch- it was okay so pressed on and painted this.
I think the courtyard is too busy and I wanted to blur out the sides more so played with another rough sketch.
Chose my colors and painted version 2.
I’ve taken on the challenge of painting 100 mini paintings this year. I’m 16 paintings in. I’m going to paint this in mini this weekend. Time will tell if I can make it to 100 or not.
Thanks again, Pit for letting me use your photo as a reference!
This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2025/02/20/riding-around/
Hop on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊
Stratemore watercolor paper, M. Graham watercolor paints, assorted brushes. Images iPhone 14 Pro.
more to come…
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