“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
This post is part of the Thursday Doors weekly challenge. To see more doors from around the world visit our hosts site https://nofacilities.com/2024/05/23/in-memory-of-too-many/#respond
iPhone 14Pro
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Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week I was birding with a group I belong to. We had a very exciting birding day with 66 species sighted. There were lots of great sightings, one was while in a big field in a Washoe Co. in the sagebrush, we saw a Brewer’s Sparrow and I got a few good images. It’s a “lifer” for me. A “lifer” is the first time you’ve ever seen a bird species.
We saw two adult Bald Eagles which was exciting because one flew onto a telephone pole carrying food of some sort and started eating. Then we heard another Eagle call out and fly into the scene ready to attack from behind!
It tried to steal the food of the BE on the pole. The BE with the food took its prey and flew over to a nearby telephone pole and carried on eating while the would-be thief sat on top of the pole trying to figure out what went wrong and why he now had control of the pole but no food. 😂
In three images: The approach, The Attack, and the would-be thief flying off several minutes later very disappointed. I was too far away from the poles to get good images, but they’re keepers and good enough to tell the story with.
The Would-be thief flyby was better as I had moved closer by then.
Some other cool birds I saw and photographed were:
I don’t have any cool bird fun facts for you today as the post would be too long. It’s already longer than my usual post.
FYI, I will be late getting back to you on the comments but, I will get to them.
I hope you all have a great week-end!
Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.7.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week I was making my way around a big loop birding and at one stop I happened upon a Classic Car group just as they were starting to pull out. I hurriedly grabbed my other camera with a wide angle lens and ran to a place near the exit to get a few images. I wasn’t fast enough to get an image of all the cars, but I did get a several. Here are some of my favorites.
This one is just so cool. Is it a muscle car? I’m sorry I didn’t get there earlier to note the makes and models of all the cars. Look at that engine though.
The drivers were pretty cool when they saw me with my camera they slowed down and let me get some nice images. 😊
Look at those white walls with red accent stripe. Nice.
And last, but not least my favorite Red car of the lot.
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
The first week of March I started hiking out to see if a Great Horned Owl had returned to a nest she has used many times in the past. She wasn’t there. March 9th I returned and she was there!
It was time to start looking for the Owlets. I returned on the 19th, 25th, and 26th of March and saw no owlets but, hoped Mama was sitting on eggs.
I returned on April 4th, 14th, and on April 20th a birding girlfriend sent me an email telling me she went by and there were two Owlets! I went the following day, the 21st. When I arrived I only saw Mama no Owlets. So I birded the area and waited and waited. After an hour or so I saw a little white fuzzy head stirring behind Mama then not too long after that the cutest 2 Owlets you’ve ever seen popped up to see what was happening in their new world. They must have just hatched days before by the looks of them.
They barely could keep their eyes open. They were so tired. Mama had one eye on me the whole time though.
I’ll be making regular trips over to watch them grow, and hopefully this year will be the year I see them branching. I’ve never seen the previous year’s owlets do that here, and I’ve also never seen the Male GH Owl who I know has to be nearby.
Spring is here so I put out the outdoor cushions Monday morning and wouldn’t you know it Tuesday morning it rained. 🤣
I hope your week is going well.
Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC
more to come…
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Available at Sparrow Pole Bungalows! Cute one room birdhouse with plenty of floor space and a tall ceiling for that perfect cozy nest. You’re sure to be the Early Bird in the neighborhood as the front door faces east so your day will start with the sun shining into your cozy nest.
You’ll love your neighbors, and there are bird feeders nearby.
This post is part of the Thursday Doors- a weekly challenge group hosted by Dan Antion over at No Facilities. Click on the link to see other doors from around the world-https://nofacilities.com/2024/04/18/still-in-oakland/
more to come…
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week He-Man and I had a little get-away for our 43rd anniversary. We didn’t go too far just up to Sparks, NV.
We booked a balcony suite at Hampton Inn & Suites at the marina for the view of Helms Lake, and view of Reno’s skyline. This lake has an interesting beginning.
“The site was once a gravel pit owned by the Helms Construction Corp. (1968-1995) The pit is 100 feet deep. They found petroleum and solvent contamination seeping into the pit in 1987 so it was declared a Super Toxic Sight and clean up began. In 1996 it was declared free of petrochemicals and the site was turned over to the city of Sparks.
Millions of dollars of spill mitigation money was made available to the city, which they used to construct the park and make the pit a recreational pond. They had planned to fill the pit to 30 feet, but in January 1997 the Truckee River overflowed its banks and filled the Helms Pit creating what is now Richard Helms Lake or Sparks Marina Pond.” You can read a little more about how it stays filled at the link. https://www.ndow.org/waters/sparks-marina/
Now for our view-
It was pretty windy the day we were up there as you can see by the water.
We both really enjoyed having this evening view when the lights in the city came on.
I had hoped our 4th floor balcony room would afford a great view of the sky so I could also try to photograph Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, but alas we had a storm rolling in and cloud cover.
Finally, Monday night April 1st…no joke! We had a clear night so I went out to my front yard and spied the Comet.
We had a lovely anniversary walking around the lake both days, and we found a new Indian place we liked a lot for dinner so, we’ll make the drive up for that again when we’re craving Indian food, and we’ll be staying there again when the weather is warmer and we’ll take our kayak up for a paddle around the lake.
I hope the stars have lined up a fantastic week for you.
Nikon D850| Nikkor 80-200mm| iPhone 14 Pro| PS CC 25.5.1
more to come…
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I’m working my way through a watercolor book called Ready to Paint- Trees and Woodlands. They say you can do these exercises and little paintings in 30 minutes, but it takes me hours.
This is Nº7 called Farmhouse. The lesson was working on a variegated wash of colors, and painting around a negative space. That means painting in the wash of sky, and the background behind the farmhouse and barn first then paint the farmhouse and barn.
It took me about 1.5 hours to paint this. Pretty quick for me. I painted the sky and background then let it dry overnight before tackling the trees and buildings. I find myself letting things dry, then ruminating about the next step before actually taking the next step. Fear of making a mistake? Oh yes!
Anyway, it didn’t come out too bad just a little wonky. I see things I would change the next time I try something like this. On the whole I think the wash came out okay, and I used the negative space like I was supposed to. The rock wall was supposed to be a hedge but, I added my own spin on it, I wanted a wall instead. On y va!
I’ve been birding a lot so, I’ll have bird images to share soon.
I hope you’re all having a good week.
140lb 100% cotton paper| M.Graham and Da Vinci Watercolors| iPhone 14Pro
more to come…
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