Hooray for the Weekend

Snowy here is excited about there being a chance for snow.  Hope you have a great weekend too no matter the weather.

Teri 📷

Here’s a clip of Snowy Owl sounds.  My Snowy hasn’t said word one.

Snowy Is Back

And with attitude!  More images coming soon.

Teri📷

Ready, Steady, Go!

That time last November when a red tailed hawk was sitting in a tree in an empty parking lot, so we pulled up right under it.  Closest I’ve ever been able to get to one.  Magnificent creatures with some very scary claws!

Teri 📷

(Click on images to see larger)

 

Three, two, one…

Not a countdown but a count of the birds that I’ve seen so far in 2021.  The first are three  Red Breasted Mergansers; diving water fowls that tick off the boxes of first of the year and first ever seeing!  I only had my small pocket camera with me at the time so I didn’t get them as clearly as I would’ve liked.  I may go back with the big lens to see if they are still at the reservoir.  The one in the front is definitely a male and the two behind could be either juvenile males or females.

Three Red Breasted Mergansers

I wasn’t expecting to see Mr. and Mrs. Swan when I drove past the ponds they normally hang around in but they were still there.  Not sure if they winter here or go elsewhere.

Two Trumpeter Swans

And in the pond next to the swans was a solitary Blue Heron.  Having your own built in down/feather coat helps with the winter weather here.

One Blue Heron

Teri 📷

My Tree

It belongs to the park and in turn to everyone but it has become my tree.  I’ve photographed this oak tree (see it in all four seasons here) in the Alum Creek State Park for years now yet I never tire of it.  So on Christmas day when we decided to go out and take some photos in and of the snow DH asked me “Do you want me to drive past your tree?”

He knows me so well 💕

Teri

PS. Our visiting snowy owl is still hanging out behind and to the right of the tree here; it blended into the snow very well!  Someone local captured a photo of it eating a rodent so she is managing visiting here just fine.

Where are you going 2021

While this image was taken on Christmas Day 2020 (2020 boo! hiss!) I feel it represents how we may be feeling about the new year….hopeful but not too clear on where we or things are heading.

My thoughts? Use common sense, stay healthy as possible (again use common sense), try not to fret about that which you have no control over but still be aware of whats going on around you and every day try to do something or see something that brings a bit of joy into your life.

I’ve actually learned how to cook a couple of roasts just right that I’ve never tried before or tried and didn’t quite get it right.  Wonder what I should learn to cook next?  Oh! And I’ve given myself a new project for this year and that’s to learn self portraiture using off camera flash and natural light.  You can see my some of my efforts over on my Instagram page @imagesbytd

Now that I think about it, I’d really love to learn how to make my own sushi.  Very tasty stuff ❤️

Happy New Year – Teri

Cardinal Song

Birdie in red, was staring at me.. with something on his beak.  Nobody was here, just him and me; it’s where I wanted to be.  I was shooting this beauty from a bird hide… I’ll never forget how cramped it was inside.

(Thanks to Chris De Burgh and the original song The Lady In Red)

Teri📷🐦

If you want to see me being the lady in red check it out on Instagram @imagesbytd

 

 

In a winter wonderland

I hope your Christmas was an enjoyable one.  We opened a few presents and then did a Zoom call with the kids to watch them open theirs.  The four year old immediately put on his little Spiderman face mask I got him and then pretended to shoot webbing at his sister and parents.

Later we cooked and had an enjoyable Christmas dinner as we watched some holiday classics on the television.  Did you know that there are some classics you can find in their entirety on YouTube – I consider that a win.  But after the calls and before dinner I decided it might be fun to go out into the snowy day.

We drove to the park where Snowy the Owl still was and quite in her element although on Christmas day there were only 5 photographers there.  Then it was off to take photos in some of the woodier areas of the park where the pine trees covered in the falling snow looked picture perfect (will share later) and I even got into a couple of the photos… before I came to my senses and got back into the warm car!  Snowy weather with winds and temperatures in the upper teens was entertaining for a very short time!

How was your Christmas?

Teri ☃️☃️☃️

This is one of my favorite hats by the way.  It’s a purple monster (I call it my purple people eater hat) with three googly eyeballs on top and fangs in the front.  Cool, huh?

Waxing Gibbous Moon and the Planetary Conjunction

Well it’s the planetary conjunction a day off anyway.  Yesterday it rained all day and part of the night so missed THE day for the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.  It was off and on cloudy all day until the moon appeared somewhat cloaked in clouds after sunset so we though it was going to be a no go. We were wrong… again!

I had dinner in the oven when DH went outside and said he could see them.  And away we went.  Had to scurry outside, set up everything, go back inside to take out part of the dinner that was almost done and then once again back out to capture these images.  And dinner wasn’t burned even though I had exploded the spaghetti squash in the microwave initially due to not watching the timer.

Oooops!

It’s amazing how long the moon lingers high in the sky but Jupiter and Saturn race to drop below the horizon.  Planetary orbits are just so fascinating.  How’s your viewing of the planets coming along?

Teri  📷🌙🪐

 

Waxing Gibbous Moon

I had to do some serious cropping in order to get this image to where you could see Jupiter with its moons well.  Saturn has it’s oval(ish) shape going on but I wish I could’ve captured the rings.  There may still be time to try – fingers crossed!

Jupiter, Moons of Jupiter and Saturn

 

 

Moon still waxing and conjunction getting closer

I didn’t think we’d have a chance of photographing anything today as it was very cloudy and threatening rain all day.  Then the weather started to taunt us with patches of light and blue sky before retreating to gloomy and grey.  So I figured tonight was going to be a wash.

I was wrong!

The sun had gone down and at first I wasn’t going to look outside only to be disappointed but I went ahead and looked out the window and saw the moon; it had gotten a bit “wider” in two days.  Perhaps things were looking up for my chance at photographing the planets?

I couldn’t see Jupiter and Saturn so I had to throw on some shoes and my coat and step outside and there they were!  We then scrambled to get cameras, tripods, flashlights and settings on and out into the back yard we went.  You can see here just how low in the sky they sit.  I had to move around in our yard in order to get them in between the power lines.

There was a lot of shutter clicks going on until the clouds came back in and we decided to wait in case they moved.  It’s a good thing we did because the clouds did pass just as the planets were getting even lower in the sky and I was able to capture some of the moons of Jupiter this time!  At first I thought my shutter was open too long and that was why Saturn looked a bit oval shaped and then DH told me it was because of its rings that it looks that shape.  Ah hah…

I decided to give the moons of Jupiter another edit (and closer crop) so that you can hopefully see the moons better.  On my computer screen I can see five of them but once imported into WP the fainter fifth moon fades out.

The 21st is when the planets are supposed to be their closest (the Christmas star effect) but Mother Nature has been a bit fickle.  We shall see!

Teri  📷 🌙🪐