Good morning! It’s been such beautiful weather here. I did my longest walk yet yesterday. My feet have been feeling it. I took such long walks pn the beach at Hilton Head at the behinning of the year that my feet started having some issues. I may need different shoes. At the beach I did get lumps of sand in my shoes from that net like fabric on top.
It’s cool this morning here but heated in the Atlanta courtroom anout 40 minutes away.
The header is a pair of belted kingfishers (female at left . . . one of the few species where the female is the more colorful of the two). One of my favorite shots from the last year, and one my husband said he wanted framed for our home (actually, the first of my photos that he has specifically said that). It got into two juried shows locally, too, or rather two similar shots from this scene each got into a show, and sold at one.
Kingfishers are quite hard to photograph; they’re skittish. If you see a shot of a belted kingfisher, nearly always it was taken from a blind or a car, was a super-long zoom, or was a juvenile bird not long out of the nest. In this instance, the shot was taken from my car.
I drove to the dam (where I usually don’t find anything interesting, but when I’m in the area I check, just in case) and from inside my car on the parking pad I saw a flock of Canada geese on the lake. They aren’t my favorite, but they were in an interesting formation, so I rolled down the window to take a few shots . . . and then saw in a small tree in the foreground what looked like the shape of kingfishers, swung my camera over, and took a few photos.
The setting was perfect, though you’d never recognize the spot in real life. See, the background is the lake, and thus a perfect blur, but this is a scrubby little tree, and to get the shot I was zooming between a guardrail and the asphalt of the parking lot. But it was just right to get the shot!
I watched for several minutes, and eventually the male flew off. I quietly got out of my car and actually did get a few photos of just the female. And then she flew off over the water. I got one distant shot with a Canada goose also in the frame, and the kingfisher was flying across the water carrying a fish.
But basically this is a once-in-a-lifetime shot. The chance of seeing two of these birds together, in a photogenic setting, and from the car so I don’t spook them, was definitely serendipity–or a big measure of God’s grace.
I remember carrying a kingfisher home in my hands when I found it injured on a road. We then put it in a shoebox. I think my mom called someone in conservation. I don’t remember what happened after that, however.
I was just talking with a fridnd who dropped her tax info here. I told her all about the Birthday Tree and showed her how the county had dug all around one side of it. She said the tree in her yard that they did that to did not live even two more years. After she left I looked more closely at it and saw it will not have many blopms this year. I expect it will die, too. My friend and I had also talked about the rapture. It is good to keep heavenly minded and not be too attached to earthly things. I am glad I already grieved the lost landscape. Looking forward to better times!
Wandering Views 
Such a beautiful header!
Good morning! It’s been such beautiful weather here. I did my longest walk yet yesterday. My feet have been feeling it. I took such long walks pn the beach at Hilton Head at the behinning of the year that my feet started having some issues. I may need different shoes. At the beach I did get lumps of sand in my shoes from that net like fabric on top.
It’s cool this morning here but heated in the Atlanta courtroom anout 40 minutes away.
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Great shot. Looks like he weather we’re having today – cold and snowy. But not LA dog park cold.
Anyway, it’s Friday!
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A flock of migrating bitds have descended into our yard. Miss Bosley has awakened from her nap and directed her intent gaze outside.
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The header is a pair of belted kingfishers (female at left . . . one of the few species where the female is the more colorful of the two). One of my favorite shots from the last year, and one my husband said he wanted framed for our home (actually, the first of my photos that he has specifically said that). It got into two juried shows locally, too, or rather two similar shots from this scene each got into a show, and sold at one.
Kingfishers are quite hard to photograph; they’re skittish. If you see a shot of a belted kingfisher, nearly always it was taken from a blind or a car, was a super-long zoom, or was a juvenile bird not long out of the nest. In this instance, the shot was taken from my car.
I drove to the dam (where I usually don’t find anything interesting, but when I’m in the area I check, just in case) and from inside my car on the parking pad I saw a flock of Canada geese on the lake. They aren’t my favorite, but they were in an interesting formation, so I rolled down the window to take a few shots . . . and then saw in a small tree in the foreground what looked like the shape of kingfishers, swung my camera over, and took a few photos.
The setting was perfect, though you’d never recognize the spot in real life. See, the background is the lake, and thus a perfect blur, but this is a scrubby little tree, and to get the shot I was zooming between a guardrail and the asphalt of the parking lot. But it was just right to get the shot!
I watched for several minutes, and eventually the male flew off. I quietly got out of my car and actually did get a few photos of just the female. And then she flew off over the water. I got one distant shot with a Canada goose also in the frame, and the kingfisher was flying across the water carrying a fish.
But basically this is a once-in-a-lifetime shot. The chance of seeing two of these birds together, in a photogenic setting, and from the car so I don’t spook them, was definitely serendipity–or a big measure of God’s grace.
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Good morning, all. Another beautiful snow dusted day here.
mumsee
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It is an awesome photo.
I remember carrying a kingfisher home in my hands when I found it injured on a road. We then put it in a shoebox. I think my mom called someone in conservation. I don’t remember what happened after that, however.
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Eeee, love the photo. Bed head birds. 🙂 🙂 lol -dj
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Wonderful, Cheryl! Thanks for sharing.
And a powerful pick-me-up about Jesus this morning from Chad Bird on X-Twitter: https://x.com/birdchadlouis/status/1758446403037151247?s=20
It’s always so tricky when God shows you things in your life (earlier this morning) that are unsettling.
Sitting in my comfort chair this morning, crying through things before Him, he said, “Go have a cup of coffee.”
“But I gave it up for Lent, you know that. And I can only drink a mocha, I also gave up chocolate for Lent.”
“Take off your hairshirt,” He said. “Have a cup of coffee.”
Interesting. (I drank the coffee with cocoa). There’s a lot being rearranged these days.
Bird’s reminder of Jesus was helpful.
Blessings all! Rain! Basketball! Prayer for folks!
Oh, and writing I need to do.
A good day and weekend.
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And, Cheryl, was the wind blowing? LOL
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I was just talking with a fridnd who dropped her tax info here. I told her all about the Birthday Tree and showed her how the county had dug all around one side of it. She said the tree in her yard that they did that to did not live even two more years. After she left I looked more closely at it and saw it will not have many blopms this year. I expect it will die, too. My friend and I had also talked about the rapture. It is good to keep heavenly minded and not be too attached to earthly things. I am glad I already grieved the lost landscape. Looking forward to better times!
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Crazy day. My friend Joanna Weaver dropped this interview with me about OC and Biddy. FYI: https://youtu.be/Y3Wba-6uQ4k?feature=shared
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That is an incredible shot! So beautiful. Kingfishers are one of my favourite birds.
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