2019-02-11: Monochrome Monday

This waterhole was in Nxai Pans National Park in Botswana.  We stopped there after a trip out to the Baines Baobabs, and watched as a lone bull elephant approached the water.  We all thought he was an enormous elephant.  A few minutes later, another bull appeared, even larger, and the first elephant made way for the newcomer to choose the spot he wanted at the water.  Then the third came along, and both the bulls at the water had to give way to the last that arrived to drink.  I love watching these dynamics play out in nature.  There was no struggle, no tension, just a simple understanding amongst the group of who got to be in charge.

20190211_MM.jpg

2019-02-10: Topic of the Month – Warm

This topic came to me as it is the exact opposite of how I feel right now!  We’ve been in a deep freeze for some time now, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight yet.  So, my Sunday posts for February are going to focus on warm places, warm interactions; anything that makes me feel a bit warmer!

Today, I have some landscape images to share from my travels.  All places where I haven’t spent time shivering!

Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.

20170425-DSC_0803
The desert near Hoanib Skeleton Coast camp in Namibia.  It’s a truly striking desert landscape, and a place I would recommend to visit.
20170425-P1020514-Edit
Another area near Hoanib, where we stopped for a sundowner.  This was a quick photo I snapped as the sun disappeared behind the hills; glass of wine in one hand and camera in the other.
20170426-P1020738
Where the desert and a lush valley meet.  These pockets of green seem to come out of nowhere when you are flying over the desert, and show that there are habitats capable of supporting lots of life, even within such a hot and dry place.
20170504-P1030087
The Okavango Delta from the air.
20170516-P1030612
A sunrise in the Sabi Sands in South Africa.
DSCF1496
Driving through the desert outside of Palm Springs, California.  Photographic “rules” would say that lines should be leading into the photo, not out of it.  But rules are sometimes made to be broken; I like the unexpected composition.
DSCF1830
One of the beautiful vistas in Joshua Tree National Park.

 

2019-02-04: Monochrome Monday

I’ve been saddened to read about the damage Joshua Tree National Park has sustained recently.  I don’t understand how people can come into such a beautiful place, and tag boulders like these with graffiti, or push over the iconic Joshua trees.  I’m grateful I had a chance to visit the park twice, and both times it was in pristine condition.

20190204_MM.jpg

2019-02-03: Roadrunner

I’ve skipped the January Month in Review post, because my posts were so infrequent and inconsistent, there doesn’t seem much point in trying to recap so little.  A friend posted a meme the other day that seems a bit fitting ” January was a tough year, but we got through it”.  We’re on to a new month now, and while I haven’t yet picked a theme for the month, I am going to get back to that as I enjoy the focus for a weekly post.  Based on the current weather and forecast to come though, it probably won’t involve being outside shooting.  It was too cold this morning to even get the dog out for a decent walk.  And I’m not even in the midst of the polar vortex!

It felt like a good time to go through some of my photos from southern California, and today I focused on the roadrunner.  These quirky birds were all around the golf course I stayed at in October, though they proved to be a bit shy when I got the camera out.  With some patience though, I managed to capture a few images.  I feel like these images should be accompanied by comments about Acme products and Wile E Coyote, but I’m coming up with nothing, so let’s get to the photos instead. 🙂

Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.

DSCF1584 copy-Edit

DSCF1597

DSCF1917 copy-Edit.jpg

DSCF1883

DSCF1906

DSCF1600 copy-Edit

2019-01-20: Costa’s Hummingbirds

I was going to post some of these images on Wednesday last week for a wordless Wednesday post, but I was having a few site issues, and just didn’t have the patience to wait while WordPress loaded slowly.  So instead, I’ve gone through my images and found a few more hummingbird images and am sharing them all today.

While I was in Southern California, I enjoyed my morning coffee on the patio, and loved watching the hummingbirds fighting over the best spots at the feeders and various flowering bushes.  I also noticed how chattery the Costa’s hummingbirds are.  They spent a lot of time singing from the branches of the bushes in the garden.  The link below is the All About Birds page for the Costa’s hummingbird, and you can hear what they sound like there.

All About Birds – Costa’s Hummingbird

DSCF1880 copy-Edit

DSCF1524

DSCF1931 copy-Edit

DSCF1528

DSCF1875 copy-Edit

DSCF1898

Seeing these images makes me long for spring even more, when the Rufous hummingbirds return to Prince George for another (short) spring and summer season.

2019-01-13: What I’ve seen this week

This is a topic I haven’t done in a while!  I’ve been trying to keep my camera close, as there is such an abundance of birdlife in my yard at the moment.  It can be a bit challenging though, with the days being so short, and we’ve had a lot of overcast days recently.  But even when the light isn’t great, it’s still awesome to have camera in hand.

DSCF2040 copy-Edit
This was shot through my office window, as even though the blue jay is now a frequent, daily visitor to both the bird feeders and the deer bowl, it is still quite shy and won’t stick around if I am outside.
DSCF2050
I’ve taken to having my camera on me when I go out to fill the bird feeders and the deer bowl.  This doe was not at all concerned about me filling the feeder about 10 feet away.
DSCF2056
A red-breasted nuthatch pausing from eating suet.
DSCF2068
A grey jay I spotted in the yard this afternoon, enjoying some of the cob that I put out for the deer.
error: Content is protected !!