Tuesday, March 10, 2015

February Highlights

Where did February go??? It seems like the days are whizzing past me before I can take stock of what has taken place. Yesterday I worked for my former boss, including two days last week. And, since my car had a costly repair, the work was timely.

Below are some highlights from February.
Close-up of Barbara the Barred Owl
Bluebonnet Swamp

Preening after spending hours in the nest.
You can hear her cooing to the eggs now. Its' very sweet!
The eggs are due to hatch next week. We are all super excited!!!

Snout nose Butterfly (American Snout)
Bluebonnet Swamp

Spreading its wings.

Rock pigeons on a hill
LSU Lakes

Canada Goose on a small strip of sandy beach at LSU Lakes.

I have no idea what this is. Looks like a cross between a swan and a goose.

A sweet little Chihuahua from the Mystic Krewe of Mutts Parade.
More to come...stay tuned!!!!

My prayers go to Anni at this time. Godspeed, dear girl.

44 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello Gail, lovely sights from your past months.. The Barred owl is awesome. And the Snout Nose Butterfly is cool. Lovely butterfly shots. The colors on the Rock Pigeons are beautiful. Beautiful photos, have a happy week ahead!

21 Wits said...

All of your photos are truly amazing, but your first photo (WOW) and your last photo are my heartfelt favorites. What amazing views into what gifts surround us.

Irma said...

Hi Gail,
Beautiful series of images, the owl is really lovely.
The Chihuahua is a sweetheart.
The goose is I think a cross between mute swan and a goose.
Best regards, Irma

hootnonny said...

February was a very eclectic month! You are lucky there are so many of God's creatures in your neck of the world! February went fast, thankfully...am so ready for spring!

TexWisGirl said...

love the barred! so cool. the snout-nose is awesome, too. but the pigeons stole it for me today. :)

Breathtaking said...

I couldn't agree more about your beautiful shot of the pigeons, but they are all outstanding captures.

Unknown said...

Fabulous shots my friend. All of them. But to me that owl is the one that stands out.. WOW..

Hugs~

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

ohhhhhh...I want to give Barbara a hug. So many nice shots...but I must say the color in the pigeons shot is gorgeous. Cheers

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful! I am quite happy that February is done and we are moving towards spring and warmer weather here.

Evelyn S. said...

Barbara is a beauty! And I love all the colors of the pigeons. When we were in NYC, I was commenting about all the varieties but our son couldn't see past "the flying rats." ;-)

Inspired By June said...

Stunning images, Gail! I'm swooning over your shots of sweet Barbara - looking forward to seeing babies hear in the near future! Like everyone else I love the colors you captured on the pigeons. Enjoyed having lunch with you today, my friend!

Ela said...

Your shots are always gorgeous !
Lovely face in the first picture !
Greetings

Shug said...

Hi Gail....
enjoyed seeing each picture that represents your amazing photography skills. They are ALL my favorites! You are blessed to live in such a wonderful area that has so much to offer in the sights of wildlife. Your work just keeps getting better and better...
hugs.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

What a beautiful month in your neck of the woods. You captured that chihuaha personality perfectly in that portrait.

And Barbara's too. It must be so wonderful to hear that beautiful bird cooing to her soon to be baby. What a beautiful thing to know.

DeniseinVA said...

Barbara is a doll. Can't wait to hear about her eggs hatching. Beautiful photos!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Awesome shots, Gail. I hope you go back and get pics when the owl eggs hatch..that would be neat to see.

Spare Parts and Pics said...

That's the most amazing owl shot I've ever seen!! Cute chihuahua, too.

Michelle said...

LOVE the colors on the rock pigeons.

Anonymous said...

Gail - your close-ups are absolutely stunning! That owl in particular. You should get work with National Geographic...seriously! You must have amazing patience!

Donna said...

That owl picture is award winning....

FAB said...

Another excellent series of images Gail.

The Owl portrait is a stunner ... very well done.

Hannah said...

The owl has such perfectly groomed feathers, and it's sweet thinking of her cooing to her eggs. I love the iridescence of the pigeons, I'm enjoying hearing the Mourning Doves cooing in my yard now, and hope to get photos o them soon. I googled and came up with an image for an African goose that looks just like your photo.

Deanna said...

Oh you definitely had a good month in photos. The owl pics are stunning!!

Stephanie said...

Wonderful images, love seeing the owl especially.

Stephanie said...

Wow, wow, WOW!! Did I mention wow?! Gail, the first photo of the owl is incredible! I know my mouth fell open when I saw it :)

Thank you so much for sharing your gift of photography with us - you are a dear :) Hugs!

Karen said...

Fabulous shots Gail, the owl is magnificent!

Kerry said...

Great shots! We had a wonderful moment with a barred owl in February. John and I were on a walk and he/she was perched in an oak just above us. And me with no camera, grrr. Gorgeous birds.

Anonymous said...

I am proud to share a name with that beautiful girl. And what a brilliant capture of the pigeons!

Waldameise Andrea said...

Wow, ist das beeindruckend, die Tiere so nah zu sehen. Vorallem das erste Foto, wenn die Eule direkt in die Augen zu sehen scheint. Super Aufnahmen sind das, gratuliere.

Ein lieber Gruß
von der Waldameise

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Love Barbara. She is so beautiful!

Hate those costly car repairs. Boo.

Debbie said...

i am so completely inspired by your images!! they are all incredible but that owl up close, wow, that is really extraordinary!!!!

Anonymous said...

I think Denise over at English Girl Rambles had photos of the goose with the bumpy bill in the past month or so. I seem to recall it is native to Europe, perhaps? I think it was a mute swan, maybe? Or maybe I made that up?

My favorite shot is of Barbara. She's great.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I love the owl shots!! February sure did fly by :)

Anonymous said...

What fabulous photos, Gail. Love that Barred owl.

Anita Johnson said...

I spend more time than I would like to admit looking for owls...I have seen 3 in my entire life. I think I audibly gasped when your blog post opened up on my iPad. Wow! These are great shots. Actually, all your shots are beautiful, but I'll have to go back and look at the Owls again.

Bethany Carson said...

Your photos of the owl are gorgeous! What great captures! I love the pigeons' colors, and the goose looks very stately.

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos all of them! I love the first photo of the owl. I'm glad February is over. It was grey and wet and our whole winter was more like an endless autumn. Now it's finally beginning to feel like spring.

EG CameraGirl said...

I would love to follow you around, Gail, to see how you make such great photos. ;)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous shots. That first one is amazing.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

I have never seen a snout nosed butterfly which seems to be able to blend it quite well with the tree branches.

Ida said...

Wonderful post from start to finish. Loved the owl and that snout nosed butterfly.

Helma said...

Ohw ohw ohw ............. I'm jealous of that beautiful owl !! This tree owl I would so love to see the real thing and foot grave honor. Great that you've put it so beautiful in the picture! You also other highlights from February are super nice! I enjoyed:-)

rainfield61 said...

Photographing an owl is always my dream.

I have a dream.

Anvilcloud said...

I have seen some owl pics from around here lately. Naturally, none by me. :)