Jeremiah

Greetings to you on this fine Monday! Whew doggies, I am beat from the events of this past weekend. I'll update you all once I catch my breath. I went from being depressed with nothing to do, to running from one thing to the other. Good company + good family time + good food=GREAT!

This frog was my big find last Sunday on our impromptu trip to Lake Martin. All year long I have wished for a frog to shoot and finally, after 7 months of waiting, I got one. If a stranger walking by hadn't pointed him out, I never would have noticed him. I'm fairly certain that this is a bullfrog. If I'm wrong, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks to all of you who said prayers and/or expressed concern for my daughter and her fiancee's safe travels to England. They made it just fine, though a little travel-weary. But they are having a super time! Facebook pics below of the "hen party." My daughter is in the red dress and the bride is in the black dress with cap sleeves. Best friends since middle school.

Sharing with
Our World Tuesday

Lake Martin Mish-Mash

Sunday morning we lounged around doing our usual: drinking coffee and having our routine discussion which always begins with a question: "What are we going to do today?" We are always eager to go somewhere, so the only thing stopping us would be the weather. The apps we consulted with weren't too favorable; at any rate, we threw caution to the wind, threw on some shorts without even showering first (unusual for us), and drove west to Lake Martin/Cypress Island Preserve. I really didn't expect to see much, and as I figured, the nesting egret/heron numbers were vastly diminished from the prior few months. There were a few little blue herons still nesting and that was about it. I always feel I am boring you with my chit-chat, so let's just get down to business.

First thing I saw as we drove in, a Great Blue heron.

Dragonfly resting spot. See him? I've read that they drink alligator tears.

Baby Little Blue heron

Alligator Gar.
Double D noticed a family (school?) of these in a side canal. He first thought it was an alligator,
but we soon realized it was a fish. The Park Ranger told us it was a garfish; however, that is incorrect.
I tried so hard to get a crisp shot of their ferocious teeth, but they are SUPER FAST.
One can certainly see how this fish got its common name.

Another baby Little Blue with a meal. I think it's a large tadpole.

Possibly a Slaty Skimmer dragonfly.

Abandoned boat on the lake.

Cypress Island Boardwalk.

More photos of our day to come. Stay tuned!

Linking up with Tex's

And also with Anni's

Prothonotary Parents

After visiting Jefferson Island last Saturday we made time to go kayaking at Lake Martin. There was still enough light to bird when we were finished paddling. Upon entering the boardwalk a young woman was standing on the middle slat of the boardwalk fence, leaning against a tree for support, pointing her camera down toward the water. Four prothonotary warbler chicks were sitting in a rotted cypress tree that was jutting about 3' out of the water. The parents were returning to the nest every few minutes with caterpillars and all sorts of insects. It was really neat to watch.

Here you can see a hungry baby in the lower left of the frame. Baby bokeh!

Look how wide the babies' mouths get! Dang, that's a hungry young'un.

I think this might be Dad since he is a brighter yellow

This is probably Mom with her darker yellow feathers. She and her mate never stopped feeding.

Dad again! I was impressed with their devotion to their chicks. Oh how I wish the light had been better that day!

I included this photo because I learned how to use the Radial Filter in Lightroom 5.
There is a great tutorial here if you have LR5. Basically you select an area in the image
that you want lightened or darkened for subject enhancement. It's really an easy process!

Cheers to the weekend! I hope it's as beautiful in your area as it is here. We found out where the yellow-breasted chats are, so Double D and I plan to scope out the area on Saturday.

Cypress Island

Last Sunday Double D asked where I'd like to go since the temperature was supposed to be mostly sunny and 70°F. I decided on Cypress Island, about 50 miles west, hoping to see the nesting herons and egrets; unfortunately, it's still a bit early, and it ended up being chilly with mostly cloudy skies. Very disappointing, BUT, I did spot a new lifer which is always exciting. Go me!

Hiking on the island - there is water on both sides of this strip of land.

My new lifer: the common yellowthroat. I fail to see anything common about him!
This was a shy guy and I was lucky to get this shot.

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
Lao Tzu