Sky Watch & Dorothy continued….

After a late evening thundershower the sun broke through giving the day a glorious grand finale

For beautiful skies visit Sky Watch and travel the world

Dorothy continued……
Dorothy left today on the next leg of her adventure

First she selected just the right shipping box for her and her luggage

Crawling in she made herself right at home

The postmaster was all smiles as she took charge of sending Dorothy off to the UK!

Good bye Dorothy, imac will take good care of you!

If you aren’t familiar with Dorothy please refer to yesterday’s post.

The Dorothy Project

Recently a little Lodger named Dorothy arrived via FedEx.

Dorothy, a little Beanie Bear, began her travels in Kansas. She is a class project and her goal is to travel the world informing her class of her adventures and finally return by January 15th with photos and a journal of her travels.

Her first stop was in Florida where she visited with our son Chad and his lovely wife Sandy. While there she visited Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

While in Pennsylvania she kept quite busy as you can see………

Dorothy Arrives

Checking for Bluebirds

Home from grocery shopping

Checking out the local Doctor




Going on Photo Safari

Rainy evening drive

Wetting a line

Now Dorothy knows the answer to "Where's the Beef?"

With a herd like this she may be back for Hunting Season!

Tomorrow Dorothy will crawl back into her box and head across the pond to the UK. There she will be greeted by our friend imac for new adventures in the Old World.

Redhead Update

The lone Redhead male still remains at the local lake long after his brethren continued on their spring migration. When I visited the lake Sunday afternoon I observed the Redhead quite some distance from the shore diving occasionally.

Today when I approached the Redhead, instead of flying, he evaded by executing an explosive powerful dive. Hoping he would pop back up near the boat, I stayed in the area for about ten minutes with no sign of his reappearance.

Why this duck has remained here is a mystery. I have seen him fly on a number of occasions although he never flies more than a couple of hundred yards before settling back on the lake surface. Perhaps he has a minor injury that impairs his long distance flight or perhaps he is lost. Whatever his reason for remaining here is I will probably never know but his presence has been an unexpected bonus giving me more photographic opportunities and another point of interest during each lake visit.

Tree Swallow

During the winter I built a few Bluebird boxes to place about my home. A Pair of Tree Swallows have taken up residence in this box attached to a deck support post.

While standing by the deck rail above the box this afternoon the swallows became concerned about the intruder and circled about quite closely before one lit on the box allowing me to capture this image.

Captured with a Canon S2 IS point & shoot from about six feet.

Nesting Canada Goose

While walking along the berm of a local wetland a goose flushing drew my attention to this honker sitting quietly on its nest. She was so well camouflaged that without the other goose’s presence I would not have noticed her motionless form.

When I left the house this morning the sky was clear as the last stars twinkled out but before sunrise heavy clouds covered the sky not breaking until it was nearly time for me to depart.


For Critters of all kinds visit Misty’s Camera Critters Blog

Lilac Visitor

As the Lilacs bloom each spring colorful visitors are drawn to the fragrant blossoms


The 100-400mm lens allowed me to shoot while not invading the butterflies comfort zone

Osprey in Flight

Shooting waterfowl and birds of prey in flight ranks up near the top of my favorite outdoor experiences. With a good Osprey population in our area frequently they are the subject I find myself tracking through the camera viewfinder.

Usually the Ospreys are too far for good photographs but on occasion while boating around a point in the lake I will catch one unaware. Such was the case when I surprised this magnificent bird at close range.

Maintaining the ISO and aperture settings as the light changes pays dividends when moments like these occur for there is no time to be tinkering with buttons and knobs as the Osprey takes Flight.

Getting Closer: Canada Geese

With the memory of the past hunting seasons fading and the presence of numerous non-threatening boats on the lake, the Canada Geese are allowing me to approach much closer than was possible just a few weeks ago.

After finishing fishing I slowly maneuvered the boat into the tiny cove where this pair of geese was feeding. Pausing to watch as I approached they resumed feeding after I quietly slid the anchor down.

I have not observed any goslings on the lake and do not believe that any geese have nested here this year. Upon my arrival before sunup I am unable to locate any geese.

Loud honking shortly after sunrise alerts me to their arrival as they fly in over the mountain from the adjoining valley to the east. Apparently these geese prefer the farmland for nesting and visit the lake for feeding.

Still Here: Redhead Duck

Visiting the lake again Saturday morning I was somewhat surprised to find that the lonely Redhead is still here.

All of the other migratory waterfowl species have now moved on. Since last week the pied-billed grebes and the loons have departed leaving only the single redhead along with the nesting Canada geese, woodducks, and mallards.

I noticed this year that the exodus of the diving ducks coincided with the end of the perch spawn. Perch spawn in 2-5 feet of water while the water is still quite cold. The egg masses form long gelatinous masses easily visible from the boat on a calm day. I also noticed during the spawn that wherever I noticed a group of divers a closer look would reveal perch spawn littering the bottom. Perhaps perch eggs are the delicacy that draws the migratory duck to this little lake.

The Redhead appears to be healthy and will take to the air if approached too closely only flying a short distance and swimming back to his favorite stretch of shoreline soon after I move past.

I plan on watching for this duck’s late departure as he has stayed much later than normal for ducks of his species.

Camera Critters : Turtle Reflections

Sunshine brings the Painted Turtles out of the chilly spring waters to bask in the warm rays.

These colorful turtles are somewhat shy, slipping quietly into the water if I happen to approach too closely with the boat. This pair surprised me when they allowed me to maneuver the boat to within fifteen feet.

For Critters of all kinds visit Misty at the popular Camera Critters blog