Piperbarb's 2013 Project 365

[piperbarb]

4-22-13:

It was an absolutely beautiful day today which I did not waste when I came home from work. Dogness and I took a walk down the road and came across this little guy - the eastern bluebird - the official bird of New York State. We have a lot of them around here because many of my neighbors have bluebird houses in their yards. I have a long way to go to hone my avian photography skills, but it's fun, none the less.

I used the D7000 with the 55-200mm lens; ISO 200; f/10; 1/320 sec.

On the Wing


Observing


Just Hangin'

 

[piperbarb]

4-22-13 Addendum:

I was looking out the kitchen window just a little while ago and saw this doe and her twin yearlings. These three are part of a 16+ deer herd that traverses across the backyard often. This is not the greatest shot, but at least I tried. I took this with the 55-200mm, at f/5, 1/60 sec, and ISO 640. It's obvious that I did not use a tripod. I didn't have time to set it up. If I had, the deer would have been long gone.

Time to Go

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

4-22-13 Addendum:

I was looking out the kitchen window just a little while ago and saw this doe and her twin yearlings. These three are part of a 16+ deer herd that traverses across the backyard often. This is not the greatest shot, but at least I tried. I took this with the 55-200mm, at f/5, 1/60 sec, and ISO 640. It's obvious that I did not use a tripod. I didn't have time to set it up. If I had, the deer would have been long gone.

Time to Go
View attachment 33785

Nice catch.

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

4-22-13 Addendum:

I was looking out the kitchen window just a little while ago and saw this doe and her twin yearlings. These three are part of a 16+ deer herd that traverses across the backyard often. This is not the greatest shot, but at least I tried. I took this with the 55-200mm, at f/5, 1/60 sec, and ISO 640. It's obvious that I did not use a tripod. I didn't have time to set it up. If I had, the deer would have been long gone.

Time to Go

Nice shot BARB, It is nice to have that wildlife in your own yard!

Pat in NH

 

[piperbarb]

Nice shot BARB, It is nice to have that wildlife in your own yard!

Pat in NH

Thanks. We have all sorts of creatures, even a black bear with cubs.

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

Thanks. We have all sorts of creatures, even a black bear with cubs.

Now that is one to be cautious of... especially where she has cubs!!


Pat in NH

 

[piperbarb]

Now that is one to be cautious of... especially where she has cubs!!


Pat in NH

I know. She grunted as she went right past our bedroom window the other night. At first I thought it was our dog having a dream. Nope, she was still snoring, as was my spousal unit and two of our four cats. The sound woke me up. My spousal unit and the dog kept snoring.

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

I know. She grunted as she went right past our bedroom window the other night. At first I thought it was our dog having a dream. Nope, she was still snoring, as was my spousal unit and two of our four cats. The sound woke me up. My spousal unit and the dog kept snoring.

You need to be careful with that if the dog/cats are outside at all... especially the dog.

Pat in NH

 

[Marilynne]

At least gators don't walk under my bedroom window.

 

[piperbarb]

You need to be careful with that if the dog/cats are outside at all... especially the dog.

Pat in NH

The cats are indoor cats, and our dog, who is rarely off a leash when outside, is the first one back to the house when she hears something she doesn't know. She's not what you would call a brave dog. She's even bullied by the six-pound cat.

 

[grandpaw]

4-22-13 Addendum:

I was looking out the kitchen window just a little while ago and saw this doe and her twin yearlings. These three are part of a 16+ deer herd that traverses across the backyard often. This is not the greatest shot, but at least I tried. I took this with the 55-200mm, at f/5, 1/60 sec, and ISO 640. It's obvious that I did not use a tripod. I didn't have time to set it up. If I had, the deer would have been long gone.

Time to Go
View attachment 33785

Barbra, you need to send the deer picture in to National Geographic. I would think it would be extremely rare to find a deer with two head much less finding one with one on either end of their body. LOL

 

[piperbarb]

Barbra, you need to send the deer picture in to National Geographic. I would think it would be extremely rare to find a deer with two head much less finding one with one on either end of their body. LOL

HaHa! That's what happens when one lives 2 miles from rural PA border and in a county that spawned Rod Serling. We live in the outer limits of the twilight zone.

 

[piperbarb]

4-23-13:

Decided to see if I could find anymore slimy green frogs in my neighbor's pond. I did better than that. I got photos of red-spotted newts (a salamander). I did not have a polarizing filter with me because I did not expect to photograph anything swimming around. These guys were close to the surface.

The salamander photos were shot using the D7000; 55-200mm non-VR zoom; ISO 200; aperture f/5.6; shutter speed 1/60 sec; hand-held; focal length 200mm.

This guy was really cruising across his/her area of the pond. He was about 4 inches long.
Doing Laps


When he reached his destination, he just stopped.

Just Chillin'


Then I saw this guy, just hanging out on the blade of a cattail that was in the water. I will warn you that it is an arachnid. One of the things I liked was how, because of cohesion, that wonderful property of water that lets things float on top, you can see how the tips of his/her feet put an indention in the water but did not break the surface. I might just have this on the Smartboard tomorrow so when students come into class, they get creeped. It's known as science teacher's revenge. It keeps adolescents on their toes.

Sunbathing


Finally, another attempt at photographing birds. This robin was just hanging out on a tree in my backyard after I came back from the pond.

Robin Pride

 

[piperbarb]

4-24-13:

This morning, when I took the dog out, the sunshine was that warm, slightly yellow color. The way it lit up the forsythia bushes was very pretty. That was the best lighting of the day. It has turned into dismal grey since. I'm glad I got this one in the morning.

Morning Light

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

Nice, we have those all over up here to Barb!

Pat in NH

 

[piperbarb]

Nice, we have those all over up here to Barb!

Pat in NH

Pat,

Thanks. They were taken as just shoots from forsythia bushes that were over 100 years old. These guys are really weird. They also bloom in October. You'll be seeing photos of them again in October.

 

[piperbarb]

4-25-13:

This afternoon was beautiful so the photography class went outside to get photos of kids on the basketball court. While I was standing there, I looked across the court and saw the two cedar trees that always seem to have basketballs stuck in them. The kids will throw balls into the trees, hoping they stick. The 3 basketballs have been there for quite a while.

Basketball Tree



When I got home, I decided to take a short walk around to see if I could find something interesting. In the tulip maple on our front lawn, I notices a downy woodpecker walking head first down the trunk of the tree. We have several of these little guys in the area. Actually, I think this guy is female because it does not have a red cap on its head. They are interesting little birds to watch. They drill holes in a spiral pattern, working up the tree.

Hunting


After about 30 seconds, her hunt was successful.

Got It!



As I was returning to the house, I saw this little grey bird at the top of a tree. I have seen this type of bird before but did not know what it was. It is a slate-colored dark-eyed junco. I got front and rear views which helped with identification.






All photos were taken with my D3000, 55-200mm zoom, ISO 200.

 

[piperbarb]

4-26-13:

By the time I came home after work and grocery shopping, and the fact that my allergies are really bothering me, I didn't have too much time to record something interesting. Here are today's less than stellar images.

First, the clouds were pretty interesting this afternoon. I remember when I used to shoot B&W, I would take interesting cloud photos because they could always be used with another image to get the necessary interesting clouds in a landscape photo. It wasn't something I did often, but I did do it a couple of times. WAY too much work. Digital makes that a whole lot easier. Haven't had to do that yet digitally.

Poofs


I started walking around and saw that my forsythia is truly in full bloom.

Full Bloom


Back to bird photos. I was watching this robin for several minutes. I swear it knew I wanted to photograph it. Every time I thought I had a good shot, it would move. I felt like it was taunting me. Here is the best I could get.

Hide & Seek

 

[piperbarb]

4-27-13:

Today was too beautiful a day to not take advantage of it. Lately, I have been finding my neighbor's pond a wonderful source for all sorts of interesting photos. Today was no different. These three photos were taken with my D7000, AF 85mm f/1.8 nikkor, ISO 200, f/8; shutter speed: 1/60, 1/125, 1/400, respectively.

This time there were a lot more fish swimming around than salamanders. I am not a fish person so I don't know what species of fish this group consists of. Maybe someone can offer the missing info.

Something Fishy



The frogs have been very busy lately as illustrated by this one of many clusters of frog eggs.
​
Sunny Side Up


This time I was a lot more successful finding frogs than the last time I went. I think they are "morning people," so to speak.

Ribbit



The following two photos were taken with the D7000, AF 55mm f/2.8, ISO 200, f/10. Shutter speeds were 1/80 and 1/320, respectively.

Earlier, I was checking out the damage the local bear has been doing to the trees, and came across this tree fungus. I happen to find fungus of all types really interesting, so you will see a lot of them over the course of the spring, summer and fall.

Shelf Life



I decided to check out what kinds of creepy crawlies may be on my forsythia. I came across this guy. It's called a yellow sac spider, and according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, it is the only semi-poisonous or venomous spider in New York State, http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/commonspiders.pdf . It is called a yellow sac spider. All I can say is, YYYYYUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

 

[piperbarb]

4-28-13:

Today started to get cloudy early in the afternoon, but spousal unit and I went out for a drive to see what interesting things were out and about.

We came across this pond right on the NY/PA border. I don't know the name of the pond, but not only did it have a number of breeding pairs of geese swimming around, in the field on the far side of the pond is a horse wearing a fly mask.

Spring on a Pond


Sometimes, the best photos are right at home. After we came back, I took a walk around. First, I noticed the bane of everyone who wants the perfect lawn, a dandelion. Actually, it is a very interesting flower, especially when it first opens.

Pretty in Yellow


Then I found one of my favorite subjects, tree fungus!! This is really quite a nice specimen.

Hanging On