Piperbarb's 2013 Project 365

piperbarb

Senior Member

piperbarb

Senior Member
Hi Barbara,

I am a cosmologist and natural sciences teacher by education but I mainly did other things for a living!
I think there a lot of people like that. I became a high school science teacher after spending 23 years as a programmer/systems analyst.
 

piperbarb

Senior Member
8-4-13:

Not a big day photographically. I always find Nature very resourceful and wastes nothing. Here is a perfect example. A small pine sapling started growing in the middle of a trifurcated 40+ year old pine.

Tree Within Tree
216 Tree in a Tree-130804_01.jpg
 

piperbarb

Senior Member
8-5-13: Nuthatch

Today was a much more successful day, at least photographically. I came home and noticed that there was a red-breasted nuthatch climbing up and down the tulip maple. I got tired of having blurry bird photos because of slow shutter speeds with my 55-200mm zoom, so I decided to try the on-camera flash. I got much better results without having to take as many photos. Here's a very busy, grub-grabbing nuthatch.

Gotta Get That Grub
217 Nuthatch-130805-01_01.jpg

Yum! Grub!
217 Nuthatch-130805-05_01.jpg

I think the nuthatch finally got annoyed with the flash. It turned right around and stared at me. :)

Stare Down
217 Nuthatch-130805-06_01.jpg
 

piperbarb

Senior Member
8-5-13: Chickadee

Once I realized the on-camera flash worked well, I decided to go get my SB-600 Speedlight. Now I was stalking chickadees. We have a whole bunch of chickadee fledglings hanging around the bird feeder. After a few shots with the flash, this guy started to ignore me for the most part.

I got this image as this chickadee was just landing on the bird feeder. What amazed me, even with the flash, is how fast this guy's wings were going!

WHOA!
217 Chickadee-130805-04_01.jpg


After a few minutes, I spotted this chickadee preening himself, as you can see in the following four photos.

217 Chickadee-130805-05_01.jpg


217 Chickadee-130805-06_01.jpg


217 Chickadee-130805-07_01.jpg


217 Chickadee-130805-09_01.jpg

Overall, I was very pleased with the results using the flash. Why didn't I think of it earlier? Oh, well. :)
 

piperbarb

Senior Member
8-6-13:

Okay, this is a little different than most of my posts lately. The title says it all...

What Am I?
218 What Am I-130806_01.jpg

The only hints I will give are: it is family friendly and liked a lot. :)
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
peach - :) guess I should refresh my web page b 4 sticking foot in mouth. I love a fresh peach shake. o so good.
 
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piperbarb

Senior Member
8-7-13:

Today is a hodge podge of stuff. A couple of bee shots, some plants, and yes, a bird. :)

I've been taking a lot of bumblebee photos only because, this year, we have a lot of bumblebees around. They are not always the most willing subjects. Here are two from today's bumblebee excursion.

Working in Tandem
219 Bumblebee-130807-07_01.jpg

In Flight
219 Bumblebee-130807-09_01.jpg


As I walked around the house outside, Creature just couldn't stand it. She followed me from window to window, meowing at me. Yes, she has her epitome of a longhaired, snotty cat expression on her face.

Screen Print
219 Creature-130807-01_01.jpg


Considering that nightshade (belladonna) leaves and berries are toxic, at least to mammals, it amazes me that some bugs have been having a field day on the belladonna leaves. Interestingly, I have not seen any bugs feasting. Maybe it's toxic to them, too.

Bug Fodder
219 Nightshade Leaf-130807_01.jpg


Finally, back to the bird feeder. This little sparrow was having a good time getting all sorts of seed that other birds have knocked out of the bird feeder.

Checking Around
219 Sparrow-130807_01.jpg
 
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