The Beauty of WNY Wildlife

 We were out again to escape the constant updates to our new home, and decided to go to a very popular and busy nature preserve in Buffalo where a Roseate Spoonbill had been sighted. We departed early and spent the better part of the day there....  over five hours there in the light rain, clouds and finally the sun broke through. Saw a bunch of birds which were the normal, but no spoonbill. Many others seemed to be out with long lenses and binoculars, so guessing we weren't the only ones interested in seeing the spoonbill. We have already seen spoonbills in the wild in SW Spain and in Florida, but spoonbills are a rare occurrence in western New York. Last year there was a wayward Limpkin in the area, and the year before it was a Virginia Rail. 

I kept joking that once we decide to leave, the spoonbill will make its appearance, and we will have missed it. That's exactly how it went: we were actually departing and out of the corner of my eye, saw something of a pinkish color fly in fast and low, then landed not even 42 feet away!

The one thing that always bothers me is that it seems human is such a controlling species. The humans really are the true invasive species of the planet, who have, for centuries and more, just gone any and everywhere, seemingly to explore new lands, but in reality we are now discovering that the true intent was to conquer and enslave other people, steal their treasures, their lands, and if that wasn't enough, humans just wanted to remove others from the planet. 

In addition to that goal, which they've done quite well through the centuries, is their desire to trash and pollute this planet everyone calls home. I haven't been everywhere, but I've been to a few countries, and the one thing I have discovered is the vast amount of trash left by humans everywhere! What is most disturbing is the amount of trash left everywhere, and seemingly, even in the most scenic, beautiful, natural and popular areas will be trashed and polluted the most! Even with plenty of trash bins and signs, humans do as they wish, and their main objective is always the same: to trash the area no matter how beautiful the area is. That doesn't mean that for some area not considered to be the best, should be trashed. THiS is our home: the Earth. There is only one Earth and it's already gone through centuries of pollution on a grand scale. While it's less now, it's still a lot more considering the trashing and pollution of our HOME affects eventually everyone, and all species. 

I have even seen people throw trash on the ground though there's a trash receptacle just a few feet away. It's not the responsibility of others to advise you of your trashing the area; WE should be able to remember that the ground we transit each day is not a garbage pit we think it is no matter where we are. We need to, and should have the common sense and personal responsibility to hold the trash till it can be disposed of properly.

Enjoy your day, week and season, and please remember to not trash our home nor our planet. It reflects on us as a species, and shows everyone what little regard we have for our own home, let alone for other people and species.

Stay with Me

We just love seeing wildlife in its different species and colors, and at a spot close to the Niagara River, we had seen these ducks swimming against the current and wind. Turned out to be a Mother with her ducklings, and how cute these were! 

Lay Me Down to Sleep

When we die, who speaks for us when WE are gone? Sure, the People of the World cry and moan for those recognized as famous, intelligent, learned and so on, BUT for the Common Folk, WHO mourns for us? Who describes our lives and virtues? We stand against the famous and rich who are in the news and newspapers everyday, BUT who will tell our story? We too have lived, and while we have not the status of many others nor have servants to serving us, who will serve us our rightful few minutes of Fame in our Name when we are No Longer?

WHO speaks for us when we are gone? Who will cry when we are dead? Who fights for our Souls when we cannot speak? 

Who loves us when we cannot Love them in return when we are no more?

Who?

Another Sunny Day with Blue Skies, plus other thoughts!

BUT those blue skies were just patches of blue, though that sun did feel good, but there was little heat from the sun as the winds were blowing so the windchill was an average of 10 degrees BELoW freezing!!

I delighted in seeing the Canada Geese flying as usual but then a flock of swans flew by to their favorite destination about a mile up the river. 

How's the wildlife where you are? 

With Valentine's Day coming up, I've been wondering about the various places and eateries struggling to get our attention and business. What I want to know is WHY after all the hype, the medical reviews and suggestions given, do restaurants and other eateries still offer their clientele foods that will most likely either kill them soon, give them medical problems within a short time, or worst: make them so unhealthy, that even walking will with difficulty, if at all! 

Why does the american foods business care only serving unhealthy foods that will promote a lot of business in a few years, to the medical system? Does the restaurant and food service industry even care about my and your health? I guess that is a resounding NO, but it seems their message to the clients is to continue coming in to keep us in business before you start to get sick and die! When I go out to eat, I always look through the fatty and junk food listed in the menu, and it seems these days the only alternative for me at my not-young age, is to eat seafood, and most of the time it's fried! So, it's salmon again! Have you also noticed that IF vegetables are served, it's a tiny amount - so small that even a squirrel would be starving! Vegetables are so minimal in cost, it should be the food item on their menu that has the bigger font type and size, not to mention when served, it should be a huge amount!

Icy but Populated Upper Niagara River

Yesterday we were blessed with a fairly decent day with even visible splashes of blue sky! BUT the clouds were gooorgeous! How were the clouds in your area? Just mouse-over with your cursor over the image to see which image was snapped with my phone or the camera!

Today the upper Niagara River of western New York was still whitish with a lot of ice passing through, along with those ice donuts I enjoy seeing! Lots of Canada Geese in the area above and below, along with Common Mergansers and more in the river during these cold winter months!

Remembering Nature's Beauty!

 Isn't Nature just so lovely and BeautYful? Seen at Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania some time ago, and I just love how the wings of the Great Egret are in this captured movement. These days I am just reliving the memories! If you'd like to see more of my wildlife imagery, you can visit my wildlife gallery to see the various species my cameras have seen in my travels there and here.Thanks in advance!

Again it's all White!

We woke this morning to a white wonderland again. It had snowed through the night, and all the remaining tiny streaks of whiteness still seen after two days after the rainfall, were all again repainted in white again. I know for many who live or have lived in those areas seeing regular snowfall, it may be a bit tiring to be lost in the white, but I have lived so few times in the snow that it still transforms me to a running crazy kid every time I see that stuff falling. As an adult, I know the complexities of snow and its origin, but still, it's better just to not think and just enjoy snow as one of Life's simple pleasures.

Yesterday we went searching once again for the Snowy Owl, but it wasn't around. We saw instead a few Bald Eagles and hawks, but no owls.

This immature Bald Eagle flew right over us!!

Then we saw what seemed to be a Merlin (falcon) perching on a tree branch holding with one claw a caught prey. Poor bird but it will make that Merlin very happy!

This female Merlin waits for dinner to be served
while hanging out with its guest

It's Saturday morning outside

......and there's about an inch or so of the white stuff on the ground after a few hours of snowfall during the night. The Fall colors are still very apparent in some spots, and we are hoping these scenes will still be available by time we get out on the streets later today, or tomorrow. I usually do not get these chances of seeing such wondrous scenes, and now that we are here, we might as well try to see the sights, when not surrounded by the grandchildren! The change in the hour now puts the time of sunset as we are still with the kids, so we are missing a lot of sunsets since the time-change last weekend!

On the other hand, while in Michigan, I have been continuously checking for online sightings of Snowy Owls! Last winter, though we departed for two months in Spain, before we departed in December 2017, and after returning from Spain in late February 2018, we were darn lucky to see and snap a few pictures of Snowy Owls! Last winter's record was in seeing a total of eight Snowys!!!

Please click to see a collection of my Snowy Owl images posted at ebird

Interestingly enough, according to ebird.com, there have been Snowys reported all this summer throughout the Great Lakes areas! I am also surprised to see there have already been sightings of this gorgeous snow-white Arctic bird recently, both in western New York (WNY) area we call home, and within a few miles of where we are in SW Michigan!

We have been very fortunate recently in seeing Bald Eagles too!! Granted, those grand birds have been more than a mile usually, but we have been lucky to see some seemingly just a hair closer! As always in these situations, even though you think you have the longest lens around, oftentimes while shooting wildlife, it seems that even with what we have is way too short and inadequate! We are still hoping to see more of these majestic birds, and our last sighting was a week ago in a local park! 

Here's two memories from months previous when we were at a favorite WNY spot, and suddenly the perched eagles we were observing, suddenly went active and passed much closer! These images are cropped, but it still is a great moment for us!!!

those gorgeous clouds and more

I have been packing like crazy..... I am down to those tiny little nonsense things that mean nothing to others, but to you they mean the world, and hold so many memories... of places seen and things done. I have too many of them already, and building even more all the time. I've already missed one deadline.... suitcases all too heavy, folding bike in a box too dam big and too dam heavy.

things seen recently on the streets when I can break away from the nightmare of packing...

Lodi Sandhill Crane Reserve

Drove down last weekend to see if I could catch some cranes in flight or otherwise. Started late and enroute, detoured slightly to a Vallejo park where there are peacocks. Strangely enough, I was told about this park by an online friend who lives out of California now.

Didn't see any peacocks but I know these birds can hide... but there was a small pond with ducks and enjoyed snapping some pixs, plus the foliage was so colorful, it took my breath away.I will never again be able to see the autumn colors and not think of my time spent in Eugene and in Oregon in general. Oftentimes I think I should have not left Eugene but it was my destiny, and in some strange way fate took me out of Spain for this crazy whirlwind I call my Life.Continuing on toward Lodi, there were lots of gorgeous landscapes - granted, it was along a narrow state highway with a lot of roadwork in progress, so you can imagine the mess of equipment, detours and signs, but oooooh, it was a great sight. To make it even more heavenly, the clouds were huge, and almost all gray or a darker - almost black - storm gray. I could see streams of rain pouring down in the distance and this reminded me of watching as a young sailor the thunderstorms at sea, something I will never forget.

I arrived very late at the crane reserve, so late the sun would set soon. There was a huge crowd of people there which made me realize that's a good sign. If no birds were seen, nobody would be there! :) The closest birds were anywhere from about 70 feet away (the few closest) but the majority were over 200 feet away, and many more hundreds even farther in a marshland area with lots of water inlets.The loud chatter from these birds was amazing, and though I am not a bird-watcher I can imagine now why people go to watch birds. I could see cranes together with geese, ducks, and even many pelicans. Every few minutes cranes would take off, a small group at first but gradually joining up in the skies with other cranes already in flight. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, hundreds of flying cranes formed short or long lines in the golden sky, and behind these, I could see even more groups of cranes.... it was all so amazing!! The wind picked up and it got very chilly. Eventually it started to rain but I stayed there - not cold at all and enjoying this fantastic mood and scene.

sigh

Later I returned to that Vallejo park again, and saw about seven peacocks. While they ran to hide, a few others stayed and eventually was so quiet that soon a few of them passed only a few feet from me, so close I couldn't even focus on these beautiful birds so I had to quietly and slowly move away to get a picture.

From SF to Eugene.....

On the road again to Eugene… seems I’m returning home but I’m not. Left the City at about 7:30am and got quickly onto the bay bridge which wasn’t too busy fortunately. Traffic was quite good actually, and when I got off the bridge I was shocked to see the parking lot of cars waiting to get onto the bridge to cross the bay into the City! Even the ramps leading into the City were virtually stopped, or appeared so…. I was very happy I didn’t have to drive into the City at this time and hassle with the traffic. Getting away from the bay was easy going the opposite direction with no serious traffic problems; I filled up with gas the night previous and was later surprised to see gas prices were actually higher as I left the City, and even in Oregon the gas was higher than in the Bay Area!

Normally I depart at a much earlier time ~ about 4-5am ~ when I do this long drive. It was so strange to be driving in the daylight. Usually by the time I reach the 505 interchange, I am stopping to photograph the sunrise! No such opportunities this time!!

Earlier this week my broken EOS 40D was repaired and picked it up Tuesday. It was good to have it back in my hands and like a worn loved and favorite blanket, felt very good. I have the EOS XTi (400D) as a backup and cannot believe the differences between the two in just the handling and feel. Of course I am not being fair since one is of a higher caliber but still… the 40D is a goddess of a camera in shape, feel and capabilities!! Now, if only I could find a woman just like my camera!! hahahahaaa

So, here I am on the road – seemingly always these days – and now passing through the 505 and onto I-5 which is really quite empty at almost 10am. I like long trips but hate being alone for the duration…. And waited till two hours after my trip start to stop and get a drink of my favorite “coffee”: that concoction of French-Vanilla; when I buy the home-style mix, it never tastes as good. In fact, it doesn’t ever taste anything as well-blended as the store-bought even when made according to the directions… oh blah!! I brought my travel mug with me to rid myself of trying to dispose of the cups… and later at a rest area enjoyed a delicious juicy pear which I bought also. Then back on the road….

I thought this smoke rising in the distance was lovely…

Some of the things I saw was this interesting convoy of fire vehicles – I thought they could be coming from southern California after helping with the fires there. I thought it amazing that in the back of one of the vehicles were some “sleeping” firemen and with another fire truck following very closely. If one by chance fell, he would be pancakes in seconds!!!

this shot of the gorgeous sky reflected in my driver's side rear view mirror is typical of my day, shooting pixs while zipping along at 65mph!!
Most of these - and others posted to my fotopage - were taken by holding my camera in hand and snapping at a speed of 65mph!! I know.... but how else will I stay awake in my car zooming along and alone? In some cases I actually did stop and take the pictures, but the majority were done "on the road"....

Mt Shasta is always pretty to admire from the interstate, and today was no different as she sat by the highway all dressed in white from recent snowfall.

just entering the I-505 interchange, these gorgeous flocks of birds in flight over marshes and I stopped to see and snap... These birds were escaping… where from I didn’t know… it seems they were all just flying along on a thin cloud….
I finally got to Borders in Eugene where the pre-release party for the Capture Lane County photo-coffee book was being held - the sole reason for my trip.... and though none of my pictures were used in the book, it is still a gorgeously-done book.
The book was also presented tonight and I am happy to have it as a fond memory of my short time in Eugene and Oregon. If only things were different, I would have never left.... sigh

I won't mention the three times during this drive while chewing gum I bit the inside of my lip, or when rubbing my eyes, I jabbed myself quite by accident when the car passed over a bump... and in my new eye!!! ouch!!!

That Glorious Golden SunSet

well, everyone know I rarely capitalize titles here, so something must be up ~ indeed for the surprise! The other night I was on the road almost all day. I had dropped off my car to get new tires in anticipation of my drive late next week to Eugene and through of the snowy mountain passes. The Cascade Mountains are steep on I-5 and I am not planning on taking the "elevator" down, sliding all the way down into Oregon.... then a friend picked me up so I wouldn't have to sit there for the duration of the tire installation. A week before I had purchased a PCI card for my desktop to enable eSATA functions for my newest external hard drive but that sadly crashed my PC faster and more frequently than the famed PC vs Mac commercials. Even after I downloaded the newer drivers off the company's website it continued crashing, and even the two simple (you idiot) emails from the company with the possible trouble cause and solution didn't help, crashing my PC again... so I took it back to Fry's in Palo Alto and instead picked up a PCI card with USB2.0 slots which my desktop desperately needs (not that I saw any increase in speed but at least now those pesky annoying messages don't pop up any longer). As I type this, I'm burning the image files of last night's sunset to a CD, and also listening through internet radio to my favorite spanish team play.... Real Madrid!

But I'm getting ahead of myself..... :-D

After getting the new USB card, I again went to the BayLands Preserve in Palo Alto to see if I could find some birds to photograph, but unknowingly arrived almost at the peak of high tide so few if any birds were there. It was still a great day with the hot sun floating in a clear sky provided a nice respite from the noisy busy City.

So nice was the walk and silence that it was worth walking the long wooden path we took, braving the cobwebs that had drifted onto the path and hung there seemingly on an invisible breeze. To me, there seemed to an endless amount of seen and unseen spider webs that we walked through... and now and then we would feel a spider crawling on exposed skin, or hanging from hair or clothing. Even this reminded me of the countless spiders floating on a dreamy breeze in Spain, and later in Eugene.... sigh.
The waters were calm and almost mirror-smooth but without birds, so I started snapping away at the water and still scenes before my eyes.

calm changed to rippling abstracts as the tide started to drain

Staying there almost three hours, finally received a call stating my car was done and waiting. The tide was starting to change and what a shame that I would be leaving just as the birds returned....

Returning by freeways in the starting rush hour, it was a hassle and by chance, had to switch from I-101 to I-280 in order to return to get my car with new tires (expensive!).... By time we arrived at the tire shop the sun was low in the sky and as I spotted clouds, I decided to head to the Presidio Bluffs to capture the setting sun. As I neared the ocean in the busy traffic the clouds were already flaming orange and I thought I was going to miss the sunset completely.

Imagine this: Your only goal in life for the next few minutes is to get close enough to anywhere where the sun can be seen, and while driving, your eyes are seeing other places nice for future fotos, checking out clouds for their intensity, and even watching traffic also. Now this driver is getting lost, never having driven in this area within the past century, driving into streets that lead nowhere and now thinking: I'm going to miss the sunset! Finally reaching the Great Highway that parallels the Pacific Ocean, I have a sense of relief and disbelief: relief that I am closer to my goal and can actually see the sun... DISbelief as I now realize the traffic is bad here too, there's no place to pull over and possibly too long before I reach an intersection where I can get to a parking area on the beach..... and again the fear of missing the sunset!

Another mile I spot an unpaved part left of the highway, trails of many other vehicles which have turned into this area also, and I get into the left lane to get into this area between the highway.... park and get the camera, then rush/run without getting hit across a busy two-lane highway to a small parking strip with a lot of cars already parked and LOT of people sitting or standing but all watching the intensity of a gorgeous sun already more than halfway below the horizon.

I have never in my life seen so many people watching a sunset! Usually I am the only fool watching and snapping pixs - here there were more than 20 and on the beach 30 feet below me were about 20 more.... what a shocking surprise!!

After about 30 minutes there, the sun having set, disappearing in a slight sliver of golden light, topped with layers of wind-shaped layers of clouds reminding me almost of the great layers of Jupiter..... I am talking with my friend who after 15minutes finally appears, not having parked where I parked and drove on to find a spot to turn around and that was faaaaaaar.

My car is still parked there in the middle and now it's dark, my blinker still flashing, my cell is in the car too, and the GPS is on and its brillant screen can be seen even from where I stood. Twenty minutes later, I am still there, watching the last of the gold as it softly disappeared from the sky, when my friend turns and says: there's a police car next to your car! So, I go walking over toward my car, other cars on the Great Highway zipping past at 50mph or faster.... the officer sees me and though we cannot hear each other, sense that he's asking me if that's my car... I finally cross the highway and he asks me about the keys still in the car, to which I show him my camera and mention: sunset.... right away he understands ~ this probably happens a lot I keep thinking ~ and he just smiles and turns around heading for his car, then driving into the dark with a wave....

Do you think it was worth it all? When have you seen the storms of Jupiter before your eyes? When was the last time you had a purpose in life.... My passion is in my Photography... the only thing that keeps me alive, yet miserably content I can capture such scenes and more.

did I say how I loooove pelicans?