We went to a picnic at Turkey Run. We took a walk up to the Claude Moore Colonial Farm to show Brenden the animals. He enjoyed seeing turkeys, geese, and the pigs. This is one of the pigs who came over to say hello.
This one was eye-balling the food on the other side of the gate. His trunk was just about long enough to get at it.
I don't do a lot of macro work, but it was this or another shot of the great blue heron. This wild daisy had a beetle visitor on Saturday morning. It is kind of amazing what goes on around us that we are usually unaware of. Now only if the darn ants would be as inconspicuous....
This Kori Bustard was more than happy to pose for me on our trip to the National Zoo.
This was the first time I saw this type of heron. Quite unusual compared to the egrets and great blues I'm used to.
I'm not looking forward to the day when my eyesight starts to go. I'm pretty sure it will as both my parents started with great vision and worked their way into a variety of types of glasses. No one and nothing, it seems, is immune to the aging process.
This great blue heron is my neighbor. He's lived here for quite a while. He was out fishing as I took Candy for a walk. He hung around long enough for me to get a nice shot even with the dog sitting next to me. Meanwhile a pair of great blue heron's were flying back and forth and another set of three flew overhead. I never would have figured that this is heron country.
More from the Alligator Farm. These two great egret chicks were enjoying the morning light waiting for their breakfast. They were very active and interesting to watch.
Apparently these wood storks bring babies to Mommies and Daddies. Well.... Anyway here is a wood stork mommy and her babies. Happy Mother's Day
I've always liked this plane. Apparently it can fly so fast that the heat from the friction of the air causes the engines to expand by 12 feet. Really a remarkable plane. We went to the Udvar-Hazy center with my parents, wife, and son. He liked watching the airplanes fly in.
This portrait was taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. It is a private zoo that was referred to me by Scott Bourne. I like his blog PhotoFocus. The tip was much appreciated and I came away with a whole lot of keepers. This Snowy Egret was preening himself. You can see some of the down stuck on his bill.
Click to my Flickr stream for more.
This is one of many shots taken at the St. Agustine Alligator farm. It really is amazing the number of birds and how close they are. Thanks to Scott Bourne for the tip.
Another perspective from my day out at the Cherry Blossom Festival. I liked this old tree. Seems like it has been through a lot.
I went to the Tidal Basin in DC Saturday with Sue and Raj. It was a great day beautiful weather with a bit of wind and great cherry blossoms. This is one of the many pictures I'm sorting through. If you haven't been to DC during the peak it is worth getting there early and braving the crowds.
You may have guessed that I like bird photography. Well today I was out on my way to take some photos of the Cherry Blossoms and still managed to get a bird picture. We were walking from the car toward the tidal basin and saw this Osprey fly into the tree right in front of us holding a fish. I didn't have the bird lens to catch the flight but the light was good and he hung around.
I haven't had a lot of time to take pictures besides the boy. This is a shot of the neighborhood at sunset. I liked the sky's colors and the street lamp in the foreground.
This red tail hawk lives just down the street from me. Some days he's more patient with me. Some not.
For quite a while I've wanted to get a good picture of a bald eagle. I finally have a good start. I went down to Mason Neck State Park and saw a couple of eagles flying around. Unfortunately they were a bit too far away for a good picture. I then went up to the GW Parkway to check out the new eagles nest and was surprised by all the activity. The observers think they recently laid eggs. This is the female as she flew right by us maybe 20 feet in the air heading back to her nest.
I spent the morning out at Mason Neck Refuge and State park. It is a nice park with quite a bit of wild life. I was able to see quite a few birds even though it is between seasons. This scene was taken overlooking the water this morning.
