Thursday, April 23, 2009

A little slice of my life!

Enjoy, and please don't make fun of my Canadian accent :-)



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Just Ducky! (or, Foiled by Fowls)

Today my camera and I went for a walk up to the creek in hopes of finding some photogenic specimens. The creek's banks are relatively unsafe, so I positioned myself on the bridge. The bridge was the site of a shoulda coulda woulda moment a few years ago. It was duck stamp perfect - a male and female duck floating between snowy banks, with just enough grass sticking through to mark the coming of spring. Argh!

I was just about to move on when I saw a drake riding the swift current from the north, and then I realized his mate was just underneath the bridge.


Female duck


This is the only shot of the female that I was able to get. Great camouflage, eh? She was so close and apparently too close for another male's liking. He shot out of nowhere and practically landed on her tail! She and her mate took to the sky and several times they tried to land in the same general area, but this male was not going to have any of that! It was absolutely thrilling as they flew over me :-) Maybe I'll have better luck next time. This is her mate below. I was able to get three pictures of him before the second male came back around. I didn't know ducks were that territorial.


Male duck

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

I went walking this morning after Easter services and it seems spring is most definitely here. There's a little green in the irises, the birds are working double time it seems, and the last of the snow is gone. Winter, I banish thee!

I don't have any Easter art, which I should, but I'll share this whimsical entry for the ArtFire ACEO Guild's monthly contest - "April showers bring May flowers". I think I achieved the childish and whimsical look I wanted.


ACEO challenge

2.5x3.5" ::: Marker ::: April 12, 2009

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Birdie Going-Ons

Spring is trying so hard to appear. There are green shoots on the laws, a little bit of green to one of my irises...I'll have to check the buds on the lilac bush.

This sparrow had the right idea - just one of the better shots of some sparrows I took March 21st. I wish they hadn't been up so high! They were so busy building their nest before the big spring blizzard.





And speaking of shooting birds, I had one of those great shoulda woulda could moments last Saturday. The day before was beautiful and sunny and it occurred to me that this was the kind of day I should take my camera with me to work. But in the morning rush, it was left on the kitchen table. I was running late and I hoofed it down to the main drag as I had missed all the express buses through my neighbourhood. As fate would have it, the best opportunity I had ever had to take a photo of a robin was presented to me. He (or she) was sitting in a bare tree on the outside branches and really close to me! They sat there very still for a long time, just enough to get a few shots off. It was the kind of picture that wouldn't have had the house in the background either.

I went to the same spot the next morning, but it had been snowing softly and was pretty overcast. It was fact, treacherously slippery with the new snow and I fell backwards near the back alley. I couldn't hear any robins, just sparrow morse code and the honking of returning Canada geese. It was all for naught too, as I had forgotten to load the memory card!