You Don't Have To Understand Everything You See

Yesterday I accidentally stumbled upon this creation and had no idea what it was. I found it interesting and tried to create something intriguing. 

Jesús Castellano, the Spanish photographer, suggested to crop the first image and make it vertical. Great idea!

Life goes on.

Joy and Happiness

 It was a fleeting moment of pure joy and happiness.  So real, so beautiful!

Life goes on.

A Traveler - I.

Seeing a Double-crested Cormorant perching on a log in our local park this morning was a huge surprise. I'm still trying to figure out where he came from.

  

I assume that Cormorant left the nearest large pond and flew off to spend time with our geese and ducks.

Life goes on.

Winged and Powerful

I love to photograph Canada Geese especially when they are flapping their wings.  It's in these unforgettable moments that I understand better than ever how powerful these birds are.

Once a year, usually when the weather warms up, Canada geese molt their feathers and cannot fly for six weeks.  During this time they will be very vulnerable to coyotes, foxes and raccoons. 

A single Canada Geese has about 20,000 feathers which are uniquely designed to help a goose to fly, shed water or display distinctive markings.

The top and bottom of the wings are of different colors, which allows them to camouflage themselves from predators.

Life goes on.

Ice Dancing. "Free" Program

Ice dancing took place this morning at Beau Pond.  Performers were two Canada Geese.  The spectators were the local ducks and me.  There were also two geese as referees.   

As a photographer,  I tried to capture the dance as best I could and almost succeeded.  

At the beginning of the "free" program, the performer on the right began the dance with slow, graceful movements.

This is an invitation to dance.

 

The invitation to dance was accepted.  

The first referee carefully observes the dynamic dancers.  

 

The dancers perform a "toe loop" just before charging forward at full speed.

 

Second referee in the final.  After a few seconds the dance will be over and performers will take a long break.

***

The idea for this fun ice dance came about after I looked at many photos of Canada geese taken this morning and thought why not create something funny.

Life goes on.

Mule Deer in January - I. At the Beau Pond

 

On that cold snowy morning, I encountered a herd of mule deer by the Beau pond and had a great time watching and photographing them. 

The most daring deer came close to the Beau pond, the more cautious preferred to stay at the distance for a while and then joined the rest.

The Mule deer don't have antlers during the winter. The deer start to grow their antlers back in late spring. When their antlers come back they are called velvet. 

The youngest deer at some point decided to play.

Mule deer are selective eaters that most opt for more nutritious weeds, twigs and shrubs but in the very cold winters, deer often join ducks to eat their food.

Life goes on.

It's Time for Bathing - II.

Taking photos of birds in action is exciting but always challenging.  Yesterday was a cloudy day and I needed a lot of light but didn't have enough. I photographed anyway hoping for the best.

 

From the numerous photos I took yesterday I was lucky enough to get a few decent.  They are here.

Bathing sometimes angers others.

How energetic this male Mallard is in bathing.

Life goes on.

Wild Turkeys

Every fall I visit our local Beau pond hoping to see Wild Turkeys that love to spend the early morning hours there.  This morning luck was on my side and I met a fairly large flock of Wild Turkeys.

My first photograph of Wild Turkey pleasantly surprised me with its pleasant blur background.

This Turkey decided to leave her flock and walk around, but very soon changed its mind and returned to the flock.  What a pity.  I was going to follow it.

The Wild Turkey is certainly very expressive and has a character.

It would be nice to take a promenade along the paved road and show off in all my glory.

Life goes on.

Canada Geese Are Defending Their Territory. The Finale

 

The Canada Geese alternated their aggressive behavior with the short pauses of truce. When it was happening I also was taking a pause walking one loop around our local pond. 

If from Great Blue Herons I have learned how to be patient, Canada Geese that day taught me a lesson about the importance of a pause, even a brief one.

Generally, life is good!

Curiosity

Generally, life is good!

Canada Geese Are Defending Their Territory

A few days ago I had an opportunity to photograph the aggressive behavior of Canada geese on our local pond.  They were chasing each other and even fighting. 

Canada geese have well defined and defended territories and extremely  defensive of them, their mates and nests during nesting season.

Thus, on the photo above a Canada Goose is trying to escape from an attacker. 

Sometimes chasing looked like a noisy marathon.

Generally, life is good!

A Mating Season - I. Canada Geese After Mating

These large geese are very impressive, especially during their mating rituals. They are monogamous and form extremely stable pair bonds for the rest of their lives, divorces are very rare.

The amorous pair on the photo above put on quiet a show after a mating took place.  The male was very enthusiastic celebrating that the female chose him. 

The male is very proud, he still continues to display how powerful he is.

It seemed that each bird celebrated their successful mating in its own way - the male with enthusiastic wing-flap while a female was preparing to bath.

Generally, life is good!

Elegant and Not So Elegant Landings

 

Actually there is no such a thing like elegant landing but watching for a while ducks and geese doing it I came to conclusion that female Mallard ducks are often very precise, cautious and elegant in their landing.  

Canada Goose landed on the water rather awkwardly and aggressively, but that's understandable. Before landing, he was chasing another goose and was still in a chasing mood.

 This Male Mallard Duck looks a little funny while landing, doesn't it?

I love to watch landings with a lot of splashes of water everywhere. I find this landing chaotic and beautiful.

Hey, you are on my way.  Give me some space.

During landing a bird has to reduce speed, cancel lift and ultimately come to a stop. As you noticed just prior to touchdown a bird is raising the front of its wings. 

Generally, life is good!

Marathon

 

A squirrel marathon up and down on the tree was very impressive. She was disappearing, then reappearing again and then abruptly took a short break and froze like a figurine. 

Generally, life is good!

Wood Ducks in Winter - III. Finale

 

Over two last months I was looking occasionally at my photos of Wood Ducks and thought did I capture the spirit, the unique essence of these birds? 

Even if it didn't happen the whole experience watching and photographing Ducks was very rewarding. I learned more about their behavior that morning than I would learn from the books.

A female Wood Duck. 

All female ducks evoke tenderness in me. Something very vulnerable and touching about them.

Generally, life is good!