19" of Snow

I forged my way through 19" of snow and embedded almost a third of my body in it, remaining there for hours to take these bird photos.  I didn't mind one little bit!  I absolutely love snow!  And...  birds!

I've been on a quest for cardinals, and wouldn't you know, as it would happen, no sooner did I come
inside to thaw, when a bright-red male cardinal finally made an appearance and joined his partner at a bird feeder right outside the window.  Through the screen and glass, I snapped a few pictures of them, plus a few other feathered friends who stopped by for a few seeds.

And just for the fun of it, I played around with the color in the next image to highlight the wings and to match the frosty feeling I felt while photographing those birds.  Pretty wild!

                     ...and not-so-wild is this African Grey Parrot that posed for a few pictures....

                        And one final bird picture: I caught this flock of geese at just the right moment!

Dunes & Drifts

                                            


                                            Salt, Sand, and Snow ~ Winter at the Beach


A 'holiday blizzard', as the media so dubbed it, hit southern New Jersey hard, dumping quite a bit of snow onto it's salty, sandy shore.  Having never seen the beach in winter, we traveled down there this week.  Just as the wind sculpts sand with drifts and patterns, it follows suit with powdery snow, and the combination of each -- the swirling, mixing, layering, mingling of the two -- plus sea salt -- provided contrasts of these elements to be spread all along the shoreline.

                                    Now add yet another element ~ the setting sun!



                                                             Look at the ice on that railing!  WOW!!

             The sun and clouds put on a fabulous display, which I caught behind a parking lot snowbank.

                                                           And dusk fell on the snowy shore.


                    (Mrs. Stevens, I knew you appreciate this!  Actually, both  Mrs. Stevens's!)

Landscapes. White Birches. Red-Tailed Hawks.

On the other side of the river shown in the top picture above, there was a tree in a field with this pair of Red-Tailed Hawks sitting on a branch.  After a few minutes, one of them flew off leaving the other one for me to get a little closer for a few more shots before it joined it's partner out in the field.

God's Eye

As I stepped outside at 5:00 this morning, I noticed an astounding sight in the sky  ~  a brightly-colored ring around the moon, most commonly referred to as God's Eye.  I quickly set up my camera, upon seeing how rapidly the clouds were moving from the strong winds, and I was able to capture a few shots of what I saw.  I share them without the need of any editing whatsoever.

God's Eye



Ice Abstracts

The ponds have been frozen solid for several weeks, and since precipitation has been scarce, the ice is transparent, thus appearing black.  The cracks that form from the movement below the surface create the most incredible sounds one will ever hear in nature.  The eerie moans and wails, sudden bangs and booms are only intensified by your imagination at night.  A light dusting of snow flurries fills in the cracks while the winds create shifting patterns atop the ice.  I captured a few photographs depicting this, however when I looked more closely at the images, I saw beyond the reality......  and with a more abstract perspective.  Shadows and reflecting light, particularly festive Christmas lights, adds another dimension to this frozen art.  Other than cropping, absolutely no enhancements were used in these images.

Until it snows, I'm certain I'll be returning regularly to observe light changes that will occur with various flicks of  switches around the lake!  If you're interested, you might want to return to this page as well!  And after it snows.....  well....  I'm certain I'll be returning anyway to see that!    (*.*)




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