Grackles

Grackles are interesting birds. I love their mannerisms. I don't get many pictures of them 'cause for the most part they prefer to forage for insects on my yard rather than eat seeds out of my feeders--and they're somewhat timid around people. As you can see, this particular Grackle decided to take the easy route. At least on this day.

Early morning fog

While waiting for some Brunswick Stew to heat up in the microwave I went outside to take some pictures of the predawn fog. This was around 6:30am so there wasn't much light.

That can easily be seen by how blurred the above picture is. I first tried to just handhold the camera. Oops.


Here's the second try. This time I steadied the camera on the railing of the deck. I didn't want to bother getting my tripod out for a shot like this.

As you can see, there's a huge improvement. However I thought I'd just try and see what it would look like using the flash.


Hmmm. Those things you hear about water reflecting light are true. Even though the fog didn't seem all that dense, it sure did *uck up this shot. There's so much reflected light you can barely see the trees in my yard.

Icicles and bushes

The view yesterday from the lower half of my dining room windows. I really need to trim those trees back a little! Cute icicles though.

A Little More Snow

We got a little more snow last night. We'd had so much warm weather of late that I thought there was little chance of getting snow again this year. Wrong!

It never got above 40f today but the sun came out so strong that almost all the snow is now gone. It was pretty while it lasted.

A bright star in the trees

Just the sun poking through the trees. I took this picture near the suspension bridge at Eno River Park this past Sunday.

Bridge to the other side

I went on a hike today at Eno River Park with a ground of about 15 people. It's a group that Julie's been a member of for a while but it was the first time I went hiking with them. I'm not much of a "joiner", y'know?

This is part of the group wandering across a suspension bridge. The bridge bounced a lot and was great fun. It was like drinking heavily and not being sure if you could stay on your feet. The hike was a bit less than 5 miles and it was a great day for it. High 50s and a subdued sunshine made for a pleasant time. You should have been there with us! Rolling hills and well groomed trails, river views and mossy logs--but no snakes this time. Sorry.