I saw some turkey vultures sitting on the roof top of the condos from the view on my balcony. Also, saw one close up on the side of the road and almost had an accident. They're ugly birds!
LOL!! Now that I put my glasses on I can see that it is not the 'majestic' Eagle. I have only seen one Turkey Vulture in my life, and it was sitting on top of a wood shed, so the Turkey Vulture here did not remind me of one. But, without my glasses on, the wing span of the bird made me think it was an Eagle.
Thank you for the correction, now I get to see another Turkey Vulture, and this one in flight. (smile)
I added these two stem packages to the guppy tank... We also lost one of the 4 dainty corys yesterday when it apparently leapt out of the tank. I've got to get back down to Minneapolis to get some more of those little buggers.
I don't advise watching any of the prerecorded videos featuring or mentioning hawks. it sort of explains the congested cluster of feeders in the collection of these live bird feeder channels on youtube. they break up any high speed.diving flight paths.
I have about the same set up as the second video out back -- a platform feeder, hanging trough and tubular feeders, a hanging disc or block feeder, and suet. I Also have a goldfinch feeder, and a hummingbird feeder will go out when it gets warmer.
For some reason that reminded me that I need to get my regular birdhouses cleaned out, and the hanging wren houses hung for the summer.
The headdress makes me think of the elaborate headdresses worn in ancient China.
Thanks, Buzz, I'm very glad that you like it. I have seen many of those ancient headdresses as well. My Cherokee Clan is the Bird Clan on my Mother's side, which was the inspiration for this artwork. The Clan of my Father's side is the Wolf Clan.
This is a photo my friend in Hanalei, Kauai sent me today showing the landslide that has cut off the town and the north shore from Hanalei to Ke'e Beach at the end of the road from the rest of the island. They have been having a lot of rain.
I just noted a similar disaster on the California seaside highway near Big Sur. Many years ago, with my family, I drove from Muir Woods north of San Francisco southwards along that fabulous route to as far south as Long Beach.
There was a similar disaster near Big Sur recently. When the road into Hanalei is cut off from the rest of the island, the only access is by air or sea.
Your drive along the California coast must have be wonderful. I have done it several times. Muir Woods is beautiful, and, of course, Big Sur is awesome.
I used to spend all of my vacations in Hanalei. I almost moved there in the 1980s. The friend who sent me the photo became a very close friend almost 40 years ago, and then I became friends with many of his friends. I think it is the most beautiful place I have ever been.
I've been to Oahu and Maui several times, and the Big Island once. They are all very beautiful islands. But I have been to Kauai many times and it is stunningly beautiful.
I was there about 20 years ago. Kauai is stunningly beautiful ! We visited and hiked in Hanalei. And drove around the whole island. I was amazed at the mini Grand Canyon in the interior.
There is great hiking all over Kauai. I have done a lot of hiking there.
Waimea Canyon is an amazing place.
If you ever go back to Kauai again, and are not prone to sea sickness, I highly recommend going out on a boat one day. The view of the island from off shore gives you an entirely different perspective and is really spectacular.
48 years ago for me - we stayed at the Poipu Beach Hotel. I've never been to the real Grand Canyon, but I was pretty impressed with the one on Kauai. There was a lagoon at the end of the north beach where South Pacific was filmed where we snorkeled and saw the most amazing multicoloured fish.
Poipu Beach is a fun area on the south shore of Kauai. It is far more developed than it was when you were there, but still fairly low key with no high rise hotels. "Nothing taller than a palm tree" is how the locals like it.
The Grand Canyon is truly that. Grand. It is much larger than Waimea Canyon on Kauai.
If the place you snorkeled was at the end of the road on the north shore, that is Ke'e Beach. It is a very beautiful location. It is also the site of two ancient Hawaiian temples, called heiaus, devoted to the hula and other important aspects of Hawaiian culture. The heiau complex at Ke'e Beach is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites in the Pacific. I have been to the heiau complex at Ke'e many times as well as other heiaus all over Hawaii.
I took a helicopter trip on Kauai one time in the 1980s. It was raining in the mountains and we saw waterfalls everywhere on the first part of the trip up through Hanalei and into the caldera of the volcano. It was absolutely amazing. I'm glad I had the experience, but it is not something I would ever do again.
I think it may have been. The lagoon was at the far end near the mountains. There were hippies living among the palm trees lining the beach there - keep in mind that is was the early 1970s when I was there.
Great work, G. You did an excellent job of aligning the photo to show the primary subject, and the framing is very attractive and compliments the subject. Well done!
These are about 10 miles from our house, near Silver Springs. Last year we had an 11-foot gator walking down the sidewalk right downtown..LOL, he was captured and returned to his own neighborhood.
If you're walking your dog close to the water don't get near the edge of the water.
This guy and his dog are lucky they are still alive. It was a small gator around 3 feet it still did a lot of damage to the guy's hands.
Man destroys natural habitat to create "civilization," then wants to kill the surviving wildlife because it "encroaches upon, is destructive to, and endangers the residents of civilization."
It's how some groups of "humanity" do the same to other groups it deems somehow "less than," or, "inferior to," or a threat/danger to themselves.
And those humans who attempt peacefully to ask others not to do so, sometimes end up as did Jesus, Lincoln, Gandhi, MLK, JFK, Bobby … and bitch like hell that they are the properly resentful victims of discrimination.
I think that pretty much makes its metaphorical case.
That puppy and his owner are lucky that it was not a bigger 'Gator or the chance of the man being able to rescue the puppy would be a much harder task, if at all.
Great design. Are you sure that when you reduce it to business card size that the font will be sufficiently legible? I know that my vision is waning so I would not be a good judge of that.
Lovely bird shots, Mac. I am so looking forward to my birds returning to the birdfeeders I hang out in my backyard after this dreadful winter. I take pictures of them when I can get close enough, but of course, they are nothing like yours!
Good to see you, too, Mac. I just thought I'd pay a short visit and came straight to your Creative Arts Group. I ignore pretty much all other topics of discussion on the web!
Birds seem to be the basic theme of this weekend's article, but I don't have a lot of bird photos - there aren't that many birds or varieties of them around here, so I'll fill in with a collection of ALTERNATIVE bird shots taken by me (save for one that is OF me).
A beatiful painting of two peacocks that I saw on our way into a park near Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
A pair of chrome (?) swans on the campus of Chengdu University, which is about a 20 minute walk from where we live.
If I only were a bird.....a statue on the campus of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute that is kitty-corner from where we live.
A symbolic native bird on the back of my everyday jacket.
Are these faux herons, located at one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been in, not far from Chengdu?
Is it a bird? Is it Superman? No, it's a Chinese fighter jet flying over our home, noisy as hell.
Plucked ducks ready for the oven just hanging around at a street market near downtown Chongqing
A Peking Duck being sliced next to our table at an old and famous Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing. This photo was taken 14 years ago, so that isn't a covid mask - all the chefs wore them.
Sliced Peking Duck laid out on a platter to be wrapped in very thin Mandarin pancakes (stacked just to the right of the platter), combined with hoisin sauce and slivered scallions and cucumber (just behind the platter, mostly covered up). This was taken on our tenth anniversary at a Peking Duck restaurant located in the large outdoor mall across the road from where we live.
I have eaten Peking Duck at a Chinese restaurant in San Diego some years ago. It was soooo delicious. It was the only place in San Diego where I could get Cantonese style Chinese food after everyone else to Sichuan, which is good, but, I have eaten Cantonese style Chinese most of my life, and for me, it is the best and I can't find a place that serves it where I am now. I really do miss it.
Thanks, Buzz. That is what my own hair looked like before I turned gray. Knee length and the blue-black color of a Raven's wing. Thus, why I was given the name Raven Wing.
“Eventually, all things merge into one , and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
_ Norman Maclean Quotes Author of A River Runs Through it ...
That's terrific. We have our resident scrub jays with their blue feathers. We have hummingbirds that can be fairly colorful. We occasionally have birds in the spring with some red or yellow markings. We have lots of birds that are just grey, or grey with some black.
WOW, what a collection!!! In the first photo, not only did you get the whole woodpecker, but also the woodpecker's hole. As for your last two, take that!!!
I always have a hard time telling sharp-shinned hawks from Cooper's hawks. The Cooper's are supposed to have semi-spikey head feathers, which give their heads a flat or blocky appearance (not rounded), and they also have these really bright red eyes.
Here's what I think is a Cooper's hawk from back when it was snowing. Check out the non-rounded head feathering, and the eyes.
Fuzzy from too much zoom here, but still... those eyes!!!
Scratching his belly.
And here's what I think is the sharp-shinned hawk from my post above for comparison. Rounded head feathering, and brown eyes...
So here's the question: Do I have it right? Am I identifying them correctly?
I'll try another. See how it does. This was Sammy.
The saturation and hue are off for some reason also.... The original for this one is a lot warmer. Must be difference in the editing monitor and the monitor on my laptop.
What a lovely little stream, Mac. So peaceful and serene, I can almost hear the tinkling of the water as it makes its way over the rocks and down the stream. When I was a young girl there was a small stream similar to this one down the hill from our house where we caught crawdads. The stream was alive with them, and my Brother and I would walk along the edge of the water looking for air bubbles. When we found them we would poke around the bubbles with a big stick until one came out holding on to the stick, then we dropped it in a bucket of water. Mother would make us crawdad Jambalaya. Never saw any fish in the stream, but, we could always find lots of crawdads.
Good morning!
That is a wonderful series of photos.
Beautiful bird photos, Mac, and a very awesome photo of the majestic Eagle in flight. Very well done.
Actually, a Turkey Vulture, RW.
I saw some turkey vultures sitting on the roof top of the condos from the view on my balcony. Also, saw one close up on the side of the road and almost had an accident. They're ugly birds!
LOL!! Now that I put my glasses on I can see that it is not the 'majestic' Eagle. I have only seen one Turkey Vulture in my life, and it was sitting on top of a wood shed, so the Turkey Vulture here did not remind me of one. But, without my glasses on, the wing span of the bird made me think it was an Eagle.
Thank you for the correction, now I get to see another Turkey Vulture, and this one in flight. (smile)
Nice collection of birds.
All amazing, especially the first.
I might have a plant and aquarium problem...
I added these two stem packages to the guppy tank... We also lost one of the 4 dainty corys yesterday when it apparently leapt out of the tank. I've got to get back down to Minneapolis to get some more of those little buggers.
A suicidal fish?
My thought, too.
sometimes a bit chaotic
can't we all just get along?
Awesome, dev! Great post
I don't advise watching any of the prerecorded videos featuring or mentioning hawks. it sort of explains the congested cluster of feeders in the collection of these live bird feeder channels on youtube. they break up any high speed.diving flight paths.
Love the videos.
Those are great, are they yours ?
ha ha ha, no. youtube stuff.
I have about the same set up as the second video out back -- a platform feeder, hanging trough and tubular feeders, a hanging disc or block feeder, and suet. I Also have a goldfinch feeder, and a hummingbird feeder will go out when it gets warmer.
For some reason that reminded me that I need to get my regular birdhouses cleaned out, and the hanging wren houses hung for the summer.
Spring is coming...
What a great expression on that bird's face.
A lovely bird, EG. Love its coloring. Great shot!
As a movie buff, I would caption that photo: "You talkin' to me?"
It's the Robert DeNiro bird.
I was thinking of the same thing (Robert De Niro's ).
For my Friday contribution....
A superb portrait and excellent frame. The headdress makes me think of the elaborate headdresses worn in ancient China.
Thanks, Buzz, I'm very glad that you like it. I have seen many of those ancient headdresses as well. My Cherokee Clan is the Bird Clan on my Mother's side, which was the inspiration for this artwork. The Clan of my Father's side is the Wolf Clan.
What can I say....WOW!
Love it RW.
Thank you very much Kavika, I'm glad that you like it.
That is another very powerful image, Raven Wing.
Thank you G.
What can I say... " WOW"
Thank you very much, pink, I'm glad that you like it.
This is a photo my friend in Hanalei, Kauai sent me today showing the landslide that has cut off the town and the north shore from Hanalei to Ke'e Beach at the end of the road from the rest of the island. They have been having a lot of rain.
I just noted a similar disaster on the California seaside highway near Big Sur. Many years ago, with my family, I drove from Muir Woods north of San Francisco southwards along that fabulous route to as far south as Long Beach.
There was a similar disaster near Big Sur recently. When the road into Hanalei is cut off from the rest of the island, the only access is by air or sea.
Your drive along the California coast must have be wonderful. I have done it several times. Muir Woods is beautiful, and, of course, Big Sur is awesome.
Maui has been getting a lot of flooding, mudslides etc.
Great photo, I've traveled the ''Road to Hanalei'' on a few occasions.
I used to spend all of my vacations in Hanalei. I almost moved there in the 1980s. The friend who sent me the photo became a very close friend almost 40 years ago, and then I became friends with many of his friends. I think it is the most beautiful place I have ever been.
A view of Hanalei
I've been to Oahu, The Big Island of Hawaii, and Kauai which was like paradise.
I've been to Oahu and Maui several times, and the Big Island once. They are all very beautiful islands. But I have been to Kauai many times and it is stunningly beautiful.
I was there about 20 years ago. Kauai is stunningly beautiful ! We visited and hiked in Hanalei. And drove around the whole island. I was amazed at the mini Grand Canyon in the interior.
There is great hiking all over Kauai. I have done a lot of hiking there.
Waimea Canyon is an amazing place.
If you ever go back to Kauai again, and are not prone to sea sickness, I highly recommend going out on a boat one day. The view of the island from off shore gives you an entirely different perspective and is really spectacular.
We did that, it was amazing. Fortunately my daughter and I don't get seasick. The waves made it fun for us
48 years ago for me - we stayed at the Poipu Beach Hotel. I've never been to the real Grand Canyon, but I was pretty impressed with the one on Kauai. There was a lagoon at the end of the north beach where South Pacific was filmed where we snorkeled and saw the most amazing multicoloured fish.
I'm glad you went out on a boat. It's a lot of fun and a great way to see the island.
Was that in Hanalei ? I snorkled off the boat and at a few beaches. It's like being in an aquarium.
Ya, I'm not one for the helicopters !
Poipu Beach is a fun area on the south shore of Kauai. It is far more developed than it was when you were there, but still fairly low key with no high rise hotels. "Nothing taller than a palm tree" is how the locals like it.
The Grand Canyon is truly that. Grand. It is much larger than Waimea Canyon on Kauai.
If the place you snorkeled was at the end of the road on the north shore, that is Ke'e Beach. It is a very beautiful location. It is also the site of two ancient Hawaiian temples, called heiaus, devoted to the hula and other important aspects of Hawaiian culture. The heiau complex at Ke'e Beach is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites in the Pacific. I have been to the heiau complex at Ke'e many times as well as other heiaus all over Hawaii.
I took a helicopter trip on Kauai one time in the 1980s. It was raining in the mountains and we saw waterfalls everywhere on the first part of the trip up through Hanalei and into the caldera of the volcano. It was absolutely amazing. I'm glad I had the experience, but it is not something I would ever do again.
I think it may have been. The lagoon was at the far end near the mountains. There were hippies living among the palm trees lining the beach there - keep in mind that is was the early 1970s when I was there.
I've always wanted to go there.
Then, someday you should.
OMG G2
Outside the castle walls, Prague, Czech Republic
Attractively presented.
Thank you!
Love the framing! Very nice!
Thanks much
Nice view, tastefully framed.
Thanks
Nice, G.
Thanks, Kavika
Very nice framework.
Thank you
Great work, G. You did an excellent job of aligning the photo to show the primary subject, and the framing is very attractive and compliments the subject. Well done!
Thanks, Raven Wing
Neighbors playing ''follow the leader''.
They look friendly.
Looks are deceiving, G.
That can be very true.
SERIOUSLY? How close to your home? What about Wiki?
These are about 10 miles from our house, near Silver Springs. Last year we had an 11-foot gator walking down the sidewalk right downtown..LOL, he was captured and returned to his own neighborhood.
If you're walking your dog close to the water don't get near the edge of the water.
This guy and his dog are lucky they are still alive. It was a small gator around 3 feet it still did a lot of damage to the guy's hands.
Yeah, I can't open the YouTube, but the story was recent about the guy rescuing his dog from the alligator.
I saw the video of that rescue right after it happened. It is pretty scary.
Man destroys natural habitat to create "civilization," then wants to kill the surviving wildlife because it "encroaches upon, is destructive to, and endangers the residents of civilization."
It's how some groups of "humanity" do the same to other groups it deems somehow "less than," or, "inferior to," or a threat/danger to themselves.
And those humans who attempt peacefully to ask others not to do so, sometimes end up as did Jesus, Lincoln, Gandhi, MLK, JFK, Bobby … and bitch like hell that they are the properly resentful victims of discrimination.
I think that pretty much makes its metaphorical case.
That puppy and his owner are lucky that it was not a bigger 'Gator or the chance of the man being able to rescue the puppy would be a much harder task, if at all.
Well said, Mac.
In preparation for the possibility of doing some art shows, I figured a business card would be a good idea, so, I designed and ordered 250 of these.
Very nice indeed, Mac. An impressive display of your artistic talents.
Great design. Are you sure that when you reduce it to business card size that the font will be sufficiently legible? I know that my vision is waning so I would not be a good judge of that.
I checked a proof and the legibility appears all right, but only time will tell on a viewer-by-viewer basis.
We are off and running. Thanks to each of you for making this an outstanding Group!
Lovely bird shots, Mac. I am so looking forward to my birds returning to the birdfeeders I hang out in my backyard after this dreadful winter. I take pictures of them when I can get close enough, but of course, they are nothing like yours!
Good to see you, Neetu!
Good to see you, too, Mac. I just thought I'd pay a short visit and came straight to your Creative Arts Group. I ignore pretty much all other topics of discussion on the web!
With Saturday just around the corner, here is one to round the corner......
You didn't just round the corner, you rounded TWO corners. LOL Lovely image.
LOL! Thanks Buzz. Indeed I did round those two corners.
Very nice, Raven Wing!
Thank you, G.
I like her eyes expression, shyly looking up.
Thank you pink, I'm glad that you caught the eyes. (smile)
Birds seem to be the basic theme of this weekend's article, but I don't have a lot of bird photos - there aren't that many birds or varieties of them around here, so I'll fill in with a collection of ALTERNATIVE bird shots taken by me (save for one that is OF me).
A beatiful painting of two peacocks that I saw on our way into a park near Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
A pair of chrome (?) swans on the campus of Chengdu University, which is about a 20 minute walk from where we live.
If I only were a bird.....a statue on the campus of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute that is kitty-corner from where we live.
A symbolic native bird on the back of my everyday jacket.
Are these faux herons, located at one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been in, not far from Chengdu?
Is it a bird? Is it Superman? No, it's a Chinese fighter jet flying over our home, noisy as hell.
Plucked ducks ready for the oven just hanging around at a street market near downtown Chongqing
A Peking Duck being sliced next to our table at an old and famous Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing. This photo was taken 14 years ago, so that isn't a covid mask - all the chefs wore them.
Sliced Peking Duck laid out on a platter to be wrapped in very thin Mandarin pancakes (stacked just to the right of the platter), combined with hoisin sauce and slivered scallions and cucumber (just behind the platter, mostly covered up). This was taken on our tenth anniversary at a Peking Duck restaurant located in the large outdoor mall across the road from where we live.
Did I make anyone hungry?
Yes.
LOL I'm sure you've had the experience of eating Peking Duck.
YES! DAMN IT! Now I want to order some Chinese food actually!
When we visited China the best Peking duck we had was in Shanghai. In fact, it was the best Peking duck I have ever had anywhere.
Yes
You sure did! My stomach is growling as I type!
I have eaten Peking Duck at a Chinese restaurant in San Diego some years ago. It was soooo delicious. It was the only place in San Diego where I could get Cantonese style Chinese food after everyone else to Sichuan, which is good, but, I have eaten Cantonese style Chinese most of my life, and for me, it is the best and I can't find a place that serves it where I am now. I really do miss it.
I've never had Peking duck but my friend made duck once and it was delicious.
One of the marbles I keep finding on my front stoop...
I know, I know. I need to pressure wash the concrete.
Someone is losing their marbles?
Me apparently. Seems someone is trying to give them back.
Ha!
Watch your step !
© CZG 2021
Nice job!
Very nice, Pink. It reminds me of an Andrew Wyeth painting.
Thank you Kavika. It's actually a copy of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer, A Dutch artist, one of my favorite painters.
That is beautiful, pink, and I really like the framing. Very well done!
She looks like Scarlett Johansson who played the part in the movie Girl With a Pearl Earing in which Colin Firth played Vermeer.
That's great!
Here's one for Saturday.....
Such beautiful hair...
Thanks, Buzz. That is what my own hair looked like before I turned gray. Knee length and the blue-black color of a Raven's wing. Thus, why I was given the name Raven Wing.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Beautiful photo, Mac, and beautiful sentiments as well.
Seamless tiling effect...
You have really colorful birds in your area. We have some, but not like that. Nice photos.
Thanks, G. Really pretty migrators like orioles and rose-breasted grosbeaks should start showing up soon, too.
That's terrific. We have our resident scrub jays with their blue feathers. We have hummingbirds that can be fairly colorful. We occasionally have birds in the spring with some red or yellow markings. We have lots of birds that are just grey, or grey with some black.
WOW, what a collection!!! In the first photo, not only did you get the whole woodpecker, but also the woodpecker's hole. As for your last two, take that!!!
Thanks, Buzz.
Cool tiling with the boat. I don't think mine can do it hexagonally like that.
One would think that the cardinal would be the state bird of Missouri, but it isn't.
Beautiful photo essay.
Thanks, Kav.
A beautiful assortment of such colorful birds, Dig. And the last one is really quite unique. Very resourceful overall.
Well done!!
Thanks, RW.
Got a question for everyone...
I always have a hard time telling sharp-shinned hawks from Cooper's hawks. The Cooper's are supposed to have semi-spikey head feathers, which give their heads a flat or blocky appearance (not rounded), and they also have these really bright red eyes.
Here's what I think is a Cooper's hawk from back when it was snowing. Check out the non-rounded head feathering, and the eyes.
Fuzzy from too much zoom here, but still... those eyes!!!
Scratching his belly.
And here's what I think is the sharp-shinned hawk from my post above for comparison. Rounded head feathering, and brown eyes...
So here's the question: Do I have it right? Am I identifying them correctly?
(if anyone knows)
No bird expert I, but, Mac may be able to tell you which one is which.
The red eyes indicate a Coopers Hawk.
It's already Sunday, so here is my Sunday contribution...
A Mother and Daughter dance
Very nice.
Another faux bird - at an ancient park In Kaifeng, Henan Province:
Here is a shot that I took more than a decade ago....
Not sure why the resolution is so low
I'll try another. See how it does. This was Sammy.
The saturation and hue are off for some reason also.... The original for this one is a lot warmer. Must be difference in the editing monitor and the monitor on my laptop.
Aww. Sammy is a cutie pie.
He sure is.
Last one for Sunday,
Another spectacular image, Raven Wing.
Thank you, G. I'm glad you like it.
Gettin' ready for Pennsylvania Trout Season.
© A. Mac/A.G.
What a lovely little stream, Mac. So peaceful and serene, I can almost hear the tinkling of the water as it makes its way over the rocks and down the stream. When I was a young girl there was a small stream similar to this one down the hill from our house where we caught crawdads. The stream was alive with them, and my Brother and I would walk along the edge of the water looking for air bubbles. When we found them we would poke around the bubbles with a big stick until one came out holding on to the stick, then we dropped it in a bucket of water. Mother would make us crawdad Jambalaya. Never saw any fish in the stream, but, we could always find lots of crawdads.
Ah, tranquility. Nice.
Is that an older photo or have things already greened up that much in PA?
It’s an oldie ... at least 10 years ago; it’s Hickory Run in the Poconos.
It looks perfect for arrowhead hunting, shallow and clear.
That's a beautiful spot.
Thanks to all for another solid weekend; I will keep the article open until tomorrow (Monday) morning.