Oliver

 I've been playing around with using flash in a portrait type scenario and Oliver was the only available model.

Oliver

Ruddy Turnstone

 I came across these from a couple of years ago and added them to my Shorebirds page along with a load of others then realized I didn’t have either of the Yellowlegs in there 🙄. Shorebirds

Dohhhh! Just saw that I don’t have Semipalmated Sandpipers in there, I’ll have to fix that sometime  

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Gray Catbird

 Started the morning by firing up the chainsaw and clearing a path through fallen trees and branches, the aftermath of the July 4th Storm. I did just enough to be able to drive my tractor through to the compost heap and the field should I get the inclination to do a bit of Astro photography. The trees were covered in ivy and I had the idea of using a bit as a perch. Here's the result.

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird 

Path to the compost heap.

Sunflowers in the Smoke

Several days of Air Quality Alerts this week due the wildfire smoke coming down from Canada. The last couple of days I've limited my time outdoors and in the car I've had it on recirculating air rather than bringing it in from outside. I did pop out just a 1/4 mile up the lane to photograph the sunflowers in the murky sky this evening. One morning I might even pop out at dawn and get them illuminated by the rising sun.

Sunflower

Sunflower in smoky skies

Saturday Afternoon

This afternoon I popped out to see a friend and dropped in at Memorial Lake to see if the Butterflies and Moths were present on the wildflower bank. I managed a reasonable shot of a Great Spangled Fritillary but the only other butterfly I saw at the lake was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail but it wasn't a decent shot so I didn't bother with it. There were several Hummingbird Clearwing moths but I didn't get a shot of those either. The flowers were a bit more cooperative.

Great Spangled Fritillary

Echinacea or Cone Flower

Brown-belted Bumblebee

Starry Rosinweed

Silver lining.... sort of.

I don't do much in the way of bird photography  in the warmer months as the birds are busy with their offspring and as such are rather ratty looking. Following the storms at the weekend I've had a wander around the yard this morning checking on the fallout from the high winds. I ventured up to the top end of yard which is blocked by fallen branches and came across a small moss covered branch that I thought would make a great perch for my bird setup. Here's the few shots I took late morning. So although I've got a load of work chainsawing the fallen branches and the Cherry tree that fell on the power lines there is a sort of silver lining to it.

Carolina Wren

Juvenile Gray Catbird

Blue Jay

Gray Catbird

American Robin

Big Boy 4014 in Lebanon PA

I was reminded that Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 was going to be passing through Lebanon this afternoon in a Coast to Coast 250th Anniversary tour. Being from a Railway family I had to try and photograph it this afternoon. I examined the map to find what I thought would be suitable photographic locations. The first one I tried would have been pretty good but already crowded 2 1/2 hours before scheduled passing time. It was stopping for a while in the Lebanon Train Station and I already guessed it would be heaving with people so I gave that a miss. Many of the roads were blocked off by the police not sure why as there's many public acessable areas right beside the train line, no fences at all.  I totally underestimated the amount of people that were at every crossing that I passed, people were parking 1/2 mile away and walking to join the throng. I got lucky at a cement works right beside the track. I parked on the grass not 10 yards from the track and waited. I underestimated the speed that it was moving but managed to get a shot I'm happy of.

Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 in Lebanon PA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy

Thanks Tom and Larry!