Winter is the time when ladybugs congregate around the house. Found a pile of them on the porch — each with a unique pattern of spots and shade of orange.
The icing is the best part
Winter in the South is as likely to bring ice as it is snow. Ice-weighted trees present any number of dangers, but their beauty in the sunlight is extraordinary.
Morning meditation
Bluebird seems to staring out over the south valley from the branch of a bare hickory tree.
Gothic kind of day
Winter in the South comes with (the moist) air of mystery.
Orion
Orion rising above the house on Friday night.
Birds of a feather
Two bluebirds among a flock feeding on sumac growing around the house.
Birdland
Been a while since we posted. We had a couple rounds of heavy winter weather and being trapped away from home for days at a time. Nice to be back home. Between bouts of wintry mix, the birds came out and did what birds do.
One of several bluebirds availing themselves of sumac seeds.
Red-tailed hawk takes flight over the office parking lot.
Tufted titmouse in tree with open hickory nut. He flew the half-nut into the tree and spent a few minutes brunching on it before knocking it to the ground and flying away.
Sparrow on his takeoff roll.
Yellow shafted Flicker in the sumac.
Blue sky, red bird
Weekly photo challenge: Serenity
Finding serenity any time is a challenge, and this week it IS the challenge. For the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to capture the latest comet Lovejoy in pixels. Tonight’s effort was flustered by clouds, but one shot — a test shot setting up — seemed to hit all the right notes. The soft light in the cloud, the familiar pinpoints of starlight and the warm glow coming from the house next door all seemed to be a little bit of serenity.
Other bits of serenity from this week’s challenge:
Iced
An after market telephoto lens with really terrible optics can still create intriguing images with its distortion. In these images, rain falling through 29-degree air is coating branches and pine needles with ice.
The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface 