Close Encounter of a Kestrel Kind!

A couple of weeks ago I took a walk on the beach during my lunch break. It was one of those perfect fall days with a crystal-clear blue sky, brilliant sunshine, and a gentle ocean breeze. Halfway through my walk, I noticed a bird perched on sign about hundred yards away. I knew immediately that it was an American kestrel and I hoped that it would remain perched, as I got closer. I walked very quietly and slowly towards the bird and was able to get within about 25 feet of it. I could see every detail of its beautiful plumage and I was kicking myself for not having my camera with me! The photographs I could have taken would have been amazing!! I remembered that I had my cell phone with me so I took it out of my pocket and was able to take these photos.

You bet the next time I take this walk, I will have my camera with me and maybe I will be as lucky as I was a couple of weeks ago - to be within 25 feet of an American kestrel, perched on a sign, in the brilliant sunshine.

Trick or Treat!

Every Halloween I put up a few decorations to celebrate the holiday. Back in 2004, Mark bought a battery operated flying bat to put outside our doorway. It is 6-inches long with an 18-inch wing span and when turned on it flies around in circles with flashing red eyes!

As we put out the flying bat tonight to greet our trick-or-treaters I am reminded of trick I played on a couple of friends when we first got the bat. I took the photos below and e-mailed them to my friends with a message that said we have this unusual bat flying around our yard!

We e-mailed each other for about an hour and I relayed field-marking descriptions and behavior observations. At one point, I realized that my friend Mike was pouring through his field guides to try to identify the bat. Yikes - he fell for the trick! I egged him on for a little while more and then finally told him that it was not a real bat but a battery operated flying bat. We had a good laugh and it is a fond Halloween memory for me to reflect on as I decorate the homestead.

Happy Halloween!

Peep-fest!

This past Saturday was a perfect early fall day with a bright blue sky, light breeze, cool temperatures with a definite nip in the air, and warm sunshine. I went for a walk on the beach early Saturday morning to drink in the perfect weather and the sound of waves crashing in on the shore; the smell of a clean, cold ocean; and the sight of the last few peeps making their way south from their northern breeding grounds.

I brought my digital camera along and spent a good amount of time behind the lens taking photos of the peeps as they foraged on an array of intertidal invertebrates. You can easily lose all track of time in this type of environment and forget about everything else except the peeps, the waves, and the sunlight. I am still learning how to use my digital camera so I took the opportunity to play around with different settings and the light, and snapped a whole lot of photos.

The weather on Sunday was the complete opposite of Saturday – cool, dank, rainy, and windy. It was a perfect day to be at my computer looking at my photos and deciding which ones to post on my Blog. While using Adobe Photoshop Elements I discovered the “Filter” tab and spent time playing around with the different filters and completely changing the look of my photos! What fun! Below are several of the photos I took and a corresponding Photoshopped image. I used different Filters including patchwork, watercolor, ink outline, trace contour, stain glass, and rough pastel.

I hope you enjoy my Peep-fest photos as much as I enjoyed taking them and Photoshopping them!

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Patchwork

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Watercolor

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Ink Outline

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Trace Outline

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Stain Glass

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Rough Pastel