Day 213 - November 29, 2010

KESTREL & WHAT???
Drove along the river at lunch and saw a ton of hawks and harriers but none were cooperative. I saw something really weird and actually took a picture...luckily still ran across this Kestrel so I didn't have to post the weirdest thing I saw all day...but then I decided to post it anyway... A sheep dog eating a dead sheep next to the shepherd's trailer. WEIRD! I think now he will want to eat sheep instead of protect them...

Day 212 - November 28, 2010

FLAME
I stayed in the house and watched the Hallmark Channel ALL day...what a waste. I did walk around my house and shoot a few things...nothing that I like, but the flame on the candle I had burning turned out okay...so here it is.

Day 211 - November 27, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS
I put up some Christmas decorations today, which is pretty strange for me, I'm usually grumbling to have to put them up a week before! Here is a shot of my Nativity.

Day 210 - November 26, 2010

SNOWY LANDSCAPE
It was really cold today but we did have a bit of blue sky. I took a few shots of a few things...but decided to go with the view from our back door.

Day 209 - November 25, 2010

DOWNY WOODPECKER
Another cute Downy Woodpecker visited our yard this morning. I was able to get several shots and there was even a speck of blue sky in the background...haven't seen that in awhile!

Day 208 - November 24, 2010

FUN IN THE SNOW
Ben and Duel are home for Thanksgiving so Reggie is here as well. Reggie loves Gus...they had a ton of fun running in the field today and I thought these shots were really funny!

Day 107 - November 23, 2010

SNOWY SUNSET
We were snowed in today and had a blizzard warning all day long. It was miserable! The sun finally peaked through just in time for a bit of color at sunset...it was pretty even with the blowing snow.

Day 206 - November 22, 2010

WAITING FOR A PASS
Another hockey game tonight. Papa Tom's vs. Optical Illusions - the game ended in a 5 - 5 tie. We are loving watching the boys play on the same team! Here is a shot of Duel waiting for a pass.

Day 205 - November 21, 2010

NOT QUITE READY
Our Mountain Ash Tree is not quite ready for winter...most of its leaves are still green and none have fallen. We had a frosty winter morning today and I took this shot of some of those leaves that have so far refused to let go of fall...

Day 204 - November 20, 2010

THE ARRIVAL OF WINTER
Today we had a snowstorm with the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen but I didn't have my camera with me at the time. By the time I got home it had stopped but I got this shot of the snow sliding off the roof of our shed.

Day 20 - November 19, 2010

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
When someone started throwing beer bottles and cans in my front yard I told Gary and the boys I was going to put a sign up that said "Hey ,*#$)#(*, stop throwing your beer cans in my yard!"
They told me it was a bad idea that my sign would make things a lot worse so I didn't do it...but who ever this lovely individual is, left another deposit last night!

Day 202 - November 18, 2010

FOR DAD...WINDMILLS AT SUNRISE
The sunrise was beautiful on my way to work this morning so I pulled over and got this shot of the windmills silhouetted against it. I thought of my Dad since I know he has enjoyed watching these windmills be built.

Day 201 - November 17, 2010

THE DRIVE HOME
I was on my way home tonight and hadn't gotten any shots. I shot this one through the windshield after picking up KFC for dinner. It is so dark by 5:30 I can't believe it!

Day 200 - November 16, 2010

TWO BIRDS I LOVE TO SEE...
There was a wet, gray, snow storm this morning, then it turned nice and sunny...but by the time I could get away for lunch it was completely overcast again. But I did see two birds I love, the first, a Kestrel with prey and the second a Bald Eagle. These are not the greatest shots, what I would have done for a blue sky...but at least I got something!

Day 199 - November 15, 2010

SUNSET
It is so dark when I get off work...I've got to get my shots at lunch! Here is a very UN spectacular sunset...it is not good but I didn't have time for anything else...

Day 198 - November 14, 2010

SUNDAY NIGHT HOCKEY
It is so fun to watch the boys play on the same team! Tonight I took hundreds of shots, and yes, I have a lot to work on...but here are three. Ben...Duel...Liz!
(Oh, yes, they won...6 - 2)

Day 197 - November 13, 2010

ICICLES
I decided to take some macro shots today and found some pretty cool icicles. The first one is probably better because it has some color...but that melting drop in the second one was hard to get so I felt it was still worthy of posting today.

Day 196 - November 12, 2010

GREAT HORNED OWL
Found a pretty uncooperative Great Horned Owl on my way home today (actually found 3 but the other two were IMPOSSIBLE!). So here is a shot of him and one of the sunset a few minutes later.

Day 195 - November 11, 2010

NOVEMBER MOON
Didn't really do any shooting today but when I went to feed the cows I noticed the moon looked pretty cool so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots.

Day 194 - November 10, 2010

EARLY WINTER
The sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds this afternoon so I ran down to the river at lunch and snapped a few shots. I really like the first one better except that the sky doesn't have as much blue showing and since that is what drew me outside in the first place...I'm posting them both.

Day 193 - November 9, 2010

GOT FISH?
Had a long day with a long employee meeting today...basically it was dark when I left and dark when I came home with no outdoor time in between. So I took this shot of a yummy treat that luckily Duel doesn't like so when he visited last night he didn't eat them all!

Day 192 - November 8, 2010

READY OR NOT...HERE IT COMES
Winter???? I watched the news today like I do every morning before work and the weather girl did say it would snow at least an inch today but then I SWEAR the 8 day forecast graphic said it would be cold but no moisture...Well obviously I misunderstood! When I went out to my car this afternoon to run a few errands it was covered with at least 1 1/2 inches of heavy, wet snow. Of course I was unprepared...but I stopped by the river and took a few shots because...I knew it would be dark when I got off work since the time changed (grrrr). So here's what I got today.

Day 191 - November 7, 2010

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
We are in the midst of leaf raking season...just when we get to the point we don't need to mow the lawn twice a week...we get to the point of needing to mow every day! This shot is actually two put together, the top shot is last night about 6 o'clock right after Gary had picked up the leaves, the bottom shot is today about 3 o'clock just before he got ready to pick them up again...and as you can tell from the trees we won't be storing the mower for awhile!
We also took the dogs for a drive up to the Blacks Canyon Trail Head today and I got this shot of a storm moving in.

Day 190 - November 6, 2010

THE EASTERN SKY
When I got up to let the dogs out this morning there was a beautiful sunrise so I grabbed my camera, slipped on some shoes and took a few quick shots.

Day 189 - November 5, 2010

DOWNY WOODPECKER
Didn't do much shooting today, but luckily we had a Downy Woodpecker visit our back yard and I was able to get a few shots of him as he flicked around our trees.

Day 188 - November 4, 2010

GOT CHANGE??
Not my best day of photography. I probably took 50 pictures and didn't really get anything. Took this shot of the change jar on Gary's nightstand...I don't love it...I'm not even sure I like it...but it's all I've got today. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive!

Day 187 - November 3, 2010

EVENING SKY
I was out with the dogs tonight taking a few pictures (we found the Red Tailed Hawk again but he wasn't very cooperative). It was still pretty light but the sky was beautiful. It looked like there were two suns. The sun was actually off to the left of this shot, but it looked like a second sun was hiding behind these clouds.
This post is 5 shots processed using HDR.

Day 186 - November 2, 2010

UPSTREAM VIEW
Took a quick spin up near Heise across the feeders tonight. I saw a White Tail Doe, but she was way to jumpy and I got only two REALLY bad shots. I stopped at the head of the Great Feeder Canal (I'm not sure if that's the right name but for some reason it's stuck in my brain that way). This shot is taken with way too little light - it would have been beautiful 30 minutes earlier...but at least I got something today besides a deer that only I could identify as such!

Day 185 - November 1, 2010

LESSON LEARNED
I learned an important lesson today. If you want to see really cool things...you have to let people know what you're looking for. Jen and I have been asking people around work if they know where anything is...owl, fox, bobcat, mountain lion...you get the idea. Well, today it paid off. Someone at work had a family of Barn Owls nesting on their roof and a couple had fallen down their chimney. They rescued them and invited us to take a few pictures before they covered the chimney and returned them to the roof. Jen even held one but I was WAY too scared. When he was first picked up he let out a terrible scream and opened his beak as big as his head...I just couldn't do it...