Photos from the past 40 years
A second contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: 1 Item or the Number One and alao a contribution to Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge.
Shortly after posting my contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: One Great Crested Grebe I went for a walk with the camera. I was testing a CCTV lens adapted to the camera and one of the things I photographed was this blue flower. I then added more blur to the already blurred background, a weak vignette and a Polaroid film type border.
This is my contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: 1 Item or the Number One.
One shot immediately came to mind and I decided not to over think the challenge and to go with that photo.
A solitary Great Crested Grebe in a Black-headed Gull roost.
My contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Smiles and the A Photo a Week Challenge: Smile.
I know that I’m not supposed to anthropomorphize wildlife but I thought this could be a light hearted post with a bit of anthropomorphizing.
An American Red Squirrel with a hint of a smile. Ontario, Canada.
A relaxed Dunnock grinning while sunbathing. Cheshire, England.
A wet Racoon grins as it surveys the bird feeders, Ontario, Canada.
A Common Frog grins in a garden pond, Cheshire, England.
A portrait of a Mourning Dove that gives the impression of smiling. Ontario, Canada.
A hidden Great Blue Heron laughing at a No Fishing Sign, Ontario, Canada.
A Pine Siskin that appears to be laughing. Ontario, Canada.
My contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Feet and/or Legs.
I had a few ideas for the challenge before thinking of this sequence of photos taken on the Lake Huron shoreline one spring.
I was photographing a Common Tern on a rock in the water when a second bird flew in with its legs and feet extended for landing.
The second bird lands and walks towards the one on the rock. By the front birds wing position it was fairly obvious what was going to happen next.
The birds mate, the male using his legs and feet to balance on the back of the female. I’m guessing that they were a well established pair as the male didn’t bring a fish as a courtship offering.
After mating both birds started using their legs and feet to scratch and preen.
My contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Hands.
I decided that a sideways look at the challenge was in order and ignored my photos featuring human hands. Instead I decided that the front paws of some mammal species are used in a similar way to human hands.
A Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel eating whatever it can find in the spring having just emerged from hibernation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
An American Red Squirrel using its front paws to eat bird seed under the feeders in Ontario, Canada.
An Eastern Chipmunk displaying an impressive set of claws in Ontario, Canada.
A Racoon that wandered into the yard one afternoon eating the dog food in Ontario, Canada. I focused on the animal’s paws.
An Eastern Gray Squirrel eating a berry at -30°C in Saskatchewan, Canada. There’s frost on the tips of some of the tail hairs.
A Grey Squirrel eating an Acorn in Cheshire, England. A North American species introduced to the U.K. where it has driven the native Red Squirrel in to small, isolated groups.
The new Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is Feathers.
An easy challenge for me having been photographing birds for decades. So I decided to do something a little different, rather than just picking photos of birds I would select shots where the birds feathers were a feature of the photo.
Feather maintenance. A well camouflaged juvenile Red Knot preening on the Lake Huron shoreline in Southampton, Ontario, Canada. The bird has stopped over on its way south for the winter.
Feather washing. An adult European Robin bathing which is an important part of feather maintenance. Hatherton, Cheshire, England.
Feather iridescence. Iridescent feathers on a male Common Grackle are used to attract a female and are an indication of the health of the bird. South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.
Feathers for insulation. A male Evening Grosbeak warms one leg and foot in its feathers at -30°C. Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Feather feeding. An adult Great Crested Grebe feeding one of its own breast feathers to its young. Hurleston Reservoir, Cheshire, England. There is some debate about why many species of Grebe feed their breast feathers to the young.
Feathers spread for take off. A Black-capped Chickadee taking flight on the South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.
The new Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is Eyes.
I had a few ideas for the challenge before thinking of this portrait of a Horsefly with colourful eyes photographed in Cheshire, England.
