Birds~Bluebirds, Wrens, Blackbirds, Nuthatches & More

I've been practicing with my 500mm lens. It came with my Canon and I have never been happy with it, mainly as I didn't know how to use it! It's still a challenge (my hands tend to shake some these days) but I'm a lot happier with the results.

Bluebirds~one of my favorites! We have a couple of pairs around our house and it's always a delight to see them.

I do believe he was posing :)

I have a lot of different variety of Woodpeckers at the feeders. Mostly for the suet, but also for the nuts I put in the open feeders.

Red Wing Blackbirds are early this year! But no surprise as warm as it is.

Very pleased with this shot of a Red Wing Blackbird. I took it from my car with my "little" camera I carry with me. It's a Fuji finepix F500EXR and it takes great photos.

Red Wing Blackbird with the 500mm.

"Food Fight" Taken with my 500mm, I love how the Finch is eating away while the Chickadee, Titmouse and Cardinal are all fighting over position.

White Breasted Nuthatch

Carolina Wren. Singing on my deck.

A lone Chickadee

Some of my favorites~ Whooping Cranes flying overhead. I took this with my Fuji. Love to listen to them.

ACEO Friesian Horse Head Study~Miniature Art

"Friesian Head Study"

ACEO (2.5" x 3.5")
Watercolor on 140 lb watercolor paper. Listed on Etsy.

ACEO Western Horse Head~Miniature Art

"Western Head Study"
2.5" x 3.5"
ACEO in watercolor on smooth Bristol paper.
Is listed on Etsy. My Etsy widget is on the right hand side :)

Black on Grey on White: Did the Internet Kill the Photography Star? by Lin...

Black on Grey on White: Did the Internet Kill the Photography Star? by Lin...: Image reproduced by kind permission of the artist Linda Shantz The progression of the internet has been both a blessing and a curse to art...

ACEO Watercolor Painting~War Horse

"War Horse"

An ACEO (2.5" x 3.5") painted in watercolor with Micron Pen on 140 lb watercolor paper.
Listed on Etsy. My widget can be found on the right hand side.

A Beautiful Doe

I keeping track of the Does, Fawns and Bucks that frequent our backyard you become very familiar with them and can pick out them out in a crowd. Like humans, each have their own personality and each is different in their looks.
This Doe is a beauty. She has frequented our backyard for several years, this past year with her bratty offspring that spent much time in the front yard eating under the feeders and drinking out of the bird water :) I spent a lot of time chasing them out of the front. You can see one of her offspring looking over her back.
The following photos are all of her and last year's fawns.

Hoping she has a long life and avoids the hunters.

Squirrels

We have the basic Southern variety of Squirrel, grey with rust highlights. This year I noticed that they were pink around the eyes and tips of the ears. Noticed this on 4 or 5 of them.

Anyways, they rule the deck railing driving our cats crazy.

Basically our squirrels do very well, even with all our predators. In the Springtime, early Summer we'll have 20+ running around under the feeders. Then the Owls, Hawks and Coyotes thin them out.

A Horde of Wet Turkeys

Our unusually wet winter has been hard on man, beast and fowl. During our last downpour I looked out in our backyard and it was covered with Turkeys trying to find some food.

Most of these are last year's babies.

It really has been a wet, depressing winter! We are hopefully getting a much needed dry spell. I walk in the yard and water is standing everywhere.

Backyard Deer

Such a mild winter and the deer have done well.

Most fawns have been weaned and are finding out about life without Mom.

They hang in family groups. The weanling does stay in the family group pretty much all the time, the young bucks have been chased away.

A 2 year old buck

Winter

I'm one of those people that love Winter. I feel better when it's colder and my spirit is so much brighter. This is another reason I like Winter here. We are surrounded by woods and never get to see a Sunrise, Sunset or Moonrise. In the Winter you can see all three against the hills of our narrow valley.

Another Sunrise

Backyard~through the trees you can see the hills of the long valley we are in.

With every leaf that drops, more that was hidden comes to view. This is the side of the house from my bedroom window.