Seasons Greetings.....

 Well, it's been some kind of year huh? See you next year....Stay well.....

Mister Cardinal.....

The bird feeders that I put up a couple of weeks ago, are providing a lot of enjoyment, as quite a few species have discovered them, and they seem to enjoy flitting in and out of the now dormant Rose of Sharon bushes. This lovely Male Cardinal found a place beside our back deck, and posed for about a half second as I grabbed a very quick shot of him through the kitchen window. It definitely is not a work of art, but I find it quite enjoyable nonetheless. The bird feeders are also providing me with a chance to improve my bird photography skills, and at present, it appears that I am quite slow with the shutter button....hopefully that will improve with time....Cheers! 

Lady Cardinal.....

This past week, I decided I was going to try feeding the birds again this Winter. It is a lovely diversion from all the junk that is going on in the world right now. Of course, the squirrels were delighted, and it has been a bit of a battle to keep them away from the feeders, but for the most part, I am winning.....nothing like axel grease on the poles. Apparently they do not care much for black grease all over their paws. They get plenty to eat from what the birds spill from the feeders, as they get pretty scrappy from time to time, vying for a few moments on one of the perches. Anyway, this lovely lady Cardinal paid us a visit yesterday, and again today, and I expect will be a regular visitor....hopefully. It was a chance to grab a few shots. Since I cannot get out into the bush anymore to photograph them in their natural habitat, this will have to do for now. Maybe one day when I feel competent enough, I might take a hike out into the County to try my hand at real bird shooting. Meanwhile, I am working on another idea to make my bird shots look more natural....or without showing the "hand of man" as it is referred to at the Windsor Camera Club.....Cheers! 

P.S. For what it is worth...these images were shot from inside our kitchen, through the window pane. 

My Nemesis.....

This squirrel has given me a rather dubious "respect" if you will, for its ingenuity and acrobatic skills. Last week, I bought a "squirrel proof" bird feeder, and some seeds, which I set up dangling from the clothes line in our back yard. After all, no way could a squirrel reach it, and even if it could, it is designed to close off the access hole to the seeds, when the weight of the critter comes to bear on it. I placed it about 15 feet out from the back deck, so no way could it jump that far. For a couple of days, all was well, as the birds showed up in droves. We had Blue Jays, Cardinals, Chickadees, Sparrows, and a Wren also. There were a couple of grey squirrels on the ground, foraging for the seeds that got spilled over from the birds feeding above. Then, along comes this black squirrel. It spent a few minutes sizing up the situation from several different angles. Then it decided to go for it. It climbed up onto the clothes line, and casually walked along until it got to the feeder. Then it stopped, looked down at it dangling below, and with its hind feed wrapped around the clothes line, it lowered its body down so that it was hanging upside down, and started to dig the seeds out of the holes, without ever putting any weight on the perch, which would have shut off the access to the seeds. It was so persistent, that I had to take the feeder down until it decided to move on elsewhere. After I had scared it off the feeder, I went inside and got my camera and took this shot of it sitting on our neighbors back fence, all the while giving me a scolding and the evil eye....amazing critters for sure.....Cheers! 
 

On Reedmere Road.....

The City of Windsor is made up of several smaller areas that seem to meld into each other, not unlike a lot of other cities. Walkerville, LaSalle, Sandwich, and Olde Riverside are a few, and this image was shot a couple of days ago in Olde Riverside. With my camera set to Illustration mode, I made this shot of the Autumn leaves, and it will likely be the last of the season for another year. As I type this, it is snowing outside, and believe it or not, I am not disappointed. The four seasons keeps things interesting in this country, and if I lived in a place where it was mild all year around, and no Winter season, I think I would go crazy....or more so than I already am. At least we do not have the terrible weather events so far here, like what is happening right now in B.C and the Maritimes, and Newfoundland - Labrador. Let's hope the weather gods show a little mercy on them soon.....
 

On Raglan Road.....

Lately, I have tried to make my photography more enjoyable by taking a very simple image, and make something unusual or unique out of it. It keeps the juices flowing, and helps stave off boredom, which is very easy to slip into anymore. This image started out as a very ordinary shot of a single rose, that was clinging to the bush, all by itself. It is fun to take an image, and just play with it, and sometimes surprise myself. Such is the case with this one. When I combined it with one of my own concocted "filters" it looked rather unusual, but in my mind, it needed something more. For what ever reason, the old Irish melody, On Raglan Road, written by Patrick Kavanagh, was running through my head, so I thought that maybe the lyrics added to this image, might add something special to it. When photographs are combined with poetry or lyrics, it seems to place the image into another category, and some folks might enjoy it, while others, not so much....to each his own....Cheers!

P.S. My apologies if the script on this image is too small to read. If you are interested in the lyrics, just look up the song title.....this song also sounds great on my Hohner button accordion, and the first time I heard this song, it was on a Van Morrison LP. 

The Last Rose.....

This image is the last of the roses in our garden for another year. So tonight, I thought I would give it a little attention and posted it on here. The actual size of the blossoms are about the size of a dime, and the bush was just loaded with them this year. I hope it Winters well, as I decided to prune it quite hard, and hopefully did not do it too much harm. Roses are a whole lot more hardy than they look, and it seems that the harder they are pruned, the nicer they are the next year....we shall see. Anyway, the original background was a very drab grey fence, and I decided to "splice" in one of my own concoctions to pick it up a bit....hopefully, you will enjoy this rendition. Cheers!