There’s my little Nutty again, he was posing for me yesterday and I couldn’t resist. Just a sweet little thing, isn’t he?

More random eye candies for you:

An egret that we saw on the way back from the museum last week. I was totally enamored by his reflection in the pond and have several photos of him that are ‘ok’ to me, I just enjoy looking at the composition. It was neat to watch him fishing, too!

This, I loved. Of course, my hummies. She thought she’d be sneaky, and eat on the side that I couldn’t see her on. haha! Chickeymonkey saw this photo and said “How’d she get in there, mommy?”

Our floppy dog, Tucker. (He’s a 16 wk. Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, for those just meeting him) Yes, he’s sleeping on the vent again. He lays like this all the time. It’s fun to watch him go from standing to this position!

We did go to the Museum yesterday and saw some really beautiful bird photography. I took a few pics of the sections where mine are hanging, I’ll get those pics ready and show you later.

I hope you’re having a good weekend!

 

 

This is such unusual behavior for the Ruby Throated Males that I’ve seen at our feeder. I was at the window. Smack in front of the window, not more than 12 inches from him behind glass, and he was so curious! His coloring is just brilliant. I have several – and I mean several shots of him. He drank, and peeked over at me, and drank, and peeked again. His head contorted and stretched, his eyes wide.

If you’ve never seen a Hummingbird in real life this close, here you go!

I finally had my camera in hand when the Mr. stopped by this morning, perched his little ruby self down on my feeder and warned me not to come any closer. I zoomed in on him from my kitchen.

Yesterday morning was nerve-wracking for me. I was just a mess, my heart was racing, sweaty palms, I couldn’t hold a pen without shaking. Why?

A few weeks ago, my hubby picked up the paper. He left one page folded over on my desk, the headline “Putnam looks for bird photos for new contest”. As you can imagine, that caught my eye! So I read the article, and immediately knew which photos I wanted to submit. There are four categories – birds of prey, water/game birds, backyard birds and pet birds. Here were my selections:

  
(all of these are available as prints, click them for their print info.)

I matted them, filled out the paperwork, and dropped them off yesterday. They’ll go up on Friday, and be exhibited through November 19th at the Putnam Museum as a part of the Celebration of Birds exhibit.

Take flight as A Celebration of Birds soars into the Putnam Museum’s exhibit galleries! This impressive museum experience combines the stunning artwork of Birds In Art from the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum with unique specimens and artifacts from the Putnam collections. It’s the perfect synthesis of art, conservation and science!

I’m nervous because there are prizes and awards involved. There are judges, both public and and a panel representing the fields of art, photography and conservation. The criteria: “Accurate or expressive depiction of the subject species; photographic skill; and general appeal”.

Other than getting juried into the MidCoast Fine Arts Organization (I don’t know when, if ever, they update the website, I’m still not listed.), I don’t know when I’ve been this nervous – putting my stuff out there for public criticism and/or acceptance. It’s a very personal thing to have on display for people to judge and give you either a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. My work has never been on exhibit before, either. My MCFA exhibit isn’t scheduled until Spring 2006.

So. They have my prints, they look quite lovely matted and we’ll be seeing them among the competition this weekend. I’ll take photos of them on exhibit, because this is a first for me, and I’m nervous and excited now just to see them on the walls. The general public will get to vote on their favorites, too, so if you’re in the area, please stop over at the Putnam Museum and cast your “People’s Choice” vote between August 11th – 24th!

How exciting to be able to capture my hummingbirds resting during a feeding! It is so cool to see them perched. I have a pair of Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, the male has a black head and bright red neckband – this one is the female of the pair. (I’m pretty sure, anyway!)

I picked up a new feeder the other day, and chose one with the rim that they can perch on. I hoped for a good shot, I’ve seen the male several times resting on it and sticking his tongue out, even opening his beak to clean himself. It’s the neatest thing!

This shot was taken zoomed in on the feeder that hangs outside our front window. I’ve got a 12x optical zoom on my Lumix, in case you’re wondering – there are no special lenses on my camera. I was on the couch, halfway across the room with low interior light since it’s about dusk. I lightened up the foreground a bit in PSP so you can see her coloring and detail. Gorgeous, gorgeous birds. I will never cease to be amazed by them.

 

It’s another scorcher of a day. I can’t even think of anything to say other than “dayum, it’s hot.” And I’m a summer girl. I prefer sweating over freezing my tootsies off in 30 below any day.

Today though? I’m |<>| this close to reconsidering. (Note: Not reconsidering. Just close.)

My poor plants are flopping over from the heat,

Birds are panting,

Evil grackles are dirtying up all the fresh bath water,

and the squirrels are dying for a dip in the pool.

It’s too hot to even eat sitting up.

Thankfully, this is going to break in a day or two – at least that’s what the forecast is for now. Meanwhile, does anyone know if it’s safe to transplant Azalea’s in this kind of heat? At dusk, or early morning? Should I wait for a nice cool 80 degree day? Ugh. It’s hot.

Our sweet Catybug turned 10 this past Monday, here she is after her birthday dinner on our way over to the Enchanted Forest for an evening of carnival rides. Isn’t she turning into a gorgeous young lady? I think so. Of course I fully realize this can only mean trouble, having such a smart, sweet, pretty young lady as a daughter. Especially now that we’re in the double digits.

Her new favorite carnival ride? The Tilt-o-Whirl, of course! Smart girl, she is. This was her first carnival experience, yes we lead a sheltered life. (Really, who wants to ride rides and catch bugs when ya scream out here in farm country?) She and I rode the Tilt-o-Whirl 4-5 times. I think I was the only one screaming my fool head off in it! Something about that ride just takes me back and makes me feel like a kid. Something else about that ride reminds me that I still have 20 pounds to lose – I think it has to do with the G-force that whips the excess poundage up against the seat when you fly around in circles.

😛

Of course this whole thing got me curious, what’s your favorite carnival ride? Are you a roller-coaster-er, or a spinner?

I’ve been away for a few days, we had a nice relaxing trip to a waterpark resort and did some hiking at Starved Rock State Park. This little Chipmunk didn’t mind us being nearby, in fact I was surprised to see so many critters pay no mind at all to passing hikers.