Monday, February 15, 2010

Summer Green

After many days of winter pictures and stories I thought a nice look back at the full green colors of summer would be nice. I thought it was time to come down from my heavenly white snow pictures to show you this scene from last June. There's more to this picture than even that though.

This was taken on a day when very many things happened to me, so this little sighting was overlooked very easily. Since that time, I bought a zoom lense for my humble little camera so I could see distant objects more clearly. But I must say my camera did a pretty good job without any extras just the way it was back then.

Take a look at the middle of the picture, right at the top of the trees. There is a bare tree with no leaves that towers above the others. You can see in this picture that there is something up there in that tree. It only looks like a black dot in this picture, and that's just what it looked like to my eyes that day too. But what could it really be?

Looks like my little camera did a pretty good job of seeing that far away bird. Even though the bird looks very much like a hawk in this picture, I believe it is much smaller than a hawk. Of course I could be wrong about that, but I seem to remember thinking this bird was only about the size of a robin. It really does look like a hawk to me though. Hmm, maybe.

I do have to confess that I doctored this last picture just a bit. I didn't do much. I just brightened it a little bit and gave it slightly more blue, because taking pictures of the sky can darken things a little too much at times. I wanted summer cheeriness, and this did the trick.

That's it for today. I posted these photos just because they grabbed me when I saw them. Doing things like this by an impulse is usually the best way. It brings out the very first thoughts, which are usually the truest. I think being able to write without thinking a lot about it is the best way, and I obviously do that quite a bit. That's all folks!

15 comments:

  1. I like the bird on top of the tree! It's also wonderful to see the greenery at this time.

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  2. Doctoring up that photo is a bit like what you have done for all of us today: brightened up our lives with a hint of warmer weather and the nice days ahead!

    Bill:www.wildramblings.com

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  3. Good catch! I think it might be a grackle with its tail spread. A little summer is good.

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  4. It is so great to see some greenery. Thanks for that picture since we are kind of tired of brown and some white. It is a great reminder that Spring is coming. The bird is terrific. I bet it is a big black bird.

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  5. I love seeing a bird in the distance and then using my zoom to discover it is a different bird than I thought...thank goodness for zooms!!!!!

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  6. I agree it does look like a hawk but since you said it was only about the size of a robin I wonder. It was nice to see something besides winter.

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  7. I'm always on the lookout for birds (we have many in our yard) and so I did see the small speck at the top of the tree. I'm not sure it was a hawk, but no matter. Just a lovely picture all the same.

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  8. Not only a lovely photo, but an amazing ability for the camera to be able to zoom in that close. TY for the green message. I live in the desert (it gets cold! but not snow that often) so every green picture I see reminds me of my back east upbringing. Thanks!

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  9. Love these Ratty, the green sparks a smile and you know I love that bird. Great shots.

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  10. Love the bird, Ratty. He seems so lonely but it's a great capture!

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  11. Thank you. I've only recent stumbled upon your blog but went back to read the past month of postings as your blog got me so nostalgic because I grew up not far from where you live and miss the midwestern nature... I live in an arid, treeless, waterless place and I got all mushy reading your blog.

    I awarded you with the sunshine award over at my blog, www.PennilessParenting.com for making me smile and adding a bit of sunshine into my day with your posts.
    Post will be up 4 am michigan time, so head over to my blog to claim the award.

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  12. There's no harm in a little Photoshop, when it's done to enhance and emphasize what is already there. Your camera did a good job of capturing that bird from so far away. It could very well be a young hawk. They can be pretty small, not too much more than a handful (tho' a BIG handful!), when they haven't been out of the nest for very long. That's something I learned in the past week! :-)

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  13. oh Ratty...what superb pictures...I have to say that I am looking forward to seeing scenes like this for real and not just in pictures on your blog!!!

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  14. It is always nice to see a little green this time of the year, the photo archives do come in handy. A great shot of the bird, but it doesn't look quite right for a hawk. Maybe you will spot another one and solve the mystery.

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  15. It was so gorgeous here today, bright blue skies and glorious sun. Two of my sons, Jeremy's girlfriend and I went to American Sushi house for lunch. By the time we were heading down the hill from Paficia to our house, it looked like we were in some sort of horror movie. We were totally enveloped in fog and couldn't see more than ten feet in front of us. That's our normal here!!

    Your picture was nice after seeing so much snow on the news.

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