April, 2009

Random-ish Nature-themed Shots

Some minnows swimming above a lost license plate in a small creek.

Playing with the macro lens again: a close-up of a small centipede (maybe a couple of centimeters in length) who stayed still long enough for the shot.

More macro fun: small bleeding-heart buds against the stony face of our garden gnome-guy.

I thought I was done for the day, and then I heard this Cardinal chirp away in our backyard tree. He posed for this shot and then flitted away.

Labels: , , ,

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Random-ish Nature-themed Shots

A Warm Morning at Woodbine Park

YoBob happily fetching a stick from the pond.

Another male-red winged blackbird claiming territory at Woodbine Park.

The girls playing around with the water fountain.

Labels: , , ,

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on A Warm Morning at Woodbine Park

Annie at Another Soccer Practice

Annie at Another Soccer Practice

My youngest daughter at her soccer class.

Love how everyone’s in motion in this pic.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Annie at Another Soccer Practice

Butterfly and Flowers

Saw this in a neighbour’s front yard, and I manged to get this shot before it flew away a second later. I have no idea what it is — doesn’t have the right markings for a Black Swallowtail, and it does look kind of beaten up.

Bought some flowers for Erika, and I took some shots while in the store. This one of cala lillies was my favourite.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Butterfly and Flowers

Red-winged Blackbird in Woodbine Park

Still sick with a cold, but the dog still needs his walk, and I need to take my “Picture of the Day”. So we went down to Woodbine Park, where we heard the loud squawkings of Red-winged blackbirds claiming territory for themselves and picking the fluff out of the bullrushes in order to line their nests.

A nice shot of a male red-winged blackbird among the bullrushes. Love the telephoto lens — what you see here is maybe 15% or so of the original size of the shot.

A relatively dowdy-looking female red-winged blackbird. She didn’t like me one bit and kept sending a warning squawk to her mate, who only moved when he felt the dog was getting too close.

Another male red-winged blackbird, this one basically claiming that the tree he is in is his.

Labels: ,

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Red-winged Blackbird in Woodbine Park

Soggy Flowers

Sick with a cold, so I stayed at home today. Still, I needed to take a “picture of the day”, so I bundled up and went outside to take some pics of the emerging flowers in our garden — in the pouring rain.

Trillium plants just shy of blooming

Labels: ,

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Soggy Flowers

Annie at Soccer Class

Annie Chasing the Ball

Annie’s started a class at a local recreation center where she is learning to play soccer. She plays with a lot of kids who are bit younger than her, so she is soaking up what the teacher tells her while the rest (mostly boys) tend to fidget a lot.

During the last 15 minutes of the hour-long class they let them play a game. Annie managed to score two goals, for a 2-0 win!

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Annie at Soccer Class

Early Morning Half Moon

Saw this when I stepped out the door this morning. Went back and got my camera and shot this.

Labels:

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Early Morning Half Moon

Scrubland Beside Livingstone Park, Markham

Up until today I’ve never ventured into the vast scrubland that lies just south from the office tower I work in at 55 Commerce Valley Drive West up in Markham. Partly because I have to cross highway traffic in order to get to it, but also out of feeling I had too much work to do to spare the time.

So today I ventured forth with camera and telephoto lens in hand. Here’s some of what I saw:

A groundhog keeps a wary eye on me.

Wild pussywillows

Dried out teasles.

Labels: , , ,

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Scrubland Beside Livingstone Park, Markham

Surreal Shoes at The Bata Shoe Museum

The current window display at the Bata Shoe Museum. At night.

Labels: ,

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized Comments Off on Surreal Shoes at The Bata Shoe Museum