Posts Tagged ‘Picture of the Day’

Took the dog down for a walk down by Woodbine Beach, hoping to see some waterfowl. Instead I caught a group of people who were obviously practicing for a Dragonboat race. Took several pics, of which this was my favourite:

Dragonboat Practice

Saw a honeybee buzzing around some flowers, and even though I didn’t have my macro lens on my camera, I thought I would give things a tree with my f2 200mm telephoto from about a meter-and-half away to see what I could get.

It turned out much better than I expected, and here’s the best pic from the lot I shot:

Honeybee Close-up

Most of the time when I am up at the cottage in Georgian Bay, I feel I am lucky if I manage to get to see and photograph a single loon, usually from a great distance.

So I was thrilled to find no less than three loons had landed relatively close by in Oberlin Bay early this morning, just in view from the deck of the cottage. At first I thought maybe it was a family with a fledged chick, but from their behaviour I could tell that this was simply one round in a fight for territory by at least one of the birds.

This is the best picture I took of the trio, of what are presumably two males sizing each other up with a female watching the outcome:

A Trio of Loons Sizing Each Other Up

Here’s the “fight sequence” that came immediately before it; mainly a lot of posturing with none of the birds actually taking a stab at each other.

Picture a picture of this little guy on a nearby tree branch, looking hungrily at the sunflower seed I have gotten into the habit of bringing with me when I walk with YoBob down by Woodbine Beach. Nice feather detail.

Small Chickadee on Tree Branch

I had read in SkyNews that the Moon was going to be in the sky along with the planet Venus in this morning, and when I stepped out the front door, instead of heading straight to work I went down to the beach with my camera and took these shots.

The first shot, with the trees and the jogger in just the right place is my favourite of the bunch, and I pretty much knew it would be my picture of the day when I took it, but I kept walking closer to Beach, and the progression towards the water is what you see here.

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach with Jogger and Trees

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach with Trees

Crescent Moon and Venus at Sunrise by The Beach

Shot a picture of this little chickadee while out on a walk with the dog down by Woodbine Beach.

Love the details of the fine feathers on its back.

Chickadee Close-up

Went for a walk with YoBob down by Woodbine Park, and brought along some sunflower seeds to feed the birds down there. Last time I only managed to attract some Chickadees, but this time I caught the attention of a pair of cardinals, who posed for me while they assessing the risk of flying down to grab their share of seeds while a large predator was nearby with a funny-looking device pointed at them… 😉

Male Cardinal Close-up

Female Cardinal on Tree Branch

I read that there was going to be a near conjunction of the moon with Jupiter, so I dutifully set up my tripod on the back deck to shoot the following picture:

Crescent Moon and Jupiter

While it is hard to tell at thumbnail size, the “bump” that appears at 5 o’clock to Jupiter isn’t a lens echo, but one of that giant planet’s many moons. Am pleased with how this pic came out.

Was down by the Distillery District, and while I took many shots, my favourite was this one of pigeon roosting for the night by the old Gooderham sign:

Pigeon Roosting by Old Sign

While I was taking the dog (and my kids) for a walk down by the boardwalk, we saw a man flying a trick kite down by the beach. He gave us a good little show, including some precision flying where he managed to pick up a plush bear (that had a “T” hook in it) from the ground using his kite. Here are a couple of pictures I took of it.

Shortly after picking up the bear

This somewhat surreal shot of a bear seemingly hovering in air simply crops out the t-bar and the lower edge of the kite holding it. I enhanced the colours in the picture somewhat to make the scene to further emphasize the oddness of the image.