Best of Winter Birding

There are so many wonderful opportunities to snap bird photos during the Winter months. As I was cruising my archive, I noticed a trend. Many of my best bird images were taken during the Winter months. These images are from the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. Most were taken in the past five years. Birding spots include Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest and the Lexington Reservoir in Kentucky, to three popular lakes in Greater Nashville, Radnor Lake, Percy Priest Lake, and of course, Old Hickory Lake. There's even an image of a Sandhill Crane captured at Ewing Bottoms, in south central Indiana, on a sunny Winter's day. I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to Louisville soon and wanted to share another Winter post before I left. I hope you are having a Happy Holiday and you are getting ready for a very Merry Christmas. With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I'll try to post once more before the big day. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh Kentucky!

As I sit and write this post, I am officially a Tennessean, a resident of the Volunteer State. It bears mentioning here that I will miss my Bernheim Arboretum with its gorgeous bushes, trees, lakes and drives. And the Bluegrass Region which was right out my back door with only a 40 minute drive and Cave Hill Cemetery with its gorgeous landscapes and ponds, and on and on I could go.

Yet, here I am in a whole new environment with countless possibilities. There are many a river and lake around me literally. Just down the road is Percy Pierce Dam and the lake, and north of me is Old Hickory Lake and then there's the Stones River and the Cumberland River. Did I mention quite a few wildlife refuges in the midst of middle Tennessee. And that Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an hour closer to me now.

As I settle in and attempt to stand in the middle of my kitchen trying to determine which drawer or cabinet I put this in and that in, I write this note to all of my faithful friends and tell you there are new images on the horizon. That I am sure. And so I leave you with this image of a Mallard Duck floating aimlessly on the lake at Cave Hill back in late Fall. Dare I mention as I was moving my life, boxes and furniture all on Saturday, I did so in the midst of a gorgeous overnight snowfall in Louisville with every twig, branch, bush and lawn totally covered in beautiful fluffy white snow. Sadly, there was no time to stop and snap an image. However, I truly believe God blessed me with that scene as a reminder that wherever I may travel, I will always find beauty in the landscape. ENJOY!

Mallard Ducks, A Story

Did you know that every image captured tells a story? Whether the photographer interprets the story for you or you decipher it on your own, it's there for the reading. This particular image has a unique story.

It's a somewhat overcast day as you can see from the varying colors of the water. I'm standing beside a large marsh, as you can tell from the reflection of the trees in the background, which are quite a distance away. It's late Autumn. How do I know this? Well, yes I took this image, but I can still decipher this from the dark, dark color of the marsh grasses. I'm standing next to a large marsh on an overcast day in late Autumn. Wait, the story doesn't end there. The real story is one of love. For this pair of Mallard Ducks, the brightly colored male, and the female, in her usual browns and whites, have mated for life. Being in close proximity to the pair near the water's edge, yet not disturbing their swim, tells me they have lived here a while and visitors don't scare them. This pair of mated Mallard Ducks are moving about the large marsh on a less than pristine day as happy as ever, together. That's the story. Is that the story you saw before I broke it down for you? Since I was a teenager I've wanted to be a writer. In the past ten years, I've become a consummate photographer of nature and the outdoors. And now I find myself telling the stories of my images for all of you to read. Perhaps I've come full circle. ENJOY!

Mr. and Mrs.!

Beargrass Creek is a great place for the ducks to take a swim on this cold wintery day. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were sticking close to each other as they took an afternoon swim. There was no sun at the time so I couldn't catch much detail but I still liked this image of mom and pop. I can only image what the temperature was in the creek on this particular visit. Brrrrr. I recently added Picnik to my list of software and found I really like the mat feature. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you. ENJOY!