For a couple of days in the evening while watching TV I spotted a visitor to my yard. The second time that I spotted her, I went out the back door very quietly and sat down on my deck steps. She was very cautious but let me snap a few shots before she made her way off in not a huge hurry like the day before. I think my sitting down made her not so nervous.
It's Wildflower Wednesday once again on the Blog! Today's flower occurs in the wild in Kansas but this one is actually in my yard. I was given a Nipple Cactus last June and planted it in what must be an optimum location because it flowered very well this year. The cactus is only about 3 inches across at most and each flower is only about an inch and a half wide.
A sure sign of spring is when these birds arrive. This is a Dickcissel that I captured on a bike ride a while back. It was very cooperative and sat in some great light with a nice background and rather close. They get their name because their call sounds like dic - dic - sisss.
I planted these Poppies about 3 years ago now I think and every year it produces more flowers. This year it produced 4 blooms so I was quite happy. I love Poppies, the crinkly quality of the petals. I loved the light on these.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog once again. We are midway through the year already! Today's image goes back to the Pennsylvania Railroad in Strasburg. This is locomotive 520 which was built in 1916 and retired in 1957. It's a Mikado (L1 in Penn RR terms) or a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement which were one of the most popular wheel arrangements. They could pull heavier loads but also be light enough to pull lighter loads at 50 mph which made them very versatile.
I was in Minnesota last weekend and I was able to get a couple of neat photo opportunities. This is one of them. There was a pair of Loons on one of the ponds near where we stay. As I watched them, I realized there was a baby behind one of them. As I watched, the baby got on mom's back to ride and I was able to get this photo. I had seen pics of them doing this but this was the first time I was able to see and capture it.
It's Friday, TGIF! Friday's are Bokehlicious and I have a lovely bubbly bokeh image of the Orchids I had shared earlier. I loved the backlighting on these and the bokeh is created from the light on the leaves in the tree outside.
