David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.
The leaves on the Japanese maple tree have faded from bright red to brown. Yesterday, some birds found the newly renovated bird bath. They will have to wait until next spring for me to install the solar-powered fountain. The three inquisitive but wary does looked on as I was taking pictures of the statue on the bird bath. Now that it is hunting season, the deer know that they need to stay within 400 feet of a house in order to stay safe.
While we were out on our morning photography composition lesson outside of Volcano National Park, I found this black volcanic rock with yellow-green sparkles. I brought it back to the lodge where I had a macro lens, and spent the afternoon trying to get some pictures of the crystals. Later on I discovered that the crystals were a semi-precious gem known as Peridot (Pele’s Tears).
There were over a hundred robins, and dozen blue jays in my yard this morning. Some of the birds found my newly renovated bird bath. It was too cold for the birds to take a bath as the water in it was iced over. I am not sure if these birds were congregating before their annual migration south, of if there are some of the birds that plan to stay for the winter. I haven’t replaced the bird feeder since a bear took the last one out.
I looked outside just after waking up to see the eastern sky starting to explode with colors. I ran outside with the first camera I could find with a wide-angle lens to capture the moment. The display didn’t last that long. I was so absorbed viewing the display, and taking pictures that I didn’t notice that an inquisitive young doe walked right up to me. When I finally noticed the deer, I think I was more startled than she was.
I saw several Big Horn Sheep along Colorado 14 while driving back to Boulder from Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Soon after I stopped and started taking pictures with a big lens, several other vehicles also stopped. As soon as the crowd started getting out the Big Horns all turned around and showed their rear ends. Hard to believe, but one day later I was in Hawaii attending a workshop run by Thom Hogan.
