Picture-A-Week 2023 - Week 03

[pierces]

Pictures taken between Monday, January 16 and Sunday, January 22.

 

Holy cow! There are only fifty weeks left in the year. Take some photos and share them before 2023 is gone forever!

 

 

Rules: See above

That's it. This isn't a contest.

All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising).

Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize.

The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays.

Post one. Post many. Up to you.

Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

[ski ww]

Skiing, beautiful day sun shine blue sky, snow conditions great. This after a week of rain & over cast sky. 

[Victress2007]

Egyptian goose and Chinese Goose-swan in eastern Texas.  Who says we don't have a problem at the border?!  (Just a joke folks, just a joke!) 

 

 

Happy New Year,

Vic

 

 

[zackiedawg]

Another three-day weekend means another opportunity to go out for some wildlife shooting on Monday - so again I can kick off another photo week thread while it's still the current week!

 

MLK day, I got up to Peaceful Waters, a wetland farther north and west of me - figured there was a good chance activity was up there due to the cold weekend...then stopped by my local wetland before heading home.

 

Wintering ducks are much more populous at the northern park.  Here, an American wigeon:

 

The roseate spoonbills are starting to get really nice, rich colors this time of year:

 

Down south, we have tons of blue-winged teals, but the green-winged teals don't come our way too often anymore.  But they're still up north - this is the lovely male green-winged teal:

 

Ring-necked ducks really don't come down by me - they're quite rare anywhere in S. Florida - but the cold drove a few down to Peaceful Waters this winter.  The male, as usual, is the more boldly marked:

 

And like last time I was up here, the river otters were just being silly.  This one jumped up on the levee to roll around and play in front of me:

 

The levee was bordered by trees on one side, and the water on the other - about 10 feet wide.  I tried to walk past the otter closer to the water, but it decided to block my way and lie down in front of me.  When I tried going to the tree side, he waddled up there and laid down in front of me again.  Another person came the other way on the levee so we were sandwiching him - but he continued the playful blocking maneuvers for another 5 minutes before finally splashing into the water:

 

Back at the local wetlands, a red-shouldered hawk was off in a distant tree watching the wetlands - though I could get closer, I liked the perspective at 600mm from 250 feet away:

 

A female red-winged blackbird - they're just starting to gather now, and wills tart breeding and nesting around March:

 

A least bittern down by the water, doing some fishing:

[TLCOhio]

Snow??  We've got about three inches right now here in Central Ohio.  Need proof and evidence?  See below!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Early 2020, many visuals and details from New Zealand/South Pacific in going from Auckland to French Polynesia.  This includes Bora Bora, Fiji, NZ experiences, etc:  Live/blog;

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2735732-live-terryohio-“new”-regatta-south-pacificnz-pix’s/

 

For our snow today in Columbus, see below at the bottom of our driveway.  I used the EGO electric snow blower to clear out a pathway down and then we received some four-legged visitors.  The second visual is looking across our wooded ravine to a neighbor's home.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

Here are some closer views of our visiting deer.  I assume they were looking for food on this snowy day.  In the background are some of our Christmas decorations that are still up.:

 

[Oakman58]

Haven't had a chance to go through all the photos I took on my recent cruise but this shot with my smartphone while standing on top of the bridge is one my favorites.  The ship is the Diamond Princess.

 

[pierces]

Sunday morning found us off the coast of Southern California waiting for the ship to complete its 12-hour 26-mile journey from San Pedro to our first stop at Catalina Island. The title “A Welcome Sight” isn’t a cynical observation that the world didn’t end overnight, but rather joy at watching the sun rising over the ocean from the deck of a cruise ship. Despite her modest spending in the casino, Kim was offered a “free” cruise from the Celebrity Cruises Blue Chip casino club, and we took them up on it. Even though we had to cough up a few hundred bucks for port charges, taxes and gratuities, it was still pretty cheap for a 7-day cruise. We hung out, ate, napped and spent a week in the company of our very best friends...each other.

 

A Welcome Sight

 

 

 

 

Dave

[zackiedawg]

I already posted shots here from the Monday holiday - but since I did also go out the following weekend on the 21st, and there were some nice encounters, I figured I'd pop in again with a few more for this thread before it fades away:

 

The male common yellowthroat is much prettier than the name might imply:

 

The hard to spot sora came out of the reeds for a moment - they don't like to be out in the open:

 

A grey submarine approaching at the surface, cutting through the grey waters:

 

And speaking of grey, here's the sneaky grey catbird peeking out of the forest:

 

Cute alert!  A baby raccoon seemed very curious about me:

 

But its sibling was significantly more shy and cautious:

 

If you followed my past weekly wildlife posts, you may recall back in late November I came across my first ever sighting of a Wilson's warbler.  It was a female.  Well in a different city this time, I spotted the male Wilson's warbler - only my second encounter with a Wilson's - not the greatest shot opportunity, but any bird that rare is worth even a junky shot:

 

The great blue herons started nesting around Thanksgiving - and on this day, I spotted the first chick poking out of a nest: