Well, as I mentioned last time, I discovered a forgotten shared network folder that was loaded chock-a-block full with photos. Here are three more. The first is of our homemade trellis wrapped in Christmas lights and snow.
In retrospect, that project worked out quite well. Better yet, it has aged well and stayed plumb and level. The best advice I can offer for such a project is to take your time in the design phase, and then break out the bubble level and plumb bob for the build.
The next shot was obviously taken at night. For some reason I like this. (The backyard birding hobby is cool in that you can take a photograph that you like that may in fact be junk - no harm, no foul. On the other hand, if your pastime is amateur aircraft construction and you aren't very good... well, at least you won't be around to hear the criticism.) Anywho, I like the pic...
The last image is obviously of a downy. (I've got a bunch of 'em.)
Yeah, I know, you've seen a gazillion downys on this site. Well here's another one. If you don't like it... tough. Now turn off your TV and eat your lima beans and liver. (We in the business call this "tough bird love". 
)
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.birds.cornell.edu%2fNetCommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1270&srcid=1272&erid=0">Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.allaboutbirds.org%2fnetcommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1189&srcid=1272&erid=0">All About Birding
If you follow this blog at all, you no doubt know that I've had network/camera problems. (I think I've got the cam situation on the run by the way.) But the resolution of the network issue uncovered a treasure trove of bird photographs on a forgotten shared network drive. There are over 1,000 of them, and to be completely honest, I don't even know where to begin. So what I'm going to do is just pick eight that I think you'll enjoy and include them in this post. I'll toss in a bit of explanation on the last, but aside from that, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Enjoy...
The last shot actually consists of two pictures that have been PhotoShopped together. It is the merge of a year-old pic of two turkey poults standing on the deck railing combined with a snapshot taken last summer of an adult gobbler standing on that same railing. (For all we know, one of the little fellers on the left grew up to become the monster on the right. Amazing.)
I'll continue to wander through that newly discovered ocean of images...
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.birds.cornell.edu%2fNetCommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1270&srcid=1272&erid=0">Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.allaboutbirds.org%2fnetcommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1189&srcid=1272&erid=0">All About Birding
Hi all,
Caught sight of the female cardinal above sitting in the feeder. Just trying to get out of the rain-soaked, November, windy world I guess. At first, it was difficult to distinguish for sure that the thing was even a bird, but binoculars and the Olympus confirmed the lonely fact. Normally, the hope of spotting a bird, and then trying to set up the tripod, load the camera with batteries and memory card, focus, and actually take the desired picture is a dim hope indeed. Yet this little soul remained still for at least 20 minutes... probably "seeking shelter from the storm" as Bob Dylan might say. I wonder how many people are like that small creature this time of year. How many Americans are cornered by financial woes, depression, addiction, old age, loneliness, family problems, and God only knows what else in this time of winter and "joy"?
And on a lighter note, I noticed this in my Inbox tonight and thought I'd share it with you...
Yeah... 'Tis the season for companies to discover the value of free shipping. Jeez, hasn't eBirdseed been doing that year round? Look, I'm no great company salesman (and this blog was never meant to be a sales conduit), but facts are facts. (Brace yourself because I'm about to get on my soapbox.) Back in June of 2007, I wrote a hopefully-funny little post about some tattered being named Bill who has to pick up a bag of bird seed after a grinding week of work. The point of that post, and of this tirade, is that gift-giving (and sometimes life in general) doesn't have to be so difficult. You find quality product, good customer service, and hassle-free ordering, and then you buy it online and have it shipped to your door. Done. I cannot stand the little "(plus shipping and handling)" gremlins that haunt virtually all online stores except eBirdseed.com. Just tell me what the price is and send me my derned stuff! There... I feel better now and will step down from the soapbox.
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.birds.cornell.edu%2fNetCommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1270&srcid=1272&erid=0">Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.allaboutbirds.org%2fnetcommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1189&srcid=1272&erid=0">All About Birding
Hi all,
The Norman Rockwell image to the left seems fitting for this day. (Figures that there would be a bird in there, even if it was cooked.) "Freedom From Want" was one of Rockwell's famous "Four Freedoms" and was inspired by an FDR speech:
"In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called "new order" of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, excerpted from the Annual Message to the Congress, January 6, 1941
In retrospect, parts of that speech now seem so wildly naive, but at least the thought was there.
Anyway, happy Thanksgiving everyone, and please try to think of the men and women of our armed services. Without them, there would be no Thanksgiving.
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.birds.cornell.edu%2fNetCommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1270&srcid=1272&erid=0">Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.allaboutbirds.org%2fnetcommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1189&srcid=1272&erid=0">All About Birding
Happy holidays all. Tis the season for gathering and giving thanks for a lot of things... No, wait... Just wait... Look... I'll be honest. I've got a number of friends who are hard up against it. Tough stuff... Really tough stuff. Health issues... Job issues... Entire career, businesses, and long-term family security issues. I'd be a hypocrite to smarm "Happy Holidays" and then skip down "Happy Lane" wearing my rose-colored glasses... About the best I can say is take care and thoughts and prayers are with you.
Onward...
Welllll... The never-ending saga of the eBirdseed cam rolls on. Last time you tuned in, the streaming video was log-jammed because of a busted wireless network. No more...
That's right, I bored a hole down through the kitchen floor, and hard-wired the sucker right into the network. Hades hath no fury like an engineer/amateur boatbuilder scorned. (Note the other cable coming up through the white glob. That's the video from the outside... Reminder to self - don't epoxy a cable in place unless you really, really have no intention of removing it later.) Anywho, right now the network is fine, and only the cam itself remains "balkative". Not to worry... I'll get the whole shebang working again properly, or my name isn't Nathan Arizona! In the mean time, my $.02 concerning home networks - hard wire the puppies. Over umpteen years, I've burnt through three wireless routers, suffered countless hours of network down time, and in general have come to understand the wisdom of my old IT gurus - hard-wire.
There's got to be a bird around here somewhere! Arghhh!
Ah... That's better... Just a couple of finches. (Gold and House?) Ommm...
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.birds.cornell.edu%2fNetCommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1270&srcid=1272&erid=0">Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: www.allaboutbirds.org%2fnetcommunity%2fPage.aspx%3fpid%3d1189&srcid=1272&erid=0">All About Birding
