Winter Birdwatching!

January and February are months here in New England where there is nothing much happening other than occasional weather freakouts and bread and milk stock-ups. It's a time for me when I find it hard to leave the house sometimes, nevermind find photograph opportunities! So I headed to a place where I knew nature wasn't taking a break, Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge, located in Charlestown, Rhode Island.


I love chubby little chickadees, but they are very hard to photograph! Hardly ever staying in place long enough to click the shutter, they fly and move so fast.


And here comes the sneaky little nuthatch. His feet and huge, perfect for climbing quietly down tree trunks and even hanging upside down.


A fuzzy little woodpecker was making a racket, and that's the only reason I even knew he was hiding here. That, and his bright red hat.


Above is the adorable little titmouse.


And here's another chickadee with a giant sunflower seed, perched on the edge of a birdfeeder near the station.

Phoneography Aerials of the Western U.S.

On our last flight from Los Angeles back to Rhode Island, I was able to sneak some pretty cool photos out the window with my new 'droid. At first, I was a little iffy about "phoneography", thinking it was silly to be taking photos with this phone when I had a digital SLR sitting at home. But it's not always practical to have it handy, and this is truly the next best thing. I don't think photography has to be digitally perfected and have a high megapixel count to be beautiful.


Above, part of the desert and canyon landscape I saw about 20 minutes after leaving LAX. I jokingly refer to it as "Area 51".


More gorgeous, reddish canyons cut by fluffy clouds.


I looked off in the distance of the airplane window to see snow-capped mountains.



And soon we were flying right over them. I am not sure what these were- Rockies? the Sierra Nevada is too far North. Maybe someone out there knows and can tell me. Aren't they beautiful?? I have never seen the Rockies, and our mountains in New England are so entirely different- rounded and slightly faded, golden, blue and green depending on season.


A sunset from 30 thousand feet is quite stunning! It looks like an ocean of sky and clouds with thin ribbons of slowly fading colors....


The last few months for me have been a whirlwind. A lot has happened, wonderful, and terrible, things...things I can't put into words quite yet. But I hope in the near future putting some of the events online might help me get through some of it. I have been blog lurking, and not really commenting, and not feeling like myself lately, so please understand my bloggy friends. I appreciate all of you, and have been touched by your messages on facebook, for my birthday on the fifth! Leaving again- this time for Florida- today, and I can't wait to get the camera out again once I get there. :))