Late, late Winter...(otherwise known as, the Best Part of Winter.)

Sorry, Winter, but that's really only because Spring is coming. :) Not to say there isn't still some beauty in the late winter..you just have to go looking a little harder for it...

I am not sure how these leaves hang on all winter, but they do. Just touching them makes them fall off, but somehow they survive the New England snowstorms, wind, hail, sleet, and freezing cold for months...

These little starlings are sometimes considered pests at the birdfeeders, because they chase other birds away. You can often see them in large numbers grazing in fields. I think their markings and iridescent wings are really eye-catching.

A tree illuminated by late afternoon sun rays.

The first color tinging the branches around my house and the reeds by the beach...

The fields around Trustom Pond, Charlestown wildlife refuge from last week. They sparkle in the sunlight. On the second photo I used a digital texture from Kim Klassen.

Wrinkled end-of-winter berries on the beach.

More survivors...underneath the shallow water of a little pond in the woods.

And a thorn covered branch getting ready for the snow. All photos taken with my 300mm lens, because my trusty 105mm is broken and won't focus properly. I hope to get it fixed soon...but I like the way these came out, the 300mm does have a nice bokeh and I get pretty sharp closeup shots from it as well. Happy Monday :)

My Mother's Birds, Attack Spider, and 80's Cardinal

My mother seems to have a way of attracting some interesting characters to her backyard. Last year, she sent me photos of the hateful woodpecker that was eating her roof and waking her up every day. She actually considered buying the "Birds-Away Attack Spider", a creepy and kind of hilarious stuffed  toy-looking black spider thingy that supposedly drops down to scare off the offending woodpecker when he starts to peck. 

Seriously, you have to click on that link, it makes me giggle. Especially when they state that even though the spiders are exposed to wind, rain and such, that "[there is] an Attack Spider death rate of about one out of eight a year, or a survival rate of 87.5% per year".  ahaha!! 

 Not the pesky woodpecker, just a friendly (quiet) one I spotted one day. They're striking and easy to spot!

Anyway, I guess he left town since then but now my dad has begun complaining that the giant male Northern Cardinal that's been living in their yard for years has now started the bizarre behavior of"head banging" against his car mirror. Which I think is funny because the cardinal has hair/ bangs like he is from the 80's which goes along with the headbanging theme. The other day I visited and snapped some quick pics so my mother could see the birds up close (sometimes, my 300mm lens is like having fun binoculars that take photos!) 

Above, the 80's hairdo I was talking about..

Above a beautiful Blue Jay I caught hiding behind a branch..

A pleasingly plump American Robin. He was sharing a tree with Mr. Cardinal.

I can't wait to use my new lens more this Spring, although when the trees fill out it will be harder to spot the birds in them. Sometimes I just listen for their songs and then aim my camera in that general direction at its longest focal length and poof! They appear through the lens. Also somewhat unrelated but I would looove to visit Machias Seal Island in Maine/ New Brunswick (it is part of both the US and Canada) sometime in June or July to see the Puffin colony there.  Maybe I can convince my sister to make the 8 hour one way trip with me...:)