Category Archives: Blog

We are surrounded by beautiful things, but we don’t always see them. Now that most people have to stay within a small radius of their homes, learning to see the beauty around us is more important than ever. It’s no secret that I love birds. They are cute, beautiful, and their chirping cheers me up.Continue reading “Our surroundings”

Covid-19 makes it hard to go places. Either it requires travel of the kind that isn’t advisable right now, or the parks are closed or severely restricted. Therefore it was a great pleasure to realize that there is a park within good driving distance that we had not yet explored. We went there and weren’tContinue reading “A newly-found park”

A young tree in a field. I keep going back to simple things like this. Their beauty isn’t flashy, and yet I find them amazing and wonderful to look at. A young mockingbird sitting in our hibiscus tree. It hasn’t quite learned to sing yet; it’s still in the stage where it cries for foodContinue reading “Simple things”

Roseate spoonbills are so interesting to watch. I love their color and their shapely bill. I never tire of watching them, grateful to have access to such beauty. When they shake themselves they make me think of feather dusters, which is unfair, of course. But watching them bathe and preen their feathers is quite entertaining.Continue reading “So fortunate”

I love flowers. I love their structure, their colors, their variety, their fragrance… how can anyone not love them? Taking closeups of flowers has taught me a lot about their structure and revealed a few things I had not noticed before. Gerber daisies have a purple stripe on the orange petals… who knew? This discoveryContinue reading “Flowers”

As soon as song birds lay eggs, the raptors start getting interested. They swoop down over a nest and help themselves to yummy, fresh food. No matter how much the song birds fight over the best nesting sites, when a common enemy shows up, they band together to try and chase the predator away. Alas,Continue reading “The harsh side of nature”

This is how most people see Grackles: Loud, obnoxious with an in-your-face attitude. They are quite aggressive with each other even when there is plenty to eat. It’s fun to watch them and see how expressive they are. I love these birds. They are funny, clever, cunning hunters, and quite pretty if you look closely.Continue reading “Grackles”

One of my friends is an artist. She sent me the catalogue of her latest show, and while I was reading the descriptions and explanations and looking at her amazing art I thought: what if I took pictures not based on the object but on the colors? So I chose three pictures with interesting colorsContinue reading “Beauty of a different kind”

This was supposed to be the year of lots of travel for me. Three different continents were on the list. But then fires broke out in one area, and now we’re in the middle of Covid-19. Travel is impossible, even short trips. In fact, State Parks and even neighborhood parks are closed. My garden, thatContinue reading “Beautiful things… at home”

We’re surrounded by reptiles. Everywhere we go, there are turtles, anoles, alligators. Photographing them has become a joy, especially alligators of all sizes. For someone who didn’t grow up seeing alligators, they are a constant thrill. Watching them compete for females is amazing — and terrifying. Seeing them hunt is understanding how deadly serious itContinue reading “Reptiles great and small”