Burrowing Owls

Last Saturday, I went to Brian Piccolo Park in Hollywood, Florida, to photograph Burrowing Owls . I was one of  a small group of photographers led by Elizabeth Martin, a Moderator of The South Florida Wildlife Photography Meetup Group. It was an amazing morning followed by lunch and a chance to share our images and the fun we had spending time with these beautiful birds.

Burrowing Owls can be found year- round in Florida. They mate in early Spring and lay a clutch of 3-12 egg . Gestation takes 28 days. Burrowing owls eat moles, mice, grasshoppers, beetles, birds, amphibians and reptiles. (You can never know enough about Burrowing Owls!!!)

They're great to take pictures of because they're very active... they bob their heads a lot while hopping and flying  around their  burrows. 

Burrowing Owls are protected by State law in Florida. Once a nest has been found, the area around it is taped off with yellow tape creating a visual barrier reminding people not to disturb them. The owls sometimes perch  on the poles/posts that the tape is tied to, while guarding their babies.

Besides Florida, Burrowing Owls can be found in The Caribbean Islands, from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and from the Canadian Provinces to South America.

You can find out  if you live near any  burrowing owls by calling your local Audubon Society. If you get the chance to photograph them, you will love it!!!

I cropped two of these pictures but didn't do any work in Lightroom or Photoshop yet. If anyone has  any suggestions on adjustments that they need or criticisms of the pictures themselves, I would love the feedback. Thanks!

I think that this owl looks like one of the Muppets! 

Griswald Monday

Griswald Monday

I'm not gonna drop this rope, I'm not gonna drop this rope...almost there!!!

Easter Sunflower

This sunflower has lots of buds, I'm hoping it will bloom all summer.

As soon as I brought it outside, all of the flowers  tilted upward toward the sun.

One of my son's friends gave me this sunflower for Easter. I put it outside this morning since I don't think it will get enough sun if I keep it inside on my dining room table...it's so pretty and "yellow" that I can't help but feel happy every time I look at it... April's my favorite month of the year...I grew up in New England and when April finally came it meant that summer was around the corner, heavy coats, hats and mittens could be put away and if there was still any snow on the ground, it was melting...even the air felt different; fresh and clean and by the end of the month, no matter where you were, you could smell the sweet scent of lilacs.

A few weeks ago my sons' sister, her husband and their almost-two year old daughter, Kylie Ruth, came for a visit. It was so much fun having them here and to have a "baby" in the house. Kylie's amazing, smart & funny (like her Mom) plus she was great with Griswald and Kya... like a little "dog whisperer"!  Here are some pictures I took of her at the playground....I can't wait 'til they're next visit ...I miss them!!!

Mom, Dad & Kiley's soon to be born little sister, Briella Rose

Griswald Monday

Ok, I keep looking at this picture of Griswald and Kya and I want to add a caption....Griswald has that look on his face, I know he's thinking something... but I can't come up with anything that sounds just right.. any ideas, anyone? I hope so...please share them if you do and  have a great week taking pictures!

Following Yolanda's "Giving It A Shot"

I've been visiting Yolanda's Blog, "Giving It A Shot", every few weeks to see if she's posting again and there's a new comment from one of her friends letting everyone know that Yolanda died on April 8, 2011. If anyone else who visits my site had been following Yolanda's Blog, I thought you might like to know...I really enjoyed Yolanda's posts and pictures and I loved her positive outlook on life...there's also a link to Yolanda's Obituary on her Blog (in the comments).

Griswald Monday

If you're a bulldog, you can never drink enough water...

Welcome To The Saturday Bloghop

I usually link the Saturday Blog Hop to my animal rescue website but since I post mostly photos of my dogs and of animals that I find in my back yard on this site, I thought it would be ok to link the Saturday Blog Hop to my photography blog just this one time. My friend's Pomeranian puppy is very sick and needs a kidney transplant... I'm hoping that a blog hopper will have some experience with a pet that's had a transplant. If you'd like to know more about Griffin or have any info to share please read my Friday post before you "hop away" to visit one of the pet blogs listed below...(if you don't see my Friday post about Griffin on this page, just click on "Home" and you'll find it there...Thanks

Griswald Monday

Today Griswald had the best day ever.  This morning he rescued a baby Opossum that had fallen into the pool....I wrapped her/him up in a towel and brought her to The Wildlife Care Center In Fort Lauderdale...Griswald takes his lifeguard duties very seriously and would be happy to sleep outside tonight by the edge of the pool if I would let him...

"Playing Opossum"

Griswald Monday

Don't tell Griswald but I'm playing a trick on him....Grizzy's taking a nap & thinks today is still Sunday so I decided to pretend to be him on the Blog for "Griswald Monday"...he'll never know!!! xoxo Kya

Kya

Grizwald Monday

I'm  working on making French Bulldog greeting cards that I hope to sell on my pet rescue blog... this is my first sample/proof featuring.... Guess Who? Griswald, of course!!!

"Rain Dance"

Egret

Griswald Monday

Griswald stopped by the artists' Coop, The Arts Arena Gallery, in Delray Beach, Florida but it was closed. Grizzy loved the ceramic sculptures, paintings, hand- crafted jewelry and photography that he could see on display through the window so he decided to wait a little while just in case one of the artists came by to work in the gallery and wouldn't mind inviting him inside for a visit....

One Hot Tomato

This plant barely survived all of the cold spells that we've had in South Florida this winter; it's weak &  scraggly looking but I guess it's pretty tough because almost overnight, a small, yellowish  on it's way to orangish- red, organic tomato appeared... hurray!!! It didn't get much help from me except for a steady diet of coffee grinds that I'd throw on top of the soil a few times a week...watching it grow as it soaks up the sunshine really is amazing...

Grizwalds' Valentines Day Monday

Do you want me to read it to you? You know it's Valentines Day, right?  It's ok if you didn't get me anything...did you?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE XOXO

Photoshop Trick

I captured this image of Grizzy running toward me so that I could try a Photoshop trick that simulates "rear-curtain sync". I'd watched an online video lesson by Rick Sammon who said that he always tries to shoot sharp images and then if he wants a certain effect he'll enhance the image later using Photoshop. His technique was easy to learn and I like the results. Here's how I did it in case anyone wants to give it a try.
I opened the image in Photoshop and duplicated the background layer. The first step was to click on FILTER>CONVERT FOR SMART FILTERS>FILTER BLUR>MOTION BLUR; in the MOTION BLUR DIALOGUE BOX, I adjusted the angle to 45 but you can choose whatever gives you the look that's best for your subject and I adjusted the speed just a little. When I closed the MOTION BLUR Dialogue Box, I went to the bottom of the tools panel on the left side of my Photoshop window and made sure that BLACK was selected for my foreground color. Then on the right side of the PS window, in the panel, I clicked on the empty SMART FILTERS BOX. Next, I selected a brush (small,soft) from the tools panel and set the opacity to 100 (opacity is at the top of the screen in the menu bar) Then I started painting Griswalds' eyes and face, working my way from the center of his face outward....as I got further away from his eyes (where the plane of focus would naturally change, I lowered the opacity to increase the blur and continued to do that to the edges of the photo.

So instead of shooting a lot of images at various slow shutter speeds, I took one sharp image and then created the motion blur that I wanted in Photoshop. I know that some photographers like to do as little post- processing as possible but in the process of developing a workflow and learning Lightroom I'm discovering Photoshop and it's a lot of fun.

If anyone tries this out on their photos let me know or if you have any tricks to share I'd love to try them.

Grizwalds' First Visit To The Dog Park

Griswald Monday

KYA

Griswald Monday

My Little Buddy

Griswald Monday

Missed Opportunities=Learning Experiences

This sea turtle was in a tank with several small fish at The Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Florida. I didn't realize until I got home that the camera captured my reflection on the glass wall of the tank in some of the images and I thought I'd use the idea to create a logo for my website... I went back last week to retake the pictures...I wanted to include more of the tank in the image but the sea turtle was gone and the tank was empty...The Nature Center is dynamic; they release the turtles as soon as they're healthy enough to return to their life in the ocean and the other wildlife and plants change their habits and transform themselves with the seasons. So when your taking pictures of nature you can't count on re-do's!!! Lesson learned; take lots of pictures and take the time to review them quickly since you won't get a second chance...

 

Backyard Visitors

This little guy was on the outside of one of the back doors under the floodlight and didn't even move when I went in and out with the trash...she/he might be one of the poisonous frogs that we have in South Florida...the bumps on their back secret a toxic poison that can be deadly to any dog that licks it. They're easier to identify when they're full grown.

Grizwald Monday

It's Monday and Griswald is back on the job doing what he does best; waiting and watching for something to happen at the pool. Ever since he found a baby Opossum struggling to stay afloat last spring, the first thing Grizzy does every morning is run to the side of the pool and  peer over the edge expecting to find that Opossum again!!

Grizwald Monday

"Did you need something?" "I'm kinda busy right now...."

"Downward Dog"-Griswald Style

visit Misty Dawn's blog, Camera Critters, to find links to lots more animal images that you might like;

Griswald

Griswald likes to hang out next to the pool whenever he's outside...I was trying to get him interested in something else so that I could take some new pictures of him but I couldn't keep his attention long enough... staring into the pool is Grizzy's thing...

"Now You Don't Have To Keep Opening The Door For Me!" "You"ll Thank Me For This Later!"

"Hey!!!"..."Let Me In!"

I tried to crop & straighten this picture but it's still a little crooked...is there a trick to straightening & getting it right?

Critters In The Pool

Yesterday, my french bulldog, Grizzy, spotted this little ringneck snake floating around in the pool on a raft  of leaves...

if you click on the snake's, head you can see it much better

Earlier that A.M. this curly tailed lizard had also fallen into the pool. I thought it was ok since it was headed for the swimout & shallow water. It must have gotten tired because all of a sudden it sank to the bottom then quickly struggled back to the surface where it did its version of "the dead man's float"! I still feel bad that it almost drowned while I was trying to get a couple of pictures... this lizard is in & out of the pool a couple of times a month so I didn't rush to rescue it. I scooped it up with a leaf & after resting in the sun for about 10 minutes she/he was fine & ran off into the grass.

you can see her/his eye just below the water- line

almost there!

doing great!

uh oh!, this isn't good!

R&R & a happy ending!

B&W Tattoos,The Cohasset Bridge, MA

The big tattoo is of "Michael the Archangel", the nemesis of Satan & the tattoo underneath it is "the bridge" on Border Street in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Jumping off the bridge into the rapids below is a rite of passage for the kids who live on the South Shore. Lots of them who have grown up & moved away still jump when they're back in Boston. A man I got to talking to once ( in Florida), after asking him for directions, happened to be from Cohasset & raised his family there... the bridge was mentioned & he told me that all of his boys asked their fiancees to jump the bridge with them before they proposed to them. I had to laugh because my son has always said that he plans to do the same thing! I've never jumped but it's on my list of things to do someday....I think... I'm so afraid of heights I'm not positive I will really do it but I hope to give it a try in April.

It's Even Starting To Look Like Fall In South Florida

Great Blue Heron Wakodahatchee Wetlands

"Batman"

Griswald

Why am I always surprised when Griswald runs to the front door before anyone coming to my house has gotten even as close as the driveway?  Grizzy's huge bat ears make him a great watch dog!

Yellow Aphids

Aphids

The first time I saw Aphids on my milkweeds I was worried that they would kill all of my new plants & drive  the monarch butterflies away. I tried washing them off the stems & leaves with the hose & when that didn't work I tried scraping them off each plant, one by one. Now, I know better... I leave them alone & enjoy watching them! They do feed on the newer leaves & stems of the plants but they attract ladybugs & other beneficial insects to the garden & the monarchs don't seem to mind. This is the 1st time I've seen them this year..