Male Downy Woodpecker...

Yesterday I showed you the female Downy Woodpecker so today I will show you the male version of this bird. No links today since yesterdays will work for this bird. Until this year I never photographed birds much but after my trip to Florida I found that I really enjoyed it. Since I started doing this I have learned allot about birds, hopefully you have learned something about birds yourself from following this site.

Female Downy Woodpecker...

It is back to birds Monday, don't worry eventually I will get out to photograph something else and you will get a break from birds. This female Downy Woodpecker was captured on one of my trips to Wildwood Lake. By now I am sure you know the routine, click the link to learn more about this species http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Downy_Woodpecker.html.

Happy Birthday Linda...

I have been so occupied photographing birds that I have taken no recent shots of my wife so instead of a photograph of her on here for her birthday I am putting up this Yellowstone Elk. I am not comparing her to a cow Elk, but with her tongue sticking out it just seemed right. Happy Birthday Linda, that's 29 and holding.

White-Breasted Nuthatch...

Hey, I gave you a day of mammals how many in a row did you want before I went back to the bird photos? This is a female White-breasted Nuthatch. I came across this bird at Wildwood Lake, Harrisburg. To learn more about this bird follow the link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-breasted_Nuthatch.html.

Mammoth Bull Elks...

Since I have been posting so many photographs of birds lately I thought it would be a good time to change things up a little and get back to some big game animals. These three bull Elk were photographed last October in Mammoth, Yellowstone. All three were taken with minutes of each other as they rested in the afternoon sun. One other bull was present at the time and that was Number 6, he wasn't alone like these guys as he had a large herd of cows around him.

Glossy Ibis...

This is a Glossy Ibis you can learn more about this bird by following this link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Glossy_Ibis.html. I don't know if you have been following my links to the birds or not but if you are interested in birds it is a great site, try it. Like most of the other birds this was taken last month on Black Point Drive, Merritt Island, Florida.

It Was A Good Day...

I mentioned last Monday about getting a chance between activities to get out and do some shooting. I don't always have allot of luck, but this was a good afternoon getting many keepers of a robin, the hawk and more muskrats. I had never seen a muskrat in the wild until last fall and I didn't know what I seen then until I was told, since then I have seen them four times and I have not even checked out the area my wife seen them in. This guy was all alone, he knew I was their but as long as I was still he wasn't effected by me much. After reading some of the other wildlife photographers blogs I consider myself very lucky to have the frequent encounters with these animals that I have had.

Geico Gecko...

There is more to Florida than birds, rabbits and alligators, they have lizards also, many of them. I don't know what they are called but they are pretty cool. This one presented me with my best photo opportunity and I just couldn't resist.

Sandhill Crane...

Back to Florida birds, I am glad I took that little vacation it has provided my with photographs for weeks. I know some of you may be tiring of them but I know there is others out there enjoying them. I can't please everyone all the time, yeah I know I normally don't please anyone. This is a Sandhill Crane as in the past follow this link to learn more http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Sandhill_Crane.html.

No Skywatch Friday this week or next it is just to difficult for me to do properly when I am working my daylights.

I Thought It Would Never Happen...

It seems like I had been trying forever to get good photographs of a Hawk, I didn't even care what kind of Hawk, just a Hawk. It finally happened on Saturday, I was in the right place at the right time and had the right lens on this time. All the RIGHTS finally added up. Maybe someone can help me with this one but I think it is a Cooper's Hawk, I am not sure. He was already eating the rabbit when I found him and was still eating when I left. I wanted to wait him out and catch him in flight but he had more patience than me this particular day. I was so excited and got enough good keepers you can expect to see a few more from this event, this is probably not the best of the photos I captured of him but I wanted to get one up quickly to share it. Note the small portion of rabbit meat hanging from his beak.

Often I have a hard time in post processing, I can never decide what looks right in the colors, one looks to warm one looks to cool. What do you think are the colors to warm in this photo?

Garage Fire In York County...

Yesterday morning at 8:46 a.m. York County 911 alerted Box 64-07 (Dillsburg) for a garage fire on Autumn Drive in Monaghan Township. After looking up the address and printing out the directions I was off to get a few photographs. By the time I arrived the companies operating at the scene had the bulk of the fire knocked down and were overhauling the building. Crews did a good job for a daytime fire keeping the large three bay frame detached garage from extending to the house. The home did sustain allot of damage to the vinyl siding but the outcome could have been much worse. I don't often catch fires these days, it seems they occur when I am at work, through the middle of the night or when I do go do not amount to anything.

My First Spring Robin...

I hope everyone had a great weekend, ours was short here. Between not getting off work until Saturday morning, the Bears being home Saturday and Sunday and Shane having bowling both Saturday and Sunday mornings, Sunday being in Lebanon it was a short hectic one as usual. We still had fun and I now have the next two days at home alone.

I even found a few minutes to get out Saturday between bowling and hockey and boy was it productive. First I came across another muskrat that provided me with some pretty good photos, then I finally caught a hawk I could photograph. I think it was a coopers hawk but I am not sure, he was sitting on a rabbit he killed eating his breakfast. More on both of those later. And last but not least all the robins I have been hearing about and not seeing, well as I was pulling into my driveway there he was, my FIRST SPRING PA. ROBIN.

Pa. Mallard...

Back to the Pennsylvania birds, this male mallard was photographed on my walk at Wildwood Lake I mentioned earlier this week. You can learn more about this bird by following this link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Mallard.html. Have a great weekend, see you next week.

Can You Pick Out All The Different Birds?

Today's Skywatch Friday photo comes from Blackpoint Drive in Merritt Island, Florida. Can you name all the different types of birds in the photo, there is at least five different ones. Be sure and click the link to view other great Skywatch photos from all over the world.

Coming In For A Landing...

I bet you thought I was going to post more Florida birds today didn't you? I fooled you, they are from Pennsylvania today. A few days after getting home from Florida I still had the itch to photograph more birds so I took a walk at Wildwood Lake in Harrisburg. It was a lot colder and less liquid water but still a good afternoon. These two Canada Geese were coming in for a landing at one of the few spots that wasn't ice covered. Later I had a whole flock fly in directly towards me presenting a great photo opportunity, I got three shots off and none of them were sharp so they all found the delete button. I guess I will just have to keep trying.

Spring Flowers...

I bet you didn't expect to see flowers on here did you? My guess is after taking a day off from bird photos you were expecting them again today, I did have one uploaded and scheduled for today but after the BEAUTIFUL weekend we had this just seemed right. The weather here was fantastic, the sun was out and we hit the 70's, it felt like spring and the flowers started popping out in our front lawn.

It was nice the Bears were on the road so we didn't have to make any trips to Hershey, I finally started to feel better after being sick for over a week. We spent some time around the house, got some work done and I even got to give my truck it's yearly bath. On Sunday fellow blogger and long time friend Haney http://outskirtsofsuburbia.blogspot.com/ came down and the two of us with Shane http://smyersphotos.blogspot.com/ took a road trip to the city for some photographs. Guess what, we even photographed more birds. They got to get the shots they were after and I added some more Cumberland County firehouses to the hard drive. More on those later and how they can be see on my fire site, http://shippensburgfiredepartment.blogspot.com/ along with some history.

Now come on Spring and hurry up summer.

Camping World 300...

These photographs were taken at the Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 14. The first photo is Dale Earnhardt Jr. waving to the fans during driver introduction, the second photo is Dale leaving the pits during the race and the last photo is of Carl Edwards getting his car serviced during one of the caution flags. The race was won by Tony "Smoke" Stewart. We had a great time, now Shane keeps asking when we are going to go to another race.

Common Moorhen...

Last day of birds for this week, I promise. Of course it is my last post until Monday, but still the last bird for the week. Today's bird is the common moorhen to learn more about this species follow this link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Moorhen.html. Like many of the others bird photos recently this was taken at Viera Wetlands.

The Skies Over Daytona...

It is Thursday and that means it is time once again for Skywatch Friday. Today's photographs come from Daytona International Speedway last month. For those of you that have gone to Nascar races before you know the skies are always filled with some sort of aircraft. Daytona was no different from the blimp to planes flying by with banners, helicopters completing the links for in car cameras and the usual fly by to start the race.

Don't forget to click the link and enjoy skywatch photos from around the world. The staff of Skywatch Friday does a great job each week bringing people and skies together from all over the world.

American Coot...

After a one day break from bird photographs it is now time to go back to the feathered Florida friends. This bird making all the waves is an American Coot, more information about this species can be found at this link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Coot.html.

Not being very well schooled on birds I wasn't aware of this bird until my trip to Florida (by the way this was taken at Viera wetlands), two weeks ago I decided to take a walk at Wildwood Park in Harrisburg to photograph some birds and found one of these guys eating in the old canal. I did photograph him and wanted to put that photo up with this one but I just have not had the energy from being bitten by a sickness bug or the time to sit in front of this machine and work lately.

HFD Dedicates A New Wagon, Truck and Boat...

Last Monday the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire dedicated three new pieces of equipment. The ceremony took place at City Station 1 and was attended by Mayor Reed, State Representative Holden, former Chief Konkle and many guest. The new truck was placed into service a little over a month ago and the wagon was placed in service at 8:30 a.m. that morning catching its first run a couple of hours later for wires down at 4TH and Maclay streets. The new boat just arrived the week before and features a rescue platform and a pump with an on board deluge gun. With two boats and a raft along with our other water rescue equipment we now have enough equipment to have our own marine division.

I know these are not wildlife photographs but I thought it would be a good idea to change things up a bit today for those that look at the site and get tired of looking at birds.

White Ibis...

This weeks posts may be short, so with that said this is a White Ibis. He was photographed on Black Point Road, Merritt Island, Florida. To learn more about the White Ibis follow this link http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White_Ibis.html.