Stephen Strasburg The Hitter...

Stephen fouls off a pitch in his second home appearance.

In the same game Stephen lays down an effective bunt in the early innings.

Playing in the National league means a pitcher has to hit. That may be one of the reasons I like the American league, like anyone else I want to see runs scored not an inning coming to end because of the pitcher striking out. In the games Stephen has pitched in this year he has gone 2 for 6 with a run scored, a double and two RBI's for a batting average of .333 pretty good for a pitcher. Update from Monday's post, Stephen pitched Sunday at home and suffered his first loss. I also found out while attending Tuesday's game that he has been promoted to the Nats. class "AAA" team.

I like baseball but have lost a lot of interest in the sport the last few years. Between liking a team that has finished under .500 the last twelve straight years and are on a record to stink even more this year to the high paid salaries of the players it has become harder for me to show an interest. This player is no different, he will not sign autographs and has an escort where ever he goes. Don't these over paid players know who pays there salaries? Without the fans they are nothing. Kids idolize them and that is a shame. This guy has never pitched in the big leagues and he is already set for life unless he does stupid things like many other athletes. I work every day like most Americans and still take time on the fire ground to talk with the kids that come around. Okay that took an unexpected turn, really I didn't see it coming when I started typing.

Wood Stork...

This was the first chance I had to photograph or even see Wood Storks. Last year in Florida I looked for them with no luck, this trip I didn't see many but I did see them often. Like most of my Florida bird photographs most were taken during times of harsh sun, with some you can get away with it but in the first photograph the whites of the feathers were blown out. These birds are rarely seen in the U.S. in states other that Florida and southern Georgia. It may be one of the ugliest birds I have ever seen.

Please stop by Shane's blog today for a new post.

Stephen Strasburg, The Pitcher...

Stephen Strasburg was selected first in last years draft by the last place Washington Nationals. He signed record four year contract with the team worth slightly over 15.1 million dollars. We got to see the kid pitch for the Nationals against the Cardinals this March during spring training in Florida. These photographs are from his third start and first win at home with the double A Harrisburg Senators. This is a scheduled post so the numbers may be off a little by the time you read this. So far this season Stephen has gone 3-0 in four starts. He has an ERA of 0.52 over 17 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits, three walks and striking out 23. I would only expect him to make another start or two before moving up. The plan for the organization must be for him to on go five innings each time he pitches since this game he left after five only giving up one hit. His next start he left after five while throwing a no hitter.

Pied-billed Grebe...

Another Florida and another Viera wetlands bird. This one is the Pied-billed Grebe and was one of my favorites from the trip. Often it was very windy making it difficult to shoot birds in still water. This day it was calm and I was provided good light and a great reflection. Note the feet visible under water. By the way a group of grebes is know as a "water dance" of grebes.

Washington Nationals vs St. Louis Cardinals

Part of the reason for our trip to Florida in March and not February this year was to see the shuttle launch (it was cancelled again), the other was to take in a couple of spring training baseball games. Our first weekend there we visited the Nationals camp to see them play the Cardinals. The Cardinals prevailed 7 to 3 but we did get to see Stephen Strasburg the Nats first round draft pick throw three scoreless innings. In the second photo Cards manager Tony Larusa talks with the home plate umpire between innings. We had a great time and Shane and I both got some photos even though we were behind the net at home plate and the sun was in our eyes. Thanks for getting us the tickets Linda, it was fun except for the sun burn.

Please stop by Shane's blog for a new post.

Flying Blue Jays...

A few of weeks ago I purchased a new Gitzo tripod and a Wimberley head to support the new glass I got at the beginning of the year. Like anything else you get a new toy you want to play with it and this was one of the few chances I had to do just that. These Blue Jays were photographed a couple of weeks ago at Wildwood Lake. The one thing I noticed about Wildwood was that with spring here the lake is really coming to life, many birds were out flowers were blooming and it was a pleasant walk. Now to make time to get there more often. I know these photos are not tack sharp or technically perfect, but I liked them. And I have realized that when enjoying photography as a hobby that I am the only one that needs to approve.

Crested Caracara...

This is one of the most attractive birds I have ever seen, the Juvenile Crested Caracara. This was taken at Viera wetlands, I know a big surprise. Last year I got to see an adult with a fish and photographed it but it was pretty dark and they were taken with a very high ISO making them pretty noisy. This year I had better luck, this juvenile was out mid afternoon and provided us shooting opportunities on the ground and then on a fence post. You will see it again when I post a few of him on the fence post.

Please stop by and visit Shane's blog for a new post.

Caps And Bears...

The regular season is over and the playoff have begun. The Hershey Bears and the Washington Capitols both finished the best in there leagues. Both set many club records and the Bears set many new league records including winning 60 out of 80 games and 24 straight at home. Both teams blew away all the other teams in goal scoring giving the fans a great season. But none of it means anything if they do not win the Calder and Stanley Cups. No one ever remembers who was the best during the seasons but they can usually tell you who won the championship. The Bears opened the playoffs playing the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and took the series in five games. They have taken the first two games of the second series against the River Rats. The Capitols opened the playoff with the Montreal Canadians, they lead the series three games to two and play tonight in Canada. This is a great time of the year, spring is in the air, summer is approaching and hockey playoffs are one of the most exciting thing to watch. I will not bore you with the players names, if you are a hockey fan you already know who they are and if you are not you really do not care.

What A Catch...

You guessed it more birds and it comes from the Viera wetlands in Florida. I hope you like birds because this time of year that is about all I am photographing. Since I have started photographing birds just over a year ago I have gained considerable knowledge about them. I have also found that I like birding very much and find it pretty relaxing. Of course photographing them just adds more fun to it. This Blue Heron caught this fish before we showed up. The lighting was not the best as it was late afternoon and he was back lit. He was reluctant to look towards us also, but I will take what is offered to me. We watched him for some time often stopping and dipping the fish into the water, I am shore he eventually ate it but we were short on time and didn't get to stay for the feast.

Opening Day At Metro Bank Park...

On Thursday April 15 my family and I attended opening day at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg for the Senators first home game. This years event was a little different than in years past as it was the first game in the newly remodeled ($45 million) ballpark. I have to say the ballpark was just beautiful, everything is improved and the seating is 100% better. We had great seats above the visitors dugout and the Senators won the game in the bottom of the 9Th inning. I am not going to go into detail on any of the photographs, I just wanted to photograph the first game and get some shutter releases in, something I have not done much of lately. The video was taken off the television with my D90, it shows the sports guy talking from the ballpark and yes that is Shane that walks behind him waving and then again back the other way waving again. It only last about 32 seconds and you will get to see what I have to live with all the time. Thank you Mayor Reed for your vision to bring baseball to Harrisburg and your work to keep it here and get us a new ballpark. Coming soon photographs of Stephen Strasburg's first professional win.

It is Thursday and that means a new blog post by Shane, please stop by and see what he has to say.

Sora...

Yes another Florida bird this one the Sora, I determined that after consulting with ibird on my itouch. I had never seen one before that I could remember yet the ibird says that it is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America. It is sometimes referred to as the Sora Rail or Sora Crake. They must be hunted because it goes onto say that they are shot in large numbers every year but because of there high reproductive rate they maintain a high population.

Truck And House Fire...

I am trying to switch things up a little for those that are not big birders and to give me something else to post. Besides the fatal accident in Shippensburg earlier in the month I went to two other incidents with the camera to record some photos. The first two photographs were taken March 1, 2010, New Kingston and Carlisle Fire and Rescue were dispatched to a tractor trailer fire on the Pa. turnpike in Silver Spring Township. Additional information was the truck was carrying trash. After hearing the units and realizing they actually had a fire I decided to go take photographs. There is three bridges in my area that go over the turnpike and several roads that run along side it. I set out for the first bridge, arriving there I could see heavy smoke but realized I was not close to the incident. Yes I drove until I reached the last of the three bridges, that being the one that put me close to the scene and by then the fire was knocked down.

This past Sunday morning after getting home from work Linda and I decided to go out fro breakfast. After filing my belly with non healthy food and getting back in my pick-up we heard people talking on the radio in breathing apparatus. For those of you not in the fire service that was the first indicator of a fire, the second one was the designation of the person talking and the designation of the one receiving the message. Both indicated the fire was in Hampden Township and we just happened to be in the area. Not knowing the location we followed to some degree the traffic unit that drove past us. Arriving about 25 to 30 minutes after the initial rigs yielded little in photographs but I shot a few any ways and took the time to speak to a few friends that were working the fire. The incident was at 5038 Erbs Bridge Road, the fire gutted a kitchen with some extension into other parts of the house. The family escaped but numerous pets perished in the blaze. Fire apparatus from Hampden, U.S. Navy, Silver Springs, New Kingston, Lower Allen, the Citizens and Washington of Mechaniocsburg, New Cumberland Army Base, West Shore Bureau of Fire, Creekside in Enola and Paxtang fire companies along with numerous EMS and Fire Police units operated at the Sunday morning incident.

Remember clicking on the photos will make them get larger.

Please stop by Shane's site for a new post today.

Limpken Videos...

Today I am taking the easy route and posting videos from Florida. All were taken the same day at Viera wetlands and show the Limpken bathing and squawking. The videos are all short and last 9, 27 and 26 seconds. When I shoot videos I try to keep them below 45 seconds to keep the file size below 100 meg so they can be uploaded to blogger. I eventually hope to get a video editing program so I may take the short clips and put them together to make decent short films. But for now this is what you get. In all three videos there is a back ground sound that I could not determine, after talking with a friend about it we think I had the VR turned on in the lens creating the sound. Time to experiment a little and see if that was the source.

Bloggers In Florida...

Since I started blogging a little over two and a half years ago I have had the good fortune to meet and photograph with other wildlife bloggers on numerous occasions. This March in Florida was no different. The first photograph is of Klaus Peter, I met Klaus February (he lives in Florida) of last year and spent the day shooting with him at Merritt Island and Viera wetlands. Klaus was kind enough to show me around and pass along some knowledge making this trip much easier and enjoyable. I failed to photograph Klaus on this trip so I am using one of him from Viera wetlands taken last year as he photographed a Common Moorhen. The next photograph shows Tim Rucci on the left and Ken Conger on the right they were photographing a juvenile Crested Caracara. This was my first chance to meet these guys. Tim lives in Florida and l learned of his blog through Ken's. Ken is from Virginia, I have been looking at his blog for some time and have always been envious of his opportunities to travel all over photographing wildlife and at the quality of his images. And finally the last two photograph are of my favorite blogger my son Shane Myers. In the first photograph Shane captures a few images of a small alligator and in the second photo he finds out what it is like to photograph the juvenile Crested Caracara with the 200-400 f4 hand held. By the way if you look at the top of the last photograph in the center on top of a fence post you will see the Caracara.

Later this year I hope to get many chances to shoot with two of my favorite Pa. wildlife photographers and bloggers Willard and Coy Hill.

Belted Kingfisher...

This is one of those birds that I have wanted to photograph for years with no luck. I have seen them occasionally close the my house but always to far away to get a photo, my son and I tried repeatedly to photograph one along the stream in Benezette one weekend but the moment we would lift the cameras it would fly. Last month I had a few chances in Florida, often they were to far away to get a good sharp image, this one provided me with my best photos to date. Although not as good as I hoped it is a start. It is difficult to tell but the belly is brown on this Belted Kingfisher making it a female.

It is Thursday already so please stop by Shane's blog for a new post.

Great Egret Eating...

Taken last month at Viera wetlands, I stopped and watched this Great Egret looking for food. As always my luck was not the best in that he never wanted to look at me but constantly fish in a different direction. I tried photographing this bird actually going into the water to capture it's food but with the long slender neck leaving little to focus and not knowing just where he would put his bill in the water I never got a sharp image of it. It just gives me something to shoot for when I retire and spend winters in Florida. These are the same photographed just cropped tight to show the food in his bill, they were taken just seconds after he pulled this from the water. The second photo is not as sharp as I would have liked but he was a distance away. The first photograph was cropped to make the final image, so you can get an idea how much the second one was cropped. Blah, Blah it is early, did that even make and sense?

Tricolor Heron In Flight...

This will be short today because of the loss for words and the fact that I have spoken of the Tricolor Heron's in the past. This big blue was photographed at Viera wetlands last monthunder the harsh mid day sun.

Please visit Shane's blog today for a new post.

Common Moorhen...

I hope the few of you that are still looking are not getting tired of Florida birds because I have plenty more. In fact with the time of year about the only thing I am photographing around here these days are birds. This is a Common Moorhen, I guess the word common in his name comes from the fact that they are very common in Florida and very easy to find. They are so readily available that I almost didn't photograph any this trip.

Bald Eagle...

When planning to photograph birds in Florida never did I think that one of the birds I would be photographing would be a Bald Eagle. Within two hours of my house is one of the better places to photograph these beautiful birds, this years trips did not pan out as expected. I did get my best flying shots this year but I learned I need to go earlier in the season and more often. With the upgrade to equipment and additional knowledge I hope that next year will be much different.

This has to be my best eagle photograph to date. Unfortunately the skies were not blue and the lighting was not the best but then again I am in this for the thrill of seeing the wildlife and fun of photographing it. This just happened to be my last trip through the Viera wetlands when I found him sitting atop the highest tree in the area.

Up Close With A Snake...

While searching the wetlands for the perfect bird photograph we happened upon this snake. Now do not ask me what kind it is because I really have a strong dislike for snakes and usually head in a different direction. For some reason I didn't this time and decided to photograph it. Laying in the grass with the 200-400 f4 on the camera I focused on the snakes head and waited for the tongue to come out. After downloading the card and bringing the photos up in bridge I realized that I also got a reflection in the eye. Now I know the last photograph is not sharp but it does show what the snake was seeing, that is left to right Linda, Shane and myself with a blue sky behind us. This is the first time I ever photographed a snake, and maybe the last time.

Please visit Shane's blog for a new post today.

Royal Tern...

On one of our walks on the beach I came across this group of Royal Terns. The Royal Tern is a coastal bird primarily in warmer climates. These birds with the exception of the two with black capes are sporting their winter plumage. Don't get bored, stay with me there is many more Florida birds to be posted.