IT WAS AN ‘ALL WINDOWS DOWN’ IN THE JEEP KINDA DAY & BUBBLING WATER IN THE HULLETT-MARSH

IT WAS A NICE MORNING FOR A WALK IN THE HULLET-MARSH

After publishing Saturday’s post I took myself for a walk over around our Park’s pond across the road.  A half Moon high overhead hung onto the day’s twilight & all around me the sounds of Spring Peeper frogs.  Air was only moderately cool & with no summer bugs in the air yet it was a pleasant time to be outside.

PHEEBS & I HEAD OFF WALKING ALONG ATOP ONE OF THE BERMS SURROUNDING THE HALF DOZEN LARGE PONDS IN THE HULLETT-MARSH

LOTS OF SWAMPY AREAS

THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF WILDLIFE HERE

Today was a nice morning for a walk in the Marsh so Pheebs & I headed right on over there & had ourselves a real fine leg stretch for an hour.  Lots of birds & bird sounds filled the air but I noticed the green Leopard frogs are not out of their winter hibernation yet.  We did see a Muskrat.

FIGURED THAT WAS A MUSKRAT SWIMING ALONG OUT THERE TO THE RIGHT

HEY DAD CAN I GO PLAY WITH THOSE GOOSEY GUYS UP AHEAD??

I DON’T THINKTHEY ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING WITH YOU PHEEBS

Despite buying a new 18-250mm Sigma lens last summer I still have a tendency to take along & use my favorite 70-300mm Nikkor lens despite the shaking & rattling problem it has developed.  It's not that the Sigma lens isn't an Okay lens it's just I still much prefer my sharper & all time favorite Nikon lens.  However as of late I've been noticing some my photos with that lens have been getting softer meaning I think the vibrations in the lens are increasingly affecting the auto-focus function.  I took some nice flying duck photos today but when I later brought them up in my photo editing program they were all slightly out of focus.  Normally they would be much sharper.  Been noticing the same thing with some of my barns & farmhouse photos lately as well.   Wishing now I hadn't bought the Sigma lens & instead had bought a refurbished Nikkor 70-300 from ADORAMA where I bought my refurbished Nikon D-90 about 5 years ago.  My aging mind had completely forgot about Adorama when I was in the process of making a lens decision last summer.  Maybe I'll see if I can sell the Sigma lens & put that money towards another Nikkor lens.

THIS IS ONE OF MY ‘OUT OF FOCUS’ DUCK PHOTOS & IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY AT SOME OF MY OTHER PHOTOS TODAY YOU WILL SEE THE FOCUS IS NOT BANG ON

THIS SERIES OF PHOTOS IS WHAT A CANADA GOOSE SCRAP LOOKS LIKE

CAN YOU SEE MAMA GOOSE ON HER NEST IN THE ABOVE PHOTO

KEEPING A VERY WARY EYE ON US

PAPA GOOSE CRUISES JUST OFF SHORE READY TO QUICKLY DEFEND MAMA & HER EGGS

It was so nice this morning little Spoogers & I after leaving the Marsh cruised around for awhile with all 4 Jeep windows down.  Just so nice to be surrounded by warm air & sunshine again.  The best week-end of the year so far for sure & we did manage to scramble us up a few more farm houses & barns along the way.  Right now & over the next few weeks is actually the best time for taking these types of photos because there are no leaves on the trees blocking the farm buildings.  By the end of summer corn fields will be so high some houses & barns can’t even be seen from the road at all.

MANY OLD CEMETERIES TO BE FOUND ALONG THE COUNTRY ROADS

YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES I HAVE PHOTOGRAPHING OUT MY PASSENGER WINDOW SOMETIMES:))

FARMERS WERE ON THE LAND TODAY IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

And speaking of taking rural pictures I want to set up a couple new photo albums for my 2016 ‘barns & farmhouses’ project but I’m not understanding how to do that now with my confusement over Google Photos & Picasa Web  albums.  I do understand the new way to go is with the Google Photos format.  Can anyone tell me how to do that in preferably 5 words or less.  I don’t seem to learn so swell anymore:((

Oh and I made an Oooops in Saturday's post.  Kelly's appointment with her London Specialist is at the end of the month & not tomorrow morning. (Monday) 

 

More outside house puttering this afternoon & we're slowly getting things up to speed.   Just need Mother Nature to kick in now & weave all her magical new Spring colors over the land.

WATER FROM THE POND OVERFLOWS INTO A TUBE HERE THEN RUNS THROUGH A PIPE UNDER THE BERM BUBBLING UP ON THE OTHER SIDE

THIS IS HOW THEY IRRIGATE THE MARSH

I BECAME KIND OF FASCINATED WITH THIS BUBBLING WATER

DECIDED TO HOLD MY CAMERA UNDER WATER TO SEE WHAT ALL THAT BUBBLING WATER LOOKED LIKE BELOW THE SURFACE

WOW WAS THIS WATER EVER COLD ON MY HANDS

OK YOU REALLY DIDN’T THINK I HELD MY CAMERA UNDER WATER DID YOU:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Ricky, Jimmy, and Stewart were out riding their bikes one afternoon when a fire engine zoomed past with blaring sirens.  The three kids noticed a Dalmatian on the front seat of the fire engine.  Ricky commented, "They use that dog to keep the crowds back."  "No," said Jimmy, "he's just for good luck."  But Stewart knew better, "No, that's not it," he said. "The dog is there to give them directions to the nearest fire hydrant!"

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Sign behind an Amish carriage:  "Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on grass and oats.  CAUTION: Avoid exhaust!"

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Paddy and his missus are lying in bed listening to the next door neighbor's dog barking. It had been barking for hours and hours.
Suddenly, Paddy jumps out of bed and says, "I've had enough of this," and goes downstairs.  Paddy finally comes back up to bed and his wife says, "The dog is still barking. What have you been doing?"  Paddy says, "I've put their dog in our yard - now we'll see how they like it!"