So disappointed first thing this morning to see our two humming bird feeders totally empty with one lying on the ground. Our Niger seed feeder lay broken on the ground as well & two wooden bird feeders were emptied of their seeds. And, one of our two suet feeders was missing. Found it later in some shrubbery, pried open & totally emptied. It's the work of raiding raccoons in the night & there is nothing we can do to stop them. Chipmunks & squirrels can eventually be outfoxed but the coons are a different story. They are too humanlike in their thinking & they have the strength to lift, break, & pry things open. Very discouraging!!
Turned out to be another in a series of beautiful warm days & I was fortunate enough to have another mobility van run which took me from one sleepy little village, through the picturesque countryside, to several other small villages & back again. Noticed some of the farmers have taken off their first cutting of hay already & I'm beginning to see fields of corn sprouting. Shoots are out of the ground about 4 inches. Agricultural southern Ontario is off to another fine growing season.
WE HAVE POSTED A SENTRY TO WATCH OUT FOR THAT RASCALLY RACCOON TONIGHT
I've been sitting at the computer for awhile tonight & actually headed off in two different blog post directions only to stop & save what I had written for another time. One post will need photos to go with it & I will have to head out & do some shooting before posting that one. The other was another lament about being earthbound for the summer but I figured people have heard enough of that out of me for awhile so I stuck that one back up on the shelf for a rainy day. Maybe if I let it gather a little dust it might take on a bit of character.
NOTICE HOW THE BIRDFEEDERS FISHING LINES SPOIL THE ABOVE PHOTO.
NORTHERN FLICKER....With the Picasa Photo Program's 'Retouch' tool I took the fishing lines out. I also used the 'Crop' tool to remove a lot of wasted space around the subject. And, I used 'I'm Feeling Lucky' & 'Auto Color' plus the 'Sharpen' tool. I left the 'Saturation' tool alone in this case.
(click to enlarge)
GREEN HERON.....I caught this little fellow flying about 8 a.m. this morning & the photos are in sequence from take-off at the pond's near shore to landing in a willow shrub on the far side. I really do think I need to get myself a longer lens soon:))
HAIRY WOODPECKER >>>>
GROANER'S CORNER:(( And did you know that the nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.
I guess you have gotten some comments about too many bird pics. I say the more the merrier as your pics of the birds are nothing less than spectacular. The Northern Flicker is awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about the raccoon problem. Your sentry looks like he is taking his job seriously, though. :)
Have a good weekend Bayfield Bunch!
I think you are being too kind to the squirrels. They may be outfoxed by the raccoons, but you would be outfoxed by the squirrels if they had a chance. All wildlife seems to love suet. I tried bringing that stuff in at night but eventually I just gave up.
ReplyDeleteI love the picture of the woodpecker. Now they can really do some damage! They are so beautiful though.
Well Earth Bound guy.
ReplyDeleteI love your bird pic's and now you have me wondering what Picasa can do for me. I just post the best 50 out 100 pic's and say that's good enough for me.
As for Raccoons, I love them. My neighbor had one as a pet when I was a small kid and I learned how cool they are. I always turned down the hunting offers from my kin folks.
You are super lucky to have a Summer life this exciting.
Keep up the good blog, folks like me need and enjoy it.
I thought maybe you were going to tell us you had a bear problem. But then we always called raccoons mini bears when we were in the boy scouts.
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest that you introduce the dogs to the lovely taste of raccoon...
ReplyDeleteAs to being "earthbound", why not post a note at the marina indicating a willingness to crew for a day sail? Might get you out on the water for free that way. I'm all about the free boating. ;)
Al,Thanks for showing an example of what can be done with Picasa. I guess I'm going to have to download that program sooner rather than later. :)
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with coons last summer when I was volunteering at Swan Lake NWR in Missouri. Good luck with that!
I'm with Wil -- free anything is usually a treat!
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job with the "retouch" feature. I've not had as much luck with that as I've wanted, but it does help sometimes. Guess I remember Photoshop Elements! And yeah, I often stay away from the saturation button. I like color, but sometimes it goes overboard. I even back away from sharpen sometimes, although I do use it a lot.
Nice job getting rid of the fishing lines with the Retouch tool - it sure comes in handy sometimes. At your suggestion, I've been using the Crop feature more and more and I can definitely see what you mean about how it can improve pics by getting rid of unnecessary "clutter". Maybe you can get an infrared lens for your camera and start taking some shots of those raccoons in action?
ReplyDeleteWe love the flora and fauna pics in all your posts. SD's favorite bird is the woodpecker, thanks for posting a great photo of the Hairy Woodpecker!
ReplyDeleteWe are also "stuck" at the moment at the house (we are selling) and are anxious to get on the road once the house sells.
So I totally understand your itchy feet!
At least you still have a great yard and alot of muse's for your blog from your window.
We just have rain :(
Awww man, I hate that the raccoons are getting to your feeders. Bummer!! I do agree with Gypsy...the squirrels are a bother but lately we have had so many HUGE black birds eating our food and scaring the little fellows it makes me mad. Love your bird pics!
ReplyDeleteTake care and enjoy!
Mike & Gerri(happytrails)
http://freedom2roll.blogspot.com