THE MAJORITY OF MY PHOTOS ARE DONE WITH 3 CAMERAS

OUR NEIGHBOR MONICA'S MAGNOLIA TREE IS IN BLOOM

No doubt the nicest day of our entire year so far and I'm happy to say I managed to keep myself outside for a big part of it.  Energy levels co-operated for a change and I almost over puttered myself.  So nice seeing our front yard jungle once again taking shape.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT......THEY ARE WORKING ON BAYFIELD'S TIM HORTONS COFFEE SHOP, CONVENIENCE STORE, AND GAS BAR AGAIN

NOW WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE THESE FELLERS WOULD BE DIGGING UP IN A CEMETERY IN VARNA ONTARIO THIS MORNING??

MONICA'S MAGNOLIA TREE

MOST OF TODAY'S PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH MY NIKON D7200  CAMERAUNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

Nice country road drive southeast of Bayfield for Pheebs and I with our windows down.  Everything is looking so clean and fresh here in rural southwestern Ontario.  Lots of sunshine and fresh air.  So much healthier both mentally and physically than being stuck inside Winter's cold gray gloom for months on end.

I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE SOME FARMERS ARE ALREADY DOING SOME CUTTING

SOMETHING'S PLANTED OUT THERE ALRIGHT AND BEFORE LONG WE WILL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS

SO NICE TO BE OUT ON THESE QUIET COUNTRY ROADS

OUR AREA FORESTS KEEP ON TURNING GREENER AND GREENER

STILL LOTS OF DANDELIONS ALONG THE ROADSIDE

Taking some photos of Monica's magnolia tree this afternoon I heard some panting right behind me.  No, it wasn't Monica but it was a big golden-haired friendly dog standing there beside Pheebs.  Quickly looking around I didn't see an owner so quickly snagged the collar and led the dog over to our house and put it inside.  Hopped into the Jeep and started driving around the Park looking for a slow-moving vehicle who I figured would be the owner looking for their dog.  Didn't have to go far and sure enough here came a slow-moving vehicle with a lady behind the wheel.  Yep, she was looking for her dog alright so she followed me home whereupon she retrieved her dog, 'Arizona':))

STILL BUSY TIMES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

THIS IS A SHOT IN MY SIDE VIEW MIRROR

PHEEBS IS KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON A DOGGY TREAT I HAVE FOR HER IN MY HAND

No frogs in our frog pond yet but I did see a big toad in one the flower beds earlier today and I did hear a tree frog this afternoon.  The tree frogs are really noisy guys that sound like hockey whistles so I call them the Hockey Whistle Frogs.  They sure can keep one awake on warm Spring nights.  They have a much harsher sound than Spring Peepers.

THESE ARE PURPLE MARTINS AT THE BAYFIELD BEACH

THIS FEMALE MARTIN AWAITS THE MALE TO BRING FOOD

THE MALE (LEFT) RETURNS AND PASSES THE FOOD TO THE FEMALE WHO TURNED AND POPPED BACK INSIDE TO FEED THE BABY MARTINS

I have 3 cameras I normally shoot with every day and I often alternate back and forth with all three of them.  I like to think of my Nikon D7200 with it's 18 to 300mm Nikor lens as my main rock steady workhorse.  It stands up to mydaily rough and tough stumblings.  My Nikon Coolpix 900 is a lighter camera with a phenomenal lens and I am using this camera more and more all the time.  My third camera is a quality Sony with a Zeiss lens and this is the one which travels with me everywhere in my coat pocket.  My blog photos are made up of all three cameras and it's pretty hard to tell the difference in the photos with each one having its own unique qualities.  I also have a Nikon D3100, D3400, and a Nikon D5000.  I sometimes use the D5000 for front yard bird photos.  All these cameras are far better at taking photos than I am but every once and awhile I get lucky and end up with a decent photo or two.  Like I have said before, I am not a perfectionist and I do not think of myself as a photographer.  I'm just a guy fortunate enough to have some great camera equipment who enjoys taking photos for his blog:))

APPLE BLOSSOMS AND THIS WHOLE NEXT BLOCK OF PHOTOS WAS TAKEN WITH MY NIKON COOLPIX 900.....ALL SHOTS ARE HAND HELD

WILD STRAWBERRY BLOSSOMS

AND OF COURSE, WE ALL KNOW THE PHEEBS

CAME US ACROSS A NICE LITTLE PATCH OF DANDELIONS

THESE 3 NIKON CP 900 PHOTOS SHOW THE RANGE OF THIS GREAT LENS......FIRST PHOTO IS A 24MM WIDE ANGLE SHOT OF THE JEEP WAY OUT THERE

THIS SHOT IS 84mm

THIS MAXED OUT ZOOM SHOT IS 2000mm......HAD I USED A TRI-POD THE JEEP WOULD HAVE BEEN SHARP

I COULD HARDLY SEE THIS HAWK FLYING LOW OUT OVER A FIELD BUT THE CP900 NAILED IT AT 1200mm

Even from our front yard I could hear the bulldozer gnarling away again in the pine forest nearby so off Pheebs and I went to have us a look.  I'm prepared for the worst now so I expect to see more trees smashed down each day walking back through the woods.  The bulldozer had again slashed another road through where not long ago had been a quiet forest path.  I could hear chainsaws going and saw more trees coming down.  Progress is inevitable I guess and I just have to think positive and be thankful for all the great memorable years we had walking those forest trails and all the photo opportunities I had along the way.  And most of those photos ended up right here in my blog.  Still seems such a shame to see parts of a beautiful woodland destroyed like that though.

NOT LONG AGO THERE WAS A QUIET PATHWAY THROUGH THE FOREST HERE BUT AFTER THE BULLDOZER WENT THROUGH TODAY IT IS NOW THE BEGINNING OF A ROAD....THESE LAST TWO PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH MY SONY CAMERA

THIS IS THE LAST STRETCH OF THE ORIGINAL PINE TREE TRAIL LEFT AND HOW LONG BEFORE THE BULLDOZER GOES THROUGH HERE IS ANYBODY'S GUESS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Little Johnny was being shown the shape of the earth on a globe atlas by his mother. After pointing to all countries with unusual shapes, she asks: "Now Johnny, what shape is the world?"  Johnny, looking very wise and happy, said: "Daddy says it's in terrible shape."

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In the men's room at work, the boss placed a sign directly above the sink. It had a single word on it: "Think!"  The next day, when he went to the men's room, he looked at the sign, and right below it, immediately above the soap dispenser, someone had carefully lettered another sign which read, "Thoap!"
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