Bluebird Disagreement today in Valley Forge

 

Elephants with Friend

I'm taking photoshop classes with my great teacher Denise Ippolito.  She helped me put this great photo together today.  Oh so much to learn!

 

Bluebird of Happiness

 Got back to Valley Forge today and just bathed in the bluebirds.  I am trying to shoot totally in manual.  In all these years I have not done it.  I think it's about time.  Here's my gal for today.

New Book - Kenya 2021

It's been about three weeks since I got home from Kenya and I have spent way too much time trying to put this little book together.  Well, here it is for your viewing pleasure.  Go ahead.  It's a lot of fun.  https://www.blurb.com/b/10983367-kenya-2021

Going Through So Many Photographs

 I got home on Saturday night after some 30 hours and four planes in transit from Amboseli National Park in Kenya to Nairobi to Frankfurt to Toronto to Philadelphia.  Shewwww.  Tom and daughter Jessica were at the airport to pick me up and carry me home.  And now the process of going through all the pictures begins.  Here are a few more of my favorites so far. Click for better view.

"Not Tonight, I've got a headache"

Avocets in the reflection of Mt. Kilimanjaro

The Topi Lion Pride

The babe leads the way

Mom and Babe Zebras

More Lion Cubs than you can imagine

Heads and Tails

Leopard on the Old Dead Tree

Hyena trying to take down the Zebra (Zebra won!)

Mom and Me

Sisters

Biting Mom

Baby Hyena with Mom

Are You my Mom?

African White Pelican at Dawn

The Elephants of Amboseli

 We are here in Amboseli National Park in Kenya.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to photograph the magnificent elephants.  I am actually laying on the ground in the dusty dried mud with a wide angle lens to get this photograph.  They were walking almost right over my head.  A little scary, but so much fun!!

Leopard Saga - Second Day in Kenya

We found this beautiful baby leopard in a tree on our second day in the Mara.  Soon afterwards the leopard's mom called and he climbed down the tree and joined her, but there were hyena around and the leopards were both quite worried and skittish.  So the baby disappeared again and the mom climbed another tree where she had earlier brought up an impala that she had killed. We went back to the tree today and the mom is still up there. The baby is still in hiding and the hyenas were lurking everywhere. Hopefully Mom and Babe will soon be reunited.

Ears and Paws in Kenya

I am here in Kenya for about two weeks.  On our first day here we found the most wonderful pride of lions - 11 cubs - 4 females and 2 males.  The first picture below is one of the cubs.  More to follow!!

The Ant and the Aphids

   

I did a little research and found the ant and the aphids have a symbiotic relationship.  The ant "farms" and protects the aphid colony from other preditory insects and the aphids secret a little honeydew that the ant loves to eat.  Some ants actually "milk" the aphids by stroking their little abdomens to get them to secret just a little more of that honeydew.  I think that is what this ant was actually doing today in Charlestown Meadows.  I watched him!!  Wild.

 

The Hawks are Having a Field Day!!

The big field along Gulph Road in Valley Forge has recently been mown.  The hawks were having a field day looking for voles and grasshoppers.  I spent a good two hours just having the time of my life shooting these two beautiful birds.

 

    

The Moderna Booster and the Marchwood Pharmacy

 I am leaving for two weeks in Kenya on November 1.  My good doctor said it is quite important that I get a booster for Covid 19 and suggested I go to CVS and ask for a booster.  I went, told the good people there my story and they responded that - no can do.  The FDA and the CDC have not yet approved the booster.  I said O.K., told my doctor and she said try Walgreens.  I went to Walgreens and they said the same thing....  I am getting worried.  I am leaving in less than two weeks.  Even if the FDA and the CDC agree to approve, the bureaucracy in this country is so tangled that I probably could not get an appointment in time.  So, my wonderful husband Tom said why don't you try the little independent drug store called the Marchwood Pharmacy in Exton, PA.  What the heck.  I looked up their number, gave them a call and a nice woman answered the phone on just about the first ring.  No push 9 for pharmacy, push 8 for directions, etc.  It was actually a nice woman.  I told her my plight.  She said, "Why don't you come in next Tuesday at 11:00 and we will give you a booster, and bring your husband too."  Ahhh, my faith in the goodness of humanity has returned.....  And to top it off, these yellow rumped warblers posed for me soon after the call.

Cabin in Fall Colors was Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer today!!

I got a note from my friend Walt today saying he was looking at today's paper and there was my photo of a cabin in the Woods in Valley Forge.  Yowza!!  I had gotten a note the other day from the Inquirer asking if they might be able to use the photo in an upcoming article.  And the rest is history!!!  (We had already read the paper and it was in the recycling bin before Walt saved the day.....)
 

The Palm Warbler Today in Valley Forge

 

Bluebird in the Field is Published in Fall Issue of Philadelphia Stories Magazine - Wuu Huu!!

 

Yellow Collared Scape Moth

 Oh the beauty of Valley Forge in October

Giant Marbled Orb Weaver

                                                                                                

I was walking in the woods in Charlestown Meadows today when this giant spider came into view.  He crawled back into his leaf before I had a chance to take his picture.  I set up my tripod with my big lens, then went over to the spider and tickled him into coming back out of his leaf.  He came out and posed for a million pictures.

 

Little Miss Cardinal

 

Hellllooooooo!!

Mrs. Towhee Yawning in Valley Forge

 

Hiding Red Bellied Woodpecker - Charlestown Meadows

 Click to see that eye!

Mom and Babe in the Woods

 

Look at those noses........

Assassin Bug

Jessica, my daughter-in-law sent me a picture of an assassin bug today.  It was on her porch.  She had seen the baby assassins in the same place and one had grown up.   This afternoon I found three of them in Valley Forge.  Must be their time to shine.  Can you see that long bent proboscis??

 

It's a Jungle Out There

The praying mantis got the milkweed beetle.  Held on to him for a few seconds, then realized he didn't like him and let him go....  Hopefully a happy ending.
 

Sleeping Bumble Bee in the Morning Dew - Valley Forge (Click to see that little face!)

 Click to see that morning dew!!