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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Friday, October 5, 2007

welcome garden visitors

ahhhh the joys of exploring. if you've been reading my blog you know i recently bought a new camera. it has been an adventure in learning. today i thought i'd post more of my "seek and find" practice-photography-101 shots. no question i have been "snap happy" everywhere i go for the past month. most days i don't have to go far. all of these photos are right in my own backyard.



i have no idea what kind of bug this is so since it was fairly stationery i'm thinking, "you're a good specimen!"


mr. dragonfly... looks like he's smiling back at me (you might have to click on this one to enlarge)


the sunflower seed in this chickadee's beak makes it look like it's abnormal at first - it deftly took care of the seed and in short order went for another.


i know, you are wondering where is the bird in this photo. me, too. i have been watching several ruby-crowned kinglets for a few weeks. they flutter their wings much like a hummingbird and they are very quick and small. this day i knew it was in this bush so i literally just zoomed as far as allowed and clicked without even focusing. as you can tell-- it isn't very clear but i was happy to capture it in any fashion... so i share my joy with you.


mr. cardinal enjoying safflower crunchies



i was pointing at this cardinal but snapped a bonus when the chickadee flew onto the feeder- they all hang out together along with the titmice, the doves, the carolina & house wrens and of course the blue-jays.



while i was busily trying to snap some birds in my yard i looked up to see our resident hawk (there are actually a pair of them around) on the ground in my neighbor's grass. i took this from about 100 feet away. when it flew up into my oak tree, i casually walked as close as i could get as if i was paying attention to something else entirely.


he didn't seem to care too much that i was there. i took well over 20 photos and then i left him before he left me. i want to say this is a red-shouldered hawk. i love to hear the hawks (even before i can see them) with their loud, piercing kee-yah as they fly overhead.

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing so many photos in the last several posts. I am finding less time to comment, but still enjoying my daily perusal of your blog. Your current fascination with your new camera, and the recording of your daily sightings, helps to remind me of the beauty of the smaller details of life we are surrounded with but seldom notice or appreciate. We are so often focused on bigger projects or problems, we fail to take in the amazing creation that God has provided us in even our closest surroundings. The birds, butterflies, bugs, insects and creatures that are part of His ecology along with us humans, bring us back to the realization that God has an order in this planet beyond our comprehension unless we learn to look for it. And you are capturing it so wonderfully for us! Thanks! Please, keep snapping and sharing!

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  2. You're doing great! I was snap-happy, too when I first got my 'good' camera back in May of 2005. Actually, I'm STILL snap-happy. LOL!

    Your dragonfly, I think, is a Blue Dasher... female or young male. I always think they're wearing flight helmets... like little helicopter pilots. 8-}

    Gotta love those bonuses that fly in just as you snap. I have a few of those, but many, many more just the opposite.

    You might try posting your bug shot to GardenWeb's Name This Animal forum. It's not real active, but a few people check in pretty regularly and I almost always get an answer within a day or so.

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  3. you have your own tropical jungle-like backyard. i can imagine that you're so anxious to get out there every day and see what you can capture on your camera.

    love all the new photos on the blog. simply breathtaking.

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  4. Great pictures. I also like all the new ones spread throughout the blog. :)

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  5. sg:glad to know you still stop by and especially that you are enjoying my photo-fest with me. it is remarkable how many teeny things in God's grand scheme of things i am noticing these days.

    sophie: i can feel snap-happy hanging on for quite a while... it has opened up whole new worlds for me... and i'm having fun with it. thanks for the help on the Dasher... i will visit the forum you suggested... i have a few other photos i could submit with this one.

    ml: i do love to see what i can see in my yard... glad you are sharing it with me. :-)

    jane: thanks... it's fun to change it up once in a while ... all part of the creativity outlet.

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  6. I think Mr. Dragonfly WAS smiling back at you.

    Frankly, I prefer it when you post lots of FLOWER (or plant) pics, since all these bug photos make me think there may actually be some bugs in your yard...which of course makes me want to stay inside. :o)

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  7. You have mastered your new camera the pictures are great, especially the dragon fly. I am always chasing them around my garden but never can get a good picture

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  8. mlm: i hear ya... the funny thing is... i have so many more photos of bugs and such that i haven't posted and they were ALL in my yard. if you look closely you will probably find them in your yard too. :-)

    rusty: those dragon flies can be very quick but this one just happened to pose for me long enough.

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  9. Meems, I think our original assesment was correct on the hawk.

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Have a blessed day,
Meems


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