Chasing Tadpoles

When I was down by the water, I noticed these white markings on the metal bulkhead by the edge of the water.  I am assuming that these are Seagull droppings.  It looked to me as if something was swimming upstream chasing tadpoles.  I thought it was worth a shot.  But get this, I just went to check on the correct term for Seagull excrement, and came across this information:  "Do Seagulls Carry Disease? In a word, yes. In a recent study, seagulls were found to be responsible for E-coli contamination as well as carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It is best not to handle the birds or come in direct contact with them, for health reasons."  Yikes!  Aren't you glad that you read this blog?

Bebe is Unhappy...

Bebe is OK, so don't worry.  But she has a cold and has been sneezing a lot, so we took her to the vets just to have her checked out.  She was NOT happy with her examination, however.  She had to be held down by the vet tech while the doctor listened with a stethoscope, and then drew blood and a urine sample.  Man, she was NOT happy.  But the good news is that she is in good shape, given that she is 17 years old!  And we have an antibiotic to get her back to good as new in no time.

Down by the Seashore

I drove down to Glen Cove, over to where they are going to build a huge condo development by the water.  It is a huge project with more than 1,100 units planned and structures that may be as tall as eleven stories!  It is way out of scale for the site and people are trying to fight such extensive development.  In any case, as I walked around I suddenly spied this Great Egret wading around in the water.  I used a 300mm lens, but it was a long way off, so I very slowly walked closer over about 20 minutes and got these two photographs of this elegant bird.  I was really happy with the first shot.  But I kept following the Egret, and when it turned around and headed in the other direction, I got a much more interesting photograph, because of all the bands of waves in the background.  Which photograph is your favorite?

Rose and Fence

In my walking around Sea Cliff I came across these roses growing through a fence.  The sky was overcast and misting rain and there are water drops all over the rose blossom and the leaves.  I think that it adds to the interest.  You will probably have to enlarge the image in order to see those details.

Fern Patterns

We have a fern bank in front of our house, but this one is several houses up the street.  It was raining lightly as I walked by, and the soft light was perfect.  I was struck by the pattern the ferns made as they they criss-crossed each other and thought that this was a photograph.  I also moved closer and  photographed just some of the ferns as a detail, but I felt that the picture needed more variety, so you have this version.  Please click on the picture to see the pattern more clearly.

Bok Choy

We were in the grocery store where we always shop.  They have changed the way they display fresh vegetables, as you can see with these Bok Choy - they are displayed standing up on a shelf.  I was caught by the shapes of the white stalks.  For some reason I had never seen noticed these shapes before.  Funny how that works - you go by something for a year or so and then one day you really SEE it!  That's what makes photography so interesting.

The Moonwatch

Our astronomy club had a Moon Watch tonight at an elementary school some distance away.  We had a great turnout of both children and adults - perhaps one hundred people, which is great!  It is such a rewarding experience to show both children and adults views of the moon, and the planet Jupiter, as we did tonight.  To hear their expressions of delight in seeing  the rugged craters on the moon, and to see the subtle bands of Jupiter and four of her moons was such a treat for me.  Here are some of the students waiting in line as one of them looks into the eyepiece of my telescope to first view the moon.