End of Life

This is the last photograph I took on my Walking on a Rainy Day series.  I think it is a Little Blue Heron, but I am not sure.  It was rainy, and the Heron was almost the same color as the blacktop so I was surprised when I suddenly realized what I was looking at, at my feet.  The Heron is lying right next to the sidewalk that I travel on, and it is next to a road.  So I am not sure what happened - perhaps it was struck by a car.  It does seem so sad to see such a beautiful bird in this condition.

Walking on a Rainy Day VII

When I bought my new, small Canon T7i, which replaced my 12-year old SONY camera which I had used for so many pictures on this blog, I also bought a telephoto lens.  It is a 55-250mm lens, but since it has a smaller sensor, there is a multiplying factor of the focal length.  So that lens is the equivalent of an 88-400mm lens.  400mm is a pretty long lens - look how close it got me to this seagull.  But "seagull" is not an accurate description of this bird.  I thought it was a Herring gull, but it doesn't have a gray back, and it doesn't have a yellow eye.  So my Peterson field guide says this is, strangely enough, a Greater Black-Backed gull, because of the black back, and because of the flesh-colored legs!  Aren't you glad you stop by here every day to learn more about the world?   :-)

Does This Look Like Anything to You?

I was in the grocery store today buying some salad fixings.  I picked up a red pepper for today's salad, and then I noticed this pepper.  I was taken by how convoluted it was, and it brought to mind photographs that the photographer Edward Weston did of some peppers in the 1930's in black & white.  I wonder if anything comes to mind when you look at this natural sculpture?

Walking on a Rainy Day VI

Another in my series of walking in the rain.  This is a very strange landscape.  I love strange landscapes...   :-)   It is the boat launch area of the Tappan Beach facility, which includes a beach, a boat launch, and a marina.  Those are streetlights which light the parking lot and boat ramp at night.  Given the dark clouds and the rain, I think this is strange enough for a photograph.

Walking on a Rainy Day V

OK, so this is astounding!  Right after I photographed Scudder's Pond for yesterday's blog, I crossed the street and happened to look down and see this oil slick on a shallow puddle in the road.  I have no idea what made the oil slick circle around like this, or why the different colors in the slick.  As I photographed it, it continued to rotate, clockwise, changing its pattern.  I just thought this was an astounding thing going on with the water and oil, and the wind!

Walking on a Rainy Day IV

I love the subtlety of this shot.  It is Scudder's pond, which I have shown you many times.  Because it was foggy and rainy, there was not a breath of air blowing, and the surface of the pond is mirror-smooth.  And that gives us a mirror image of the trees in the water.  Not brilliant Fall color, but some color on a few of the trees.  I do like the muted colors - it is not garish.

Walking on a Rainy Day III

I warned you that I shot a lot of photographs when I went for my walk in the rain the other day.  My Jack O'Lantern interrupted posting these pictures, but now I am back to my walk photographs.  There is a large group of rowers who I think are students, based on the other side of the harbor.  On this day I saw a total of 5 eight-oared shells and two coaches in outboard motor boats.  Photographing these rowers was really interesting on a gray, foggy, rainy day.  I love the atmosphere  on days like this.