“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” Maya Angelou
Quote found at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/bird.html
Birds of the Week
Tag: birds
Mathematics in Nature
“The most beautiful thing is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science.” Albert Einstein
“Where there is matter, there is geometry” Johannes Kepler
I’ve been waiting for a month for the proper post for this heron. Sunday’s pine tree gave that to me. The patterns within the feathers are amazing.
Quote found at http://www.goldennumber.net/phi-quotations/
Experience and Gratitude
“The best part of taking photos is getting to be there” – me
Feeling thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given. Walking among the oaks, or along the shore. Usually alone, the only sounds are the birds singing in the golden light of dawn.
Wednesday is Bird Day
“Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings” – Salvador Dali
First picture is a limpkin. A bird I confused with the American Bittern which is the second pic. When I am out and about picture taking the limpkin is the most asked for bird. People stop me and ask about sightings frequently. I’m guessing that Central Florida is a known habitat for this bird.
The second is the American Bittern, one of my favorites. This bird has just come off his natural posture, which is beak in the air pretending to be a reed among the many.
Previous post with misidentified limpkin https://picturethisbyfrank.com/2015/01/20/young-ibis/ . Scroll all the way down, the first pic is indeed an ibis.
Quote seen at http://thinkexist.com/quotation/intelligence_without_ambition_is_a_bird_without/7487.html
UCF Arboretum – an Oasis
There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon. – Basho
There are lots of these vines along the trails at UCF Arboretum. My favorite parts are the buds – they remind me of mini aliens.
This guy had a great vantage point from high atop the pines.
Thanks to UCF for preserving this oasis. I spend countless hours here soaking up the beauty.
For my other posts on the arboretum see – https://picturethisbyfrank.com/2015/01/08/acres-of-diamonds/
Quote found at http://zenquotes.net/tag/flower
Some Birds
“An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” Henry David Thoreau
Fabulous day at Orlando Wetlands Park yesterday. Learned a lot – met some great folks. Looking forward to coming up to speed and being able to contribute. Saw many different birds that I hadn’t noticed before. Notable are the Cara Cara and vermillion flycatcher. Picture is a little fuzzy – but in person it was beautiful. I need to figure out if my shutter speed (1/500) was too slow, or auto focus failed.
This morning’s walk will be at the UCF Arboretum – looking forward to enjoying the air.
Quote found on http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=22736
Orlando Wetlands Park
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it” – William Shakespeare
From the first day I found this park last fall, I fell in love with it. A 1500+ acre man made wetland which is used to filter water from a waste water treatment facility before flowing into the St Johns River. The wildlife and vistas are spectacular. That coot in the picture was one of thousands that were frequenting the park last weekend.
Today I begin my first day as a volunteer for Friends of Orlando Wetlands, hopefully there is work I can do that will be helpful. And for me the reward will be spending more time at the park.
Website – http://www.orlandowetlands.org/index.php?submenuheader=9
A Day with Albert Schweitzer
“You shall draw everything and everyday” Frederick Franck from the Awakened Eye. (I, of course substitute draw with photograph.}
Just finished A Day with Albert Schweitzer – A Lambarenene Landscape by Frederick Franck. A wonderful book sprinkled with great drawings. Frederick Franck was a dentist and artist who spent several months at Albert Schweitzers’ hospital in Lambarene in 1959 and then wrote this travelogue with an honest portrait (written and drawn) of A. S. and late colonial Africa. You can see the early development of F. F.’s later Zen philosophies and love of all living things.
I was very happy to find this book in the library, yet sad that it had not seen the light of day since 1990. The book also bore the markings of F.T.U. which was renamed to UCF in 1978. It will be my last Frederick Franck book for a while as I have exhausted the local library resources.
Blogging201 – Morton’s Fork
If asked to choose between writing a blog and never being able to read one or reading blogs. I would choose the ability to read them.
I would want to read because I have found that one of the joys of writing a blog is the many things you see and learn about from the varied folks who like a post. For example today I discovered a builder of model airplanes and life in an African village – among other things. That is amazing and my day is made fuller because of it. But of course I found these by writing a blog and receiving likes, therefore encountering a variant of Morton’s Fork.
And, by the way, I had to research Morton’s Fork – another new thing for today.
I choose the vulture because he is represents Lord Chancellor John Morton, the tax collector!!
The Near Sighted Heron
Captured this sequence at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve, Such a beautiful spot probably saw 30-40 different species of birds. Got some great water bird shots. I noticed this fellow has red eyes. Hadn’t encountered that before, but did twice today.
Now I’m just having fun with these 4 pics. I’m sure this all went according to the heron’s plan.
But this guy showed true determination. That post was the prime hunting spot in that particular canal.
Picture This by Frank 