365 Alternates

What a wonderful time I had watching the penguins at the zoo! They have a long island with a large moat and pond area all around it. People get an unobstructed view, and the penguins have a great place to swim, play, and enjoy themselves. Their island has lots of caves to sleep in, and it was really fun watching them waddle in and out of their houses! :) Naturally, watching them swim, play, and preen was mesmerizing to me, and I had a hard time pulling myself away. Such happy birds, they were all content and relaxed, without any worries whatsoever. Here is one of the many pictures I got of them preening in the water. They rolled over and over in the water, shook their feathers and sprayed water everywhere, and preened each other too. They are so cute!!! :)

Last week, one of my dreams came true and I got to go to the San Francisco Zoo with a camera!!! What a day it was!! I came home with hundreds of pictures taken on my trusty old Canon SX30 IS super zoom camera, and that night I presented my favorite collage of my trip to SF, brimming with animals of all sorts! I promised that I'd show larger versions when I got home, and I finally had some time to work on a few! Here is one of my favorite pictures of the day. This gorgeous chimpanzee was sitting up on a platform, just hanging out and eyeing the crowd. I was very awed by this fellow and tried to be as respectful as I could while I silently took pictures, using submissive body language, eyes down with slow movements. I'm not sure what I was doing correctly but this lovely ape kept looking directly at me, though there were many others watching and taking pictures. When I moved, the chimpanzee followed me with its eyes, not the others. An uncanny, amazing and unforgettable experience, I find his expression to be both curious and profoundly sad. :( You may be surprised to learn that this specific eye contact happened to me more than once with other primates there! It was amazing to me.

I'll be posting a picture every day from my trip to the San Francisco Zoo last week, and here's one that didn't appear on the collage I made! This is a lovely Chilean Flamingo, and the large flock of about 50 was located mere feet away, over a relatively low fence, so taking pictures was easy and so much fun! I was surprised how small these birds were...they stand between 43-51" tall but for some reason, I thought they were 64-72"!! Granted, they ARE large birds, I just thought they were bigger!! :D I took the liberty of cutting this bird out and giving it a black background for a more dramatic look. :) From Wikipedia: The Chilean Flamingo is a large species of flamingo at 110–130 cm (43–51 in), closely related to Caribbean Flamingo and Greater Flamingo. It breeds in temperate South America from Ecuador and Peru to Chile and Argentina and east to Brazil; it has been introduced into Germany and the Netherlands. There also a small population in Utah and California. Like all flamingos it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound.

Here's another Flamingo image that I thought turned out nicely. They are amazing birds, aren't they?!

Yesterday's zoo picture was a lion, so today I thought I should share my pair of sea lion pictures! :) The image at the top is a female sunning herself, and below, she is playing with the male! Aren't they adorable?! :)

At the zoo, there is a wonderful island surrounded by a beautiful pond, which is, in turn, bordered by a lovely, expansive lawn. On this island live two gorgeous Bald Eagles! They are both injured and will never fly again, but instead, have a loving, forever home where nobody can bother them and they can enjoy the outdoors in contented bliss. I was thunderstruck to see this eagle and its companion, as I have never seen one since I became interested in photography, and I've been wanting to see these birds forever! I couldn't get over how amazingly beautiful these birds are!! Here is text from the San Francisco Zoo website that tells more about their eagles and the wonderful conservation efforts they've helped so much with: For over twenty years, the San Francisco Zoo has helped to conserve bald eagles, maintaining the largest captive breeding and release program in the country. Even though the species is not officially endangered any longer, the Zoo’s off-exhibit captive breeding facility for bald eagles is still home to two pairs of bald eagles. Since 1991, the Bald Eagle Recovery Program, in conjunction with the Wildlife Institute, has released over 95 eagles to sites in central and southern California, as well as Tennessee. The Zoo initiated its California Bald Eagle Breeding Program in 1985 to help with the recovery of the state's bald eagle breeding population, which had declined from a historic high of approximately 400 pairs to fewer than 35 pairs in the 1970’s. Live Eagle Nest Cam! During breeding season, you can watch the Catalina Island eagles at the West End nest via live webcam! Visit www.iws.org and select "Eagle Nest Cam" from "Interactive" on the menu. The Bald Eagle Recovery Program is headquartered at the Zoo's off-exhibit facility, the Avian Conservation Center. San Francisco Zoo houses three rescued eagles, injured in the wild and incapable of being re-released. You might see one of our rescued bald eagles on Eagle Island near the bear exhibits, or meet one of our eagle ambassadors at a special event, or on a walk through the Zoo with a handler. www.sfzoo.org/baldeagle

While I was at the zoo, I couldn't resist taking pictures of the amazing plants and flowers that I saw there. So many amazing species, there were indigenous plants to match the habitat areas, so I got to see lots of exhotic beauties! I will only be posting this one picture though, because the trip was about the animals, not the plants! However, I couldn't resist processing this picture of a water lily and its reflection. I've always wanted to take pictures of these, so it was so nice to finally get the chance!

There were several peacocks and hens walking around the zoo while I wandered around and I was able to get an image of one of the peacock's magnificent tails! So beautiful!

This is the last picture I'll be sharing from my visit to the San Francisco Zoo. This is Ocean Beach, which is a 2-minute walk from the front of the zoo. I couldn't resist jogging over for a few pictures, and was instantly reminded that just the day before, there were record-breaking winds here and it was still blowing very hard. You can't tell from this image, but the sand was thick in the air, stung my skin and caused me to squint to keep sand from my eyes! After I snapped a few shots I put my camera under my sweater and left quickly. Happily the sand didn't get into the camera, but when I got home, sand was in all of my pockets and my shoes! I'm so glad I risked the pictures because I'm really happy how this one turned out! :)

A couple of months ago, Steve and I were at the Palmerton Arboretum and I found these lovely maple seeds in clusters all over the lower branches of a huge maple tree which graced the entrance of this wonderful grove. I have always loved these seeds, and upon the tree the look to me like tiny, colorful bats in flight. This image makes me want to duck my head, here they come!! Below are a couple of other pictures of "maple bats", I hope you enjoy them! :

I never realized how beautiful maple seeds are when they are maturing, and here you can see them glowing in the afternoon sun! Did you know that the "wing" part of the maple seed is the "fruit" of the maple tree, called the "samara"? You can clearly see the actual seeds in my picture at the top of each samera! From Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samara_ (fruit) A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent (not opening along a seam). It is a winged achene. The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed farther away than regular seeds from the parent tree

(If you have a moment, I entered this picture and a write-up about the Palmerton Arboretum into a contest, and it would be wonderful if you would go there and "Like" the picture if you like my story and image! :) Weekly Writing and Photography Contest: Palmerton Arboretum ) Yesterday Steve and I went on another Sunday Lunch ride, which started at the beautiful Palmerton Arboretum in Rogue River. I have taken many pictures there and never tire of the amazing trees and plants there. This is the national tree of Chile, known as a Monkey Puzzle Tree or Chilean Pine Tree. However, I like to call it the Amazing Dr. Seuss Tree! It's covered with branches that twist and turn in all directions, and every inch is covered with spines! Totally spectacular to see and easily my favorite plant at the arboretum. More information about this tree from Wikipedia: Araucaria araucana (commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, Chilean pine, or pehuén) is an evergreen tree growing to 40 metres (130 ft) tall with a 2 metres (7 ft) trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Because of the great age of this species it is sometimes described as a living fossil and can live as long as 1,000 years! Thanks to my dear Chilean friend Noelegroj (Jorge Leon Cabello) , who so kindly told me what kind of tree this was!! Please make sure to visit his photostream when you can, as his photography of Chile is incredible!!

When Steve and I went to the Palmerton Arboretum a week ago, I got to spend quite a while taking pictures. These flowers are from the Madrone tree and I absolutely love how sunshine makes them glow! Especially fun is the challenge of getting an image that shows the inside of these lovely little bell-shaped flowers! And finally, it was a wonderful bonus to find an ant on my favorite aperture choice! :)

Today I was looking at our lovely daffodils and discovered a tiny friend who seemed to be boasting about the size of the last insect he caught! I think he was exagerating just a bit, what do you think?! :D I was totally amazed that this single picture attempt had perfect focus on his face, as this flower was literally waving back and forth...I tried once and then gave up, figuring I'd never get a clear picture! WOO HOO for luck!!! :D By the way, this is a tiny crab spider which measures about 1/2" in diameter by his outstretched legs. These efficient hunters lurk on flowers and are often camouflaged as the same color as the flower! They wait in this position for unwary insects to fly in for food, where they then ambush them!

This beautiful daffodil was one that I grew from a bulb this year and I was so stunned by the backlighting I got! I was having a hard time with the background so I decided to add some texture, and I think that was the perfect solution! I hope you like it! :) Explored on May 3, 2013. Highest position #343.

Our big meadow is now turning pink as the beautiful Shortspur Seablush blossoms are beginning to bloom! What a show this is to watch! This morning I was walking back from the mailbox and saw this an individual that was growing by itself at the edge of the road. It was one of those flashes where I noticed something special out of the corner of my eye and stopped in my tracks, backed up and saw this! I think it looks like a pink torch! :)

This is a whole flower stalk to appreciate, aren't they just stunning?!! Do any of you have trouble photographing flowers like this? They are very difficult for me!! Every time I find a tall stalk of flowers, I am faced with a dilemma: how can I photograph this flower in such a way that I can properly show the lovely sight that I am seeing? The individual blossoms are just beautiful, but there are a whole stalk of them, and seeing all the flowers together is an important part of the overall show. However, taking a picture of the stalk means that the blossoms are too small to appreciate properly! It's also a challenge to get the proper depth of field to show enough of the blossoms clearly and still have a nice, soft background. ACK!! I think that the only way to show these kinds of flowers properly is to have at least two pictures: one of the stalk, and one that shows a close-up of a blossom or two. What do you think?

I wanted to see what would happen if I massaged this image into a black background, and now I am really REALLY wishing that I had my Mark II with me that day!!!