If Birds Could Talk: The Pelican Briefs November 3, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Louisiana Wildlife, Photography.Tags: birds of south louisiana, brown pelican, Pelecanidae, pelicans
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Hey fellas! Long time no see. How you doing?
Hey baby. Is that a fish in your pouch, or are you just glad to see me?
Oh my gosh! Something just touched my foot! Can’t we just find a nice sit-down buffet someplace?
So Boudreaux and Thibodaux walk in to this bar…Oh man, not this one again.
Rahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Oh no! Tooooo fast! Fore!!!
Whew! I meant to do that the whole time.
Come to papa!
Score!
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ bout, baby!
Come on fellas. Leave some for the rest of us. No one likes a fish hog.
If Birds Could Talk: The Osprey November 2, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Louisiana Wildlife, Photography.Tags: osprey, pandion haliaetus, raptor, sea hawk, south louisiana birds
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Oh man. Who is that? Great, a Yankee with a camera.
Whoa! That branch is a bit precarious. I need to stop eating those German chocolate brownies every night. Ah, but they’re so good.
Alright, here we go. Click, click, click. Can’t you just leave me alone? I’ve had a busy day and I just want a little me time. Is that too much to much to ask?
OK, time for some intimidation. Look little girl, these talons are razor sharp and I have no qualms about coming down there and gauging your eyes out.
Really, I’m serious. Stop it.
OK little miss I-think-I’m-a-hot-shot-photographer! I have had about e-nough from you. Put that camera away right this second, get back in that truck and head on down the highway.
Do you hear me? That’s it. I am going to count to three. One. Two.
Three. Really, this branch is not safe. How come they don’t make branches down the bayou like they used to?
Fine. Be that way. I’m outta here.
Ha ha ha! You may have gotten skunked, but I did not my sad little Yankee friend!
Too Sweet in the Shenandoah November 1, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Friends, Photography, Travels.Tags: Photography, shenandoah valley
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So as I’ve previously mentioned here, I recently spent a day in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. And while the scenery was truly magnificent, I must admit that I was feeling a might bit homesick during my stay. Having been on the road for 10 days and 1700 miles at that point, and knowing another 1000 miles lay between me and the bayou, I’ve got to say that I was kind of wishing I could hop on a plane and be done with those traveling blues that I was momentarily suffering from. And as I sat gazing over a mountain so full of orange and red and yellow leafed trees that it appeared as if on fire, I was actually trying to conjure up images of the marsh landscape I was missing so deeply. But as I was about to put myself out of my misery, take a nap and hope for dreams of orange sunsets and red fishes and yellow corks bobbing in calm dark waters, a precious little girl approached and said, “You know there are a lot of fun things to take pictures of around here. Want me to show you?” But of course! How can you resist a private tour by a Shenandoah Valley expert? Let’s go!
Oh yes, that leaf is very pretty. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that rock is very interesting. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that water is very clear. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that bird cage is precious. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that flag is darling. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that birdhouse is very well crafted. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, that swing does look very fun. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, Hunter does go very fast on that tractor. Yes, of course I will take a picture of him.
Oh yes, that frog does look very slimy. Yes, of course I will take a picture of him.
Oh yes, we should let him go to catch another day. But yes, of course I will take a picture him before he hops away.
Oh yes, that leaf does look like a heart. Yes, of course I will take a picture of it.
Oh yes, my friends, she is too sweet and did steal my heart. Thank you Reese for showing me all of the wonderful things to take pictures of in your world. I never would have noticed them without you as my expert guide.
Never stop exploring my little friend.
It Was A Day For the Birds October 31, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Louisiana Wildlife, Photography.Tags: great white egret, immature osprey, pelicans, Photography, south louisiana birds
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Alright, so if you’ve landed here a time or two, it will come as no surprise that I am enthralled with the birds of south Louisiana. I am particularly fond of the big birds (no, not the Sesame Street variety although Big Bird was definitely a childhood hero). But it’s not that I don’t like smaller birds. It’s just that my eyes aren’t what they used to be so I often don’t notice them as easily and I don’t have one of those groovy cool super-duper zoom lenses to make them look like anything other than colored dots when I do see them. While I’m sure that Santa will be leaving a few of those high-powered lenses under some Christmas trees this year, there won’t be one under mine. But that’s ok, cause I still need to figure out how to use the lenses I do have anyway.
I was thinking though that it’s kind of funny that I love taking photographs of all these amazing birds throughout our wetlands, but I can’t really identify most of them by name. It’s not that some very patient folks haven’t tried to teach me, but I think my memory is beginning to follow my eyes. But maybe if I’m a good girl, what Santa might very well leave me under the tree this year is a birding field guide to help me out.
A good friend once told me that they only had regular birds where he grew up in Brooklyn. And I kept thinking during my trek around the bayous yesterday, what would Sandy call these birds? Highly irregular birds?
Momster Photog October 30, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Family, Photography.Tags: fall colors, Gun Lake, Hall Lake, yankee srpings
6 comments
So on my recent coastal advocacy trip to the Chicagoland area, I had the pleasure of spending a little time with the Momster, BigSis and MediumSis. I took this pic with the Momster’s camera and asked her to send it to me. Where was my camera? Um…good question.
Anyway, when I got the email with the photo, I was pleasantly surprised to find a few additional photos attached of the fall colors at what I consider one of the most beautiful places in the world–Gun Lake. So today I want to welcome my first guest photographer–the one, the only, my beautiful Mother. I learned from the best Mommie Dearest (and yes I know some of you think it’s not very nice of me to call my dearest mother Mommie Dearest, but no joke, this is how she signs all of her letters to me!) Thanks Mom! Love you!
We’re On a Mission… October 28, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Photography, Travels.Tags: chicago, millenium park
2 comments
…a mission from God. So I wanted to share two more pics from my Saturday afternoon in the City of Big Shoulders, but WordPress was not cooperative this morning. Let’s see if it wants to play nice this evening.
It Was a Vision of Power October 27, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Photography, Travels.Tags: Anish Kapoor, chicago, cloud gate, millenium park, Photography
4 comments
It’s a 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes; it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it!
And with that, WordPress has decided to stop cooperating. Too bad. Those last two pics I was going to share were pretty cool…but maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
Only if you have been in the deepest valley… October 24, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Photography, Travels.Tags: fall, mountain, shenandoah valley
4 comments
Although not one of my favorite historical figures, I have found this bit of wisdom from Nixon to ring true many times in my life…”Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnficant it is to be on the highest mountain.” And here are a few shots of the Shenandoah Valley type.
Many Miles to Go October 20, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Coastal Restoration, Family, Friends, Photography, Travels.Tags: brookfield zoo, chicago, Coastal Restoration, millenium park, niu
4 comments
So I’ve been on the road over the last week and still have many miles to go before I sleep (and go fishing). But while I’ve thoroughly enjoyed scenes such as these…
I’m thoroughly missing scenes like these.
Not Smarter Than Your Average… October 5, 2009
Posted by dianehuhn in Louisiana Wildlife, Photography.Tags: bald eagle, egrets, herons, Louisiana Wildlife, night heron, osprey, Photography, wetlands
6 comments
Wish someone would write me a story, but the chances of that are pretty slim so I guess I’ll just have to write you all one instead. I’ll even make it an illustrated story since I know you’re just here for the pictures anyway.
The old truck rumbled down the crossroad. She hit the seek button on the radio. “Pump up the jam…,” ugh, high school flashback. Click. “Just $19.95 plus shipping and…”. Click. “It’d be easy to add up all the pain and all the dreams you set watch go up in flames…” Geez, that’s a pretty song. She usually doesn’t enjoy Country, but that’s pretty nice. Whoa! What the what? That’s Dave! Holy cow. She’ll need to find that song on iTunes when she gets back to civilization.
“…breathing in and out’s a blessing can’t you see? Today is the first day of the rest of my life….now I’m ali…” What was that? She checks the rear view mirror and pulls the old Ford to the side of the road and starts backing up while reaching in the camera bag. Click. “Is that what I think it is?”
Gosh, not sure. She sure wished that thing was a little closer and her eyes hadn’t starting giving out on her before she even hit puberty. Let me try again, she thinks. Click. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
Hmm…sure does look like one even though it’s pretty darn fuzzy. But, she’d been fooled before. Click. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
Oh yeah, definitely got something here she said to her friend peaking around the corner for a glance.
She opened the door carefully not to scare off the majestic creature and inched closer to the bank. Click. Click.
“Hey, where ya going,” she shouted. Click.
She cranked up the engine and headed in the direction of her prey. Hmmm…that could be it. Not sure. Click. Zoom, zoom, zoom.
Tough to tell. She grabbed the video camera from the front seat and decided to try to wait it out.
La la la. Boy that’s one stubborn bird she said to the buzzard or whatever that scary bird was hanging out in the nearby dead tree.
“Whoa. Kinda got some Dracula thing going on there Mr. Big Scary Bird.”
“Come on possible eagle. Come see.” Oh well, at least there were some other not-so-stubborn birds around to photograph while she waited. Click. Click. Click.
“Alright, I give up my stubborn, possibly-an-eagle-but-possibly-not-friend. I’m tired, hungry and lonely, and now it’s starting to get dark,” she said as she folded up the tripod and hopped down from the tailgate. “Maybe we will meet again some day.”
After unloading the truck, she sat down at the kitchen table and popped the memory card in the slot on the laptop for a closer look.
“Drat. Hello Mr. Osprey. I’m definitely not smarter than your average eagle. Send him my regards when you see him.”
“Nice catch though, Oscar! Wish I were fishing too.”
