Les, I believe the pic you added is a Night-Heron, not a Green Heron. Not sure if it is a Black-crowned or a Yellow-crowned, since both the juveniles look very similar to me.

Marshall

Based upon this date and your location, Merlin Bird ID suggests that your bird is a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. Similar to the Blue Jays we have here in KY.

There's a Left-Wing ‘Known Agitator’ in this somewhere:

(Download)

Exactly right, Shutterbug1697!

The foremost group of angry r****rs had just broken out the glass of that chamber's double doors, and she had jumped up into the opening to be the first one through, and was poised to go inside. The shot knocked her backwards into the r****rs and onto her back on the floor among them.

I've watched many hours of footage of this whole MAGA debacle and have only seen this footage that one time, on CNN, and was shocked that they even showed it; it was that graphic.

That's an interesting and mysterious visual phenomenon, for sure!

Hydro47, CO, Traveller_Jeff, and Longshadow all have interesting theories, and after studying the downloads I'll add my couple of pennies to the discussion.

I believe that they are reflected shadows, but shadows made by reflected light off of the snow/ice covering the field stubble. And that they are shadows of that stubble projected onto the deer, and not shadows of surrounding trees. Possibly aided or caused by the lens effect of frost or water droplets on that stubble.

Marshall

(Download)

It was a rainy and dismal first day of 2021, but it didn't keep this GBHE from getting out and working our local park pond. Took out this fine trout.


GBHE_01Jan2021 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

I was playing around with your download and debated whether or not to show you this, but my wife said it was "wild" so here goes. Love Starlings In Flight! lol

Marshall

(Download)

Very fine bird photo with excellent lighting!

First thing I noticed, however, was the lack of the conspicuous half-inch of solid white on the tail: the telltale "dipped in white paint" mark.

So, could this be an Eastern Phoebe, rather than a kingbird? We have both here in KY, and I love watching them.


Marshall

This is what I believe we have between now and noon on 20Jan2021. A very dangerous loose cannon!

Excerpt from "NINETY-THREE" by Victor Hugo, 1874:

"One of the carronades of the battery, a twenty-four pound cannon, had become loose.
This is perhaps the most dreadful thing that can take place at sea. Nothing more terrible can happen to a man-of-war under full sail."

The relevant description of the cannon episode is in Part 1, Book Two, Chapters IV and V.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49372/49372-h/49372-h.htm#IVa

"A bullet shaken in a bottle could not produce sharper or more rapid sounds. The four wheels were passing and repassing over the dead bodies, cutting and tearing them to pieces, and the five corpses had become five trunks rolling hither and thither; the heads seemed to cry out; streams of blood flowed over the deck, following the motion of the ship. The ceiling, damaged in several places, had begun to give way. The whole ship was filled with a dreadful tumult."


Marshall

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That camera and lens is fine for your purpose there, and will serve to isolate and emphasize the dog in the composition.

Most important is keeping your shutter speed high and not losing autofocus lock on the dog as it's running toward you. Takes practice. BBAF, continuous autofocus, and burst shooting is a big help.

I shot this one of my granddaughter's dog, BettyLou, a week ago. 100-400 zoom lens @ 299mm, 1/1600th sec, f7.1, ISO 5000.


Ari&Family_27Nov2020_015 by Marshall Smith, on Flickr


Marshall

If you are a fan of sci-fi you might enjoy this. Apparently sort of rare, but I found it as an ebook from our local library.

https://catalog.lexpublib.org/?section=resource&resourceid=4513162&currentIndex=4&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab

A KY author, best known for "The Hustler","The Man Who Fell To Earth", and recently on Netflix "The Queen's Gambit" it is a great futuristic novel; overpopulation is definitely not a problem, but they do put sterilization drugs in the mood enhancers.

Marshall

I agree with David Martin on this, especially about the brightening part.

The opposing inward-looking head shots really catch the viewer's eye and lead it around and around. A good thing!

Marshall

I'm a heavy shooter, and have found Photo Mechanic invaluable in quickly paring down a large number of files to a more manageable number and then do a final edit in Photoshop. Don't know anything about allmacworld.com, but PhotoMechanic software itself is wonderful.

If your SOOC files are good enough you can select files on the initial contact sheet and crop and resize them to a separate folder at the size and quality you want, without changing the original file.

The feature set is extensive, with many more options than I use, as testament to the many journalists and sportshooters who swear by PM.

Highly recommended.

Marshall

Good, clear photograph, but bird ID of "little brown birds" can be tough!

I put your photo into my Merlin Bird ID app and the three suggested IDs were all finches, and I tend to agree with JRiepe that it is a female House Finch.

We've had a bunch of them lately at our feeders here in KY.

Marshall

In KY here we have a section of our backyard that is devoted to milkweed. About a week ago after all this years pods had dried up and released their seeds I mowed over that area to give next years growth a fresh start and don't mow over that area for a year. That has worked well for us and the patch could be much bigger without mowing around the edges.

Last year on the spring growth we had two beautiful Monarch caterpillars but I lost track of them. This year if I see one I'm going to put a protective wire mesh cage around it and hopefully be able to see that amazing metamorphosis into a butterfly.

You should be fine by just breaking open your dried pods and letting the seeds float around into the area you want them to grow.

Marshall