Foreshadowing...

Yes, this photo is foreshadowing of things to come ... specifically, summer and flowers and nectar and all the things that nectar attracts. Oh, I can't wait! I had to make a quick sortie to the grocery store today and as I walked in I swear to you that I heard a little voice calling ... "buy me...over here ... yoohoo..." And the next thing I knew there was a small pot of red gerberas in my shopping basket! Isn't that amazing?

So here you have a gerbera...shot with the Nikon D600 and the 28-300 zoom, using a monopod and set in front of of a glass door in natural light. I did try some shots bouncing the light but it made the red too brash whereas this shot was much softer. I cropped this image very slightly (10%) and lightened it a tiny bit, then reduced the file size so that it would upload. Other than that, it hasn't been fiddled with. Thanks for indulging me this week with things other than birds and creatures. I suspect you'll be getting a bird tomorrow...

But speaking of creatures ... when I downloaded the video blips from last night's "critter-cam" I had a new creature in two of the clips. And from what I can tell, it is a Northern Flying squirrel! That's pretty cool since I didn't know if we had them in our woods or not. They are strictly nocturnal so you'd never see them in the daytime. And, they usually feed in trees making them hard to see at night, too. However, this one came down to the big rock in the woods where I sprinkle cracked corn at night. We've had quite a cold spell these last few days so I am guessing he was looking for something to supplement his diet of nuts and bugs and tree seeds. In the last few weeks the Critter Cam has captured deer, raccoons, possums and mice ...and now a flying squirrel.

We learned last night that my MIL took another bad fall yesterday, blacking an eye and cutting her nose. As the Alzheimers progresses, she becomes less steady on her feet and falls are becoming more frequent. It is just another horrid aspect of a truly awful disease.

Thanks for sending my feather to the spotlight - that was a nice surprise. Still not certain what kind of bird it is from, but some of you had some very interesting thoughts on that and I thank you.

xxoo
Debbi