Abstract Thursday ...

... shadows.

And Mono Monday results. 

Today was absolutely gorgeous so we made plans to have our eat out night restaurant close Jacobsburg State park so we could have a walk after eating.  The biggest reason we chose Jacobsburg is because we had heard that the American woodcock birds have been seen and heard there ... especially the males.  We were excited about the possibility of seeing these secretive birds as I've only seen one once before.

The males usually put on quite a show for the female.  The only problem with this is it happens after sunset!  We bided our time waiting for sunset by walking in the park .... and watching this little family have their own photoshoot.  Thanks to Ingeborg for hosting Abstract Thursday each week.  Sorry but my only nod to the theme of shadows is they were in the shadow of the trees!

After sunset we sat and listened for the males to start calling to the females.  We didn't hear anything at our first location so moved to another part of the park.  We walked out into the field (even though it was dark by now) and listened some more.  We each had on the Merlin bird app which has a sound ID function.  This function picked up the woodcock call so we moved further into the field area.  Sadly, we didn't see any woodcocks but we definitely heard them!  We will return another night to watch for them again. 

And now for the Mono Monday results.  Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's 'motion' themed challenge.  There were so many great entries that picking my favs and hm's wasn't easy.  

Hearts were awarded to the following:
Majoayee ~ This was so well done!  I love it!
BlackTulip ~ It's a simple ICM ... but effective.
Inverculain ~ You can't beat the powerful motion of water. 
nonpcplod ~ The 30 second exposure really captures the motion of the clouds.  
K9tam ~ You can almost feel the motion of the wind.  Poor Ali.

Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following:
DawnP ~ The motion is subtle but there.  And I simply love this clock.
JohnEdward ~ I know how hard it is to capture motion like this. 
Maureen6002 ~  Love the 'ghosts'!
JacZero ~ Similar to Majoayee's but from inside the car.
madowoi ~ More powerful water motion.

Once again thanks to all who participated this past week.  Next week's theme is "First day of Spring/Winter" ... depending on where you are! And you are free to interpret this any way you wish.  What does Spring/winter mean to you? What is Spring/winter like where you live?  Have fun with it! The tag is MM478.