First

This is officially the first fledgling (baby) bird I've seen this season!  I never know when or where the Mourning Doves nest, and I rarely see the product of their nesting so this was a pleasant surprise.  In fairness, doves and pigeons make some of the worst nests in the bird world.  They also have very small clutches and, as with nearly all baby birds, the survival rates vary.  Anyway, when I first spotted the pale youngster on the left, I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing.  The parent bird on the right quickly solved the mystery.  

It has been raining steadily all day - the kind of rain where you could get quite wet if you stayed out any length of time.  Unless, of course, you had a portable hide!  My hide has a few leaks now, but it still keeps me and my gear mostly dry and it gives me a wonderful look at the birds in the garden.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and came in with over 250 shots.  Oops.  

Jax, who you may remember, hates rain more than anything, is staying inside.  He's been happily napping on the sofa most of the day although eventually he will have to go out.  He is one of those dogs who house-trained very well and he always lets us know, definitely, when he needs to go out.  So he will eventually go out.

Had a nice FT chat with my parents this morning and making plans to head out to visit them at the end of the month.  It's been too long.

I started compiling a Collection  in Lightroom of my images  from South Africa with the end goal being to make a photo book for myself.  I have only gone through the first two days at this point.  My plan is to pick the best shots from each day so that my book can follow the trip as it happened.  Very hard picking favorites!

We watched "Citizen Ashe" last night which was a documentary about tennis great and Civil Rights activist Arthur Ashe.  He had an amazing career and life, cut too short by AIDS, sadly, contracted from a blood transfusion.  Still, a very interesting and informative program - available on Amazon Prime.  

xo
Debbi