Holy Cow It's a Downy Woodpecker!

John and I went to Halls Rd. in Whitby on Monday. I had a lieu day off work so it was nice to get to go when no weekend crowds were there.

At first, quiet and no animal or bird activity. Then, the Chickadees started appearing. There were suddenly tons of them back and forth, eating seeds from John's hand. His hand was getting sore from their sharp little feet lol!

Then, we heard a woodpecker. Next thing you know, a woodpecker swoops out of nowhere and lands on John's hand. He said wow, it is so soft compared to the little Chickadees. It was a female  Downy Woodpecker....so cute!!!

Besides the bird, we saw the most glorious rocks at the shoreline of Lake Ontario this day too. Holy crap, it looked like someone threw paint spatters on a few of them, the pattern and colours we saw! Gorgeous!

C15 Swan Again....Too Near the Road :-(

Although it is awesome to get to walk right up to him, this swan at Whitby Harbour is always right beside the road. This time, resting with his head in his feathers.

This morning, went down to the harbour to see what was around. We talked with a guy from Sunderland, who is an avid bird watcher. He let us know the big gull with the black wings we had seen earlier is a Greater Black Back Gull and that they aren't often seen more than maybe once a year in Whitby. I got a shot of one, though it was too far for my lens.

My camera got cold and wet and began not to function so we went home.

Photo Project Idea!

I've gotten kind of used to photo taking being my creative outlet, in lieu of painting, the last year or so. I don't have an 80-200 that will fit my Nikon DSLR, but hope to again be able to afford one at some point. I really am thrilled to have found out I can use my manul 105mm portrait lens on my SLR though, and my boyfriend's manual 50mm lens too, from his old Nikon. I loved my portrait lens because I can get that real shallow depth of field I love and it is a very beautiful lens that gives nice soft gradation of values.

I have come up with an idea, from cropping some of my latest images taken at the shores of Lake Ontario in Whitby, Ontario. I want to do 9 square mounted images, and then mount them 3 rows of 3, on a darkish warm backdrop of wood or some such material, a sort of abstract piece featuring close ups of textures and patterns from nature that can then be hung on my wall some day.

These are a couple pieces that I may want to incorporate into this piece.

Cat Circle

My kids' cat Peaches, she loves sleeping in circles. This was on laundry. Peaches is a diluted calico and is about 10 yrs old now.
Funny or cute shots of Peaches over the years.

Some Artwork

These are some of my paintings, from between about 2004 to 2009.
1. Cinnamon, acrylic on canvas, 12"x12"
2. White Wine in Paris, acrylic on masonite, 7"x9" approx.
3. Beagle with Shovel, watercolour, 11"x14"
4. Detail of Girl's Face, acrylic on illustration brd.
5. Motley Still LIfe, acrylic on canvas, 24"x24"
6. Sidewalk Chalk, acrylic on masonite, 6"x8"
7. Cat in Sunlight, oil on canvas, 9"x12"
8. Lori, acrylic on canvas, 9"x12"
9. Cheryl, from life

Crazy Ducky Behaviour at Lynde Marsh

 Last weekend, when temps were nicely above 0, we went over to Lynde Marsh. The ducks and geese were in hoards, and one little lone Bufflehead duck.
The male ducks were raising up their butts then diving under water, and attacking each other. The geese were snaking out their necks and approaching other birds and each other, cackling and being aggressive in nature. Guess they all think spring has sprung lol!

2 Mornings at Whitby Harbour

Wanted to get up early, to take advantage of what looked to be a sunny morning both Saturday and Sunday morning this weekend. although Saturday was pretty, Sunday was grey. However, grey made for some variance in the usual photos.

Got some nice swan images, and some nice Whitby Lighthouse on the pier. Lots of Mergansers, cackling Geese and flying ducks both days. Swans were out and about a bit too. Saw a hawk in a tree but he left before we could get out of the car.