"Roo" the Rooster- Macro Monday

At The O'Brien Farm last week I met up with a savory character.... "Roo" the Rooster!

Here is a note from Karin:

Well, heading out to barn to check the herd, horses, sheep, and chickens. We now have only 8 chickens. WE gave away all the roosters but one. His name is "Roo" and he thinks he is "the Man" now!!!  He has 7 hens all to himself!  Happy, happy , happy!!!!!!!  ANd it is much quietter, no, all night crowing!!!    I think he is too tired to crow after beiing "busy" with all his hens. LOL....


SO funny --- as when I went out there he surely was not happy that I was in "HIS territory" and came after me a couple times.  :)  Once I left him and his hens alone, he was fine with my visit.  


I got some beautiful shots of him in all his color and really wanted to highlight him for Macro Monday.  
Enjoy!

The O'Brien Farm

What a day to spend a little time at the O'Brien Farm!  They have new golden retriever puppies and I hoped to get some good shots of them before they grow up!


There are 12 puppies at the O'Brien Family and mom was asked to go outside (which she wasn't happy about) with Buddy - who is finally getting his cast off (poor golden retriever!) next week.  It was fun to have the puppies all to myself and move them around, as all they wanted to do was snuggle with eachother and sleep.  Only once did I get an open eye and it was tough to pile them on eachother, although it gave them a bit of "exercise".  :)

 I wandered out to the rest of the farmyard in the back and got to spend time with the rest of the "family" of horses, chickens, sheep, mini horses & the rooster... who really didn't like me nosing around his territory.  He deserves his own post, so I will get to him in a minute.  These pups are truly adorable!  And the signs on the pens in the barn for these truly loved family animals is just so sweet to share!

I am linking you up to the whole group of photos but selected my favorites for  "Give Me Your Best Shot!"  and "Photo Story Friday"- as this was just so much fun!

Hope you enjoy the photos - please leave a comment if you stop by!

  

Macro Monday: Dragonfly on the Connecticut River

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky.

~Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Silent Noon

I chased this little dragonfly all over the boat on Saturday.  Coaches Matt and Dom(from England) and Marian (from Brazil) were wondering if dragonflies bite and all I could think of is that I really wanted to get a photo --- they are such beautiful small creatures.  :)

From Wikipedia:

The dragonfly (suborder Anisoptera) is an insect of the order Odonata, with large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of long transparent wings, and a long body. Dragonflies have very good eye sight due to their unique eye structure. Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are usually found around ponds, small streams, and swamps. Another name for them is mosquito hawks. Dragonflies do not bite or sting humans.[1] The life cycle of the dragonfly, from egg to death of adult, is from six months to as much as six or seven years. Sometimes female dragonflies lay eggs in the small cleft between mud or moss. Most of their life time is spent in the larval (nymph) form, beneath the water surface, using their gills to breathe, catching other invertebrates, such as tadpoles, or even tiny fish. In the adult (flying) stage larger species of dragonfly can live as long as four months. Dragonflies have about 30,000 facets to their eyes, giving them nearly a 360° field of vision. In the past some much larger dragonfly species existed. The largest found was an extinct Protodonata from the Permian period with a wingspan of 70-75cm (27.5-29.5"). This compares to 19cm (7.5") for the largest modern species of odonate, the Central American giant damselfly Megaloprepus coerulatus. The smallest modern species recorded is the libellulid dragonfly Nannophya pygmaea from east Asia with a wing span of only 20mm, or about 3/4 of an inch.

Taxonmony

Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Hexapoda Order: Odonata

SO here he/she is!  In all the glory of the wings and the patterns on its little bitty body.

I love this shot!

Please leave a comment if you stopped by!

Black & White Wednesday - I love animals!

My best subjects are animals.  You can usually entice them with a treat or a blade of grass.  If you make clicking sounds with your voice the horses ears perk up and they come over to say hi.  Owners don't like you to feed their horses without them being there as they could accidentally nip you and some owners have even been taken to court because of that and now post signs on their fences.  Our neighborhood has a horse farm on every corner and they are such beautiful animals to photograph - I try to get out there and get them at their best!  I had a horse as a young girl in Junior High and High School.  His name was Rabz Galaxy, a half registered Arabian Quarter horse that we rescued from being sent to the glue factory.  He was very rambunctious and threw me many times, but I loved that horse with all my heart.  My friend Joanne and I would ride for houses playing Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys ---- adventures in the fields in Vermont.  I remember them well.  

Here below is a nice photo of our beautiful 9 year old registered AKC yellow lab Toryfield's Master Oakley

He is used to his picture taken and a few chosen words will get his beautiful boxy head to appear. I just love that dog -- my faithful running partner EVERY morning!

Lakota you have seen me photograph before in posts, she is a young horse and lives at the bottom of our driveway.  She is the baby - her sister Shadow is all black with white "boots" -- Lakota is more apt to pose for me and come to the fence.  I love the one of her running around in her small pen --- she has so much energy and strength.  I truly love these horses!

SOCC Saturday: "Bear"

"Bear"
"Bear" is my the Godbout Family pet that they adopted from a private rescue.   I will get more of Bear's story later, but he is a great friend of Oakley's that he got to play with this winter when we were coaching skiing on the weekends.  "Bear" is surrounded with love from the wonderful Godbout family and it such a beautiful puppy.  :)

Lynne brought Bear to the house to have me take some photos to send to the

 Northeast PYR rescue. 

PYR rescue for their calendar fundraiser that has raised money to support the efforts of this great organization.   Please let me know which of the 4 (3 more below) I have posted here you like best!

Look of love

These photography mems are my new favorite to participate.  It really is motivating me in my photography and I really enjoy all the work of the others participating.  

This is the first time participating in SOCC Saturday & Sunday - SOCC stands for Straight Out Of the Camera.  Which is great for me because the editing is not something I have quite figured out ---- all my photos are unedited.   Link below for more great photos! :)

The Rock

True Companion

Majestic

Please comment below - which one do you like best?  Bear was not an easy pup to photograph as he was on a leash with Daniel (11) -- he loves to RUN!  But these shots you can't see the leash or Daniel - so I think they turned out great!  Lynne was happy! 

Macro Friday - "Lakota"

"Lakota"

Here is Lakota (named after a Native American Tribe)- my neighbor who lives at the bottom of the driveway.   I have another great photo of this beautiful horse that is really cool for a macro of Lakota taken for 12of12 early this year...   We have watched her grow up at the "farm" at the bottom of our driveway.  She is one of my sweetest animal friends- and puts up with Oakley pretty well.  I run each morning by her and Shadow (her older sister - you may have seen her photo here too) and she is the first to run to the fence to say hello.  Almost as good as having your own horse....  I really love these horses....  :)

I am running late on all these challenges, but I was thinking about this photo and with all the craziness in life, I finally found it and posted it to share!   This is the first time participating in macro friday (connecting through Ashley Sisk) - another great challenge to inspire my photography skills and eye.  Link here for some more great photos!

Fourth of July: Our Nation's Bird

We have been spending our time on the Connecticut River on our boat and the fourth of July was spent with family and friends.  There were not a lot of red white and blue outfits or parades, just a bunch of people having fun, grilling on the backside of their party barges and spending time with their kids jumping off the back of the boats, tubing, skiing and jet skiing on the river.  Here is the post to our adventure ----->

But what we did see is our favorite bird - the bald eagle - "Our Nation's Bird" - She flies in the same area that we dock and I was able to get these shots of her with my 18/300 zoom Nikon lens.  I love the zoom and sometimes use it as binoculars alone.  :)  It was so tough to get close enough to get any kind of photo and now I know why the sport photographers have the "mega" zooms on their cameras.

Above is my favorite - I think mainly because you can feel her strength and determination - and below I have a couple below that would have been perfect if they were just a little clearer and closer.

I hope you like these photos --- they seem to give a sense of peace from a once almost extinct bird with such strength & beauty.

 High in the sky 

And away to fields....  I love how you can see the large wing span in this photo.

Black & White Wednesday

- 

A Peckhaven Farm beauty!

by Nancy E. Photography

(Please note: I also posted this photo in the June Scavenger Hunt along with other Peckhaven pics!)

This photo was taken in June at the family farm where my dad grew up is now owned and operated by his younger brother Joe & son David with my Aunt Pat in Saratoga Springs, NY.  It is a family effort to run and own a farm as there is always milking to be done, cows to be fed, fields to be plowed and a house to be kept.

I remember when I was young my Grama Vi lived in the back of the farmhouse while Joe and family where in the front and the new portion of the house.  Now they rent to a family, but I look at the front shaded area and remember the tire swing - look high into the sky and see the old Oak tree just reaching up - so big it towers over the house.

It is a beautiful area - filled with family love - a place of peace .

N

It's Black and White Wednesday
To see some fabulous images, click on over to

The Long Road to China 

And because this is my first post to black and white wednesday I am including some all time favorite photos from my archives (taken in 2004)

Little Ashley on her birthday - 

On the playset

Schuyler & Oakley

Sand Hill Crane - Shutter Love ! Voted number 8 in the TOP TEN!

One of my favorite nature photos taken in Trinity, Florida on a trip to visit Steve's mom. 

Beatiful color on the head and just nice positioning the way that the bird is cropped.

UPDATE!!  5/29/10


SO excited!  I just found out that my photo was selected #8 in the top Ten for Shutter Love Tuesdays this week!  Yay!! 

Our "Deer" Family

Today for the second time this week I looked out the window in the middle of the day to find a family of 3 deer - 2 adult and one baby in the yard. The first day they were right in the middle of the lawn - Oakley was going nuts, but once I calmed him down and grabbed my camera I got some great photos. Today in the rain they returned and I took this other picture through the screen door. I love living in the woods and with the animals. It is one more thing that I am so thankful for in my life.

A little info on the white tail deer in Wikipedia - all I can think of is Bambi. :)

Flamingos

Photos from Coronado Island - the pink flamingo is such a beautiful bird!

Eagles on the Connecticut River

Nancy E Photography -
What beautiful animals, you can see the tag on one of them and they were so high in the air it was difficult to get a close up photo - they are very large birds indeed!