More this and that August Photos!

A pond of water lily pads:

Wild roses:

A turtle caught on lens...they spook very easily, so I was glad to capture the shot!:

Waves and water lilies on a windy day:

White Musk Mallows:

Corn stalks with the promise of

melting butter on lucious cobs:

Driving through the woods, we spied a young doe peeking at us behind the trees.

We stopped the car

and she appeared even more curious.

After catching her on camera, she still watched us,

so we slowly pulled away.

I hope she becomes more afraid of humans as she ages, for her safety:

An immature sunflower pod:

While going for a walk the other day, we spied a Monarch flitting amongst the neighbor's flowers.

I must have stalked him for about 10 minutes to finally be able to catch a still photo of him.

But it was worth it!:

Stay tuned,

my next post will have more shots

of him....

I couldn't take my finger off the camera, he was SO breathtakingly beautiful!

Summer Birds!

We were on our boat on the lake

and I spied

far, far away....

what I thought was a family of some kind of ducks...

I didn't want to scare them,

so we didn't bring the boat any closer.

I used my zoom, but unfortunately the shot did not come out clear, due to the distance involved.

But, I want to share it with you anyway, because I was so thrilled

when I saw what they were!

Loons!!!:

(Eight babies!!!!!!!!)

Remember last year

when I had a Chipping Sparrow with a Mohawk???

Well, guess who

visited us

again this year??!:

(I love that he always looks like he has an attitude, don't you???)

A wonderful attitude!:

I think this is a female, but I am not sure what kind of bird she is.

Does anyone out there know? A female purple finch or grosbeak?:

Did someone say Purple Finch?

or

Yellow Finch?:

A Purple Finch in all his glory. I know, I know....they are more red than purple, but that is

his name!:

Aren't they gorgeous?:

Help me Rhonda:

(I wanted to pet him sooooo bad).

This one was particularly red in color:

I am SURE at this point, he was saying:

"Are you DONE with the pictures, already??" "You haven't even given me time

to clean off my face, for Cripe's sake!:":

So, I moved on....

to

the Yellow Finch:

and

A female yellow finch:

All of these birds

have disappeared now..............

The fall migration has already started here

with some of the birds

disappearing...

We  hope we see some again on their way through

from Canada.

If we do, I'll be snapping away at them with my camera!!

My Birthday Gift to YOU!!!

Yes, it is my birthday today!!!!!

And I have decided to do something special!!!

What is it? (you ask?)

September's  FREE PHOTO CONTEST

theme

this month

was 

declared

as:

WATERFALLS.

But as my birthday present to YOU,

I have expanded the theme

to

also include:

FOUNTAINS!!!!

That's right!

So,

send in your photos of EITHER a waterfall or a fountain

by

midnight, Sept. 30, 2010!!!

following

THESE RULES!

and I have also permanently removed the rule

that you can't post a previously-posted picture from  your blog....

So, no excuses now!!

Get your cameras clicking or dig in your archives

and send in those fabulous photos!!!

(God, I love birthdays....because I can ask people to do favors and they can't say no)

(Right???)

More This and That from July and August

Onward with more

photos that I  have captured

in

July and August!

One of my favorite flowers of the summer

are my

orange field Lilies:

I love looking at baby fluffy duck butts when they dive for food:

Right on an island on our lake

is a big huge tree....

and 60% of the time, there is an

eagle in that tree!:

Ducks continuing to swim by our dock:

A cutie pie Sparrow at our feeder:

I loved the water droplets on this Lily leaf:

A lily after a rain..

you can tell it is towards the end of it's beautiful life

because it's petals are starting to ruffle:

I love how all the stamens are

facing toward the sun in this shot:

Gorgeous, goreous stamens!!:

I hope your

July and August

was full

of

Nature's beauty, too!!

This and That from July and August

Today, I am going to show you a

collection of photos

I took over July and August of this year...

Just a hodgepodge

of

the joys of nature!

Maybe this isn't too much joy for SOME people...

especially those that are allergic to bees, but

I think they are beautiful creatures:

Check out the glowing, Alien eyes on this deer!

We were riding in the woods at dusk and I caught her in my flash!:

Goat's beard, all in bloom!:

Delightful pansy faces in my garden:

A pale pink Musk Mallow:

An old metal fire engine wheel in sepia:

A duck that was playing right beside our dock!:

While riding on our windy lake on our bumpy boat, we spotted some Mergansers, so I attempted

to get some pictures of them:

The shot is a bit grainy...it is the only way I could focus it clearer for you!

I am trying to get caught up on many of the photos

I have taken this summer

so that when the leaves change colors up here,

I will be current with my photos of them for you..

We went in the woods last week, and I see hints of the leaves changing up here

already!! So it won't be long before I am posting

the gorgeous U.P. autumn photos for you!!

Here they ARE!!==August's Photo Contest Entries!!

As expected...

when deciding on the August theme for the FREE PHOTO CONTEST,

I knew

SUNRISES and SUNSETS

would bring us 

SPECTACULAR photos.

I was right!!

And?

We got EIGHTEEN entries*!!!!

18!!!!!

(*If you entered this contest and do NOT see your photo below, please contact me ASAP to let me know...I try my best every month not to forget anyone, and inevitably, I miss one or two entrants!! I will wait to contact the judges until next week, so if your picture is NOT below, let me know right away and I will do a revised post to include yours!! Thanks!!)

Isn't that wonderful??

So,

once again,

                                          

 grabba cup of coffee (or since it is sunrises/sunsets, maybe a glass of wine?)

and

put your feet up

and savor these wonderful photos!!!:

This one is from Judy. She has two blogs. One is called: "The Road to Here" and the other one is called: "Through Squirrel Eyes".

This one is from Nick M. He does not have a blog.

This is from Sara. Her blog is called: "Greyt Days".

This one is from Scott P. He does not have a blog.

This one is from Carmen. Her blog is called: "Carmen's Chronicles".

This one is from Loree. Her blog is called: "Stories and Scribbles".

This one is from Connie. She has two blogs. One is called: "Far Side of Fifty" and the other one is called "Far Side of Fifty Photos".

This one is from Karen F.  She does not have a blog.

This one is from Arti. His blog is called: "My Yatra Diary".

This one is from Nancy. Her blog is called: "Blissed out Grandma".

This one is from J.J.  Her blog is called: "The World According to J.J. in L.A."

This one is from Larry B. He has two blogs. One is called: "Larry's Creative Zone" and the other one is called: "Larry's Photo Blog".

This one is from Larry J.  His blog is called: "The Birders Report".

This one is from Linda Reeder. Her blog is called: "Linda's Letters".

This on is from Linda C. Her blog name is: "Up A Green Tree".

 This is from VaBookworm. Her blog is called: "Confessions of a Bookworm".

This one is from Pat. His blog is called: "Extremely Overdue".

This one is from Lynn from "For Love or Funny."

*******************************************************************

Wow, I TOLD you they were all going to be wonderful.

Just looking at all of these beautiful shots

makes me feel refreshed.

How about you?

The judges aren't going to feel refreshed...

they are going to feel STRESSED, because they have to pick just ONE winner!

Thanks again to all the people who entered the contest...!!!

We appreciate your talents and your photos so much.

Now, 

(drum roll please.......................)

it is time to announce

September's FREE PHOTO CONTEST's theme.

It is:

WATERFALLS!!!!

Get your waterfall photo into me 

by midnight, Sept. 30th, 2010

following

THESE RULES!!!!!

(except I am super nice and have removed one rule.)

You now can enter any photo that you have already posted on your own blog.

So, get busy, go out there and drive or hike to a falls and take a photo

or

go through your archives and pull out ONE favorite waterfalls shot you already have

and send it in!!

Good luck!!!!