8 December, 2019            When all else fails… 

…open up with a lucky catch on a bluebird: 

Great example of an image I can only get by accident

I could probably set up my camera somehow to make that happen. But I don’t know how to do it. This was pure luck.

I’m not sure if this was the same bird. But it was the same minute, and we were mobbed (if bluebirds can really do that) with bluebirds that day. There’s never a bad day to see a bluebird:

In the same minute, just below that feeder

I’ve been out and about plenty this week but haven’t gotten a million great images. So I’ll slip a few things in this post then close it up and see if more pops up next week. This was Mackey and Turner at Pony Pasture this morning:

Mackey and Turner near shore – the river was “5 feet high and rising”

I also found an old blog with old pictures of Mackey on it. It also has pictures of Pony Pasture from about twelve years ago. I’m going to see if I can blend some into this blog in the non-distant future. But in the somewhat distant past, this is a picture of Mackey when he and Ivory and I were hiking on the Appalachian Trail near I-64 about twelve years ago this Christmas:

Mackey, Appalachian Trail, Christmas, 2007

That’s awesome he was hiking that way twelve years ago and he was still hiking like that today. He LOVES to be outdoors!

This blog post opened with a picture that resulted from the pure luck of my shutter opening at the right time. My shutter opens a lot, so there are a lot more correct times. 10:26 this morning at Pony Pasture. Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis):

Looks pretty against that river

Okay – I’m going to wrap this up. These will provide some contrast with the fast moving bluebirds and gulls. I took all four of these this week – in front of our woodstove. I titled this email “no rush”:

“No rush #1”

“No rush #2”

“No rush #3”

“No rush #4”

I am in kind of a rush – to put up this blog post! Have an excellent week! All best,

Jay (& Evie & Mackey & Turner & Dash)