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Posts for Tag: Tom Sawyer Park

House Sparrow

Just a common house sparrow but I really like the background of this photo.

The Black Dahlia

I'm sure it's some sort of weed, but it looks good in black & white..

The Goalkeeper

A few weeks ago I was roaming around Tom Sawyer Park as I often do, but it was so hot and humid that there didn't seem to be anything presenting itself to be photographed. All the plants were either brown and dry or wet and weedy. No butterflies, no deer, just gnats and hot air.

Having given up any hope of seeing anything interesting, I left the woods for the walking track where all the wannabe skinny people were walking as usual. Off to the side I noticed the familiar group of soccer fields and that the grass on those fields had grown quite high and was very dry like everything else. Then I saw there was something sitting on one of the goal cross posts. It was a large bird, a red-tailed hawk, and I was there without my long lens!! Apparently I had not made the appropriate offerings to the gods of Canon that week to ensure that the Force would be with me.

Well, I know these hawk guys can count the pores in your skin at 100 yards so there wasn't much hope in sneaking up on this fellow. I figured if I walked slow enough he (she?) would not feel threatened and, since it was so hot, maybe it would just sit there and "chill". I got close enough to be in range with my inadequate 200mm lens when it flew off before I had a chance to take my first photo! Arghhhhhh! Why is nature being so camera shy today?

But then I noticed that it had reappeared on the opposite goal but I didn't see how it had gotten there. It was like it jumped off of one goal one second and teleported to the other goal, a soccer field away, a second later. And then it was magically back on the goal near me and I was able to document what was going on.

If you look at the series of photos below, you will see what I saw. The goalkeeper was actually hunting at high speed between the goals. It would dive off of the close goal, beat its wings once or twice, and then ride the wind like a bullet, hovering just a wingspan above the ground, or less, as it made its high speed, guided missile-like run across the field looking for small rodents, rabbits, squirrels, etc. Though the hawk didn't catch anything while I was there, I caught my few photos and felt privileged to have been invited to watch.

(Each thumbnail will get displayed in the larger image area when you click on it and that photo can be enlarged, even more, if you click on it again. Clicking the super-sized photo will toggle it between large size and regular size.)

Tiger In The Park

Today I saw a tiger in the park. This is the time of year that they always come back. I was not too afraid because I could see that it had recently eaten. You see, the slippers of his last victim were still evident in its mouth...

Red Ears

A newly minted deer with a coat so furry it looks like it could be a painting instead of a photograph. Look at that healthy oxygenated blood flowing through those ears!

Robin Floss

A robin seems to have gotten itself tied up with some green plastic grid-like material.

Red Belly

Typical Red-bellied Woodpecker. Apparently, woodpeckers, or their taxonomists, have their bellies in their heads!

Hello Cutie!

Sometimes they look at you as if they remember you from last year...

Heaven's Gate

This is the gate to a very old cemetery filled with tormented souls. I walk by it often and recently found it like this.

A Time For Every Purpose

Then the dust of mortals goes back to the ground as it was before,
and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

All For One And One For All !

D'Artagnan: So what do we do now? What's next?

Porthos: Well, we protect the King.

Aramis: Protect the Queen.

Porthos: In the name of God. And France, correct?

Aramis: France indeed.

Girard: D'Artagnan! My sister's honor will not wait a moment longer.

D'Artagnan: I'll handle this.

Porthos: D'Artganan, we also protect each other.

D'Artagnan: All for one.

Aramis: & Athos: And one for all.

Funny Bone

If you spend a lot of time in the woods, you will eventually stumble across an animal that has left this world for the next. I recently found this small pile of bones while walking through a local state park and I noticed that one of them happened to be smiling at me. This was obviously this animal's "funny" bone.

Though this bone looks funny to me, I guess it's not exactly humerus

The Entrance

What is this underground structure made of brick in Tom Sawyer State Park?

 

Ears

My, what large ears you have...

Bumble Bee

I have never seen a bumble bee with with eyes like these nor that thing that looks like a shovel between them. In fact, I would not be surprised if this is not a bumble bee at all.

Buggy Whip

That's quite a buggy whip you have there little skipper!