Color contrast in nature....saw these plants growing together in our rock garden, thought it would make an interesting photo.

DRY WEATHER MUSHROOM... About 1.5 inches in dia. , in rock hard ground, not much rain this month, but this guy found enough moisture to come up. Many years ago, I had a large white pine tree, that  died , removed it and dug the main stump but cut off a lot of the feeder roots, ever since I find different looking  fungus in that area. Looks like a miniature puffball, however I don't think so.

RUDDY TURNSTONE, Ormond Beach ,Fl...........in winter plumage, saw several which  appeared to be a pair, however  was not able to photograph together. Get the name from turning small stones , pebbles and wood to find food. Feeds on small marine crustaceans,vegetable matter and other tiny marine life .Winter resident in florida, summer in the far north (tundra ).

Sanderling at Ormond beach,Fl...........In late January, this year , we saw a lot of these birds. even with 100's of people on the beach it was difficult to get close to them. shot this at equiv. of 600 mm. , then cropped. Sanderlings are in Florida from August till  late April. Feeds on mussels, marine worms ,insects and some seeds. Where do they go a nite??????

Buck keeps company with 2 does.......Been watching this threesome all spring and early summer, usually bucks run with bucks, does with does. Bucks collect does near the rut. Maybe this is a family group with strong bonds, anyway, the doe (left) seems disturbed with the buck .

Whitetail Bucks in posturing........... obtain a lot of pics each year of deer, after a while they all are similar, sometimes the camera catchs interaction. These guys are circiling each other with heads down, ears layed back. I assume a little verbalizing is taking place. Who get the salt block ,first ?????

Hummingbird Pics.............Top pic, shows the hummer in a turn, heading to the feeder, wings to top, tail spread in cupped position. Lower pic, shows , the flash almost stopped the wings ,which indicates a slower wing speed than the top pic. Literature  indicates that hummers can maintain flight at 50 beats per minute, while  at top speed >1000 beats per min.

Passion Flower Vine....... a friend gave me a small plant ,about 4 in. tall , last year. It grew about 4 ft. tall then died. Was told it was an annual, well this year it came up very late, but grew very fast about 15 ft. long Being it is very hot here this year I watered it almost every day. Then some buds appeared and this flower appeared and lasted only one day. After the flower comes a  small apple-like fruit. I'm amazed at the fine structure and weird looking seed producing system.

Four ears and four eyes......... what are the odds that the two does can line up to the remote camera like this? About like the MEGA jackpot.

Early Blooming Plant....Every spring about the middle of February,I see this little plant start to bloom.For Southeastern Indiana this seems very early. I often wonder about what allows it to stand the cold weather an produce blooms so early. It doesn't seem to matter how cold the winter,how much snow or ice.

Maple Sap beginning to run.....Have several maples along my driveway, try to collect some sap each year to boil down for maple syrup. Tapped this a week ago, just started to run today. First this is not a profit making thing, I could buy enough high grade maple syrup to last 2 years for what it costs me to make 4 ounces at home. However, it is very good and allows you to see how the tree reacts to spring weather changes. Literature indicates if the low temp. is under freezing and the high temp. is above approx. 45 F,the sap will run. The photo show my simple collector, drill the tree with 1/2 inch hole, about 1.5 inch deep,insert plastic tubing, using a clean milk bottle as storage. Tie a rope around a limb, to hold the bottle. After collecting is over, I coat a 1/2 inch dowel rod with glue and drive in the hole ( see to right and near rope,a 2yr old plugged hole). Concentrations range from 40-1 to 80-1, this tree ran 55-1. That means I will have to evaporate 54 units to get 1 unit of syrup.

Gulls andTerns....just hanging around......   all face in to the wind for quick flight take off. Ornomd Beach, Florida

Whitetail and Mineral block...New block and game  camera back up and running. Good food so far this winter, very mild. Does seem in very good shape. Had  herd of ten yesterday morning, always a day before I charge up the camera. Look forward to the 2012 Deer photo season.

Ring-billed Gull rests on piling at Ormond Beach,Fl. Large size(length 16 inches) withblack ring around yellow bill,greenish- yellow legs. Feeds on insects,mice, eggs of other birds.

Micrograph of sand from Ormond Beach,Fl.........took this sample of sand at water edge ,low tide, to compare to the sand on the Gulf of Mexico side. This is more compact ,that can be used for auto driving,thus was used for early auto racing. Seems to more crystalline. Approx. 150x magnification.

Great Horned Owl visits meadow....Was looking out the window several days ago and saw this large bird fly into the top of my White Cedar tree. Thought it was a hawk ,but when I viewed it through the video camera, saw the ear -tufts. Have seen it once before this year,in early morning. Many years ago,the land adjacent to where we live was a large turkey farm. I worked for the owners ,as a kid, once a year a great horned would come thru the area and destroy a large amount of birds,sometimes 50 or so.Black & white was used to eliminate the red fringes in the color video capture.