Macro of Wild Turkey wing feather......Thinking about the little turkey poults, that are about the size of half a tennis ball and just as fuzzy,within one growing season, produce a structure that is able to lift them off the ground, is amazing!!!!! Sometimes during the summer, I find feathers in our meadow and stick them in the brim of my straw hat. In the fall I will have 8 to 10 various species of bird feathers in my hat, the old timers used to say," Another feather in my hat". Don't know orgin of this saying. Anyway, nature is most interesting!!!!! Approx. 5X macro

Blue jay at feeder.....This time of year the blue jays are crazy feeding their young, going from daylight to dark. It appears we have 3 pair nesting close to my feeder area. During this time of the year , they tend to very quiet,also somewhat slimmer. Having kids is tough work.

Ordovician fossils from Little Jamison creek. In the spring , after the winter freezing and thawing, I like to spend time, in the creeks on our property,looking for fresh fossils, that has just been washed out, by spring rains. Several million years ago,this area was covered with shallow seas,which contained forms of life. This life ,through normal process, at least ,the more solid parts , was buried in the sea floor,after they died,an was preserved and became fossilized. REF....Geology/ A survey of earth science by E.W. Spencer

MACRO..... Sycamore Seeds..... Interesting to look inside the round spiked fruit clusters of dried sycamore. Hair seem to be spring loaded to eject seeds from the fruit balls. Hairs are then used for the distribution of seeds ,on air currents. At least, those are my thoughts!!!! . These seeds are approx. 10 mm. in length.

Macro....Small blooming plant.... Was walking around my yard today, noticed this very small plant. I got down on my knees to observe it,an for some reason was amazed at how delicate it was. Most of the time ,I like most people, would have just walked over it or on it. Noticed several in this area, so I gently lifted it and the roots can out of the ground all in one piece. Flower is less than 1/8 inch in diameter, note several bud balls to the right. Don't know what the plant is,but I guess that doesn't really matter, it's NATURE at its best.

Digital Camera Preset Modes.....Never even looked at presets on any camera; they were for amateurs. Well, I could be wrong!!!!! Was having some trouble ,stopping motion at ISO 800,even with the shake control on. So as a last resort get out the manual. Found a HIGH SENS. preset, ISO 3200 ,good for 4x6 pic size. This deer was looking in the window at me,so I took a couple of shots. Whereas the image lacks sharpness and shows pixelation, I found it interesting (kind of art-like) especially, inside the ears. Picked up veins above the eyes and the buttons on the head. f8.0 at 1/1600 sec, 432mm (35mm focal length) . READ those Manuals !!!!!!!

WHITETAIL DEER in freshly mowed meadow.....Every year I try to mow off my meadow in very early spring. Last year I cut a portion of it in October, leaving a small circle of it standing over the winter. Last week I mowed the small circle patch. The natural grasses had caught a lot of leaves, that created warmth, thus new green tender shots started to grow. The deer don't miss much.

Photo-Study of Wild (hen) Turkey head/neck . Are they a handsome bird? More on this subject latter,

NEW THOUGHTS.....See turkeys every day, sometimes when alarmed they fly immediately,sometimes they run. What triggers the thought pattern or is it instincts? They seem to be very good at running and seem to resemble the dinosaur-birds, neck extended and very good balance , for an out of balanced body. What about the non-feathered heads,like the VULTURES, rather small head to control such a large body, Why??? . Appears to be a very smart,at times ,has excellent memory at least to remember where to find food, had a feeding stump,for the turkeys, dug out the stump and they returned to that precise spot for 3 years. On Nov. 6, 2008 blog,I was feeding turkeys by hand, these guys disappeared,until last week , when I saw one standing in my meadow, went outside to throw away some table scraps,with a similar feeding hand motion,and the tom came running. Went up on the upper deck,so he could see me better and made similar hand motions ( no food ) he also came running. Assume he recognized hand motion with food,processing information or just instincts ? I don't have any idea!!!!!

still doing research.

LOOKING EYE TO EYE with a WILD TURKEY. Beginning to use my blind again ,to get some close-up photos , of these guys.

RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE waits it's turn at the feeders this icy cold day. Have several breeding pair.