Picture-A-Week 2018 - Week 17

Pictures taken between Monday, April 23 and Sunday, April 29.

flowering trees

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Your flowering trees are beautiful.

Your flowering trees are beautiful.

Thanks! Still trying to learn how to use the camera. I can't figure out how to get crisp pictures like others take.

While visiting Houston this weekend, Kim and I joined our son and his wife for dinner at a trendy "Crafted" cocktail bar that serves “Artisan” food. Artisan is often best described as expensive stuff you choke down because you paid a lot for it but this place served some really good food. While not cheap, it was easily worth the money paid. Kim had a spicy pesto dish that I tried and wished that I had ordered until my pizza came out. Local sourced Andouille sausage, ham and cheeses with farm fresh corn and cilantro on a crust that was as good as we make in our own pizza oven. Slap an egg in the middle, add a Karbach Rodeo Clown Double IPA and my taste buds were Texan for the night.

Foo Foo Pizza

Dave

Love to see the flowers.

Cherry blossoms and rhododendrons? Whatever they are, they're lovely.

And that pizza looks great!

Was playing with a new toy this weekend. Nikon 105mm f2.8 macro on the D850

The first one was using focus stacking of 11 images

backyard visitor April 29, 2018

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Looks like spring!

Finally got to my weekend shots from Saturday in the wetlands. It's getting hot and summery around here - the last waves of migrating birds was passing through and the summer birds are starting to settle, and now my wetlands days are going to be wrapped up by a cool-down in my pool, which means more backyard wildlife shots taken from the swimming pool again!

A wave of 12-15 blackpoll warblers were in the pine forest, feeding up for their trip to parts farther north:

The white peacock butterflies have returned and bloomed, and are everywhere now:

The beautiful wood duck momma was parading out her ducklings:

The wood storks had a VERY successful nesting season - this is just one pond-apple tree island out of dozens, and they all look the same as this one - dozens of growing baby wood storks crammed in like Manhattan high-rises:

And now that each day ends with a soak in the pool with the camera at poolside ready for action, my pool day started with a rescue of a ringneck snake that was trying to find a way out. I lifted him from the pool, and then took a snap of him while he sat on the warm deck drying off:

From Sylvan Heights, which is primarily a waterfowl sanctuary, in NC

Male Wood Duck

Male Mandarin Duck

These two were a hoot. Male Mandarin and Male Wood Duck (Leucistic) who have a bro-mance going on. They are always together