Big Birds at Lake Wilhelm, near Greenville, PA

No matter where you go on this lake, you see big birds - Heron, Osprey, Eagles.  I had a guide today, and our group got some really incredible shots.

Theres some Bald Eagles.....  Was never able to get them in flight like this, even though they were a bit far, I was able to crop and still get decent detail.

A few Osprey.

I'll finish off today with a couple of heron.  These were a good distance, so not a lot of fine detail, but theyre so cool looking in flight....

Blue Heron

I imaged a Blue Heron today at the Mill Creek Park Lily Pond.  Was with a group of other photographers imaging wildlife when one of them spotted this heron.  I have photographed heron before at this location, but I haven't seen one there in awhile.  Here are the pictures.

Heron Close Up

I was probably 10 feet away from the heron when I took this picture.  This fellow sure wasn't shy.

Landing on a Turtle Covered Log

He kicked the turtles off the log....

On the Floating Log

He flew out to this log in the center of the pond after being chased off the shore by some overzealous photographer.  (I wont mention WHO that photographer was).....

Wildflowers

Imaged some spring wildflowers today.  I should actually start a separate blog just on wildflowers.  They're fun to take pictures of, as many are quite small.  Because of that, and the fact that I'm out of practice taking macro shots, some are better than others.  I'm going to post an image of each variety that I imaged today....This is going to be a long post.

Halbred Leaf Violet

Harbinger of Spring

Marsh Marigold

Periwinkle

Round Lobed Hepatica

Spring Beauty

Trout Lily

Virginia Bluebells

So I imaged eight varieties of wildflower today.  These are quite remarkable.  Most are quite small, and are easily missed by most when they walk in the woods, but if one were to examine them closer, you will see that there is some real beauty on the forest floor.

Hairy Woodpecker

At first I thought this was a Downy Woodpecker, but according to the Audobon Society, this fellow is larger.  The Downy Woodpecker is "sparrow sized", whereas this fellow is "Robin sized".  This is definitely the larger variety.  Photos include 2 birds, a male and a female.  The male has the red splotch on its head, the female does not.

Oh Deer!

I know, I havent posted in a long time.  I hope to change that as I've been shooting some pictures down at the park lately.  Being the middle of winter, the birds are relatively few, but there is other wildlife worthy of good photography.

Take these deer for example.

Redbank Creek, New Bethlehem PA panarama

My first successful panaramic image.  Total of 5 pictures stitched together.

Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is the most common visitor to my feeder, there are times that a dozen will congregate in the area.  The biggest difference between this sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow  is the top of its head is brown. 

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow