Hummingbird is hatching!

At the time of this post a hummingbird is hatching live on the webcam! Check it out!  

http://www.ustream.tv/worldofhummingbirds

New birds to my yard?

Last fall, we had our trees trimmed and we've either had birds that are new to our yard or we can finally see well enough, now that the overgrown trees are trimmed, that we are seeing birds we haven't seen before. This is the first Brown Creeper I've seen in our yard.

I've only seen a Downy woodpecker in my yard a handful of times over the decade I've lived in my current home.  This is the first time I've captured an image of one though.  I'm excited to see what new birds spring brings this year!  What birds are in your yard? Let me know by leaving a comment.

American White Pelican at Swan Falls Dam

I saw this American White Pelican recently when I was down at Swan Falls Dam.  I think it's a cool looking bird and I was surprised to find it there.  I love how the early morning light cast a nice glow on the scene and the reflections.  I love reflections!  I like this close-up shot very much, but I think the ones with the dam in the background add a bit more interest.

In this second image, I included the dam in the background to get a sense of place and the environment where I found the bird.  I really like the compression of the environmental shot and the clarity of my subject in both shots that I got from my new lens.

I added a filter in Adobe Lightroom 5 to this version of the image to add an erosion effect that makes the image seem much older than it is.  I also added a canvas-type textured look to the image.

This last version of the image was converted to black and white.  It's hard for me to choose a favorite. 

Which version of this image do YOU like best?  I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Please let me know in the comments.

  

Great Blue Heron

  

To read my blog post about this image and how it was taken, please CLICK HERE!

To purchase this image, or see it larger in my online gallery, please CLICK HERE!