GLORIOUS pelican roll this morning! Thank you, bird! 🪶

The next shot in this sequence. Look out below.
#birds 🌿

Won't this be a closed hearing? The public hearings usually just degenerate into shout-fests. Nothing comes out of those.

Fog and frost on the lake this morning. It’s an absolute perfect winter day.

Frost covered spruce trees interspersed with Aspen are just visible through the fog just after sunrise.

Very foggy and frosty this morning. Made for a lovely walk.

It doesn't look like the snow is very deep either.

A bluish-grey and white nuthatch with a black cap looks out from his perch upside-down on a tree trunk in winter.

A cute white-breasted nuthatch borb to brighten your day :) #birds

OT, but gosh this is pretty. It reminded me of some of your art, so I shared.

x.com/amazing_phys...

Maryville, Illinois. 9 inches of snow is melting; half of the bare ground is showing now.

Our super-star pastor at First Baptist in Maryville is retiring, Tom Hufty. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep during any of his sermons. Gonna miss him and I hope we get a good replacement.

My backyard right now. Just put this on loop if you need something to calm you. ❄️

A pinky-red male pine grosbeak is just about to start the upstroke with his wings as he flies towards the camera.

Another pine grosbeak just after take off. They look so hefty, but are excellent fliers. I'm pretty sure most of the bulk is feathers to keep them warm. #birds

Long tracks in the snow at sunset. It looks like something has been dragged or slid through the snow.

A long slipway through the snow made by an animal that will be reveals in a later post.

Okay - something fun to hopefully brighten your day. I was so excited when I spotted these track on the side of the road yesterday. Does anyone want to guess who made them? (answer will follow later).

A female pine grosbeak spreads her wings as she drops from her perch in a bare polar. Her golden head feathers shine in the morning light as she aims down and out of the image.

I took this photo this morning, and I'm so in love with it - the timing, the focus, the colour. I can't quite believe it worked so well. The new camera definitely helped.
Also, she's so cute and chubby! #birds 🌿

Perfectly focused and no motion blur. What a great camera/photographer combo!

Would you get motion blur on a hovering hummingbird?

A row of trees is reflected on the surface of a small stream. 📷 Dreamcatcher

Some moments are made for gentle reflection...

Rain, sleet, snow or shine, I walk the dog daily for 1/2 hour or so.

I'm in downstate Illinois and this morning was the first time this year that I put a face mask on (5F and dropping plus a wind). Of course my glasses fogged. As one of your avid follower, how do you keep your glasses from fogging? Any tricks?

So beautiful.

A brief moment with a few of my neighbours this morning. The deep cold didn’t seem to be bothering them. Deer grow a dense coat for winter and their legs and ears have a counter current system where the blood vessels keep the heat in the core of their body. #mammals 🌿

A bright red male pine grosbeak perches on a black metal hook.

I will never get tired of looking out the window and seeing these brilliant birds. - Pine Grosbeak #birds 🌿

A large grey owl floats through the air on huge but weightless-looking wings. The sun lights up its bright, yellow eye and facial disk as it flies in front of a snow-covered spruce tree.

We're in the middle of a little blizzard, so I'm bringing some sunshine into the day with a look at the great gray owl I met last weekend. Hoping for similar luck this weekend.
#birds 🌿

So pretty.

The bright orange ball of the sun just peeks over the horizon in the mostly clear sky. A small smudge of grey/orange clouds are smeared around the top of the image. The bright orange sunbeams sweep across the enormous snow-covered frozen lake lighting up, the purple coloured snow. A few grasses poke out of the snow in the foreground on the shore.

A bright, crisp sunrise over Lake Winnipeg this morning. Perfect conditions for a walk.

I came across this pileated woodpecker this morning. While they often work on the base of trees, I was not expecting to see her head popping out from behind a pile of snow. #birds

Hmmm, I would have thought that Grok would give a more pro-Trump message.

I hope Trump doesn't get us involved in a big mess in Iran.

Yes, politics enters AI. I use Perplexity mostly and they use Wikipedia a lot for references. Wikipedia is pretty left leaning on politics. This show up in Perplexity's answers if there's a political angle to my query.

What is Trump doing now that violates international law?

Gorgeous.

A male blue grosbeak stands on a small tree limb. Behind it, the bright greens of leaves are blurred

For the #birdoftheday theme of #shortbeaks, a male blue grosbeak.

#birds #grosbeak #bluegrosbeak #bluebird #nature #wildlife #protectnature #photography #EastCoastKin

A sandhill crane stands among bright green grasses on a sunny day.

For the #birdoftheday theme of #feathers&form, a sandhill crane sits in the grass on a sunny day. The sunlight highlights the texture and pattern of its feathers.

#birds #crane #sandhillcrane #nature #wildlife #photography #protectnature #EastCoastKin #wildlife

You can see pine trees bowing like crazy in the southern US after a big wet heavy snow. Many break.