A walk in the garden

Back yard views

edited even more Bluebird

On the run

 This pretty gentleman keeps roaming through our neighborhood with all of his lady friends. Hopefully one day I can get a better picture of him.

I think this is why few birds come to our birdfeeder. This mockingbird lives in the holly bush and has guard bird syndrome.

Morning Blue Bird

I went outside to take pics of these deer...

 But I got distracted by this cute little blue bird.

This is a good example of the difference between my old camera and my new one. With the old camera I would have gotten a pic that looked like this and there would have been very little data in the darkness of the bird. So if I lightened it I wouldn't see any more detail in the bird.

Now I can edit and get this - granted, the background might be a bit blown out which I could cut and fix with Photoshop but for a quick edit, I can see the brilliant blue in the bird and I get a little dreaminess too.

 

  Come back inside please - or let us go chase those deer!

Tiny guard on duty

One of Carrie's hummers is very possessive of this feeder.

Alas this is the only picture I have to share of my 5 days at Carrie & Ryan's...

Alaskan Cruise Day 6: Woods & Raptors

Tuesday found us at Sitka

Mt Edgecombe - an extinct volcano

Tenders ready to take us into port

We took a hike through the Sitka National Forest to get to the Alaska Raptor Center. This part of the trail was out along the water.

What beautiful woods!

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View of the downtown area

One of my favorite totems from the whole trip:

And now for a few facts about our ship:
Total trip miles 2075
Total Power: 61,000 horse power
42,000 horse power of propulsion
Water Production: 370,000 gallons per day
Water Consumption: 174,000 gallons per day
Length: 785 feet
Width: 106 feet
Guests: 1615
Crew: 597

These massive slugs were crawling across the path everywhere. They were probably 8 inches long and 1-2 wide.

We can be a totem pole too

Follow the yellow raptor feet to Raptor Way and you'll find the Alaska Raptor Center.

A Harlan's red-tailed hawk (thanks, Carrie), the darker version of our red-tailed hawk.

I love these guys.

He's giving Ryan Heilman the glare - "I'm trying to sleep here. Sorry to break it to you but your strangled rabbit call doesn't make me want to get off this branch."

Golden eagle

These caged birds are all ones that can't be released back into the wild.

And a bonus bird! A red-breasted sapsucker.

The x-ray of an eagle filled with gun pellets that survived and was later released.

Carrie holding a 10 lb "eagle"

What big eye sockets you have!

An injured immature bald eagle they hope to release.

They have 9 eagles they are rehabilitating right now.

These talons exert about 1000 pounds of pressure per square inch!

Injured peregrine falcon - one of my favorite birds since I was a kid

Another red-tailed hawk variation

Ravens are really neat birds - obnoxious and crazy but cool nonetheless.

We walked out through a marshy area and thought we might see a bear but no such luck!

By this time seeing eagles was somewhat commonplace.

An Alaskan enjoying the view with her two dogs

Always on the lookout for an interesting picture.

We bought this watercolor painting from this artist in town.

The Sitka library - don't you wish your library had this view?

The boys decided to head back to the ship - the lido deck was calling them. Carrie and I decided to walk up on the big bridge.

On the backside of the bridge. Lots of fisherman coming in and out.

Can you spot the eagle?

Ryan and Ryan are going back to the boat in this tender in the rain - where we were it was dry.

Missing a few wing weathers - or else in need of a little grooming.

Here comes the rain!

I like the Holland America symbol - its on everything.

Playing games in the library.

A dip in the warm water on the stern.