Blue Sky and a Two-Tone Beak

two-tone-beak

Blue Sky and a Two-Tone Beak

From across the parking lot this bird looks black, but if you zoom in to see him atop the lamp post then you see he’s multi-hued, speckled, and has a two toned beak. I’m not an ornithologist, and do not have a clue what type of bird this is, so if you know drop a comment please. As with almost all pics posted here you can click on the image to see a larger, more detailed version. I never upload the full 10.1 megapixel versions however since they are bandwidth killers.

A couple of notes about the Canon while I’m talking about pictures. The first thing is that my camera has had a bent flash card memory pin since the second day I had it. This resulted from getting a “Bad Flash Card” error and multiple attempts to reseat it without my glasses. I eventually got the error to go away and I pried the bent pin away from shorting another pin with a big-ass magnifying glass and a rather stiff darning needle. Since then it’s functioned fine, but today I again got the error.

This caused quite a panic since repairing the slot means shipping the camera off, and having a new flash slot receptacle put in at a cost that’s close enough to that of a new camera body. Who knows if they wouldn’t get something else hosed since they have to disassemble the whole camera to replace the card slot receptacle? Shortly after the error however I was pleased to see a low battery warning, and after recharge the flash slot error went away. It makes me wonder if the original error that encouraged me to clumsily bend the pin in the first place wasn’t just a low battery showing up first as a flash card error.

The second thing about Cannons is that you really need to experiment with some of the non-auto settings, you aren’t really practicing the fine art of photography if you don’t. If the thick manual scares you, then there’s a pocket guide that tells you how to fiddle those settings concisely.

Update: This is an amazing video of Starlings settling for the night in Otmoor, I recommend full screen viewing.

My Wife Has Monkey Toes

My wife can make her toes into a fist like you can your hand, they are amazingly long and flexible – so this year I got her the appropiate socks.

monkey-toes

Monkey Toes

My wife can make her toes into a fist like you can the fingers on your hand, they are amazingly long and flexible – so this year I got her the appropiate socks.

Jango, Santa’s Ugliest Reindeer

Jango dropped by for a visit tonight, he’s Santa’s ugliest reindeer

Jango, Santa’s Ugliest Reindeer

django-the-ugliest-reindeerJango dropped by for a visit tonight, he’s Santa’s ugliest reindeer. That’s the last of the pets in funny hats pictures tonight, I don’t want ASPCA or PETA coming after me for unusual cruelty to animals.

Kasey is not Happy as an Elf

Kasey as an Elf

kasy-as-elf1Kasey wasn’t as complacent about being an elf as Chewey was about the reindeer outfit. A couple minutes after this was snapped she was tearing around the back yard with the hat in her mouth shaking it like a bad squirrell.

The Last Full Moon Before Christmas is Out

This is the last full moon of 2008, you can seen it now through the 15th or so when it starts to wane. One other note on this photo, if you click on the thumb to see the full enlarged size you will note two abberations in the lower left quadrant, that’s not something on the lens, it’s a couple of tree branch tips.