Mating Season for Turkeys - April 22, 2021

It is that time of year again and the turkeys that frequent out backyard are putting on a show.  Turkeys are some of the most beautiful birds we see on a regular basis.  They are in the park area behind our house on a daily basis.  The corn and seeds that we drop on the ground every day probably has something to do with their visits.  Here are a few photos that we hope you enjoy.

An amazing array of colors in the feathers and on their heads.

We typically have from two to four turkeys scouring the ground looking for food twice a day. 

This turkey has found a nice dirt patch to take a bath.  Turkeys do what is called "dusting" to remove excess oils from their feathers.  Once the dirt has absorbed the oils, it can be shaken off leaving the bird "clean".  Other species of birds do the same thing to get clean.

This Tom has got the urge to mate and is trying to impress the hen.

Displaying his full and very impressive tail fan.

Backyard Animals - April 11, 2021

Last Sunday was the best day of 2021 for sitting on the patio and enjoying the weather and nature. The flowering trees and new leaves provided color to enhance the beauty of the wildlife. We are looking forward to the migrating birds that are yet to come.

At a distance, I thought these graceful soaring birds were hawks but after seeing the photos, I realized that they were Turkey Vultures.

A different kind of bird. When I see planes flying overhead, I wonder what kinds of adventures those on board are either starting or ending. The plane was heading for the sunset. There still aren't as many planes leaving contrails in the setting sun as in past years.

B2 Bomber Flyover - 1/17/2021

Our house is on the flight path for military flyovers before KC Chiefs games. The A-10s and B2 bombers start circling about 30 minutes prior to the actual stadium flyover. Yesterday, the Chiefs played the Cleveland Browns in a divisional playoff that started with a 2:00pm flyover by a B2. The B2 flew over our house four times before heading for Arrowhead Stadium. Here are a few photos.

The B2 is a stealthy photo challenge because of its thin black body. I managed to get a photo with the cockpit and engine intakes as the plane banked in a turn.

You can see the cockpit and engine intakes on this and the next photo as the plane banks in a turn.

A very interesting shape.  Computers are needed to keep the plane under control.  A stealth plane has fewer of the control surfaces that normal planes have.

This enlargement shows the name of this plane to be "Spirit of Arizona".

Backyard Animals - 1/3/2021

I was looking forward to this morning's ice fog. The ice on the branches and snow on the ground provided a different backdrop for our backyard friends. I knew that the Cardinals and Blue Jays would really glow in a frosty environment. Here are a few photos from this morning.

What a perfect backdrop for the beautiful bird.

Diversity in the seed box.

She waits her turn in the seed box.

Backyard Deer - 12/24/2020

Christmas Eve was beautiful and cold in the morning.  Sigrid treats the deer to corn and sunflower seed snacks every morning.  Most of the time we have does and their babies.  During November, we saw the reclusive bucks often as they chased after the does.  At one point we had four bucks of varying sizes in the backyard at the same time....that is rare.  Then photos below are of the largest buck, a 10 pointer and one of the does.  We also got a Christmas treat as six Cardinals decorated the trees in the back.

Carefully watching me.

Deer and squirrels will eat Hedge Apples.

We have seen as many as 10 Cardinals at one time.

Sigrid took this photo...my favorite.

The Great Conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn - 12/21/2020

Sigrid and I joined the throngs of people viewing the planetary conjunction last night. We passed by several good viewing locations and there were lots of people jockeying for a spot at each one. I had scouted locations earlier in the day and decided on going to New Longview across the street from the Longview Community College campus in Lees Summit.

While there were bands of clouds in the sky, the planets were visible between bands while we were there. We found a good spot amidst the streams of cars and people with binoculars, telescopes, and tripod mounted cameras. A few of the people were pesky because they wanted to look at the images I was capturing and had their noses way too close to me in a Covid world. I had to run them off and it caused us to leave a little sooner than we wanted.

I have seen some nice photos posted on Facebook. Mine didn't turn out as good as I hoped for but I planned to try again the next night. Unfortunately, the skies were not clear enough to take that second set of photos. Got to wait for another 500 years for the next opportunity.

I was using a 1,200mm lens on my camera and it was very difficult to focus. Even cars driving by would cause the image to jitter. Just touching the focus ring would cause the planets to jump out of the viewfinder. You have to use manual focus on photos like these.

The moon was looking good so I took a photo of it and it was so much easier.

The first photo shows both Jupiter and Saturn with rings. The moons of Jupiter don't show due to the editing and a lack of lighting.

This photo shows Jupiter and its moon. Saturn is there but you can't make out the rings.

The moon was much easier to photo and was very clear and bright that night.

Our Amaryllis Plant for 2020

Sigrid bought a nice looking Amaryllis plant at Costco in late November.  It started blooming almost immediately and I was concerned that it might be done for the year before Christmas.  As it turned out, it just kept blooming over and over again and we will have new blooms even after New Year's day.  Amazing!

Sigrid put the plant on the dining rooms table in order to create a reflection on the table top.  It turned out great.