Silver Sisters Online Rally

[GT1963]

I was watching Mrs. Red - thinking it is plumping up time - as their babies will be due in March.

As I was watching, Haily was hoping that Mrs. Red would slip - to have someone to play with.
Very cold last couple of days, Taz is wise in her better years to stay inside where it is warm and safe.

So while they had there stand off - I chipped out the ice from the bird feeders and topped them up and it was not long before the place came alive.


Haily got bored with Mrs Red. and thought she might find some big dogs (Deer) waiting out on the marsh.
Snow too deep to go to much further. While waiting she loves to sample the snow flakes and never wipes her chin after - sort of like a puppy milk mustache.

I get bored of watching Haily watching, so I went back to Mrs. Red - to find that Mr. Red has taken over the food stores chore for the lunch period


Then much to my surprise he turned around and said........



Have great weekend Silver Sisters

[maxandgeorgia]

There you go, Sharon...another picture story book! You have the photos and the text. ~G

[tin sista]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

Steph how are the dates working out for you?

Hey Carol,
I can for sure attend the September rally, I can take some pix in May when we go up for Memorial if anyone is interested in seeing the campground photos. April rally--I will try for sure, may have to back out depending on the situation in North Carolina--do we make the Grand Lake St. Mary State Park reservations online here Lou or is it early enough that we can just show up? Or would it be hard to stay together as a group without reservations? Just thinking out loud...

[uluwene]

Sharon what great, sharp, clear, pictures. What camera do you use? Do you use a tripod with your telephoto lens?

[GT1963]

Hi uluwene;

I use a Kodak Easyshare Z740 - with a 10X Zoom 5 X digital zoom.
(38-380mm lens). I have had it for a few years now.

It really helps having great subjects

All the shots are free hand the camera is fairly small and light. It is AF - and sometimes you have to be patient to let it figure out which subject to focus on

Also the little critters around here are so used to me walking around and up to the feeders they allow me to get even closer so that the zoom is doubly affective such as this one.


It has quite a range - but becomes grainy at maximum zoom.

Here is a sample I just took before dusk. I mentioned in my last post that Haily likes to sit and watch for Big Dogs out on the Marsh - she got lucky this evening

The look on her face when they are out there is so funny "is there anyone else that is seeing what I am - like those dogs are huge!!!"

Here is full zoom

This is half zoom


It has been many years since I used my Nikon SLR. I am waiting for the new Nikon D60 DSLR to be released March 29th. (Birthday Present from the Hubby )

In the meantime this is a super economic digital camera that produces great results - it has lots of neat little features. I think they have recently come out with a newer model in the same price range with a larger X zoom and increased mega pixels.

[wheel interested]

I agree with Georgia! Sharon your story telling is charming and your pictures are spectacular. I love all the critters around your place. We have animals around here too, but they are all of the inside variety!

[loudruff]

Originally Posted by tin sista

Hey Carol,
I can for sure attend the September rally, I can take some pix in May when we go up for Memorial if anyone is interested in seeing the campground photos. April rally--I will try for sure, may have to back out depending on the situation in North Carolina--do we make the Grand Lake St. Mary State Park reservations online here Lou or is it early enough that we can just show up? Or would it be hard to stay together as a group without reservations? Just thinking out loud...

I don't know when they open. I know they have some winter activities there. I think it would be wise to make reservations when we get serious about the date. Especially if we want to try to get into an area together. Maybe someone can check that out? I don't know about Wi-fi there as we did not take the computer the last time that we were there. We stopped there because it was a convenient stop on our way home from IL trip. Accidentally tripping over this beautiful spot was just dumb luck. Don't know if I will be able to join the group. It will depend on how my mom is doing. She has been struggling. COPD is not nice.

[GT1963]

Hi Lou;

Sorry to hear your Mom is starting to struggle -excuse my ignorance but what is COPD?

It has been a long winter here and it is taking its toll on my Mom and Dad. Mom is much better these days best she has been in 2 years. But Dad is now really slowing down and is "foggy" as they say - so we are not sure what is up. They are running lots of tests. Mom is going through her training next week for home Dialysis - so I will be there with them to learn as well.

Those Caverns look really cool. Sure hope we can have a repeat of last years Rally plus many more New Rivettes.

If we can swing it as well as you Lou then Larry might have a bit of competition - but only if I can convince Pete to Hmmm agree to the initiation....but that might be a real tough thing to do. Peter does lots of things for me but he might just draw the line there (That is if the dates work out that we are together)

~G,Carol, Steph and all who give me kudos on the photos I posts.... Big thanks and really glad you like them. They are a lot of fun to take and I always get a surprise every time I download.

My little Haily (not so little really) is a real ham for the camera. Taz is a real hard one to make her stay in one spot she is always on the move Same with the honey tee hee.

Soon we will have some new birds coming in....I think I am going to have to upgrade my feeders they are looking quite beat up. Black Squirrels and the Blue Jays really do a number on them. The Chipmunks are several weeks out yet - they will need shovels to get out this Spring I think

[loudruff]

Mom has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease....emphysema and chronic bronchitis. She has smoked herself to death...almost. 73 yrs. of smoking! ICK! She is on O2 and nebulizer treatments. They are helping. I put her on the nicotine patch, but I think that as soon as I get her stepped down and off of the cigs, she will probably go right back on. A bad addiction for sure. I hope your mom does well now. Sounds like you will be doing lots of studying. Glad you are getting your dad tested. Ii is so sad to watch our parents decline and get into the role reversal.
Tell Peter he would have a blast at the next campout. If Larrita can do it, anyone can.
Those beautiful wildlife pictures of yours should be published!! Great shots!

[GT1963]

What a lot of us did - for fashion, fit in the crowd and cope....Both my parents smoked - but thank goodness they saw the light and quit in their late 40's. I started smoking in my early teens quit 6 years ago. Keeping my fingers crossed that I stopped soon enough


Thanks for your nice comments on the photos - I am pulished right here - what a better place to post them but for all the Silver Sisters and Airstream enthusiast to enjoy

[airedale]

Hey Ladies! IM home sick with something, looks like Food posioning, lets just say I didnt get much sleep and I cant keep anything down. I want to go camping now!

[GT1963]

Hope you are feeling better Laura - food poison is not a nice thing to have to go through.

Thought I would mention it to the critters - and this one stopped outside my window to wish you a speedy recovery.....



How do they all tell each other apart when they all have red bushy tails...

Funny story for you....That is actually a squirrel feeder, and I was the sucker who bought it. How it works - the top is a lid on a hinge - they lift the lid with their nose and paws and pop inside to get the goodies.

So if some of you think our world is going at high speed and there is no patience, and everyone is wanting things not just yesterday anymore but the week before....it ain't just happening to us.

The Black squirrels came along and said this set up is just not efficient - so they proceeded to gnaw out a nice half moon out of the lid - so that they could save the time opening the lid.

The little reds also benefit from the technical adjustment.

[maxandgeorgia]

Did you read the most recent National Geographic mag article about animals and thinking? Your squirrels prove the point! ~G

[GT1963]

Wish I still got the National Geographic - we had it for years and never had the heart to toss out the old issues - until we saw how much room they started to accumulate.

~G Can you share snippets of the article? or is it on line somewhere?

I was thinking about squirrels today tee hee. And of course children's books...do young children benefit more from real photos or characters/cartoons.

Seemingly imagination is a great stimulation - but then at what point does fantasy grow to reality? in the young child's mind. I see the characters more in a real role but "thinking" as they would possibly out in the forest. How they solve their issues and survive - and relate those accomplishments to possibly the issues a child is faced with - then build a book around the issues. But so many ideas and so many photos that I could take.

The Reds are such a neat subject. They are cute, tenacious, ingenious, clever, fast as lightening and make such chatter to fill the days here with conversation - when one lets the mind go