Amazing bees… Have you seen them up close?

I’m always thrilled when out walking with some amazing nature finds. I was looking at these beautiful flowers when a bee came buzzing by. Time to eat!

As I looked at this one, I was able to get a close up picture. A beautiful creature.

Walking further, I found a few other bees. So, honored them with a photo of themselves too.

When we slow down, it’s fun to observe nature.

Here’s to enjoying summer!!

The Bald Eagles had two babies…

Credit: Pixabay, Photographer: Schlappohr

Did you know that the Bald Eagles had two babies recently. They are so big already.

There is a live feed owned and operated by Friends of Big Bear Valley. They have strict copyright rules in place for screenshots / videos, so be mindful if you want to share with others.

The Eagles have names. The Father is Shadow, Mother is Jackie, the eaglets are Gizmo & Sunny.

I visit daily to see them. I’m curious to see what happens when they take their first flight. Also, I learned the other day that the eagles will not have white hair until they are five years old. Yesterday, Shadow brought a huge fish to the nest. They were all happy!

If you have an interest, venture over to YouTube, there are a lot of videos to watch.

Last year, the eggs did not hatch. This year a success!

Chicago Skyline…

When you need to get away, where do you go? For me, I love a large body of water.

In Indiana, on a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan.

First photo, if you have an eagle eye, you can see the Chicago skyline at a distance. Second photo, I zoomed in, so you could see it better. What’s interesting is that in person, the sun was shinning on the building to far left, it was magical. Zoomed in, you can see what I saw in person.

Here’s to finding that special place that brings us peace, calmness and joy.

Have a nice day!

Cicada… the real deal!

For those of you who follow me, you’ve seen the artistic cicadas I’ve posted. Now, it’s the end of August and the cicadas are in full force. We didn’t hear them in June or July, but now, they’re here.

I was at a friend’s house. I went to open the window and look what I saw… A CICADA.

I stared him straight in the eyes, I thought he might be scared off, but he wasn’t. He held on to the screen. Looking at him up close, I realized this would be a great picture to share with you.

From this photo, he (maybe a she) looks like a good friend stopping by.

Have a lovely day!

Lake Michigan, Fall weather – already?

This weekend I was able to walk by Lake Michigan. We were having strange weather, it had gone from hot summer days earlier in the week to suddenly cooler temps like Fall. You can see a bit of the fury in the Lake.

Some people were swimming, it’s a bit dangerous with waves like this, the undertow is strong. As a child, I loved swimming in waves like this with my friends, it was scary and exciting at the same time. The undertow would suck us under tumbling us around in water and sand.

We held our breath forever hoping we’d get to the surface. Oh and when we did surface, hoped our bathing suit was still on properly. To give you a visual, imagine a dog with a soft play doll, violently shaking the doll in his mouth right and left. That’s how it feels to be in an undertow.

I really liked this photo. It was so windy, I took the photo quickly. I didn’t notice that there was a person in the picture; otherwise, it would have been perfect.

Most people don’t realize that Lake Michigan is really a large body of water. At first glance, you might think it is an ocean. It’s really quite vast.

Here’s to enjoying the last bit of summer. Labor Day is almost here.

Some new friends…

I was visiting a friend. We were out walking. It was early evening and these little birds were out in full force. They were chirping and chirping and flying so fast. I was lucky to get a few photos, because they do not rest in one spot for long. I’m not sure why my IPhone has the photos looking a bit blurry.

This bird was interesting. Look how disheveled he looked. I imagined my mother telling my brother, “You aren’t going out like that. Go comb your hair.”

We’re almost into August, soon Fall will be here. It’s nice to be out walking and enjoy our nice weather.

Enjoy your summer!

Breakfast – What would you do? Pigeons versus Gull…

I was in Chicago last week for an appointment. As I was walking down the street, I heard so much noice, bird noise. I’ve always seen pigeons around town on the streets, but never by a dumpster. I was curious.

I quickly pulled out my camera and took these shots. Here’s what I saw:

  • #1 Gull watching pigeons.
  • #2 Closeup, we see there is a bakery item there.
  • #3 Gull makes his move…
  • #4 Gull is triumphant! He now has breakfast.

Sometimes we get the FINAL photo just right!! The Gull was determined.

Enjoy your breakfast, while watching out for the Gull!

Almost Solar Eclipse time…

I carefully took this photo, trying not to look at the sun. The sun is bright, it hurts our eyes to look toward it. This was a neat photo between the trees. Looks like a spooky Halloween photo. We just need a witch flying by on her broomstick.

I look forward to seeing what the media shows later today.

Happy viewing, be safe!