FOTD – April 14 – Trees by the River
And these are the trees in early April. In other places, where the sun can get through the trees, there are actually some leaves on some trees — but not here.
The trees look sort of fuzzy this time of year. It’s the buds. And of course, the air is full of pollen, all kinds of weird little flying insects. When the light is right the trees look pink, probably because the buds on maple trees are red. In another week, it will look very different.
There was a Great Blue Heron in the canal. I have to admit I didn’t know it was there. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, but he showed up in half a dozen pictures. Despite having had huge amounts of rain, the water levels in the river and canal seemed low. I’m not sure why. It’s odd. It should be much higher.
We’ll try to get back and take more pictures!
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Categories: #Birds, #BlackstoneRiver, #FOTD, #gallery, #Photography, Cee's Photo Challenge, Flower of the day, Trees
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
That looks a peaceful stretch of water and I always love to see a heron!
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I am always glad to see herons too. Not only does it mean we still have herons, but it means we still have FISH!
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I also saw the heron but couldn’t get in close enough for its closeup. I’ll have to practice that with you (Yes, again) on our next photo session.
I didn’t really notice the insects. Maybe they were giving us professional courtesy.
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I enjoyed this stroll along the canal, Marilyn…
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And I bet you’d enjoy a real stroll. It is a very popular place for walkers, with and without dogs 😀
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Okay, this may be a stretch. Last night, we saw Joan Baez (looking pretty good!) on Colbert’s show. Our afternoon around the canal could’ve used some Baez music to make it perfect.
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Yes, I would…
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Awesome photos.
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I think we were there at just the right time. It was so hot earlier, I suggested we wait until 4pm or a little later. By then the sun isn’t directly overhead and you don’t get so many burned out photographs. When the sun is very strong, the photos are actually distorted by the amount of light. I do have filters. I just never remember to bring them with me! I can’t remember anything anymore.
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You have so much knowledge about photography and wonderful skill.
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Except that I have a short-term memory retention of about 30 seconds. Otherwise, I’m tip top.
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I don’t think your memory is at fault here but the overload we all have on our minds
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There’s also the getting old thing. Everyone in my age bracket has short term memory outages. They are short term losses of words, typically nouns rather than other parts of speech. I think as we age, we also begin to need a faster memory card and maybe more memory chips. Like aging computers, we aren’t up to our fastest speeds anymore.
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A gray way to express our lack as compared to a computer
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It is such a beautiful time of the year Marilyn. Beautiful photos. I love the reflections on the last one.
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It’s one of the most beautiful features of river photography, that the water is so still. When there’s no wind and no rushing water — which you don’t see often in our area of the Blackstone river — it is almost a mirror. Sometimes you can’t tell which way if “up” because the reflection is so nearly perfect.
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That is wonderful that the water is so still!
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Aletta, when you see the reflections IN PERSON it is inspiring. Almost makes you want to burst out in song. I won’t because I am tone deaf. But, I was humming under my breath. I hope no one heard me. Maybe the heron who gave me a strange look. Song? ‘The Water Is Wide’.
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Hi Marilyn, I was going to ask you what the bird was and then you answered at the bottom. The last picture is gorgeous. I love the reflection on the water.
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River photography often lets you capture reflections because — at least in this part of the river — the water is very quiet and rarely seems to be rushing anywhere. Although when I was standing by the locks, I couldn’t SEE the water rushing, but I could certainly hear it.
Those tall Great Blue Herons have almost identical brethren all around the world. They come in different colors, but they look very much the same. When I see them, I feel hopeful. Not only does it mean we still have herons, but it means we still have fish in the water. After last year’s drought, I wondered what would still be alive.
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Hi Marilyn, I love nature and pictures of nature. We have a similar looking bird called a blue crane. It is out national bird and is protected.
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