Jan 26, 2019 - Hey kids - Get out there now - for at least two hours

Dave Cesari and his wife spend hours outdoors enjoying nature every day – I know, because I encounter them most days. The photographs he sends to me to post here are beyond description. We are so fortunate to have these photographs by Dave. Be sure to click on the TGO Photo Clubs page and see the beauty of nature that Dave puts before your eyes.

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Ten or so cell phone photos from my hours outdoors each day

First, a paragraph on the Tree Swallow from Wikipedia:

An aerial insectivore, the tree swallow forages both alone and

Tree Swallow in flight

in groups of hundreds, eating mostly insects.

Molluscs, spiders, and fruit are also found in the diet. The nestlings, like the adult, primarily eat insects, fed to it by both the male and the female. This swallow is vulnerable to to parasites, but, when on nestlings, these do little damage.

Tree Swallow

In the US, the Tree Swallow is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, and in Canada by the Migratory Birds Convention Act. This swallow is negatively affected by human activities, such as the clearing of forests; acidified lakes can force a breeding tree swallow to go long distances to find calcium-rich food items to feed to its chicks.

END OF TREE SWALLOW STORY………………………………

OK kids, here is the reason for this page in my blog. I want to encourage you to: 1. Get out there and enjoy nature by hiking or biking the parks around you – at least two hours every day. 2. Take your quality camera (as Dave does) or your cell phone camera (as I do) and use it to record the nature you saw and enjoyed. 3. Send me some photos to post.

Here are just a few of my cell phone photos that I took while on my daily hours in nature around my home:

From my porch – It is not spots on my lens, it is not a swarm of bees, it is a swarm of Tree Swallows – feeding in groups of hundreds.

I found this Pygmy rattlesnake on our community’s Nature Trail – glad I had my cell phone with me.

Study the beautiful pattern and color in his head

You can always study clouds

With a little PhotoShop you can always see things in the clouds – you might have to study them for a while. I wonder what these two are discussing?

This water hole just right size for this guy – and he claims it as his very own.

Next day I found him in water hole – See the floating pine cone. It is almost the same size as his head & sort of looks like his head. Fun to find things like this. (I did not put the cone there)

Turtles are always fun to find – Looks like a cave painting on his side. I wonder how it got there. – maybe an injury?

Moooooo!

He almost had to chase these three wild turkeys off with his walking stick – Somebody must be feeding them ’cause they will follow you around as you hike.

Yesterday, when I returned from a bike ride, all three wild turkeys were in my front lawn. – Guess what, they followed me up the driveway and one came right into my garage.