Dave wrote:  Hi Jim, It has been a cold wet spring here in upstate NY. I haven’t been out in my blind to photograph Wood Ducks very much. It has been mostly dark and wet. I did get out a few times when we had some sun. Here are a few shots of Woodies plus a shot of the permanent blind we built  a few years ago on one of the ponds behind our property.  Dave

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

05 03 3023 Dave Cesari

You know, Spring is my favorite time of year.  I try to spend hours outside where ever I may be.  In Florida it harder to know when spring starts and winter ends than many places I hav been in spring, but  plants and the animals  knows when it is spring.

Plants show flowers, grass is growing , and animals are out and about.  I captured, with my iphone camera, a few of the many I see each day. Not all are as artistically beautiful as the Wood Duck but they are all fun to see and enjoy:

CURIOUS – I see you, you see me – sounds like a country western song title

DINNER – This rushing run-off water is this birds  fishing ground – all day long he/she is there – I did not weigh it but I bet it gained a few pounds.

CURIOUS – Why do they grow in circles?

FRESH – A composition of contrasts in shapes and color.

GRACE – Nest time you see one of these, watch them slide across the road, study not the snake but study it’s movements – Should be a Broadway Show of dancers – Pure grace

THESE TWO DIFFERENT ANIMALS ARE A VIEW OF PRE-HISTORY – You might say they are ugly – but I love to watch their determination to get where ever it is they are heading for. Only they know where that is maybe they are  just out sightseeing, maybe looking for food, maybe looking for a partner, maybe I do not know!

PRETTY – Just a baby and I think it is pretty

NOT A BABY,- HUNGRY, ANGRY, MEAN – I do not know which. Only he/she knows – BUT IF YOU ARE IN GATOR COUNTRY,  BE CAREFUL – STAY AWAY FROM THEM – THEY ARE FAST AND IF ONE GETS HOLD OF YOU THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO GET AWAY – DONATE TO HIM THE  ARM OR LEG HE GRABBED!   This smaller gator was swimming around not long before I snapped this photo.  Then the fight began. As you can see he no longer is swimming around  and he did give up a leg to no avail.  Sorry I had to insert such a gruesome photo.  I wanted to enhance your view of the natural world in order to encourage you to be careful.

As you swing through life, enjoy nature, be careful, and remember animals live by different rules than we do.