STUDYING MY NIKON D90 CAMERA MANUAL

A HYACINTH FLOWER IN OUR DRIVEWAY THIS MORNING 

Darkened skies threatened rain all day & aside from a short late afternoon shower we escaped the traveling rain fronts moving through the area all around us.

ALRIGHT MR. HITCHCOCK.....I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP NOW!! 
Aside from edging some flower beds this morning my day was quiet.  Sat on our front porch for quite awhile in the afternoon watching & listening to all our front yard birds.  Figured it was a good time to haul out my Nikon D90 manual & do a little reading.  And, may I add how nice it is to actually have a manual to read….anywhere I chose to read it.  With my carry around Canon Power Shot  SX210IS the manual is only available ‘on line’ & boy does that ever irk me!!  Wished I had known that before buying the camera.  Not much good having a camera manual on the computer if your out in a forest somewhere or on a desert trail with a camera question or problem.   From a guy who takes photos most every day, a handy printed manual in a camera bag is worth it’s weight in gold.

 

PART OF A SECOND MALE BALTIMORE ORIOLE CAN BE SEEN JUST OUT OF FOCUS RANGE AT THE BOTTOM
The reason for going through my camera manual this afternoon was simply to further understand the many workings & advantages of my very sophisticated camera.  Impossible for an aging memory like mine to understand & retain all that techno info.  Again, a handy accessible printed manual is essential for somebody like me.

<<< TWO MALE BALTIMORE ORIOLES
If my photography interests were limited to just point & shoot pics with the camera set on it’s Auto settings I suppose there would be no need to bother with reading any manuals.  Just point & shoot!!However, I haven’t been satisfied with my photography for quite awhile so I’m feeling a need to take my current advanced amateur photography skills up a notch.   My D90 is a lot smarter than I am so figured it was about time I get myself up to speed with my camera's further capabilities.

Kimberly & Jerry Peterson from HIT THE ROAD JACK have landed on our blog supporter’s list as followers 273 & right behind them I just noticed George Sharrer has slipped into slot 274.  Welcome aboard folks & thanks for taking an interest in the Bayfield Bunch:))
  

And ‘OMG’….just weeks after telling JUDY, our very own Bird Lady of Blogland, that after living the majority of my 66 years in southern Ontario I had never seen a Scarlet Tanager…..well, guess what I saw this morning in our front yard.  Yep, my first ever male Scarlet Tanager:))

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((   Stranger: "That is beautiful child you have there."
Mother: "That's nothing. You should see his photograph."

Keep in mind that sometimes the quickest way to make money at photography is to sell your camera.

And remember......having a camera makes me no more a photographer than having a hammer and some nails makes me a carpenter...........10-4:))

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

OUR SPRING WEATHER IS SLOWLY EVOLVING

SPRING IS THE TIME OF DAFFODILS
Of course the first thing I checked to see this morning was if my bird feeder station was intact....and it was.  We'll see what happens over the next few nights.  Below are some photos I took last Spring of an early evening invader in our front yard!!!!
     
 

Kelly had mentioned about having a shelf put in the bottom of our coat closet so this morning that was my mission.  Only had a couple days to finish that up before she gets  home from Spencerport NY early Wednesday afternoon.

OUR LATE BLOOMING TULIPS ARE FINALLY COMING OUT
Should have taken the Motorcycle for a ride this afternoon but I lapsed into kind of funk & with recent events I just have to be patient with myself knowing this pall of sadness will pass.

A BIG BLUE HERON LIFTS OFF THE MORNING POND
Sure enjoy sitting here in our sunroom at the desktop computer watching all the bird antics in our front yard these days.  I can be typing something & then just lose my train of thought & idle away the time watching the many birds.  By early evening the bunny rabbits venture out & our pond's Peeper frogs begin their melodic harmonies. 

AND THIS IS WHERE I LIKE TO SIT AT THE COMPUTER & WATCH THE BIRDS IN OUR FRONT YARD.....(FILE PIC FROM MAY 19/10)
I like the night because it is the time when all is quiet.  Lawn mowers aren't hammering & leaf blowers aren't screaming.   All the Park's residents have returned inside their homes.  A quiet peace descends on our Park as night falls.  It is my favorite time of day.  Oh how I miss the night walks Max & I used to take down the starlit dusty country road every night when we lived in the old farm house years ago.  So many great memories under so many wondrous starry skies.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An astronomer is on an expedition to Africa to observe a total eclipse of the sun, which will only be observable there, when he's captured by cannibals. The eclipse is due the next day around noon. To gain his freedom he plans to pose as a god and threaten to extinguish the sun if he's not released, but the timing has to be just right. So, in the few words of the cannibals' tongue that he knows, he asks his guard what time they plan to kill him.
The guard answers, "Tradition has it that captives are to be killed when the sun reaches the highest point in the sky on the day after their capture so that they may be cooked and ready to be served for the evening meal".
"Great", the astronomer replies.
The guard continues, "But because everyone's so excited about it, in your case we're going to wait until after the eclipse."
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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
https://mail.google.com/?v=b&cs=wh&to=stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.

A GREAT WEATHER DAY FOR SOME FRONT YARD PROJECTS

CANADA GOOSE TOUCHDOWN ON THE POND ACROSS THE ROAD 

First thing I saw looking out our sunroom window this morning was my bird station platform on the ground complete with a Squirrel sitting on top of it.  And yes, I have the picture to prove that too!!  So disappointing but for some reason I did not think the Squirrels could have done that & upon further inspection I soon began to suspect another culprit!!

DESPITE THIS INCRIMINATING PHOTO I DO NOT THINK THE SQUIRREL DID IT.........

Turned out to be a beautiful sunny day & my first thoughts were for a Motorcycle this morning, but it wasn't to be.  Took little Cora for a walk but she wasn't keen on going far so we were back home again shortly after we left.  First piece of business was to determine who or what had knocked the bird station down.  Wasn't long & I had a couple good clues & one good theory.

 

I had placed that bird station in an area where no Squirrels could climb nearby shrubs or trees & then leap upon the platform.  Also knew a Squirrel could not get on the platform from climbing the pole & didn't figure they could tip the platform with brute force even though it wasn't fastened down.  My first clue came when I closely inspected the pole itself & sure enough there it was, claw marks spaced much wider than a Squirrel.  Second clue came minutes later when I saw some scat on the ground that was definitely not from a dog.  The fact this was done at night plus the fact that some of the other birdfeeder damage was done in the darkened hours as well gave me a theory..............RACCOON!!

<<< BOTH OF THESE BIRD FEEDERS HAVE SO FAR TURNED OUT TO BE SQUIRREL PROOF:))

Along with the birdfeeders I had hung a couple suet cages up a few weeks ago as well.  One of those cages went missing the very first night & I still haven't found it.  The second cage ended up on the ground one morning last week still closed but no suet inside.  Thought that odd until today when I factored the Raccoon theory in.

AM HOPING THIS RECONSTRUCTED BIRD FEEDING STATION IS GOING TO WORK

So, instead of a nice bike ride through the countryside this morning I was busy putting the bird station back together.  Shortened the pole, stained the platform pieces & securely screwed & fastened the platform to the post.  Do I think I'll find the whole works on the ground again??  Oh probably!!

While putting the feeder back together I decided to carry on with some more revamping of our front yard.  Grass does not grow well here in the shadows of the Pine forest.  Despite completely sodding our front yard about 4 years ago the ever invasive moss has creeped in & pretty much taken over my nice sodding effort.  My idea the last couple years has been to gradually turn more of our grassy moss area into flower beds.  And, I have another ulterior motive for doing that!!

CHANGING OUR GARDEN LANDSCAPING AGAIN 

I absolutely hate small gasoline engines.  I have been at war with those fume belching, ear splitting foul running contraptions for just about as long as I can remember.  Lawn mowers, chain saws, weed whackers, roto tillers & the list goes on.  I think my right arm is two feet longer than my left just from yanking on ropes to start gas engines year after year.  Figure if I can eliminate most of our grass I can go back to using a quiet & simple push mower which I have always preferred anyway & that's what I intend to do from here on in.

 

I know small gasoline engines produce more power & torque than than their electric counterparts & do the job quicker but I have been slowly switching over to electric stuff.  If for no other reason than to at least eliminate the noise.  Noise has become my arch enemy over the last few years so anything I can do to create a quieter environment around myself is priority.

<<< SO NICE TO FINALLY SEE SOME BLOSSOMING SHRUBS

GROANER'S CORNER  A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of Squirrels. He pulls the guy over and says...

"You can't drive around with Squirrels in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately."

The guy says “OK”... and drives away.

The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the truck full of Squirrels, and they're all wearing sun glasses. He pulls the guy over and demands...

"I thought I told you to take these Squirrels to the zoo yesterday?"

The guy replies...

"I did . . . today I'm taking them to the beach!"

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EMAIL THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))
stargeezerguy@gmail.com
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right
now...... AL.