Heron Siblings

I am still amazed that these Great Blue Herons come back every Spring to raise their families within a stone's throw of homes in the White Oak neighborhood off of the 4 Mile Creek Greenway. Even though some trees were lost due to storms this year, they built nests in new trees and so, again this year, there are 18 nesting pairs of herons in this rookery. In the midst of them this year and in a dead rottened out tree lives a raccoon who can be seen sleeping most of the day. I suppose he is ever on the lookout for the time one of the nests is unguarded and he can scurry up and have a gourmet lunch.
Almost al of the nests now have little ones and they grow fast. This is a shot of a nest that has 4 little ones that are about 3 weeks old. It will take them another 5 weeks or so to fledge so you can imagine how crowded that nest will be soon. They are very interesting to observe now as they learn about their surroundings and explore their little world.
The White Oak neighborhood have built a platform on the edge of the wetlands and it is very nice to be able to sit and enjoy the sites. If you sit quiet enough, you will see the Herons, an occasional Green Heron, Canadian Geese, a pair of Wood Ducks, lots of Red headed Woodpeckers, Blue Birds and other songbirds too numerous for me to list.

Tulips in Bloom

The folks who lived here before planted clumps of Tulips around the house. Since we have been here we have systematically dug them up and replanted them in locations where we think they have more impact. They play along with us and, in spite of what we put them through, sprout and grow and bloom again each year just in time for Easter. As I came back and forth and in and out of the driveway, they call to me incessantly until I gave in, got some gear, and crawled around on the ground at their level for the last few days. Across the street on the golf course there are some kind of flowering tree. The blossums are purple. I looked at a color wheel and found that the Tulip color and the color of the blossums on the trees were complimentary and blend together in a pleasing (to the eye) manner. So I get back onto my back to get low enought to make the trees the background and the Tulips the foreground and main subject. The results show that I should heed the lessons of theory more often. I think this is a pleasing image and a different, if not unique, image of Tulips. What do you think?