wet

If I Had A Billion Dollars

December 30, 2015 — 24 Comments

mansions

F/11.0, 1/640, ISO 800.

Day 364 / 365

The other day I was showing my new girlfriend around the mansion, the 60 acre garden onto the jetty where the 3 yachts were moored then onto the garage with over 30 classic cars. Oh the look on her face was magic.
I can’t wait to see it when I tell her I’m the gardener.

Interesting Fact: Newport Rhode Island Mansions beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy southern planters seeking to escape the heat began to build summer cottages on Bellevue Avenue such as Kingscote (1839).[13] Around the middle of the century, wealthy Yankees such as the Wetmore family also began constructing larger mansions such as Chateau-sur-Mer (1852) nearby.[14] Most of these early families made a substantial part of their fortunes in the Old China Trade. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Rhode_Island )

Duck Duck Duck Duck Duck Duck Goose!

December 28, 2015 — 9 Comments

Duck Duck Goose

F/ 6.3, 1/ 640, ISO 2800.

Green-Winged Teal

Canada Goose

Day 362 / 365

Where did the duck go when he was sick?

To the Ducktor

Interesting Fact: The American and Eurasian forms of the Green-winged Teal were formerly considered different species. The Eurasian teal differ from the American by lacking the vertical white shoulder stripe and having a horizontal white stripe along the back instead. Eurasian teal show up casually each year along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-winged_Teal/lifehistory )

Going to Christmas Eve Party!

December 24, 2015 — 23 Comments

christmas eve

F/ 7.1, 1/200, ISO 640, Photoshop CS6.

Northern Shoveler Ducks

Day 358 / 365

Twenty ways to confuse Santa Claus

1. Instead of milk and cookies, leave him a salad, and a note explaining that you think he could stand to lose a few pounds.

2. While he’s in the house, go find his sleigh and write him a speeding ticket.

3. Leave him a note, explaining that you’ve gone away for the holidays. Ask if he would mind watering your plants.

4. While he’s in the house, replace all his reindeer with exact replicas. Then wait and see what happens when he tries to get them to fly.

5. Keep an angry bull in your living room. If you think a bull goes crazy when he sees a little red cape, wait until he sees that big, red Santa suit!

6. Build an army of mean-looking snowmen on the roof, holding signs that say “We hate Christmas,” and “Go away Santa.”

7. Leave a note by the telephone, telling Santa that Mrs. Claus called and wanted to remind him to pick up some milk and a loaf of bread on his way home.

8. Throw a surprise party for Santa when he comes down the chimney. Refuse to let him leave until the strippers arrive.

9. While he’s in the house, find the sleigh and sit in it. As soon as he comes back and sees you, tell him that he shouldn’t have missed that last payment, and take off.

10. Leave a plate filled with cookies and a glass of milk out, with a note that says, “For The Tooth Fairy. :)” Leave another plate out with half a stale cookie and a few drops of skim milk in a dirty glass with a note that says, “For Santa. :(”

11. Take everything out of your house as if it’s just been robbed. When Santa arrives, show up dressed like a policeman and say, “Well, well. They always return to the scene of the crime.”

12. Leave out a copy of your Christmas list with last-minute changes and corrections.

13. While he’s in the house, cover the top of the chimney with barbed wire.

14. Leave lots of hunting trophies and guns out where Santa’s sure to see them. Go outside, yell, “Ooh! Look! A deer! And he’s got a red nose!” and fire a gun.

15. Leave Santa a note, explaining that you’ve moved. Include a map with unclear and hard-to-read directions to your new house.

16. Set a bear trap at the bottom of the chimney. Wait for Santa to get caught in it, and then explain that you’re sorry, but from a distance, he looked like a bear.

17. Leave out a Santa suit, with an attached dry-cleaning bill.

18. Paint “hoof-prints” all over your face and clothes. While he’s in the house, go out on the roof. When he comes back up, act like you’ve been “trampled.” Threaten to sue for personal injury.

19. Instead of ornaments, decorate your tree with Easter eggs.

20. Dress up like the Easter Bunny. Wait for Santa to come and then say, “This neighborhood ain’t big enough for the both of us.

Interesting Fact: Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.[4] Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve#Historical_events )

Staring Contest!

December 20, 2015 — 26 Comments

Northern Pintail Ducks

F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Northern Pintail Ducks

Day 354 / 365

What’s another name for a clever duck?

A wise quacker!

Interesting Fact: Like the Mallard, the Northern Pintail breeds in a variety of habitats all across northern North America and Eurasia. Also like the Mallard, island populations have splintered off and evolved into separate species. Two closely related forms can be found on Crozet and Kerguelen islands in the very southern Indian Ocean, known as Eaton’s Pintail (Anas eatoni) ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/lifehistory )

Don’t Wait For The Perfect Moment. Take The Moment And Make It Perfect.

December 5, 2015 — 21 Comments

Belted Kingfisher

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.

Belted Kingfisher    

Day 339 / 365

A guy calls his boss and says “I can’t come to work today

The boss asks why and the guy says “It’s my eyes.”

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” asks the boss.

“I just can’t see myself coming to work, so I’m going fishing instead….”

Interesting Fact: As nestlings, Belted Kingfishers have acidic stomachs that help them digest bones, fish scales, and arthropod shells. But by the time they leave the nest, their stomach chemistry apparently changes, and they begin regurgitating pellets which accumulate on the ground around fishing and roosting perches. Scientists can dissect these pellets to learn about the kingfisher’s diet without harming or even observing any wild birds. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Belted_Kingfisher/lifehistory )

That Taste A Little Weird?

November 14, 2015 — 17 Comments

Gadwall

F/ 11.0, 1/400, ISO 320.

Gadwall Ducks

Ring Billed Gulls

Day 218 / 365

A duck goes into a bar and says, ‘I would like a drink. I am old enough.’
The bartender replies, ‘You need to be able to prove who you are.’
The duck pulls out a mirror. He looks in it, nods his head, and says, ‘Yep, that’s me.’
.
Interesting Fact: Female Gadwall produce an egg a day while they are laying their 7–12-egg clutches. To meet their demand for protein during this stressful time, female Gadwall eat more invertebrates than males during this period—in addition to using reserves of nutrients they’ve stored in their bodies during the winter. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gadwall/lifehistory )

I Don’t Think Anyone Will Row Row Row That Boat Gently Down The Stream

November 12, 2015 — 26 Comments

Binghamton ferry

F/22.0, 159.0, ISO 64.

Day 316 / 365

What do you do with a sick boat?

Take it to the DOC!

Interesting Fact:

Binghamton was one of six identical screw-propelled double-ended ferryboats built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company at Newport News, Virginia in 1904-05 to designs by Gardner & Cox, naval architects. She was launched on February 20, 1905, with Miss Charlotte Emery, daughter of John M. Emery, the newly promoted superintendent of the Hoboken Ferry Company and Ferry Department of the DL&W, serving as her sponsor. Binghamton was completed a month later and left the Newport News yard on March 25 for the trip to Hoboken, New Jersey. She was placed in commission on April 3. Her Captain for the first crossing was Oren D. Relyea.

Her normal run was from the Hoboken Terminal to Barclay Street, a twelve-minute journey of approximately 1 and 3/4 miles, a trip made continuously nearly every day for more than sixty years (on occasion she substituted on the Hoboken – 23rd Street run). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton_(ferryboat) )

 

 

The Duck Says Quack!

November 8, 2015 — 12 Comments

Ruddy Duck

F/ 10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.

Ruddy Duck

Day 312 / 365

What did the duck say when he dropped the dishes?

I hope I didn’t quack any!”
Interesting Fact: Though Ruddy Ducks are native to the Americas, one population became established in England after captive ducks escaped in 1952. This population grew to about 3,500 individuals by 1992, and now appears to be expanding into the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Spain. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory ).

You Don’t Know Quack!

October 25, 2015 — 14 Comments

Ruddy Duck 1

F/ 13.0, 1/640, ISO 800.

Ruddy Duck

Day 298 / 365

A man and a duck are walking down the street together. Suddenly the man notices a low-flying airplane coming right for them. The man yells “DUCK!!!!” and the duck looks back at the man with an angry face and yells “MAN!!!!”

Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. They are even known to chase rabbits feeding on the shore. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )

Hooked On Quack!

October 19, 2015 — 22 Comments

Green-winged Teal

F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 500.

Green-Winged Teal

Day 292 / 365

A duck, a skunk and a deer went out for dinner at a restaurant one night.

When it came time to pay,

the skunk didn’t have a scent,

the deer didn’t have a buck,

so they put the meal on the duck’s bill.

Interesting Fact: Green-winged Teal, more than any other species of duck, prefer to seek food on mud flats. Where mud flats are lacking, they prefer shallow marshes or temporarily flooded agricultural lands. They usually eat vegetative matter consisting of seeds, stems, and leaves of aquatic and emergent vegetation. ( http://www.withmephotographyblog.com/8-interesting-facts-about-the-green-winged-teal )