Happy Halloween - Boo!

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it. Since it's halloween, i thought i would post a scary picture i took in my kitchen. Giant spider eating a giant fly is pretty scary, and since i recently watched The Mist, spiders were on my mind. Okay, i admit, these aren't giants, actually very, very small, as you might be able to tell from the window screen they are on. Spiders are scary, but also pretty fascinating when seen up close like this. I wish i could have gotten footage of it stalking the fly, that was amazing. It slowly moved step by step, towards the fly, and then jumped with a string of web attached to the screen. The spider got bigger and bigger as time went on, and after a while it stashed the fly in a corner wrapped in web. I have no clue what type of spider this is, other than a jumping one, and very, very small. The creepiest thing about spiders to me? It's eyes. So many and in odd spots, yikes.

Just some fall color

Just wanted to post some fall color, tomorrow is Halloween, and not sure how many kids are going to be at the door as the flu is in full swing here from what it sounds like, and the rain and snow hasn't made for being outside weather. Also, the colors are a nice distraction from the news of the hate graffiti that that threatened violence that was found at the university library.

Stop, Fall Colors

One of the few types of trees that had color on them, and they were really bright. Not quite captured here as bright as i saw them, and i didn't want to punch it up too much in Photoshop. I have no clue what type of trees these are, but all around town they are the ones with leaves on them. Most just were green one day, then turned and got bare the next. I actually have mostly evergreen trees around my house, and bushes, so while i get some of it, i see some green all year round. That's actually nice when the snow is so white and the sky is so grey, any color is nice as winter draws on. Which i'm not looking forward to.

Corn

This is a corn field on the edge of town to the north east i believe. Not sure if that is going to be harvested or not, maybe delayed by it being so wet, or something, i'm not sure. Eloquent, i know.

Fall colors, sort of

Took this today, north side of town sort of between a highway and an industrial park. Sadly this was the best colors i could get of a group of trees. The weather has been not so great for tree colors lately. It's been snowing, raining, and pretty much that color of grey for a while, with only a couple of days of blue sky. The snow and rain seem to have just taken the colors out and made the leaves fall. There are a couple of trees here and there that have great colors, but as a mass like this, i just haven't seen it.

Bird contemplating something

Here is another bird, yeah, i know i'm posting a lot of birds lately. This one looks almost like he's contemplating something, but probably just watching the other birds like him in the yard.

More young cardinals.

I saw these two out my kitchen window today, and quickly grabbed my camera, so it's not the best photo (i also think my sensor might be needing a cleaning too), but i really like seeing and sharing ones like this. It's raining and cold, but those birds need to eat. The young one is also starting to show more color, and is quite cute if not a bit bossy seeming.

Dirty bird

Here is one of the birds (yes, again, heh) in front of my house rubbing dry dirt on itself. It was raining that day and this area was covered from the rain. There were several dozen of this type of bird, they were fighting over the area and sometimes taking turns doing this. I'm not sure if they were drying themselves or what, but sadly this is the best angle i could get of them doing it without scaring them away.

Snowman

Taking a break from the birds, i thought i'd show one of my neighbors' snowmen. This was taken just the other day, after almost all the other snow that fell had melted, although you can probably tell this guy is slowly melting too. Temps have rarely gotten out of the 30s, with rain and some flurries too.

Thirsty bird

While the cardinals were eating, so were these types of birds, and drinking at a basin i have out that catches rain (and snow). I forget this type of bird, but it's currently the most common i see out at the feeders and on the bushes with little red berries. When they are around, there are more than dozens of them, big flocks of them eating and being skittish. They are common but are hard to get good pictures of as they fly off at almost any motion i make. I'm glad i got this, as i love seeing them drink. After they dip in they lift their heads up at an angle to swallow.

The snow is all gone from what i can tell, but the next two days are predicted to have either snow or rain, or both. Not looking forward to that.

Young and Old

I was looking out my kitchen window and saw several pairs of cardinals (i'm pretty sure that's what these are) feeding younger ones at my feeders. Sadly once i grabbed the camera and took pictures all but these two flew away. The one in back was feeding into the mouth of the younger one in front. Both feeders were covered with cardinals, young and old. Kind of surprised me though as i always thought the young were earlier than now. Hopefully the snow didn't mess anything up for them. I know the cardinals love the food, as i tend to buy "cardinal food" as it seems to have the most variety of seeds in it and it seems to attract the most types of birds too.

another snow picture

Just wanting to show another view of the snow that happened yesterday and how there is still a lot of green out. There were people making snow men out of it, as it was a heavy dense packing snow too. I read that there were around 100 accidents in the morning around the area due to the snow on the roads.

Snow Thanks

Took this a little while after the snow was coming down during the night, long exposure of about 20 seconds or so. They are predicting over three inches of snow before it stops. It snowed saturday, but nothing that stuck, so far this is looking like it might stay, but i hope not. It's way too early for snow, the trees are still green mostly. Though this might change that.

New Bird

Just saw this bird on my feeder, i've never seen it before so i grabbed the camera and tried to get some shots before it flew off, so they aren't the best shots but i'm glad i got it. Most of the birds at the feeders now are like the little brown one on the left, getting ready for winter it seems as it snowed yesterday. Anyway, it's a lovely bird with a red head. I still wish i could get a photo of the woodpecker i see very rarely but hear often.

Edit:
 I looked online, and i am wondering if it's a red bellied woodpecker. Not exact, but as close as i have found.

Gourds and pumpkins

Just some more gourds and pumpkins to get the feeling of the season. I thought this was a colorful display too. Thankfully it wasn't raining when i took this, because it's been raining a lot lately.

More graffiti

I take back any attribution of intelligence to the one who did the graffiti, as you can see here they decided it wasn't enough to do one (the other one is less than a block from these), but two more right here. Just an idiot with a spray can. The day after i took this they had replaced the sign with a clean one, hopefully they catch this jerk and make him pay for that along with clean up.

Pumpkins

Here is a bunch of pumpkins for sale in town, it's getting to be that time of year, and i like seeing pumpkins around even if i don't really care for the taste. I can't explain why i don't like it, just something about the taste. I love the smell of it, pie mostly, but not the taste. I wonder how that works and why.

Overgrown

This is a view out my kitchen window taken with a new pinhole lens cap mod. It's been dark and rainy for the last few days, and i feel this picture showing how much that bush is getting overgrown with the leaves turning the background gives that feeling pretty well. Hopefully it will stop raining soon, i don't feel comfortable taking the camera out when it's that wet, even though i'm pretty sure it would survive. Best not take risks. I know it will be a while before it warms up though, as it's getting more and more fall like.

Dollfie in basement.

This is my dollfie in my basement, looking up at me with concern. I thought i had the swine flu before, but i might have been wrong, as i didn't have chest or breathing issues. I do now, although hopefully it stays minor, knowing my luck it's just the start of more problems. So while it's been feeling like fall with being very chilly and raining a lot, i haven't had the energy or drive to go out much into the damp.