Beautiful Birds

Ever since I got my Nikon Coolpix camera for Christmas this year, I have wanted to take amazing pictures with it.  Thankfully I have been able to take some good ones, but there wasn't that  ring of the camera snap in my ears, (the sound of perfection) and the glorious feeling you get when you snap the perfect shot.  There wasn't the satisfaction of looking at a crystal trenchant picture.  Of course like I said, my camera had amazing ability when it came to clearness, but I still didn't have that one desired picture.  That is, until these past few weeks.  The first "desired picture" I got, was of these two beautiful cardinals.  These two specific cardinals had been coming to our house for as long as I can remember.  There is a male, which is a bright, radiant red, and a female, which at least tries her best. ;)  (Everyone knows that she couldn't possibly "out-shine" her husband, no matter how hard she tries, but we all try not to disappoint her by saving the paparazzi for her charmer.)  If you're still following me, (sorry for the rabbit trail), then I hope you will enjoy the cardinals as much as I do!

  The next picture I was able to capture wasn't actually too long ago.  There was a little house wren that came over to what use to be our bird bath.  Seeing as how it was quite cold, the bird bath had frozen, cracked and broken, and now had a layer of the purest white snow on the top.  I was in the kitchen once again, and my camera was coincidentally sitting on the counter out of its bag.  I slowly removed myself from my chair and quickly grabbed my camera.  Easing my way towards the window, I hid behind the frame, so as not to scare the poor little thing.  I began to edge my way around the corner and simultaneously turned on my camera.  Zooming in as far as I could, without making it fuzzy, I took about three pictures and this was my favorite!

  

I recently posted a blog titled "Our Trip to Cades Cove".  If you haven't looked at it, you definitely should, but I saved one of the pictures to add here.  While we were at the Old Mill, I saw a little Chickadee and Carolina Wren.  My goal was to get a picture of the Chickadee, but not only would it not face me, but it kept flying from the tree to the ground and I never could get a good picture of it, so I got a picture of the wren instead.  It was a much better model!

Another time, me, my sister Jessica, my sister-in-law Virginia, and my brother Jonathan were all taking a trip to Look Rock.  Look Rock is a beautiful mountain with an easy trail you climb to get to a place that overlooks the city of Alcoa, Maryville and sometimes even a little bit of Knoxville on a really clear day.  I took my new camera (of course) to snap some shots of this gorgeous view!  Right as we were about to leave, Jonathan suddenly got excited and beckoned me to look off to the left.  There, gliding in the air, was a beautiful red-tailed hawk.  I was able to zoom up on it at just the right time.  Because of the wind gusts, he was able to hover in the air for a few seconds without flapping.  In this time span, he was very still and I was able to get a pretty neat picture.

The last, "desired picture" I was able to take, (and I must say, this is by far my favorite,) I have decided to make a surprise!  I was outside taking pictures around my pond because there was an icy wonderland everywhere I looked, when I heard the strangest sound.  I knew immediately that it was a bird, and I was trying to figure out what tree the sound was illuminating from.  Then when I finally found the tree, I scoured it up and down to find the bird.  When at first I tried to take a picture of it, it saw me and fled in horror.  (I can only presume that it flew in horror because of my fashion choice.  I just so happened to be wearing hot pink footed pajamas (that I also got for Christmas) and a pair of yellow Crocs!  I'm sure if you were a bird and saw me, you would have had a moment of bewilderment at why on earth I would wear such a thing...and in 20 degree weather?!)  I practically laughed out loud at what happened next.  When I looked at the tree he had flown to and found him again, he was behind a branch.  The funny part was: every few seconds he would poke his head out from behind the branch and look at me, and then put it back!  After doing this and screeching very angrily at me for a few moments, he cautiously flew back to his tree, but still kept an eye on me.  You may have already guessed what kind of bird it is, but if not, maybe this will help.

It was a wood pecker!  A female wood pecker, (which I like to suppose was his mate) had sadly died a while ago from severe head trauma after flying straight into our window.  He must have been afraid I would do something awful to him. :)  I suppose that there isn't much more to say, other than thank you for reading and supporting.  I can't wait to tell you more about my photographic fun!  

Until next time,
Jennifer C. 

   

Our Trip to Cades Cove

Today my brother, Jonathan and his wife, Virginia took me to Cades Cove.  We had a blast, and I was able to snap some cool pictures.  

Cades Cove is a beautiful park in East Tennessee with open fields, and breath taking mountains.  There is a big loop you can drive around to see this scenery, and little detours along the way.  When we first entered the park, the first thing we saw was snow-covered mountains.  I immediately got a mental picture of someone pouring confectioners' sugar all over the mountain!  And of course--picture opportunity!  

Confectioners' Sugar!!!

   
Not too long after this, we noticed that the people ahead of us were slowing down.  Sometimes you will see people from out of town that slow down to look at "wild life".  (Such as a turkey ;p)  When we looked over into the field to see what they were looking at, we saw deer!  There were two right out in the open.  I rolled down my window to try to get a good picture.  Having to zoom in, I clucked and whistled, but to no effect.  I assume that the thought going through their heads were, "Oh my gosh Samantha, it's those white tall things in boxes again.  Maybe if we don't pay any attention they'll go away."  But finally I was victorious, and the doe raised her head right in time for me to 'snap'.  

After a few curves, we arrived at Sparks Lane.  Sparks Lane is a pretty little creek with trees and rocks surrounding it.  We drove through the little dip in the road, splashing water here and there.  When we finished parking, we bundled up once more.  Before I tried any water pictures, we walked down a little lane to the left.  It led to a wide open field with a beautiful twisted wire split log fence, where we also found an old red gate.  Seeing as how I love old red things, I wanted to take a picture and Jonathan and Virginia were my models.

Virginia's cold farmer face.

Aren't they so cute!

When we got back to the car, I decided to try and take some creek pictures.  Since it was only 28 degrees, crossing the "water dip" wasn't really possible with freezing 6 inch deep water.  Jonathan, (being the genius he is) had a brilliant idea.  He said that we could drive halfway across the dip, and then I could open my door and snap a picture that way.  Being careful not to drop my camera, I got as low to the water as I could to take a few pictures.  

I love how the sun glares off of the water on this one!

When we were finished with Sparks Lane, we drove a little further until we discovered yet another open field.  This one had a "lone tree" to one corner, and a little culvert running through the middle with water trickling down it.  There was a big grey boulder with moss growing on it, and I couldn't resist the chance to snap, snap, annnnnd snap!  

Me and Virginia enjoying the view. 

Love's in the air...

Sun flares are the coolest!

The miniature lake.  (Culvert) ;)

A hop, skip, and a shiver later, we were driving through a clearing when we saw not one, but two beautiful red foxes!  We were all frozen, mouths gaping, stunned because of the magnificence before us.  I quickly snapped out of my daze and grabbed for my camera.  Thanks to my camera's amazing zooming capability, I was able to take a few shots.

"Ahhhh sweet relief!"

*Sniff* *Sniff*

Huh?

After trying to recover from the beauty of the foxes, we continued to drive.  We drove to the old mill, which is a detour along the way.  It was very very cold there, especially in the shade, but despite our frigid nature, we stared in awe of the magnificent foot long icicles hanging on various objects.  By the mill there was a slew that had penny's in it.  Penny's containing beautiful wishes.  (No not really....basically it's like a trash bin for your money.)  Anyway, I was excited to get some pictures!  There was a large water-wheel, obviously not running because of the cold, but the beautiful sculptures made were definitely worth it! 

After the mill, we were almost done with our adventure.  We made one last stop before exiting.  It was a quaint little church with howling gospel singers inside.  They actually made quite beautiful music, but we were more so entertained with the cemetery out back.  There was also a pretty little bell tower atop the chapel.

William Hamby No Militia Revolutionary War 1744-1840

When we left the church, there was a mysterious but beautiful tree lined road that I had to get a picture of!

Last, but not least, on the drive home, there was a beautiful sunset.  I was able to capture another sun flare, and also accidentally focused partially on the window.  It almost gave me the thought that someone had captured the sun between two fingers.

This little light of mine, I'm gunna let it shine!