Animals – Photography, Images and Cameras

A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Saratoga Springs, Congress Park Congress Park is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) site in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It was formerly the site of the Congress Hotel (also called Congress Hall), a large resort hotel, and the Congress Spring Bottling Plant, as well as Canfield Casino, which together brought Saratoga Springs international fame as a health spa and ...
A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – Juno And so, after all of the dog memorabilia in the previous post, we come to a real dog: My friends’ dog, Juno. He’s the reason we were staying at The Paw House in the first place. He’s a lovely dog, I believe an Australian Shepherd. He’s intelligent, active, loyal and playful. And he ...
A visit to upstate New York and Vermont – The Paw House Inn and Resort This was where we actually stayed and, boy was it pet friendly. We stayed in the Inn, and there were another couple of cottages. There was also a building where you could leave your dog if you couldn’t take him/her with you. A large, enclosed area offered ample space where you could ...
A Spider Web I was sitting on my balcony one day watching the sun go down when I noticed something in the gaps between the railing that was reflecting the light. Looking more closely I noticed it was this spider web. Taken with a Sony RX10 IV>
A Pigeon I like pigeons, but this one was quite “nervy”. It flew right onto my table. I thought it would immediately fly off, but it didn’t. Instead, it hung around for a while. Taken with a Sony RX100 M3
In New York City with Jasmine – Pigeons By this time my feet were getting tired, so I sat down in a park opposite the hotel for a while. If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know about my problems getting pictures of birds that aren’t Canada Geese or Mallards. Well, pigeons are neither of these. And there were lots of ...
Cat on a bed Help! My bed’s been kidnapped…or is it catnapped. Taken with an iPhone SE II
Snakeskin It’s seems that Sunday, September 22 was my day for wildlife. I had no sooner finished with the vultures (See: Vultures on my roof) when I came across this by my front door. A couple of snakes live under my porch (see below). I used to see them basking in front of my door. ...
Vultures on my roof Warning: the last picture is rather gruesome. If you have a sensitive nature you might want to avoid it. Almost two weeks ago I was reading in my bedroom when heard the sound of something running around on the roof above me. I thought – maybe squirrels? I’ve heard them before and didn’t think much ...
A Walk through Peekskill – Dogs I was now ready to head back to the station to get my train. Soon after leaving Ramenesque I came across these dogs. At first, I thought there was only one of them, but then the second one raised its head. I have no idea what breed they are? They certainly were ...
Bar in Fishkill, NY Love the dog. Taken with a Sony RX100 M1
Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – The Law Park Pond In spring it’s full of large frogs, which produce large numbers of tadpoles which in turn attract water birds such as cormorants, egrets and herons like the green heron below (taken at the Law Park Pond, but not during the current walk) Taken with a Sony RX100 III
A couple of frogs A friend of mine has a problem with her water main. Water bubbles up to the surface and accumulates in a small hole. It seems to stop at this level and doesn’t overflow the hole. Very Strange. Anyway, we passed by the other day and heard a ‘plop’ as something jumped into the accumulated water. ...
Deer behaving strangely It was, for once, a nice day yesterday. After finishing at the Historical Society, I was sitting on the deck outside my bedroom when I noticed some movement. I often see deer, have lots of pictures of them and I don’t generally want any more. Usually, they arrive either singly or in groups, munch around ...
More on my earlier snake post My earlier post about a snake I saw on the walkway to my front door, provoked a few comments, mostly along the lines of “I don’t like snakes”. Unfortunately, I do as can be seen from the photograph below. It was taken a long time ago (just look at the hair) in Thailand. I ...
Another visitor to my garden A couple of days ago I came across this on the walkway to my front door. I don’t know much about snakes and have no idea what kind this might be: maybe an Eastern Ratsnake? Suggestions welcomed. Taken with a Sony DSC-H50
More visitors to my garden It started a few weeks ago when I spotted a groundhog (See: A visitor to my garden). After that I started seeing more and more. I imagine they’re all pretty recognizable, but just in case: above a Chipmunk. Rabbit. Squirrel. Deer. Another Deer. White-breasted Nuthatch. Red winged Blackbird. Robin. Taken with a Sony RX10 III
Another picture of my cat, Isa I’ve posted one very like it before. In that one she was looking pensively to the side. In this one she’s looking directly at the camera. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 FE
An Exhibition Above: the cover page to the exhibition brochure. I guess that they do this exhibition annually, because although the brochure reads “2023” it seemed to work with no problems for this exhibition taking place in “2024”. In any case the brochure provides very little text, and only five examples of the over 60 exhibited works. ...
Seagull in flight Seen by the Hudson River in Peekskill, NY. Taken with an Olympus OM-D EM-10 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II
Crazy looking Bug It’s not an insect (insects have only six legs). It’s not an arachind (e.g. a spider. Arachnids only have eight legs). So what on earth is this? It certainly has a very impressive set of legs. Some kind of centipede? It’s seemed my guess was correct. After a very brief ...
A visitor to my garden Actually, I don’t think I’m correct in calling “A visitor” as I think it’s actually living in my garden. I saw it for the first time a couple of days ago. I think it’s a groundhog. I’ve already learned a few things about it: It has very good hearing. The first time I saw ...
A Dog I came across the beautiful dog on a sidewalk patio outside a Briarcliff Manor Restaurant. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Samyang 45mm f1.8
Doves Silhouette I was leaving my house the other day when I noticed these two doves in a tree near the end of my driveway. They were quite a long way away and I had a 45mm lens on my camera, so I knew I would have to crop quite a lot. Luckily the camera ...
Isa Revisited My cat, Isa in pensive mood. She’s probably wondering what to kill next. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 FE
My Cat I haven’t posted any pictures of my cat for a while. So here we go. Her name is Isa. She’s a Maine Coon and she’s the most affectionate cat that I’ve ever had. Most people seem to feel that she’s quite spectacular…as do I! Taken with a Panasonic Lumx GX85 and and Panasonic Lumix ...
Some of my favorite pictures of 2023 – Color Red Fody, Bronx Zoo, June 21 Street Photographpy. Well, it is a street, and not just any street. This is 42nd Street, Manhattan, New York City. December 11. Leaf and Stumps, Camp Andree, Briarcliff Manor, NY. November 20. Third Avenue and 55th Street, Manhattan. December 20. Abstract Composition on the Charles River. Boston, ...
A Fluffy White Dog For a variety of reasons including bad weather, I’d been cooped up in the house for a couple a days and was starting to feel “cabin fever”. So, I decided to go out for a photowalk. Along the way I came across a young girl trying (unsuccessfully) to catch this fluffy white dog ...
A Visit to Boston – Day Three – The lowly pigeon And why not? They deserve their time in the sun too! They’re not unattractive and, as a species, incredibly successful. My grandfather used to race pigeons. I grew up in the UK and someone would pick them up and take them over to somewhere in Europe, where they were released, the time of the release ...
A Visit to Boston – Day Three – Pigeonman It was time for me to head back to Back Bay Station. Directly across from the station I came across this man feeding the pigeons. He seems to be having a great time and encouraged me to take pictures. Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS
A Visit to Boston – Day Two – In and around Quincy Market “Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed between 1824 and 1826 and named in honor of mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. The market is a designated National Historic Landmark and a designated Boston Landmark in 1996, significant as one ...
A Jumping Spider I was sitting, reading on my deck/balcony when this little guy hopped onto the book I was reading. You can see how tiny it was by comparing it to the page number on my book. How do I know it was a jumping spider? Well, it had jumped onto my book and after ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Chestnut-breasted malkoha The chestnut-breasted malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. Found in Southeast Asia from Myanmar through to eastern Java, the Philippines and Borneo, it is a large cuckoo measuring up to 49 cm (19 in) with grey and dark green upperparts and chestnut underparts, and a large curved pale upper ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Red Fody The red fody (Foudia madagascariensis), also known as the Madagascar fody in Madagascar, red cardinal fody in Mauritius, or common fody, is a small bird native to Madagascar and introduced to various other islands in the Indian Ocean. It is a common bird within its restricted range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Andean Cock-of-the-rock The Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus), also known as tunki (Quechua), is a large passerine bird of the cotinga family native to Andean cloud forests in South America. It is the national bird of Peru. It has four subspecies and its closest relative is the Guianan cock-of-the-rock. The Andean cock-of-the-rock exhibits marked sexual dimorphism; the male has ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Taveta weaver The Taveta weaver (Ploceus castaneiceps), also known as the Taveta golden weaver, (or the mango bird) is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is found on the African savannah in Kenya and Tanzania. The name of the bird comes from the unique markings/coloration of the bird, as well as how these ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Crested partridge The crested partridge (Rollulus rouloul) also known as the crested wood partridge, roul-roul, red-crowned wood partridge, green wood quail or green wood partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is the only member of the genus Rollulus. This small partridge is a resident breeder in lowland rainforests ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Red-throated parrotfinch The red-throated parrotfinch (Erythrura psittacea) is a species of estrildid finch found in New Caledonia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 20,000 to 50,000 km2. It is found in both subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and shrubland habitats. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern. The red-throated parrotfinch was ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – Grey Winged Trumpeter The grey-winged trumpeter is a chicken-like bird with a long neck and legs and a hump-backed profile. It is 45 to 52 centimeters (18 to 20 in) long. Two males weighed 0.82 and 1.02 kg (1.8 and 2.2 lb) and six females weighed between 0.79 and 1.06 kg (1.7 and 2.3 lb). The sexes are ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – White FRONTED bee eater The white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) is a species of bee-eater widely distributed in sub-equatorial Africa. The species has a distinctive white forehead, a square tail, and a bright red patch on its throat. It nests in small colonies, digging holes in cliffs or earthen banks, and can usually be seen in low trees, waiting to ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Birds – White-THROATED bee eater Finally found some birds that aren’t either Mallards or Canada geese, but I had to go to the zoo to do it. When I started to write these posts I had no idea what the birds were called. However, it turned out that it was pretty easy to find them on the internet. ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Turtles The animal in the first picture is certainly a Turtle. It’s local and was not in the Zoo proper, but swimming in the Bronx River. I’m not sure about the second one, but I suspect it’s some kind of Tortoise, maybe a Desert Tortoise? Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 ...
At the Bronx Zoo – Red Lemur The red lemur (Eulemur rufus), also known as the rufous brown lemur or northern red-fronted lemur, is a species of lemur from Madagascar. Until 2001, the species E. rufus was considered a subspecies of the common brown lemur, E. fulvus, after which it was classified as its own species. In December 2008, the species was ...
At the Bronx Zoo – More Rhinos Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens
At the Bronx Zoo – A Rhino Rhino expresses his opinion on me taking his picture. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens
Colorful Fish I came across this is a Chinese restaurant in Cortlandt Manor. I was struck by the colors. They were so vibrant it almost seemed unreal, as if I’d oversaturated them in Lightroom (I didn’t). Maybe it was the contrast between the orange fish and the bright blue background that did it. It’s not ...
A Visit to Philipsburg Manor – A Cat Of course, where you have a lot of corn and flour, you also tend to get lots of rats, mice and other vermin. So you also need something to deal with them: a cat. This picture is a little misleading. It gives the impression that I was walking around and came across a sleeping ...
Grounds for Sculpture – A Mallard Ah, yes – the inevitable Mallard – Aghhhh!! These things are everywhere. Maybe I should specialize in photographing Mallards. Though I have to say that the males are very attractive birds. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Grounds for Sculpture – Fish Not technically great photographs, but there’s something I quite like about them. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Grounds for Sculpture – A bird Not a sculpture, but a real bird. Anyone reading this blog will know by now that I struggle to get pictures of birds. It’s not that I’m not technically capable of taking the pictures. Rather it’s that I can’t find birds to take pictures of – except for Canada Geese and Mallards. ...
Grounds for Sculpture – Waterlilies Continuing in the Impressionist vein… Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
At the Bronx Zoo – Oh give me a home… Seen at the Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York City, NY. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens
Mallard I don’t think he was very happy about me taking his picture. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Cat on the deck My cat doesn’t usually venture outside, but tonight she decided to check out the newly replaced deck. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 F
A visitor to the garden This was surprise. I had gone down to the kitchen to get something to drink, when out of the corner of my eye I sensed movement. When I saw what it was I hastily grabbed a camera and without thinking too much about the settings shot off a few frames. We used have ...
A pair of geese No comment. My non-ending search for some birds to photograph continues with the inevitable Canada Geese. At least these two were kind enough to look in my direction. Taken in early April 2023 with a Sony R1 and fixed Sony 24-120 f2.8-4.8
At Yonkers station Taken on one platform at Yonkers Metro North Station looking towards another. Although the man is prominent I liked the view of the Palisades in the background and the colony (yes that’s the right word – I looked it up) of gulls swirling around in the background. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 ...
Deer on Old Briarcliff Road I came across this guy the other day while walking around in the neighborhood. I was trying out a newly acquired wide angle (15-36mm equivalent) lens and since he/she was on the other side of the wall I wasn’t able to get very close. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 10-24mm f4 R ...
A visit to Sterling Forest – Inside the visitors center There were a number of models describing the history of Sterling Forest and its mines as well as some iron artifacts found on the property, but I was particularly interested in the stuffed animals, including this eagle and a beaver (there was also a rather nice owl, but I messed up the photograph and so ...
A short walk along Route 9 in Dobbs Ferry – Bird in a bush I’d like to take pictures of birds, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. It’s not that I don’t have the right gear. I’ve invested in gear for this particular purpose. It’s that I have difficulty finding birds. I know that this is my problem rather than a problem with equipment. ...
Some of my favorite pictures of 2022 – Color Elena Jumping. June 24. Wasps fighting. May 27. Pocantico River passing under the Old Croton Aqueduct. October 23. Hardscrabble Wilderness Area. September 21 Fish in Law Park. August 26 I don’t think he/she appreciated me taking a picture. February 22. Hoverfly Macro. September 2. MOMA Red. September 13. A Lightshade. September 2. Lucas relaxing. November 24
Happy Christmas! Happy Christmas everyone!
A mallard After investing quite a lot of money in camera gear suitable for taking pictures of birds, I’ve been singularly unsuccessful in finding birds to take pictures of. So when I come across a bird, no matter how ordinary, I can’t resist taking a picture of it. Hence this very ordinary picture of a ...
Thanksgiving 2022 My friends/neighbors kindly invited me to spend time with them and their family for Thanksgiving. The festivities were to take place at their son’s house, which is only a short drive away from where they (and I live). Above: a view of the Hudson River from their house. I’d recently had some quite severe ...
Goose This is my friend’s daughter’s new dog, Goose. Incredibly Goose is still only a puppy. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Samyang 45mm f1.8
Cormorants In Mid-October 2022 I went on a boat ride on the Hudson River. During this ride I spotted these cormorants. Initially they were just sitting calmly on the buoy, but as the boat got closer they took off. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Tamron Di III VXD A056SF 70-180mm f2.8.
Dog in a Doorway Cute dog in a shop window. If I didn’t know better I’d think he/she was laughing. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 FE
Another Spider I came across this little beast last weekend. At first I was a little concerned. I thought it was a brown recluse, which would have been a concern because along with the black widows it’s the only seriously venomous spider in the US. I was once bitten by a spider, which produced a ...
A School of Fish While walking in my local park, Law Memorial Park I noticed this rather impressive school of fish swarming in the pond (Do fish swarm? flock?). “Located in the heart of the Village on Pleasantville Road, this seven (7) acre park was gifted to the Village by its first family, Mr.& Mrs. Walter Law. The Village ...
Another Deer As I was returning home the other day, walking down my driveway I came across this deer in the adjacent meadow. I see deer quite often by my house, but they don’t often have horns. I assume the males have horns and the females don’t so I guess this one is male. Taken with ...
A friend and his dog My friend Antonio and his dog Henry during a recent walk. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
A Spider Anyone who reads this blog will know about my fascination with bugs, particularly spiders, and especially jumping spiders. However, I’ve had difficulties both finding jumping spiders and taking pictures of them (they tend to…well…jump away before I can catch them). So I was elated when I saw this tiny (no more than 1/8inch long) spider in ...
A Dog in the Woods During my recent woodland walk I came across a man walking his dog. We chatted for a while and I asked him if I could take a picture. He agreed so here it is. The dog’s name is Wyatt. The man also gave me his name, but my memory for names is ...
The Revolutionary Road Monster? Well…not really. Just my friend’s son’s dog, Reina (See Reina). She just loves to splash around in their pool. I believe there are eyes in there somewhere. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Another spider. Or is it? I came across this in my kitchen sink. A spider I thought, but then I looked more closely and noticed that it only had six legs. So some other kind of insect then. However, when I looked more closely I realized that it was supposed to have eight legs, but had apparently ...
Look out dog coming through! It was a very hot, humid day and my neighbor’s son’s dog, Reina was having a great time diving into the water and swimming around. Unfortunately, here she came perilously close to landing on my granddaughter. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
A sad day Sadly I lost my dog, Harley today. He was about 13 years old and we’d had him for nine of those years. He’d had had a good run. I’d known for some time that his heart was failing, but thankfully he’d managed to lead a normal life: eating well, going for walks ...
More deer in the meadow More deer in the meadow as seen from my balcony – or maybe it’s multiple shots of the same deer (more likely)? Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens
Deer and Fawns It’s funny how things happen. I was talking to my grandson, Alexander and he mentioned how, during a previous visit some years ago he’d been impressed by the number of deer he’d seen in close proximity to the house. We were talking about my photography and I told him that I’d rather lost ...
Some macro photography It was very hot and humid today and I was a little frustrated. I’d been sitting in front of a computer for most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday (Thursday) I had lunch with a friend but other than that I stayed home. I really wanted to get out and take some ...
A spider I came across this guy climbing up a sliding door in my bedroom. I don’t know what type of spider it is and despite fairly extensive searching for spiders of New York State I’ve not so far been able to find out. The closest resemblance I’ve found is to a Tan Jumping Spider. ...
Lunch in Yonkers, NY – Saw Mill River Daylighting Above: View of the Saw Mill River as it passes through Van der Donck Park with the Metro North Station in the background. “Scenic Hudson spearheaded the “daylighting” (uncovering) of the Saw Mill River that forms the centerpiece of this exciting urban oasis. When is a river not a river? When it’s buried beneath pavement, as ...
Reina This is Reina, my neighbor’s son’s dog. She’d been enjoying a roll in the grass and emerged with this crumbly, fragile, messy stuff that falls from the trees at this time of year all over her. Apparently these stringy brown things are called catkins or tassels. They are the male pollen structures produced by ...
Still another deer Seen in a nearby woodland. There’s something I like about this picture. Maybe it’s the way that the deer in the middle ground is sandwiched between the bright vegetation in the foreground and the darker woodland in the background? Maybe it’s the way the deer is looking straight at me? It looks ...
A New Visitor to the Meadow Another visitor to the meadow. Towards the end of the day I like to sit on the balcony outside my bedroom, read and watch the sun go down. I was sitting there today when out of the corner of my eye I detected some movement. When I focused on what it was this ...
A walk at Croton Landing Above: Hudson River with Croton Point Park in the background. I had planned on going into NY City, but when I noticed that the weather forecast indicated rain I decided to put that off for another day. That left me at a loose end. So I was pleased when I got a message from ...
Battling Wasps I was sitting on the balcony outside my bedroom when I heard a ‘thud’ (actually it was more like a ‘plop’). When I looked down I saw that a wasp had fallen and was thrashing around on the floor. As I looked more closely I noticed that it was not one wasp, ...
Harley I’ve posted a number of pictures of my new cat lately. I think my dog, Harley should have equal time. My much neglected garden is now looking a lot better, the weather was nice so I decided to sit outside for a while. As Harley did his thing I took these pictures. ...
A Rabbit I hadn’t seen one of these for quite a while. When we first came to this part of the world I used to see a lot of them. Then they sort of disappeared. I’m glad to see that they’re back. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Tamron Di III VXD A056SF 70-180mm f2.8.
Cat in a window Not my cat or my window. Just something seen while walking around. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
Geese on a nearby pond I was walking the dog by this nearby pond when I spotted two geese. I considered taking a picture, but then thought to myself: “Do I really want to take yet another picture of a couple of geese swimming serenely around on a pond?” My answer was: “No” and I started to walk ...
Harley in yellow flowers Seen in nearby woodland. He seemed to enjoy running around in the bright yellow flowers. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Another deer Taken right in front of my front door. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Tamron Di III VXD A056SF 70-180mm f2.8.
Angry Geese I was walking around a nearby pond watching a pair of geese. They were paddling slowly around with their heads high when suddenly they stretched out their necks, lowered their heads so they were low down to the water and parallel to it and shot off at high speed making the most incredible racket. ...
Cat on a Balcony My new cat, Isa is a house cat and doesn’t like to go outside. However, like my previous cat, Gypsy (also a house cat who didn’t like to go outside) she’s willing to go out onto the balcony outside my bedroom. On the prowl Enjoying the sun. Cleaning time Unfortunately my dog, Harley also loves being ...
The Continuing Saga of my Cat’s name In an earlier post (See: A New Cat) I mentioned that I had a new cat whose name I planned to change. This is how things have evolved: My previous cat, Gypsy passed away about a month ago. She was well over 17 years old and had no health problems before so she had ...
Even more deer More deer. I’m very grateful that I can get pictures like these within a 10 minute walk from my house. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
A new cat On March 18 I posted that I had lost my 17+ years old cat, Gypsy. I’m such a cat person that I couldn’t go long without having one in the house. So I’m introducing Sophie (at least that’s what the previous owner called her). My family (myself included) is pretty much unanimous ...
RIP Gypsy It was a sad day today. I lost my cat, Gypsy. Her health declined rapidly over the past two or three weeks. She was well over 17 years old and had no health problems at all until now. I guess she just got old. Still she had a long and, I think, ...
Harley after grooming My dog, Harley was groomed yesterday so I thought I’d take a few pictures to commemorate the occasion. Doesn’t he look nice? Above: He likes to lie at the very edge of the balcony, contemplating what’s going on in the meadow. He loves to bark at the deer, but the deer strategy works very well. ...
More deer This time as seen from my balcony. Taken with a Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E
The deer are back Seen across the road from my house. Even though I had my dog with me they let me get quite close and seemed interested in what I was up to. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Tamron Di III VXD A056SF 70-180mm f2.8.
Memento Mori? Dead Raccoon seen during one of my walks with the dog. In case you’re not familiar with the term: Memento mori literally means “Remember you must die”. The early Puritan settlers were particularly aware of death and fearful of what it might mean, so a Puritan tombstone will often display a memento mori intended for the ...
Harley running in the snow He was having a really good time. Taken with a Sony A7IV and Sony FE 28-75 f3.5-5.6 OSS.
On the water in New York City – A fellow traveller A passing seagull. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
A goose on a rock This one was on a small rock in Roaring Brook Lake, Putnam Valley, NY. Nearby there was another, larger rock with three geese on it, but I couldn’t get them to cooperate in giving me the composition I wanted (i.e. one where they were all looking at the camera at the same time) so I ...
Ladybugs It was surprisingly warm the other day and I was sitting on the balcony reading. I noticed a lot of small ladybugs on the house siding. Of course I tried to get some pictures. I found it quite hard as they were almost constantly in motion and I’m not really satisfied with ...
Hallowe’en in Sleepy Hollow – Ducks diving at Philipsburg Manor Philipsburg Manor Restoration is directly opposite the Headless Horseman statue featured in the preceding post. Among other features this contains a mill and associated millpond. The millpond is mentioned in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”: In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing-master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright shillings ...
A Man and his dog The park at Scarborough Metro-North Station, Briarcliff Manor/Scarborough. In the background the Hudson River and the Palisades. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
Pigeons bathing Manhattan, NY City. As I was about to cross 51st Street and Park Avenue I spotted these pigeons apparently having a great time splashing around in a puddle. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Return of the Mantis Return of the mantis (sounds a bit like the title of a Chinese martial arts move doesn’t it). Some friends invited me out to dinner the other night. On my return I found this waiting for me next to the front door. At first I thought it was a different mantis from ...
A Mantis I was sitting outside on the balcony reading and enjoying the sunny day when I felt something fairly heavy fall onto my shoulder. Thinking it was a twig or something that had fallen from a nearby tree I got up to see what it was. I was surprised to find a large (3-4 ...
Moth Macro This moth flew into my bedroom and very obligingly landed on a lamp shade next to my bed. Even more obligingly it stayed for a while allowing me to get my camera and take a few pictures. Taken with a Sony A77II and Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro lens
Harley takes a nap Harley has found a nice spot to sleep in a pool of light in my living room. Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
A fly Another attempt at macro photography. I spotted this fly in my kitchen and couldn’t resist taking a picture. Taken with a Sony A77II and Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro lens
A universe in a thistle flower One of the great joys of macro photography is that sometimes you see something which is not visible to the naked eye. I was walking around with a camera and a macro lens and not really finding any interesting subjects. Just as I was about to head off home I came across a ...
There are pictures everywhere I didn’t even have to move out of my bedroom for this one when this guy flew in the other evening. I believe it’s a Grizzly Locust: a type of grasshopper, usually found among the trees, pine trees preferably. The Grizzly Locust may come to lights, and it sometimes seen on wood siding ...
A new bird in the meadow I was sitting on the balcony talking to a friend in Geneva when I saw a large bird fly by. I’d often seen a red tailed hawk in the meadow but this one looked substantially larger. I didn’t want to break my conversation so I didn’t immediately rush in to get a camera, thinking ...
A Spider Continuing my attempts at macro photography. I came across this tiny spider crawling along the wall in my bathroom. I’d guess it was about 1/4 inch long. Taken with a Sony A77II and Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro lens
Leaping Deer I deliberately blurred this photograph to convey a sense of motion. Either that or I’m channeling my inner Daido Moriyama. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The reality is of course, that I was trying to take a picture of a deer lying peacefully under a bush. It then took ...
Around the Neighborhood – A butterfly Of course it’s an Eastern Swallowtail. I’ve posted pictures of swallowtails before, but I guess you can’t have too many pictures of this lovely insect. Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Around the Neighborhood – Took the dog for a walk and guess what I bumped into……… Just call me the deer whisperer. I can’t seem to move for the things. Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Still more deer in the meadow This time, however they were different. In my previous deer pictures the animals did not have horns. These did so I assume these are male where the others were female. I think that’s true of most deer although I’ve read that reindeer females also have horns. I think these are pictures ...
More deer in the meadow We (my dog Harley and myself) were sitting on the balcony watching the world go by when this deer appeared. Harley immediately started barking at it. This didn’t seem to bother the deer one bit. He/she just stood there looking at Harley. After a while Harley stopped barking and they both ...
A bee Another attempt at macro photography. I was sitting outside on the balcony when I heard a sound as this small (1/2 to 3/4 inch) bee dropped down onto the arm of the chair where I was sitting. For once I actually had the right lens within easy reaching distance. The bee didn’t ...
Around the Neighborhood – An Egret I was going into New York City with a friend and we’d arranged to meet in Law Park (my town park). I got into to the village a little early so I could have a coffee at the Moonbean Cafe. After I’d finished my coffee I was walking past the pond in Law Park ...
The Fly Another attempt at macro photography. I came across this dead fly and thought it might make a fitting subject for a macro: a small insect that because of its deceased state was not going anywhere anytime soon. Not only was it dead, it had been dead for some time so it was well ...
Geese on the rocks Taken while walking home from a friend’s. When you have a group of geese (see above) it’s very hard to get them all doing something interesting (or even just looking towards the camera) at the same time. I was in a rush so I couldn’t hang around to see if everything would ...
A butterfly While walking the dog the other day I came across this large, magnificent Eastern Swallowtail. Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II
Harley has a grooming Harley was recently groomed. I usually let his hair grow until it starts to get warm. This year I was somewhat delayed because of difficulties arranging an appointment. I booked online at the place we usually have him groomed, but the earliest appointment they could give me was a few weeks into the future. ...
On the Balcony – Yet another visitor Yes, it’s yet another squirrel!. Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS.
Around the Neighborhood – Another ‘Deer in the Meadow’ picture. I was sitting on the balcony fiddling with a new (to me) lens (a Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 SP AF Di LD (IF)) when I noticed that my frequent visitors, the deer had returned. Since I was already holding the camera/lens I couldn’t resist giving it a try. They were quite far away and it was ...
Harley in his dog bed My dog, Harley. Isn’t he cute! My wife collected blue and white stuff – mostly china, but also fabrics, chairs, glassware etc. so it’s no surprise that the dog bed is also blue and white. Taken with a Canon 450D and Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II.
On the Balcony – Gypsy My cat, Gypsy is a real house cat. Generally she hates going outside and if you take her out will run right back into the house. However, like my dog Harley and myself she seems to enjoy the balcony. She comes out frequently and sometimes stays for quite some time. I don’t ...
On the Balcony – A Bee Encounter I was sitting on the balcony outside the bedroom when this bee flew up. It was quite persistent – never getting too close and never too far away. I went to get a camera thinking that by the time I got back it would have gone, but no it was still there. ...
On the Balcony – Another visitor For those who didn’t like the snakes in my earlier post (See: Looks what’s living under my porch if you dare) here’s another recent visitor. Not the most beautiful creature in the world, but less likely to inspire feelings of horror. Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS.
On The Balcony – Overview It was March 11, 2021 and it was a lovely day! Around 68F/20C. I’m sitting outside on the balcony outside the bedroom. For some reason we never used this balcony, but I’m finding that I enjoy sitting there. The sun’s going down and I’m having a beer. Harley’s arch enemies the deer are back. ...
Look what’s living under my porch And yes there are two of them. When the sun’s out they come out to bask. I’m not sure what they are. Black rat snakes, common racers, and garter snakes all look very similar to me. I do know that they’re not timber rattlesnakes, massasaugas or copperheads, which are the only venomous ...
Around the Neighborhood – A Walk to Briarcliff Village – Harley sleeping By the time we got back home my dog Harley was exhausted. I wasn’t in such good shape myself. We’d been walking for at at least three hours. Taken with a Sony A6000 and Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM (I think).
Around the Neighborhood – Birds in the Garden Not such a wonderful picture, but I don’t see all that many birds and when I do I don’t often get a picture. So you take what you get. Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4-5.6
Tarrytown – Birds taking flight I was walking around along the waterfront in Tarrytown, NY. As I was approaching this tree I noticed that it was full of small birds (I have no idea what they were). I was still quite a distance away when they took off en masse. I was lucky that I had already raised ...
Tarrytown – Birds that ARE Canada Geese and Mallards I posted a few times regarding birds I see that are NOT Canada Geese or Mallards, but these are definitely the birds that I see the most. Taken with a Sony A6000 and Canon 50mm f1.4 LTM (I think).
Tarrytown – A goose landing A Canada goose lands on the water in Tarrytown, NY as three of its siblings watch. Taken with a Sony A6000 and some kind of manual focus lens. I forget which one.
Geese passing overhead I was walking around the eastern part of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve when I heard the sound of geese. I didn’t have a long lens, but took the shot anyway. Nothing spectacular, but at least it records the occasion. Taken with an Olympus OM-D EM-10 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II
Harley checks out the Henry Villard Monument One of the more impressive sculptures in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. It’s called The End of the Day’s Work Henry Villard (born Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard) grew up in a well-to-do family in Bavaria. He was a rebellious child, which his father tried to curb by sending him to military school. Then in 1853 and without ...
Another new bird This time a Pileated Woodpecker. Seen in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Interesting Facts. According to TheCornellLab: The Pileated Woodpecker digs characteristically rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These excavations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half. The feeding excavations of a Pileated Woodpecker are so extensive that ...
Birds in the Garden The garden was teeming with the birds the other day. I believe they are American Robins. The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory songbird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are ...
Deer in the Meadow The snow has gone and the deer are back in the meadow. Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4-5.6
Finally managed to get a picture of a bird that isn’t a Canada Goose or a Mallard I’ve posted before about my attempts at bird photography. Usually I don’t find birds at all (I think they must see me coming and hide). On the odd occasion that I do come a across a bird it’s usually either a Canada Goose or a Mallard. This time was different. I was walking the ...
A Walk along the Hudson in Peekskill – Waterbirds More birds: the usual ubiquitous Canada Geese and, this time, the equally numerous seagulls. Amazingly not a mallard in sight. Taken with an Olympus OM-D EM-10 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II
A Walk along the Hudson in Peekskill – Seagull I came across a large flock of seagulls by the river next to the Metro-North station in Peekskill. They were clustered around something (maybe something edible?) on the ground. A small boy would rush towards them and they would all take to the air. He would move away and they would return to ...
Harley in the Snow Harley has figured out that the snow is now hard enough that he can run on top of it. Look at the ears in the second picture. Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4-5.6
Encounter in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery I came across these deer in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery the other day and they weren’t the only ones. As I continued walking I kept bumping into small groups of deer. There weren’t many people or cars around so the deer felt brave enough to wander around. Also the snow had melted in ...
On the Trail to Raven Rock – Almost done I was almost back to where I started and could see the familiar landscape around the Stone Barns Center and I noticed this field. I’d seen it many times before, but never with sheep in it. Bye bye Raven Rock. Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GF-1 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4-5.6
On the Trail to Raven Rock – A hint of the past glory Most of the trails at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve are on former carriage trails from when the Rockefeller family still owned the property. The park is very popular, particularly at the moment as people deal with COVID and you usually see lots of people. Sometimes you see people riding horses, but you don’t often ...
A Shield Bug Also known as a stink bug, presumably because of the bad smell they produce if you crush one. I actually find them quite hard to crush, they’re so well armored. And the odd one that I seen crushed didn’t seem to have a bad smell at all. Mind you I have a ...
Croton Point Park Last Thanksgiving I took the dog for a walk at Croton Point Park, NY. The weather was great, and the light was superb. Above: Rocks and a tree (with roots) looking vaguely North over Verplanck. You can just make out the Bear Mountain Bridge in the background, and behind that the Schunemunk Mountain State Park ...
Geese at Gedney Geese at nearby Gedney Park where I took Harley for a one hour walk. Taken with a Sony A6000 and E 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 OSS
An Unpleasant Surprise We have a large metal chest on our dock. We keep garden furniture cushions, old fishing tackle left behind by the previous owners etc. in it. The other day I went to get some cushions out of it and this is what I found. You’ve got to admire the precision with which they build these nests. ...
Eirah walks the dog We (Eirah, Harley and myself) recently went for a walk at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Taken with a Sony A77II and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-5.6
A Praying Mantis The other day I was talking to Eirah about the time when we lived on Long Island and how we used to see lots of praying mantises. Since we moved to the Hudson Valley we haven’t seen any. Yesterday we were walking through a mini mall in Peekskill and what should we come ...
Found some more birds I’ve been trying to take pictures (so far without much success) for some time. I came across these geese in Croton Landing Park. Taken with a Panasonic GF1 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm lens.
Finally some birds In earlier posts I’ve chronicled my attempts to get pictures of birds, and how whenever I go out to take such pictures I never come across any. I finally managed to get a few bird pictures: nothing exotic – just some mallards and geese on our lake. But it’s better than nothing and it ...
A Visit to the Rockefeller Preserve – A Turtle Still no birds but I did come across this turtle. Why is it that whenever I go out looking for birds I seem to come back with pictures of turtles?! Taken with a Minolta A500 and Minolta 100-200mm f4.5.
A Visit to the Rockefeller Preserve – Dogs Somehow during this brief visit I’ve seen people, chipmunk, squirrels but still no birds. Now it the turn of this spectacular pair of dogs. Taken with a Minolta A500 and Minolta 100-200mm f4.5.
A Visit to the Rockefeller Preserve – A Squirrel I posted a number of pictures of squirrels. I’m sorry but I just like squirrels (I like chipmunks too but I don’t see as many of them). They’re so cute even if they are, as someone once said, “Rats with fluffy tails” (or something like that). Taken with a Minolta A500 and Minolta 100-200mm ...
A Visit to the Rockefeller Preserve – A Chipmunk While walking around in the woods I would often hear a high pitched “squeaking” noise. I always thought it was birds but now I realize that it was chipmunks so at least I now know when they are around. Luckily I was able to get close enough to get a half way decent ...
A Visit to the Rockefeller Preserve – Horse Riders I often see horses at the preserve. Harley doesn’t seem to know what to make of them. He doesn’t usually bark at them the way he does with deer. Maybe he’s just overwhelmed. From time to time I also see horse drawn carriages. This isn’t too surprising as many of these trails ...
A Cat I came across this cat as I was walking our dog, Harley. While he didn’t even notice the cat, the cat watched him very carefully as we passed by. Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GF1 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4.0-5.6.
2019 Favorites – Color And now 12 favorites from 2019 in color.
Lunch at Buttermilk Falls Inn and Spa Back in September we went for lunch on the other side of the River Hudson at Buttermilk Inn and Spa in nearby Milton, NY. Above, Henry’s restaurant where we had a very pleasant brunch. The Inn, dating back to 1764. View from just below the Inn. A pair of swans A gaggle of geese. The ...
Birds over the lake While walking he dog around the lake I passed a friend’s house. To my surprise hundreds of small, black birds were flying around. I have no idea what kind of birds they were, but there were certainly a lot of them. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
Yet another squirrel This year we have a lot of squirrels at our lake house – possibly because thousands of acorns have fallen from our oak trees. This one came very close to the house. Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GF1 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4.0-5.6
Butterflies We took the dog for a walk at Croton Landing. I also took an enormous, and very heavy 600mm equivalent lens in case I came across any birds. As usual I didn’t find any, but I did see masses of monarch butterflies. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
Hallowe’en Symbols: Black Cat Our cat, Gypsy looking suitably spooky. Of all the Halloween symbols, the black cat has definitely had to pay a price and earn their place in the festivities. Beginning at the time of Samhain, black cat symbolism led to many cats being burned alive. Druids believed that evil humans could turn themselves into cats, which led the ...
A cricket Ever since we moved to our house in Briarcliff Manor from time to time we see one of these in the lowermost level of the house. They seem to live in the crawl space but every once in a while one ventures out. I managed to get a closer look at this one ...
Surprise encounter with a snapping turtle As we were walking up from North Beach our dog, Harley suddenly gave a startled yelp and leaped backwards. When I looked down this is what I saw, the only difference being that its mouth was open and it was spitting: snapping turtle, about two feet long. Luckily Harley showed no signs of injury, although ...
Two turkeys and a guinea fowl. Taken at Tilly Foster Farm in Brewster, NY. The farm was known for its rare farm animals. However, when the farm was given back to Putnam County (which owns it) in 2014 the rare animals were sold and are no longer on the property. I believe there at still a number of ...
The Humble Sparrow After walking our dog last Saturday I was sitting on the porch at Moonbean Cafe in Briarcliff Manor, NY having my usual coffee. I noticed a number of sparrows flitting in and out of the tables, no doubt searching for crumbs left by the diners. Having, nothing else to do I decided to ...
What me tired? Our dog, Harley after a long walk around Briarcliff Manor, NY. We were sitting on the porch at Moonbean Cafe. I think the picture (and its captions) says it all. Taken with a newly acquired Panasonic Lumix GF-1 and Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f4.0-5.6.
Dog on a train We were returning home from our latest jaunt to New York City when a woman boarded the train with her dog. They sat virtually opposite us. They’d clearly had a long day – or at least the dog had as he/she just wanted to lie down and sleep. The problem was that ...
Around the Neighborhood – Another Heron On Saturday’s I often pass by the pond in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor while walking the dog. However, since catching the green heron fishing for tadpoles (See:Attempts at bird photography part II: Fishing for Tadpoles) I haven’t seen many birds. I have a theory that since they turned on the fountain (See:Film Camera ...
A Dragonfly I was walking the dog along Lake Shore Road when this small dragonfly flew by and alighted on the branch of a nearby fir tree. I approached it slowly taking pictures as I went and fearing that it would fly off at any moment. But it didn’t. It let me get as ...
Ducks and Ducklings again Ducks and ducklings on the “Polly Pond” in Downing Park, Newburgh, NY. If you’re interested in comparing film and digital I also took a digital picture of these same ducks using my Sony RX-100 M3 – See: Downing Park, Newburgh – A Duck and her ducklings. I think I prefer this one (i.e. the film ...
Film Camera 2019/5 – Olympus IS-3 – Results Boat passing under the Broadway Bridge over the Harlem River, New York City. You can find this camera for a very low price. I can understand why. It’s quite large, quite heavy and it’s impossible to put it in a pocket. It has a fixed lens, so no opportunity to changes lenses if ...
Downing Park, Newburgh – A Mallard Another one of the denizens of the “Polly” pond. All I saw were ducks and geese, but I’ve read that blue herons, a great white heron, wood ducks, and peregrine falcons have also been seen. Even though you see a lot of mallards around here I still like them. They have such lovely colors. Taken ...
Downing Park, Newburgh – A Duck and her ducklings Waterfowl abounds on the “Polly” pond. This duck and her ducklings were just too cute to resist. As I was preparing this post I realized that although I knew that a group of geese was a called a “gaggle” I didn’t know what a group of ducks was called. So I looked it up ...
Bee on a flower I waited patiently for a long time hoping that an insect would appear. How I wish that was true, but unfortunately I fear that I lack that kind of patience. What actually happened was that I was trying to take a picture of this Coreopsis when all of a sudden, right before my ...
Careful geese crossing I was walking the dog along Lake Shore Road today when I spotted some movement ahead. I see these geese all the time. They come up off the lake (to the left in the picture) into the garden of the house opposite where I imagine they make quite a mess. The owner has put a ...
A brightly colored caterpillar My wife came across this brightly colored caterpillar on our patio the other day. She’s usually quite ruthless towards caterpillars because they eat her roses and she mercilessly squashes them immediately. For some strange reason she was quite protective to this one – merely relocating it rather than consigning it to the usual caterpillar ...
A couple of frogs This was taken at the pond in Law Park in Briarcliff Manor, NY. On occasion I’ve seen Great Grey Herons, Cormorants and Egrets there. More recently I got a nice set of pictures of a Green Heron fishing for tadpoles. Since I usually take the dog for a walk in Briarcliff on Saturdays I tend ...
Squirrel We filled up three bird feeders with seed the other day. My wife wanted to attract more birds to the garden and I hoped to get some pictures of them when they came. Since then we haven’t seen a single bird come to the feeders, but we have seen lots of squirrels, so ...
Around the Neighborhood – The early bird catches the worm Or so they say – except that this was taken at 11:26am – so not all that early. Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 and 100-200mm f4.5 lens.
Around the Neighborhood – Egret in Flight I came across this lovely egret in Law Park in Briarcliff Manor, NY. I didn’t really have the right camera/lens combination (just my Sony RX-100M with its 24-70mm equivalent lens) so I just had to make do. I wanted to get a shot of the bird in the air and I knew that ...
An enormous moth I was sitting in the house the other day when I heard my wife calling me to go our an take a look at something. She has a lot of roses and they are starting to bloom, so usually when she calls me it’s to take a picture of one of them. I’d ...
Around the Neighborhood – You put your right foot out… Another attempt at bird photography. This time a Red Winged Blackbird seen at Law Park in Briarcliff Manor. Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 and Minolta Maxxum 100-200mm f4.5
Around the Neighborhood – Green heron revisited A couple of days ago I posted some pictures of a green heron fishing for tadpoles (See:Attempts at bird photography part II: Fishing for Tadpoles). While I very much like those pictures and the way they show the bird in the act of catching a tadpole I feel they don’t altogether do the bird’s ...
Unusual sight on the lake today I had just finished the preceding post when I heard my wife shouting from the garden: “H come and look at this. You’ve got to take a picture”. Since I always do as I’m told I grabbed a camera and dashed into the the garden to do her bidding. Not a stunning picture but ...
Around the Neighborhood – Attempts at bird photography part II: Fishing for Tadpoles My second attempt at bird photography took me to the pond in Law Park, Briarcliff Manor where we’ve lived for the past 20 years. I’ve seen and photographed great blue heron, cormorants, and egrets there before usually in the distance, with inadequate lenses which then required me to crop drastically (with subsequent lack of quality) ...
Attempts at bird photography part I: Searching for birds In a recent post (See: A Birthday Present) I mentioned that I wanted “have a go” at bird photography. I also noted that to this end my wife bought me a 400mm lens for my birthday. This same post showed my first test shots in our garden – regrettably no birds. So I went ...
Portrait of a snapping turtle Apparently it’s New York State’s official state reptile and, at 8-20″ shell length, average of 8-35 lbs, is one of the largest turtles in North America. They eat both plants, animals and carrion and often bury themselves in the mud with no nostrils and eyes showing, waiting for unsuspecting prey. They will snap at ...
Teatown PlantFest We went with some friends to the Teatown Plantfest yesterday. Numerous vendors were selling plants and other craft related items. My wife came away with a few plants. Teatown also has a number of rescued animals i.e. animals that have been badly injured to the extent that they would not be able to survive. ...
A Birthday Present In an earlier post (See: Croton Landing – Killdeer) I expressed an interest (with some reservations) about trying bird photography: I’m quite interested in wildlife photography, but I’ve always shied away from it. There are a couple of reasons for this. First I lack the patience. Second I don’t really have the right “gear”. While I ...
Newburgh – Got my ducks in a row Couldn’t resist this when I saw these ducks on the Newburgh waterfront. And what’s going on here? Two male mallards and one female! Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Butterfly Garden Maybe we came at the wrong time of year, but I was “underwhelmed” by this garden. I’ve been to butterfly gardens in Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia comes to mind) and I have memories of large numbers, clouds almost, of large brightly colored butterflies buzzing around me. Here I saw very few butterflies, most of them ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Children’s Zoo We went to the Children’s Zoo so the kids could pet and feed the animals. I already have lots of pictures of ponies, goats, sheep, geese etc. so the only pictures I took of them were when the kids were feeding them. Unfortunately, the kids’ parents don’t like pictures of their children to ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Crocodile Another animal found in Madagascar, this time a reptile that is also found elsewhere: The Nile Crocodile – found in freshwater habitats. This species was once widely abundant and greatly feared in the country but years of hunting for its skins has made it a threatened species.. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Fossa Another inhabitant of Madagascar: The Fossa – a very curious animal. According to Wired: The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is the largest carnivorous mammal on the island of Madagascar. They can reach nearly six feet in length, with half of that due to their long tails. They look like a cross between a cat, a dog, and a mongoose. ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Madgascar The Madagascar exhibit is located in the former lion house, which forms part of an old section of the zoo called Astor Court (the historic sea lion pool is also part of Astor Court). This area contains many of the original zoo buildings designed by Heins & LaFarg, many of which are now closed. The ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Another Sea Lion I didn’t include this picture along with the others in the previous post (A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Feeding Time for the Sea Lions) because this one wasn’t actually fed. The entire time we watched he just lay on a rock, eyes closed, basking in the sun. As mentioned in the earlier post ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Feeding Time for the Sea Lions This was without a doubt the highlight of the visit to the zoo. The sea lions put of a magnificent displays of high speed swimming, diving, and prodigious leaps from the water to the rocks. As feeding time approached they became more and more excited. The large one was was extremely noisy and spent ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – A Southern White Rhinoceros So far in this series it’s been deer, ducks, swans etc. – nothing particularly exotic. Finally we came across something rather special: Southern White Rhinoceroses. According to the World Wildlife Fund: White rhinos are the second largest land mammal and their name comes from the Afrikaan’s, a West Germanic language, word “weit” which means wide and ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – A duck At first I thought this was a mallard, but on further consideration I’m not at all sure that it is. I seems smaller and with a a more “pointy” bill than the mallards I’m familiar with. The coloration also seems different. After browsing through a lot of images I’m unable to discover what it ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – A pair of swans These two swans formed part of the Northern Ponds exhibit. I believe they are Trumpeter Swans. I’ve always loved swans. They’re so elegant. They’re also quite large and rather mean. I once saw a swan clear a pond of a bunch of Canada Geese that had dared to land in its territory. ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Père David’s deer Compared to the more exotic animals (e.g. lions, tigers, rhinos etc.) a bunch of deer wouldn’t seem to be anything special. After all we have large numbers of them wandering all over our property. However, there’s a fascinating story behind these particular deer (See: Saved by Chance: The Incredibly Strange Story of the Pere David’s ...
A visit to the Bronx Zoo – Bison One of the first exhibits we came across was the Bison Range. According to Wikipedia: The Bison Range is in the northeast corner of the zoo, and has been a feature of the zoo since its opening. The range initially served to breed Plains bison, who were in danger of becoming extinct in the United States. Today, ...
Verplanck’s Point A few weeks ago we went to Verplanck’s Point, the site of the King’s Ferry where in 1781 American troops under General George Washington and French troops under the Comte de Rochambeau crossed the River Hudson on their way to the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia. The US victory there led to the end of ...
Around the Neighborhood – Deer in our meadow We often get deer in the meadow in front of our house. I have my cameras elsewhere and so I’m usually woefully unprepared for when they put in an appearance. I end up using an iphone where the deer are little more than specks. Then I have to resort to extreme crops to ...
A Bug As I was working on this present batch of pictures I notice a movement to my left. When I looked it was this small bug. I have no idea what it is. I guess it’s some kind of centipede, even if it has only 30 legs (two of them larger than the rest) instead ...
Cougar I came across this stuffed animal in a restaurant bar in Jefferson Valley. Not something you see every day, nor is it in the best of taste. Frankly I’m amazed that someone hasn’t complained. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
Tiger Taken at the Bronx Zoo, New York City back in November, 2010 with a Fujifilm Finepix HS10. I was never able to relate to this camera, used it only a couple of times and eventually gave it to my brother in law. In the right circumstances though it was able come up with a decent ...
Old Time Photograph? Of course it isn’t! It’s just a not very successful attempt to rescue a photograph, which didn’t work in color and didn’t work much better as a straight black and white conversion. Taken with a Canon 5d and Canon EF 50mm f1.8
Swans on Ice Taken at the Danbury Fair Mall around this time in 2014 with a Sony RX-100 M1.
Harley In the morning our dog will jump on the bed and try to lick my face. If successful he’ll lick for a while and then pull back at bit – as if to examine his work and to decide whether or not he’d got everything. Then if necessary he’ll go back and lick ...
Harley in the snow We had some snow on Christmas Eve. It wasn’t much, but we were hopeful it would last into Christmas day so that we would have a semblance of a white Christmas. Unfortunately it was not to be. Gradually the temperatures began to rise and by mid day it had all pretty much melted away. At ...
Glynwood – Overview We’ve often driven along Route 301 to Cold Spring and back. I’ve noticed the sign pointing towards Glynwood, and often wondered exactly what it was and promising myself that one day I would go back and take a look. So one day I did. According to it’s website: In 1929, the financier George Perkins, his ...
Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival – Reptile Encounter Another highlight was the ‘Reptile Encounter’. Taken with a Sony A77M2 and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival – The Tortoise and the ‘Hare’ One of the attractions featured animals of various kinds. Here we see the tortoise and the ‘hare’. Actually I think the ‘hare’ is actually a rabbit, but ‘The Tortoise and the Rabbit’ doesn’t sound right. Taken with a Sony A77M2 and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
My wife and our dog, Harley At the Garrison Cafe on a gorgeous sunny day in August. While they both look as if they’re enjoying themselves Harley seems to be particularly happy. My but he has a long tongue. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3
Chuang Yen Monastery again – Ravenous fish The lake is teeming with large (I’d guess at least two feet long) fish. There are signs indicating that the fish should not be fed, but I imagine they are largely ignored. As you approach the platform on which the statue stands large numbers of them “flock” (if that’s the right word) over. ...
Around Mahopac – A Duck I was sitting eating my lunch at J.P. Cunningham’s on the Lake in Mahopac when this duck swam by. Imagine my surprise when it swam up to the steps coming up from the water and then waddled up them and into the eating area. From there it walked around from table to table ...
Around Mahopac – Seagull Taken while having lunch at J.P. Cunningham’s on the Lake in Mahopac. Taken with a Tamron AF Aspherical LD 28-200mm f3.8-5.6
Grommet Returns Grommet seems to be the resident cat at Muscoot Farms. There may be more, but if there are I’ve never seen them. Back in July 2013 I took a few pictures of Grommet and posted one of them (See: Muscoot Farm – Summer 2013). In that picture he looks quite ferocious, but was in ...
House Cricket For as long as I can remember we’ve had, from time to time, crickets make an appearance in our house. I believe they live in the crawl space and make occasional forays into the lower level of the house. They don’t bother me and I’m hesitant to get rid of them. The thing is ...
Dragonfly on a wrought iron fence I was sitting on our dock fulfilling my responsibility to take pictures of our visitors when I saw this dragonfly (if that’s what it is) alight on the wrought iron fence. Taken with a Sony A77II and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
A Day in Beacon – Strawberry Festival. Cute Dog. I can’t resist a cute dog. Taken with a Sony A77II and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
A Rabbit I’ve been walking along Lake Shore Road for about six years and have not seen a single rabbit. Now I see one practically every time I go out. Taken with a Sony A77II and Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
Harley barks Our dog, Harley barking at something/someone he’d seen on the lake. He does this a lot. Taken with a Minolta STsi and Minolta AF Zoom 28-80 f3.5-5.6.
Croton Landing – Red Winged Blackbird Another (See also: Croton Landing – Killdeer) attempt at wildlife photography with a wholly inadequate focal length lens. Again the result is heavily cropped. This is a red winged blackbird. I couldn’t help but be attracted to the bright splashes of color on the wings against the shiny black plumage of the rest of ...
Croton Landing – Killdeer I’m quite interested in wildlife photography, but I’ve always shied away from it. There are a couple of reasons for this. First I lack the patience. Second I don’t really have the right “gear”. While I would normally make the point the “gear” shouldn’t matter that much in this case I ...
In our garden – Harley By the Tulips Ready for his closeup Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 with Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3.
Rockefeller Preserve, Brook Trail – Broken Dams The brook runs through a series of picturesque, now broken dams on its way down to the lake. Can you spot the snake basking in the sun? I didn’t even know it was there when I took the picture. After taking it I moved a bit closer to get a different angle and out ...
Rockefeller Preserve, Brook Trail – Horses I recently took the dog for a walk at the nearby Rockefeller Preserve. This time we went along the Brook Trail down to the lake and back. I find the Brook Trail interesting because it’s one of the few parts of the preserve (other than the superb stone bridges) where there are multiple ...
A spider I know it’s a terrible picture, but I needed to have something to illustrate the story below. I was sitting at the computer working on some pictures when I saw this rather small spider crawling across the keyboard. It was a little creepy as it had large eyes and whenever I moved it would re-orient itself ...
Harley on the prowl Our dog, Harley in our garden. Daffodils and lake in the background. Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 with Tamron A18 AF 18-250mm f3.5-6.3
Beware of the Dog He (she?) wasn’t very big, but he was very lively, very loud and rather aggressive. I took this picture because of the uncanny resemblance he bore to out late lamented dog Jackson, who was also small and at times quite aggressive too. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
An Excursion to the Dutchess County Fair – Pig Racing This was our final stop at the fair. Our friend had been talking about the pig racing all day and I must admit that I wasn’t really that interested. It turned out to be quite amusing, however. We got there just in time to catch the last two races, which was probably just about ...
An Excursion to the Dutchess County Fair – Fish Pond Finally at the fair! We walked past a number of animal enclosures, but I’d already taken lots of pictures of farm animals at earlier fairs, decided I had enough pictures of them and moved on. This was the first scene I came across after leaving the farm animals – somewhat Zen like? Taken with ...
Memento Mori As I was leaving what remains of Lewis Country Farms I spotted a shape on the ground. At first I thought it was the grill of some kind of vehicle, but as I got closer I realized what it was: a deer carcass. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Bringing the Cows in. We’d been visiting the old dairy barn and just as we were leaving the farm workers were bringing in the cows from the field to the barn. This brought back memories. My paternal grandmother owned a farm and when I was young (and before she sold the land for development) I remember her ...
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Chicken The chicken house at Muscoot spreads over two levels. There’s an upper level interior portion, which connections via a ramp to a lower level exterior part. For the most part the animals a Muscoot are nice, but fairly ordinary. The chicken are, however, quite spectacular. When we arrived the one below was prancing around all ...
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Cow For some reason the kids were very keen to have a picture with this cow. So I took one, and then this one of the cow alone. I like the way that he/she is looking my direction. The mouth is open and it seems as if he/she is saying something to me (shades ...
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Donkey As we approached two of these animals came charging down from the field to eat. There was some discussion between our two grandkids regarding whether this was a horse of a donkey. The consensus was that it was a donkey. I liked the way that this one finally settled into standing in a corner. ...
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Sheep Often when I’m taking pictures of animals they turn away from me making it my only option to take pictures of their backsides. These two did that too, but I was able to wait them out – until one of them turned its head to look in my direction. The animals above are clearly sheep, ...
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Goat Reminded me of a wise old man – soulful eyes, long beard etc. I loved the silky white hair. Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
A trip to Muscoot Farm – Pig This pig seemed to be very content just lying there, sleeping and snoring gently, if quite loudly. My earlier posts on Muscoot Farm show some pigs, and some piglets: Muscoot Farm – Summer 2013 Muscoot Farm – Fall 2013 Perhaps one of the piglets grew into this animal? Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
Turkeys in our meadow We seem to be getting a lot of wild turkeys this year. I was just waking up when I heard a loud ‘gobble gobble’ sound from downstairs. I grabbed a camera and went down to find these four (I’ve seen as many as 16 at one time) just outside our sun room. ...
Flamingos Taken in Bermuda in April, 2004 with a Canon Powershot S50.
Nor’Easter 1: Deer in the Meadow We’ve had a doozy of a storm today. It started with rain last night, continuing through the night and the turning to snow in the morning. We didn’t have a lot of snow, but there was a lot of strong wind – strong enough to bring a large branch down from one of ...
Peacock feathers Another colorful picture to help offset the winter blues. Taken during a vacation in Bermuda in April 2005, and yes the feathers were still attached to the bird (see picture below). Taken with a Canon Powershot S50.
Raptor One of my rare wildlife photos. Actually this one wasn’t very wild. The picture was taken at Teatown Lake Reservation and the bird was perched on his/her handler’s arm. Teatown has a number of injured animals. Some they keep until they recover from their injuries and some are kept forever because ...
Memento Mori: Deer by the roadside One day while I was walking the dog around the Jefferson Valley Mall I came across this unfortunate deer by the side of the road. At first I was just going to take a picture of the carcass, but then vaguely defined thoughts to do with the way that technology was destroying our environment ...
2017 Favorites – Black and White As we come to the end of another year it’s time for me to go through my annual ritual of picking a few (actually 10) of my favorite pictures from 2017, starting with black and white. Above – Tides by Emil Alzamora. Taken at Peekskill River Park. A runs through it – the Croton Gorge that ...
Harley, a portrait Although Winter has not yet officially started, it certainly feels as if it has. It’s been cold and a bit snowy of late (not too bad yet though) and I haven’t been venturing very far afield. Consequently, I’ve been reduced once again to taking pictures in, and around the house. This one ...
A Walk to Doodletown – There’s still life in Doodletown One of the current inhabitants. Taken with a Sony RX100 M3.
On Safari – King of the Jungle Taken with a Canon AE-1 and Vivitar 70-210mm zoom lens while on safari in the Masai Mara in 1999.
On Safari – Zebra Taken with a Canon AE-1 and Vivitar 70-210mm zoom lens while on safari in the Masai Mara in 1999.
On Safari – Elephants Of course I’d seen elephants before, but only in captivity: in zoos, circuses and the like. Seeing them in the wild was a completely different experience. In captivity they looked subdued, still magnificent but rather sad as if all their energy had been taken away. In the wild they’re full of energy. ...
On Safari – Two lions feeding This is another shot from our visit to the Masai Mara in the late 1990s (See also: Cheetah). It depicts one of the most dramatic moments in our safari. We were driving along when we came across a young, dead zebra – possibly dead at birth. After a couple of minutes along ...
On Safari – Cheetah As far as I can remember this was taken late in 1999. We (myself, my wife, two daughters and my mother in law) were in Kenya for a wedding, but before it took place we went on safari to the Masai Mara. This is where this picture was taken, most likely with a ...
Annoyed Rooster I came across this rooster at Niese’s Maple Farm back in June, 2003. To me he looked rather annoyed (or maybe all roosters look like that?) – like a prisoner waiting for his opportunity to escape. I couldn’t figure out a way to avoid the chicken wire. If he’d been farther back ...
Time for dinner Often when I’m walking the dog through Law Park in Briarcliff Manor, I come across water birds (e.g. herons, egrets, cormorants etc.) in, or on the edge of the pond. There are lots of fish in the pond, which I imagine makes it attractive to the birds. Usually they don’t let me get too ...
Leaping Goat Taken at Niese’s Maple Farm in our town, Putnam Valley. A 2016 review on Yelp reads: Niese’s Maple Farm is a gem in Putnam Valley. Making maple syrup from their tapped trees for generations, the Niece family is among the kindest and coolest people around. They have a huge respect for the environment ...
Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Sheep In my opinion sheep are among the least intelligent animals in the entire universe. We would often see whole flocks of them on the moors near where I lived. They’d sprawl across a busy road, completely blocking it – totally oblivious to all of the chaos they were causing. If there’s one ...
Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Cows In the previous post (Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Goats) I mentioned that I didn’t know much about goats. However, I do know a bit about cows. Cheshire, the county where I grew up is largely rural. Agriculture is mostly based on the dairy trade, and cattle are the predominant ...
Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Goats More cute, furry farm animals. Although I grew up in a rural part of the UK and my grandmother owned and operated a farm, I don’t know much about goats. They didn’t seem to be common where I lived.
Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Llamas I’ve come to realize that Llamas are quite popular in the Hudson Valley (See:The Famous Hudson Valley Llamas site). I supposed they’re a nicer, cuter, more pleasant version of a camel (in my experience camels are mean, foul-tempered beasts that smell, bite and spit).
Putnam County 46th Annual 4-H Fair – Horse Riding This was one of the first photographs taken with my new Sony A77 II. The first few didn’t come out all that well as I was unfamiliar with the camera and had changed some of the settings (most notably setting up back button focusing) and found myself reaching for buttons in the wrong places. ...
A friend visits Not too long ago a friend of ours came to visit. We had a very pleasant lunch outside on the patio overlooking the lake. I don’t recall why we came indoors (maybe it was getting cold? Maybe it was starting to rain?), but indoors we certainly came, and had our dessert in the ...
Grasshopper We went out last Sunday to pick up a couple of lamps we’d just purchased. On returning home I noticed this colorful little guy on our door. I thought it would be relatively easy to get a picture, but no doubt observing my presence he started to move away. He didn’t jump ...
Geneva – Mont Salève, An international traveller I’m not referring to my wife (who’s been an international traveller for a good number of years), but instead to our dog Harley seen here (with my wife) on top of Mont Salève. He’s now on his third country: the US (his birth place, or at least I assume it is. He was ...
Roaring Brook Lake Monster? My wife recently came across this scary looking creature in our garden. It’s a bit over one inch long and is actually just an empty shell, the top of which has split and something has emerged (think Alien). After some advice seeking and research I’ve concluded that it’s the nymph form of a ...
Green Heron We have some frogs at our house in Briarcliff Manor. Our friends are staying there at present and have (or at least one of them has) developed a strange attraction to them. Yesterday he sent me a message with an attached picture saying that a “large” bird had turned up and that the ...
Hairy White Caterpillar I was walking the dog around Lake Shore Road, when I noticed some movement around my feet. Looking down I saw this fluffy looking creature. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but I suspect it’s the caterpillar stage of Cycnia tenera or the dogbane tiger moth. The markings on the head gave the ...
Geneva – Carouge, Place du Temple The Place du Temple is smaller, and less busy than the Place du Marche and I tend to prefer it as a place to hang out. Most places are closed on Sunday in Geneva, and when we lived there we would often pick up a newspaper and go somewhere to sit, have breakfast and ...
Geneva – Waiting to Board In the preceding post (See Geneva – Introduction) I mentioned that there was a third factor that convinced me to go on vacation this year. I worry about being away because I don’t like leaving our animals, particularly our dog, Harley (I don’t worry so much about the cat. Cat’s are pretty independent and ...
Buster This is our friend’s dog, Buster. He can look a little ferocious at times, but he’s actually quite sweet. He’s a French Bulldog (known in French as a “Bouledogue Français”). Quite rambunctious when he was younger, as he’s aged he’s become more mellow.
A recent visitor to our garden A type of woodpecker: a northern flicker. Specifically (if I’m not mistaken, which I might well be) a yellow-shafted flicker (Colaptes auratus auratus). So if it’s a woodpecker why is it chewing up our patio rather than pecking wood? Grab a worm on the patio or bang your head against a tree? I guess it’s ...
Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f3.5 T Tessar This came attached to an Exa (See:New Acquisitions – Exakta Varex/VX IIa and Exa August 10, 2015) that I acquired in 2015, but had never used. I decided to give it a try right after I had tried out the Ludwig Peronar I mentioned in an earlier post (See: Ernst Ludwig 50mm f2.9 Peronar). ...
Red and Black Bug My eye was initially attracted to the bright colors of this red and black bug against a green leaf. As I looked more closely, however, I noticed what looks very much like a skull pattern on its back. Looking at the black parts and moving from left to right we have: Hair, two round ...
A Day in New York City – A pair of mallards Two mallards swimming on Conservatory Water in Central Park, New York City. I’ve always loved the brightly colored mallards, and I also liked the ripples. Formally a naturally landscaped water lily pond, Conservatory Water was subsequently converted into a model boat pond. When we arrived there were a few boats, but when I took ...
First day of spring In previous years I’ve done posts on the first day of Spring with pictures of a snow storm. Today it’s a glorious sunny day with nary a cloud in sight. True, we still have about five inches of snow on our patio, but it’s melting fast and a week ago it was 15 ...
Ladybugs I was sitting in the kitchen of our house in Briarcliff Manor yesterday when I noticed a number of ladybugs. Many of them had gone to that great ladybug home in the sky, but a couple of them were still ambling around. The one above was walking along our counter top. The one below was ...
Neighborhood dogs These two dogs belong to one of our neighbors. You’ll see from the box on the large one’s collar that they are subject to an invisible fence and consequently never come any further than where they are in the picture. They’re looking at our dog, Harley who’s out of the picture on the ...
Eel We took the dog in for his annual checkup today and while we were waiting decided to have lunch at a nearby restaurant (Wild Fusion). As we were leaving I noticed an aquarium right by the exit, and inside, along with the usual brightly colored fish, was this spectacular creature. I’d never seen anything like ...
2016 Favorites – Black and White Light Patterns. Another year has whizzed by and it’s time to post some of my favorite pictures from 2016 – black and white first. Like last year I’m presenting my ten favorites – in no particular order. At this point last year I said: I’ve been trying to find a focus for my photography, which at the moment ...
Snapping turtle A couple of hundred yards from out house is a small dirt road called “Roaring Brook Lane”. It parallels a brook and goes over a small bridge to a dock by the lake. While walking the dog we decided (actually he decided – I merely followed) to go down to the dock. ...
A pair of pigeons I have a very clear memory of taking this picture. We were in Copenhagen visiting our older daughter and her family. I’d gone with my grandson to his piano lesson. We’d been driven there, but were expected to make our own way home. I recall that we were taking the train ...
Rockefeller trails 1: riders Fairly typical Hudson Valley scene taken at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Very serene. I like the way the trees frame the riders and the park landscape in the background and the way the path (probably an old carriage trail) leads the eye to the horses and their riders. The know size of ...
A spider I just took this picture. My work area is down in the basement of our house. It’s only partially finished so we get a few bugs down there – especially spiders. Since I was a kid I’ve always liked spiders so it doesn’t particularly bother me when there are a few around. This ...
A fisherman and his dog In the preceding post (Dog and fish) I described an encounter with two fisherman; two dogs and a fish while walking along the Hudson near Scarborough Station. One of the dogs (and the fish) appeared in that post. This is the other dog with his owner taking a break from the fishing. ...
Dog and fish Taken at the park next to Scarborough Station in March, 2011. I remember that I’d taken the train home (getting off at Scarborough) and decided to take a short walk by the Hudson river to unwind and to see if there was anything worth a photograph. Two men were fishing. They each ...
Spider web I was walking towards Stillwater Pond in Fahnestock State Park when I spotted this spider web. It seemed to just float in the air with no apparent means of support, backlit by the sun. I liked the original color version, but the brights yellows and greens and greens in the background seemed to ...
Bolt revisited I’m not referring to Usain Bolt here (although I do have a picture of him on the blog: see What an amazing photograph of an incredible athlete). Rather I’m referring to the rabbit that has recently started to appear in our garden (see A new visitor) and which one of our granddaughters has named ...
I’ve got my eye on you I was wandering around at a nearby working farm when this cow (I think it’s a cow) ambled over. I waited for a while in the hope that it would look up, which it eventually did. It’s a fairly rare picture for me in that 1) I don’t often take pictures of animals ...
A new visitor I’ve been walking the dog around the lake for about four years now and until recently I’d never seen a rabbit. Now I see them every day including this one today in our garden. I was excited to see a new visitor and also felt a kind of “Aw – how cute” sensation – particularly ...
Donkey and Foal In a recent post: Soul/Creativity on his Photos and Stuff blog, Andrew Molitor provides the following quote (which he attributes to Ansel Adams): The final image you achieve will, to quote Alfred Stieglitz, reveal what you saw and felt. If it were not for this element of felt, the term creative photography would have no meaning. For ...
Squirrel-proof birdfeeder – Ha!! Not a stunning picture. It was taken quickly and at a fairly long (250mm) focal length through one of our windows. At first I didn’t know what to do about this. There were two options depending on how the squirrel got there. If it jumped from the Japanese Maple behind then ...
Horse and (dismounted) rider Taken at a nearby public garden. The horses (there were more than just this one) had just returned from a ride and were about to be groomed and fed. I can’t really articulate why I like this one.
Picture appropriated While I’ve heard of such things happening it’s never happened to me – although to be honest I don’t usually check. This time I could hardly miss it though. Our lakeside community has its own Facebook group. I was looking at it the other day when I saw the above picture posted ...
Dogs on a boat We often see boats on the lake. We also frequently encounter dogs on the road around the lake. But it’s not often that we see this combination of the two: dogs on a boat.
A comfortable spot for a nap Our dog, Harley found a comfortable spot for a nap: on my wifes’ legs as she was lying on the sofa reading the newspaper.
One of Paul’s cats My friend Paul has two cats. This is the female. Unfortunately, I don’t remember her name. There’s also a male, but I didn’t like the pictures I took of him too much.
Chipmunk I was walking the dog past a neighboring garden when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Inside the garden was a grid and from time to time a small head would pop out: a chipmunk. Up it would pop. Then it would get nervous and disappear for a ...
A pair of swallowtails I came across this pair of butterflies on a nearby beach – Moon Beach. At first I thought that they were Monarch butterflies and described them as such in a post on Facebook. I was politely informed that they are not in fact monarchs. So I replied: “I’ve been told in a ...
Seen by the side of the road I was walking the dog when I came across this snake by the side of the road (actually the dog noticed it first. I would probably have walked right by it). It didn’t look in great shape, inert even and I assumed that it was dead. So I thought that this would ...
Springwood – Fala Fala was FDR’s Scottish Terrier. Fala was devoted to him and FDR was devoted to Fala. One story in particular resonated in this election season of insults and attacks. It seems that FDR had been insulted by his Republican opponents (it seems not much has changed). In response he had these words to ...
Boy and goat Taken in June 2013 with a Sony Nex 5N and its 18-55mm kit lens at Niese’s Maple Farm. Even though I made this photograph a while ago I still remember it well. The boy had been looking down and then he suddenly looked up, fortuitously right at the camera. At the same ...
Roaring Brook Lake monster??? Walking along Lake Shore Road in the past few weeks I’ve noticed a fin cutting through the surface of the water in the cove. Imagine the typical image of a sharks fin, but in miniature and you’ve about got it. I took a few pictures, but the fin was quite distant and the ...
A gaggle of geese Taken in May, 2010 on Swan Lake in the Rockefeller Preserve with a Panasonic Lumix ZS3.
With dolphins Taken on my wife’s birthday in 2005 during a very pleasant vacation in Bermuda. This was during the period where I’d soured on photography and was basically just taking travel and family snaps. The camera I was using at that time was Canon Powershot S-50 – one of the few cameras I’ve ever ...
Cat in a bath Illustrates some of the crazy things out cat gets up to even if it’s not much of a picture. It is what it is: a cute picture worthy of sharing with our grandkids – which is exactly what my wife did with it. I’m pleased whenever I get a “half way decent” picture ...
Moth We went into NY city to have dinner with our son-in-law, Colin who was visiting from Geneva. The windows at Scarborough Station are right on the Hudson and as I we were waiting for the train I noticed a number of moths on them. As I started to take some pictures my wife ...
North Redoubt, Garrison, NY I’m always looking for new places to walk so I was happy to find out about these two redoubts overlooking the Hudson. Go south from Cold Spring on Route 9d and turn left onto Snake Hill Road. Not too far down is a good sized parking area on the right. If you ...
Eirah and Harley go for a walk Taken around 4:00 pm in November, 2015. The light was absolutely gorgeous.
Horses Feeding. Cimarron Ranch. There seems to be some history to the Cimarron Ranch, but so far I haven’t been able to find out much. I did come across these three short videos below showing the ranch in its heyday: Cimarron Ranch, Eastern Dude Ranch Association, August 1945 (part 1 of 3) Cimarron Ranch, Eastern Dude Ranch Association, August 1945 ...
Horse and Rider In an earlier post (Approaching Rockwood Hall) I mentioned that we (myself and our dog, Harley) had an encounter with a horse and rider. I don’t think he’d ever seen a horse before and he was very excited – so much so that I had to pull him back to stop him from running ...
Bird in a tree It was the coldest night of the season last night with temperatures going down to -5F/-20C. It was also windy so it felt more like -25F/-31C. I came down a little before 8:00am and the sun was just rising. This large bird of prey was sitting in one of our trees. ...
Harley in the snow Taken the other day after a recent snow storm. Although I did remember to change the focus to continuous autofocus I was so excited to see him running in the snow that I forgot to change the shutter speed to something higher. So I got quite a lot of blur in most of ...
The lure of “likes” A while back I joined a Facebook group: The Hudson Valley in Pictures. One of the first pictures I posted got what seemed to me to be a very large number of “likes” (probably because the groups I usually belong too are much smaller than this one). This was pleasing. However, as ...
A trio of swans While I quite like this composition it’s marred by the fact that it was a very bright contrasty day and the camera, a Panasonic Lumix ZS3 suffered from the typical problems of a small-sensor camera including a low dynamic range. So the highlights on the swan’s back are virtually blown out. To make ...
Walking the Dog For once it’s not me walking the dog, but me taking a picture of someone walking the dog. This was taken with a NEX-5n and 18-55mm kit lens. It was soon after I got the camera and I wasn’t all that familiar with it. It was early in the morning in November ...
2015 Favorites – Black and White Lightbeams. Another year has passed and it’s time to post some of my favorite pictures from 2015 – starting with some black and whites. Like last year I’m presenting my ten favorites – in no particular order. I’ve been trying to find a focus for my photography, which at the moment is all over the place. ...
I know it’s Thanksgiving but was it something I said? Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
My Wife And Harley The Dog On A Bench Overlooking The Hudson Just a snapshot, but the light was nice and I liked the way they looked!
Horse at Stonecrop Gardens I came across this horse rolling around in the grass at Stonecrop Gardens. Taken with a Sony NEX 5n and 18-55mm kit lens in June 2013.
Spider in a Train Station Window When I was working I took the train every day from Scarborough Station in Westchester County to Grand Central Terminal. The platform is right on the Hudson, separated from it by a number of windows. Before they renovated the station a few years ago the windows were covered with spider webs. Here’s ...
Morning Visitor We have lots of acorns this year: it seems to having been “raining” them for months. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of them scattered around in piles in our garden. Needless to say this attracts chipmunks and squirrels. I caught this one munching away on our patio yesterday morning. I’m ...
A Couple of Snakes A couple of snakes have recently made their way into my life. First, I was scanning some old negatives when I came across the picture above. It shows a younger me posing for the usual ‘cheesy’ tourist shot in a market outside of Bangkok, Thailand. I would guess that it was taken sometime in the ...
Harley and the Bird Houses Another picture of our dog, Harley sitting in what seems to have become one of his favorite locations. We took him to be groomed a week or so ago and he looks quite different from the way he looked before. Below – the old look Harley sitting in virtually the same spot, but ...
Intimations of Mortality On stones mossed with hot dust, no shade but the thin, useless shadows of roadside grasses; into the wood’s gloom, staring back at the blue flowers on stalks thin as threads. The green slime – a thicket of young trees standing in brown water; with knobs like muscles, a naked tree stretches up, dead; and a dead duck, head ...
Harley Enjoying Fall We’ve never let our dogs off-leash in our garden at the lake. Jackson was a bit unpredictable. If he heard a noise, particularly thunder, he’d chase off after it. Soon after we got the house we tried letting him out, but then one day – on an otherwise nice day – there ...
Seagull Landing We went to Danbury Fair Mall yesterday. My wife dropped me off at Barnes and Noble (see At the Bookstore) and after I’d spent a while there I walked back to the mall to wait for her. As I was walking back across the parking lot I came across a group (flock??) of ...
Harley finds a new friend Every year our friend Roxana has a birthday party for her dog, Buster (see Buster’s birthday party) and this year’s party just took place. This was the first time that our dog, Harley had been to this event and he had a great time. His amorous advances having been rebuffed by one female ...
Grey Heron I came across this magnificent bird while walking the dog in Briarcliff Manor. We’d walked through Law Memorial Park, described on the Village of Briarcliff Manor website as follows: Located in the heart of the Village on Pleasantville Road, this seven (7) acre park was gifted to the Village by its first family, Mr.& Mrs. ...
Cormorant on a Rock I knew that I would be going to the NY Air Show with some friends and would need to use a long focal length lens. The last time I’d tried to capture aircraft in flight I hadn’t been particularly successful – and these were WWI vintage aircraft that didn’t move particularly quickly. This ...
The Birds This was taken back in December, 2010 with a Panasonic Lumix LX-3. But doesn’t the LX-3 have a very limited zoom range you may ask? And you’d be right – it does. This picture was actually taken in the parking lot of a Sams Store near where live. Garbage was strewn ...
Snapping Turtle at Chuang Yen Monastery We took visiting brothers-in-law to the Chuang Yen Monastery and were watching people feed (despite a sign saying no feeding) the large numbers of very aggressive carp-like fish in the lake the other day when this medium sized snapping turtle put in an appearance. In the water he/she was outclassed. The fish were far to ...
Gypsy One of the comparatively rare (because I find it difficult to get a decent picture of her) pictures of our cat, Gypsy. She was sitting on the table right next to where I was working on the computer when some thing outside attracted her attention. Luckily I had a camera right next to ...
Harley goes for a swim It was quite hot the other day so I decided to go for a swim in the lake to cool off. Our previous dog, Jackson had loved swimming in the lake but we weren’t sure how Harley would react to the water. So I carried him in and let him swim back to ...
A busy July 4 Our dog, Harley spent all of July 4 barking. We were sitting on the patio and suddenly he would see some action on the lake (e.g. a boat, paddleboard, catamaran, kayak etc. passing) and he would rush downhill to the dock barking all the way. He would then run up and down the ...
A Woman and Her Dog Our friend and her dog. He’s a French Bulldog and every year she has an outdoor birthday party for him – last year with a band. Our previous dog, Jackson didn’t get on with him at all. Jackson was smaller, but extremely aggressive with other dogs (he was part Jack Russell terrier). ...
Harley by the lake I was sitting on our dock with our dog Harley when suddenly he jumped up and ran off. I spotted him on the grass behind a flower bed trying to get through the trees along the side of our property. There’s also a fence so I didn’t think he’d succeed. I was ...
Turkeys in the Meadow I’d been hearing the distinctive “gobble, gobble” sound for a few days, but hadn’t seen the authors. Then the dog started barking like crazy and I thought he’d seen some deer. When I took a look I didn’t see any deer, but I did see this trio of wild turkeys in the meadow ...
Mayfly on the Water This mayfly (at least I think that’s what it is) had somehow managed to end up in the water. I was optimistic about it’s chances of getting out though. Lots of sticks and other objects were sticking out of the water. I felt it was only a matter of time before it ...
Thailand – Elephants Washing the Elephants. My mother loved elephants! So I’m sure that was one of the reasons I took these. I have to admit though that going for a ride was somewhat exciting for me. Since these were taken I’ve been on safari in Kenya and seen how different zoo/tame elephants are from the magnificent beasts that ...
Sammy Many years ago (in the 1980s) when we were still living in Dix Hills, Long Island we had a cat called Ginger. Then I was transferred to Switzerland and the cat went with us. Five years later we moved to France. The cat went with us. Eventually in 1998 we came ...
Neighborhood Dogs This dog lives about five minutes from where I do. There are actually three of them – the others can be seen in the background. He’s the brave one though. Whenever I pass with our dog, Harley they all charge down, yapping like crazy. However, they won’t go past a certain ...
My first elephant ride My first, and so far only ride on an elephant – seen here in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthya (you can see some of the ruins in the background). It’s not much of a picture, but I can take solace in the fact that I clearly didn’t take it (that’s me on the left ...
Wasp on a Glass Table I was sitting in the garden reading one day when this extremely persistent wasp appeared. I don’t like killing things – even stinging insects so I brushed it away. It disappeared for a while and then returned. I brushed it away again, and again, and again…and it just kept coming back. ...
Two Turtles on a Log Seen while walking the dog around a nearby lake.
Snapping Turtle As we were walking up to the Washington Irving house Sunnyside during our recent visit we came across this snapping turtle in the grass next to the road and not far from a small stream.
Goat Portrait We had visitors from the UK: old friends from university days who I hadn’t seen for over 20 years. The had said that they liked to walk so I took them on a selection of walks in the Hudson Valley. On one of the walks we went down the Old Croton Aqueduct trail ...
Bee Spring is here and I have to engage in one of my least favorite activities: gardening. My wife is really the gardener of the family and I will admit that I like it when the garden’s all a-bloom. It’s the process of getting to that point that I’m not keen on. My usual ...
California Gulls These were taken on Christmas Eve, 2003 on the Pier in Santa Monica, California. The camera was a Canon Powershot S50, which I eventually gave to my grandson. I guess the gulls must have let me get quite close as the camera didn’t have a particularly long zoom – 35-105mm I believe and these ...
Harley on the table It was a gorgeous sunny day the other day: warm with blue sky and no clouds. I put Harley’s bed on our patio table and he lay there for some considerable time looking out over the garden and the still frozen lake. I too sat at the table, reading, drinking rum and coke and ...
On the Newburgh Waterfront Getting our ducks (or mostly geese) in a row. As mentioned in the previous post March 31 was my wife’s Birthday. Since she’s fond of fish and all kinds of seafood we thought we’d try Captain Jake’s Restaurant on the Newburgh waterfront. After a nice meal: Surf and Turf for my wife and a ...
Bird in Flight I was walking around in the neighborhood when I came across this bird feeder in someone’s garden. A cloud of small birds surrounded it with two or three of them at any time taking turns to come and feed. Unfortunately it was some distance away and I didn’t have a long enough lens ...
Gypsy and Harley When I woke up this morning I could feel a lump next to me on the bed (no not my wife. She was on the other side). Assuming it was our dog, Harley I reached out to stroke him. As I did so he made a most un-Harley like noise and I realized ...
Contrasts My memory tells me that these two pictures were taken on the same day, but the metadata associated with them seems contradict this – making them two days apart. The picture above was taken from the front door of our house in Briarcliff Manor. The second one (below) was taken from a friend’s ...
People and Dogs on the Lake in a Snowstorm We had about six/seven inches of snow yesterday and were sitting in the living room reading when we noticed movement on the lake. Four people were walking their dogs on the lake. The falling snow did not seem to bother them very much and the dogs seemed to be loving it. By ...
Bali part IV: A few more pictures Kertha Gosa Pavilion. This is the last batch of pictures (I promise) derived from scanned negatives from a trip to Bali. The rest can be found at: Bali I: Batiks Bali II: Around Ubud Bali III: Temples Another Batik Devotions at the temple. Monkeys A performance. Statue Bali Landscape
Gypsy I’ve posted quite a few pictures of our late dog, Jackson and also some of our current dog, Harley. But I post very few pictures of our cat, Gypsy. This is largely because I rarely produce a good one. Because she’s black I find it hard to get the exposure right and she tends to ...
Goodbye Jackson and Hello Harley It’s taken me a while to be able to write this post. October 30, 2014 we lost our beloved dog, Jackson (that’s him above) after a thankfully very brief illness – to kidney failure. We got Jackson in February 2008 and since then he has been our constant companion. The kids are ...
Cows Cows and fence. I must confess that one of my reasons for taking our new dog, Harley for a walk around Stone Barns was that I wanted to introduce him to the cows. Before we got him Harley was a stray and I suspect that he was a town dog. He’s fascinated by the ...
Iguanas The first was taken in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the second in Mexico. The first with a Panasonic Lumix ZS3 and the second with a Canon Powershot S50.
Feeding the Fish I came across these large, and very voracious fish in a nearby pond. Clearly they were used to being fed and indeed while we were there some people came with a huge plastic bag filled with bread. The contents looked like leftovers from a restaurant. The fish descended on the bread. ...
Woodpeckers at work At least I’m assuming that it’s woodpeckers because I can’t imagine what else could create such interesting patterns. I suppose it could be some kind of bug.
Birds in Briarcliff We’ve been down working in the garden in our house in Briarcliff Manor and I took the dog for a walk through the village and into Law Park. We were down by the pond when I saw the rather nondescript bird above. I don’t know what it is – maybe a cormorant? ...
Swallowtail Butterfly Came across this in our garden today. Luckily it stayed put long enough for me to get the picture.
Buster’s birthday party Buster, the birthday boy. Every year our neighbor, Roxana has a birthday party for her dog, Buster. She invites a number of people from around the neighborhood – especially those that have dogs. Here’s a selection of this years’ participants. Cody Charlie Tartine And last but not least, our very own Jackson Jackson really wasn’t crazy about the band. ...
Large bug: Cicada? My wife was gardening when she suddenly called me over. She has a small basket for her gardening implements and clinging to the side of it was a large insect – easily 1 1/2 inches long. I’m not very knowledgeable about insects but it seems to me that this is some kind of ...
Cooper Cooper (I know that’s his name because it’s on his name tag in the first picture) came out to greet us during another dog walk. As is common with this kind he was very curious. We have a cat (Gypsy) at home, but she’s very docile and refuses to fight with out dog, ...
Snake Another wildlife picture. I came across this little guy slithering around in the leaves at Hardscrabble Wilderness Area. A say ‘little’ because he (she?) really was quite small – much smaller than he appears in the picture.
Wildlife – Large Beetle I few posts ago I mentioned that I didn’t have many ‘wildlife’ photos because I lacked both the patience and the necessary equipment. However, I was cleaning up my old images and I realized that I had rather more than I thought so I’ll post a few of them from time to time. ...
Goslings One of the few ‘wildlife’ pictures I’ve taken. I just don’t have the patience for wildlife photography. As I recall this was taken by the lake in the Rockefeller Preserve back in May 2010 – with my then ‘carry everywhere’ camera: a Panasonic Lumix ZS-3.
Geese One of the very few pictures I’ve taken of wildlife. I just don’t have the patience required to take good wildlife pictures. Wildlife photography also seems to require very fast telephoto lenses, which I don’t have and which are quite expensive to acquire. This was taken during a walkabout with a friend. ...
Dogs The house where these dogs reside is about a five minute walk from where I live. The dogs are often off-leash in the garden. They run around the garden and when they see me with our dog Jackson they start barking and they run towards us. However, they never go past a ...
Gypsy I’ve posted many pictures of our dog Jackson but very few of our cat: Gypsy. So to even up the balance a bit here are a couple of cat pictures.
Squirrel Early this morning I was sitting having a coffee when this little guy turned up. At first he perched on the head of a statue in our garden. Definitely picture worthy – but where were my cameras? I have a house full of them, and I usually have the most frequently used ...
Dogs When I set up the menus for this blog I included a category called ‘Animals’. This seemed like a good idea at the time but looking back on it a see that I’ve actually posted very little related to animals. Browsing through my past pictures on a snowy day I discovered that I did have ...
Horses Horses in Peekskill Hollow, grazing even in the winter cold. Are they even horses? As I look closer they seem to have something of the donkey about them. Maybe some kind of pony? Clearly I don’t know enough about types of equine. In the first and final pictures I waited to ...
Jackson in a basket This basket is usually occupied by our much smaller cat, Gypsy. Today, however, our dog Jackson took a fancy to it. It’s really too small for him, but he’s a terrier and not easily discouraged. After about five attempts to get into it he finally made it. His technique was to ...
Jellyfish In an earlier post I mentioned that we went to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Ct. In addition to the meerkats we also saw a number of other interesting creatures including these Jellyfish. It was extremely dark and I had to hand hold the camera. The ISO was very high. However, when ...
Meerkats Meerkat on watch We took our granddaughter to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut. Obviously you’d expect to find fish at an aquarium, but I didn’t expect to find meerkats. They had a very nice display of Meerkats including a small plastic bubble projecting up into their habitat. We couldn’t persuade our granddaughter to go into ...
Sony Alpha 500 Ken In an earlier post I noted that my first digital SLR was a Konica Minolta Maxxum 5d. I bought this camera because: a) I’d had a good experience with a minolta camera in the past. My first serious camera was a Minolta Hi-Matic 7sii. By that time I’d had film SLRs, but when I went to ...
Swallowtail Butterflies in our neighbour’s garden Our neighbors had asked us to keep an eye on their house while they were on vacation. They have a few really large butterfly bushes. The name is apparently apt as a small cloud of swallowtail butterflies were flying around them. Pictures below – could be three butterflies or the same butterfly ...

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