Northward Bound

A new year and another migration for the Sandhill Cranes that amass here in Nebraska on their way north. About a half million of these large, graceful birds will stop to feed and rest along the Platte River during March and April before continuing their journey to nesting grounds in Canada and Alaska. For a quick glance at basic facts about this fascinating bird, check this link to the Rowe Bird Sanctuary.

Contributor to
Sky Watch Friday

Sky Watcher

Addih-Hiddisch

Hidatsa Chief
American artist, John Coleman's bronze work, after Karl Bodner (Swiss, 1809-1893) 
Joslyn Art Museum Sculpture Garden

Sky Watch Friday

Theme Day - Electricity

A quick ride down the slide brings a smile of wonder for our grandchild and just enough static electricity to fashion her new coiffure.

See many takes today on electricity from City Daily Photo bloggers around the world.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Contributor to
Weekend Reflections

Winter Sky

Morning reflection on the Missouri.

Contributor to

Sky Watch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Day of the Raptor

This is an image from a post I made several years ago when living in Washington state. It was an incredible encounter I had one day with wildlife in action while walking the beach in Port Townsend.  I couldn't believe my luck when a bald eagle suddenly swooped down out the blue and attacked a river otter very close to where I was standing. I had only a pocket point and shoot which I fumbled out of my shirt, but got a few shots off as the eagle pounced from the top of the rock toward the otter, which had a fish in its jaws, at the bottom of the rock. The otter darted into the sea and out of sight just in time.  It all happened so quickly I felt lucky to get even this, but it was an exciting few minutes, to be sure.

  Contributor to

World Bird Wednesday

Serpentine Connection

A mild January with above freezing temps, made for a nice walk yesterday along the river at dawn. This is a view of the new pedestrian suspension bridge across the Missouri River. The graceful lines of the bridge were designed to reflect the winding flow of the river itself as it traverses some 2300 miles across the great plains of the US.

Contributor to

Sunday Bridges

Weekend Reflections

Reflection image pulled from the files of a trip to Rome.

Contributor to
Weekend Reflections 

Sky Watch Friday

Theme Day - Photo of the Year 2011

A favorite image because it comes close to what I had hoped to capture that day. It was taken in the corn fields around the Platte River near Kearney, Nebraska where migrating Sandhill Cranes make a stopover every spring on their way north to Canada and Alaska. As all of us who enjoy photography know, lots of patience and a little luck are everything for getting decent shots in nature. So the challenge of getting close enough to the cranes while working the moon into the frame finally came together for a good picture or, at least, one that I liked.

View the best photos of the year 2011 from City Daily Photo bloggers around the world.

 Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Contributor to

World Bird Wednesday

Happy Trails?

A walk in the neighborhood with contrails across a pretty blue autumn sky.

For different views on the letter X today, visit Mrs. Nesbitt's

delightful weekly meme, ABC Wednesday.

View wondrous skies from around the world at
Sky Watch Friday

What the Dickens?

Every year in December the Old Market Arts and Entertainment district gives Omahans a treat before Christmas. It's called Dickens in the Market, which is a day filled with Victorian era characters and performers strolling the streets and shops of the Old Market. One might see Ebenezer and Marley or English country dancers or joyful carolers and festive horse drawn carriages about the streets. For more images of people enjoying Dickens in the Market this year, click here.

ABC Wednesday

Underway

Migrating Sandhill Cranes

Sky Watch Friday
ABC Wednesday

Sunday Bridges

Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge,
a spectacular river canyon in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.

The falls drops in two major steps, an upper falls of 542 feet and a lower falls of 69 feet, with a gradual drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet.
A foot trail leads to the Benson Footbridge, shown above, that allows visitors to cross the falls
 and continue on a trail up to the summit that overlooks the Columbia River.

From Wiki, an updated footnote about the nearly one hundred year old bridge:
In 1995, a 400 ton boulder fell 225 feet (69 m) from the face of the waterfall into the pool above Benson Bridge. It caused a 70-foot (21 m) splash of water and gravel to wash over the footbridge, which in turn caused minor injuries to a wedding party that happened to be on it for photos at the time.
Sooo, heads up!

View more bridges around the world today

at Louis' Sunday Bridges

December Dawn

Sky Watch Friday

'Tis The Time...

... each year when Snoopy and Woodstock  join me

 in wishing you, blogger friends around the world,

all the very best in the holiday season!

ABC Wednesday
Macro Monday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Sunday Bridges

A jogger catches the warming rays of a summer sunrise on the the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge across the Missouri River. The bridge connects downtown Omaha, Nebraska and the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa with miles of paved trails on both sides of the river.The painting in the distance is mural artist, Meg Saligman's rendering of Omaha history called, Fertile Ground.

See more bridges today at Louis' Sunday Bridges

Happiness is...

A quick snap of our golden, Dutch, in his favorite seat for traveling.

Seen here arriving at Memorial Park for fun and games. Indeed, a happy hound!

Sky Watch Friday

Q for Quill, Question, Quotation

A lone feather found along the trail may make us wonder about what we know not.

"For the first time in four billion years a living creature had contemplated himself
and heard with a sudden, unaccountable loneliness, the whisper of the wind in the night reeds.”
― Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey

Contributor to

ABC Wednesday