Great Blue

Just as I was getting some art pieces ready to take over to an upcoming show, I looked out the window and saw a visitor on the dock. A Great Blue Heron.
I've seen them visit the dock before, but they always catch me trying to take a pic and they fly away.
Guess I was just quiet enough as I creeped behind some bushes on the far side of the pool and set my zoom so I didn't have to get too close.
Managed to grab one shot before he caught on and decided to leave. Wish I could have set the camera to movie mode fast enough to catch his flight. The wing span and the sound he makes would have been terrific to get.
Maybe next time I'll just have it set to movie mode and let him see me right away!

One more

Turns out that my husband had taken a couple of photos of me on the dock taking the pictures of the swans.

This is one of the pics that I thought was soo nice with the lovely fall colors starting to show up across the pond. It was soo pretty I just had to include it.

A higher level...

...of water, that is!

Over the weekend we had many inches of rain dumped on us from tropical storm Danny as it skirted by us.
Our pool level became soo high that we had to actually drain water out. A pretty rare thing to happen in Aug.
But the dock!!
When my husband and I got done with a little trip around the pond in the peddle boat last night we took a few photos to show just how high the water level was.
As you can see....the dock is very nearly level with the water. As you walk over it you can see the water seep over the edges and between the boards. I felt like I was sitting on the surface of the water.
Under normal conditions there is a pretty decent space under the dock.
Just thought I'd share the visual. I haven't seen the pond this high in the ten years that we've been here!

In Flight

Rarely do I find myself with my camera at hand at just the right moment.

Luckily....this time I did.

It was such a beautiful day today that I just had to take time out to sit on the edge of the dock for a while.

My first lucky moment was in seeing the first dragonfly of the season!! Yay!

The other was in watching the swans that have decided to live on the pond this year. I took the first pick while watching them just swimming around.

I sat there a while, chatted with a neighbor and was just going to go back inside when they suddenly took flight. I grabbed the camera and hoped for the best.

The first shot of them were as they were coming my way...the second was as they circled around to head back out to the far end of the pond.

What a beautiful sight they are in flight!