May 1, 2014: Tree And Crow...and views around Rasterhoff Park, Sneek

365 Project, Day 177

Here is my day 177 submission to my 365Project:

Here's today's photo of the day. Although I got some other fun photos today, I liked the simplicity of this shot with the dark crow and branches of the tree highlighted by the lighter background.

Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) 

The ship has been in the shipyard the last few months and, along with finishing up some final bits and pieces of the major overhaul it received, it had to do sea trials and with all the contractors around there wasn't enough space for most of the crew including ourselves. Instead, we've been spending a few days on shore at the Grand Hotel Beatrix in Den Helder until the ship is ready. We're not complaining though as we've had a great time relaxing and exploring the beautiful coastal town for the last couple days...not to mention how nice it's been eating delicious lunches and dinners every day in the hotel dining room overlooking the sea!

As lovely as the hotel was in Den Helder we had to move to a different location today because the hotel didn't have enough room for our rather large group. We were bussed to a hotel near Sneek about an hour away from Den Helder. We spent the night at the Van Der Valk Sneek Hotel and I don't think any of us complained as it was also a very nice hotel and we thoroughly enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks in the bar and lovely dinner in the dining room! 

I am still a bit jet lagged so after checking in to the hotel, I had a short nap, and then myself and my two co-MMOs went for a walk in Rasterhoff Park next to the hotel. We had a lovely time taking in the variety of life: Chiff Chaffs (Phylloscopus collybita) singing their songs, bumblebees in the flowers, toads croaking, Coots (Fulica atra) with their chicks, Blue (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tits (Parus major), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) ducklings, butterflies, sheep and an entertaining Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) who seemed to claim a couple of cars in the parking lot as its territory! 

Early morning lighthouse beams and homes of Den Helder

Chiff Chaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

Coot (Fulica atra) with her chicks

Coot (Fulica atra) chicks

Coot (Fulica atra) offering some food to one of her chicks

Coot (Fulica atra) with her chicks

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Great Tit (Parus major)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) chicks

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) guiding her chicks along

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

The lounge of the Sneek Hotel

Not a bad place to stay for the night...my room at the Sneek Hotel :)

In the lounge at Sneek Hotel...with some interesting wall decor

We weren't too sure what to think of the deer head with the beads!

October 27, 2013: Mallard In Flight

365 Project, Day 110

Here is my day 110 submission to my 365Project:

We are nearly done the DP200 photography workshops with Mike at Clocktower Images...one week to go. This weekend we met as a group at, of all places, Beacon Hill Park (since I never get there, ha ha!). The purpose of today's class was to practice taking photos of birds in flight. So we planted ourselves on the old bridge at Goodacre Lake in Beacon Hill and waited for the action to begin. It took some time for the  birds to start flying back and forth past the 7 of us with our cameras but once they did the shutters were going full force! I managed to grab a few photos I liked of some ducks and gulls in flight. I especially liked the look of this duck's tail feathers fully spread out.



Fun fact of the day:
Beacon Hill Park was designed by, John Blaire, a Scot who immigrated to Canada in 1851 and eventually moved to Victoria in 1881. He was trained as a landscape gardener and in 1889, at the age of 69, he entered a competition to design and build Beacon Hill Park. Blair's design for the stone bridge over Goodacre Lake resembled the bridge he designed in Colorado Springs and another Union Park in Chicago. This bridge still stands today and is one of the main focal points of the park.

To read more about the history of Beacon Hill Park check out this University Libraries, University of Washington webpage.

The stone bridge on Goodacre Lake 1889

The stone bridge at GoodAcre lake today
Source

Juvenile gull feet :)

This young gull was a bit curious about what we were up to

After practicing some shots of birds in motion we discovered this spider so spent a little time practicing our macro photography

Yet more photos of peacocks...they're just so photogenic, especially ones as mellow as these guys were!