Thank you John Arthur 
for the wonderful presentation on Swans at today's meeting. Made me think of this Poem :

The Wild Swans at Coole

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

The trees are in their autumn beauty,   

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water   

Mirrors a still sky;

Upon the brimming water among the stones   

Are nine-and-fifty swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me   

Since I first made my count;

I saw, before I had well finished,

All suddenly mount

And scatter wheeling in great broken rings   

Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,   

And now my heart is sore.

All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,   

The first time on this shore,

The bell-beat of their wings above my head,   

Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,

They paddle in the cold

Companionable streams or climb the air;   

Their hearts have not grown old;

Passion or conquest, wander where they will,   

Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,   

Mysterious, beautiful;   

Among what rushes will they build,

By what lake's edge or pool

Delight men's eyes when I awake some day   

To find they have flown away?

Colors of Fall

Someone told me that FSSP isn't known for it's fall colors...but I beg to differ!  These photos are from Oct 25th.  

Crex Outings

We had a spectacular show with an overflowing abundance of cranes and a glorious sunset yesterday. I traveled with Janos, Christa, Gene, and Gene's friend John. (I am thinking of asking them to start a band just so I can use the shots below for "really hip" front and back album covers.)  Others we meet on the dikes included Leon, Ruth, May, Dan, and Judy.

I got a glimpse of some of Leon's work while he was resting his trigger finger waiting for his camera to cool down (look out Mary there is another fast gun in town!). I saw some spectacular shots  and vids from his tripod mounted Canon 300MM f2.8 setup. I am looking forward to hearing/seeing more from last weeks outing.  I suggest that we set up an album for sharing and would like to discuss possibly developing a collaborative work.

While you were sleeping last night, tucked securely in your warm bed, others of
us braved the cool temperatures, to capture a very rare and exciting event that
only some can dream of.

If you would post this to the Camera Club I will be for ever in your debt.

Leon and Ruth

p.s. Yes even Ruth was out watching me and thinking what the hell are we doing
out here

p.s.s. Used a Tamron 70 ? 300mm lens hand held

Raccoon in a tree

Raccoon in a tree - can you see it?

Are the deer hungry?

Photo taken last week and you can see his rib cage!  Shouldn't he have a bit more fat going into fall and winter?  Or maybe this is normal?

Young Buck Posing for the Camera

This little guy was posing for me today, on the trail over at Pike Island.