Singing in anticipation of something happening doesn’t necessarily make it so.
- This is an abbreviated post because I had a welcome visitor for much of the day yesterday and didn’t have time to prepare one of my typical posts. My younger sister Sheila (I always call her “Baby Sis” – she’s 6 years younger than me) visited from out-of-state and we spent the afternoon and evening catching up on recent events in our lives, telling old family stories, eating good food and just enjoying each other’s company again. We had a lot to talk about because we hadn’t seen each other for about two years. Sheila and I are the only ones left out of an immediate family of five so these reunions mean a lot to us.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I always process my images for the next day’s post the night before but when I got up this morning I had nothing prepared so I looked in my files from a year ago today (2/23/16) and found this singing Western Meadowlark taken on Antelope Island. I like the rabbitbrush perch, the droopy wing, the clean background and of course the singing pose.
What a difference a year can make! This morning as I peered into the darkness there was about 3″ of fresh snow on the ground and reports indicate that much of Box Elder County (one of my favorite shooting areas) is underwater with flooded basements, ruined furnaces and an overflowing Bear River. Sandbagging operations are in progress but there’s already a lot of damage and the forecast is for continuing snow all day. The Bear River flows into the Great Salt Lake so all that water should help with the disappearing lake but many folks are paying a dear price for it.
On an unrelated note the Canon Service Center has already sent me a bill for the repair of my 500 f/4 lens and that encourages me because it seems to indicate that they actually found something wrong that can be fixed. I don’t yet know what it is but I’ll let you know when I find out.
Ron
Beautiful hot Ron!
Singing meadowlarks are a particular joy of life! I probably won’t see them here, but I’ll make travels to where they are just because that’s a particular joyous beauty I want to hear again and again.
So sorry for the people who’ve been flooded, but happy for the water going to GSL. Yin and yang, but…
Delighted that you spent time with your baby sister. I’m an only child so I don’t have one of those. I’ve missed that in my life.
Also delighted that by the time you read this, you should have your lens back. I’m hip deep in unpacking boxes, trying to get some sort of organization installed and keeping the dogs and birds happy. Mariah is a little sick, so I’m struggling with getting meds into a hormonal female redtail–this is NOT a fun exercise! She’s bigger, badder and smarter than me so she is generally three or four steps ahead of me. Thankfully, baytril is now beef flavored, so she’ll take that one when injected inside a mouse or quail breast. The other three, not so much, but they’re not critical. It’s not easy being the lesser being!
I plan to get caught up on emails this morning. We’ll see how that goes with the morning meds 🙂
Nice picture!
Two years is a long time not to see your sister! I see my sister every day and we get along well. She is 17.
Good for both you and your sister, Levi! Many siblings don’t get along particularly well as teenagers and don’t find their emotional attachment until later on in life. Sounds like you two have beat those odds and that’s great!
So glad you had a chance to spend time with your Sister. Beautiful picture of the bird. I love their song!
I do too. Thanks, Jean.
Me again .. hope I don’t wear you out .. but you should visit your sister now lots going on in delta 2000 sandhill cranes at escalante reserve and squabbling mergansers at harts basin .. let me know if you decide to come sun is shining and gorgeous clouds today ..
No visiting my sister now – she’s on her way to CA for a few days. That’s why she was in Salt Lake yesterday.
Love meadowlarks .. never get tired of photographing them … how much was bill??
$230.27 after 20% discount for being a CPS member. They also pay for return shipping. Wouldn’t yours still be covered under warranty?
Wow cheap!!!!! I was sweating!!!! Yes mine is still under warranty … whew!!!!
They were awfully quick on that bill, though! 😉
They were quick on everything else too, Marty. Repairs have already been made and it’s scheduled for FedEx to deliver it back to my home tomorrow!
Good way to spend a few snowy gloomy days. Warmth of the heart.
Yup!
Speaking as a baby sis, I’d be thrilled to spend an afternoon — indeed, several afternoons — this way. 🙂
Thank you for the beautiful meadowlark. Songbirds are incredibly cool in my book!
We’re supposed to get more rain over the weekend. While I am grateful that the drought seems to be over for the time being, it is coming at a terrible cost for so many people. That cost includes the revelation of numerous problems with our infrastructures and the lack of appropriate care/maintenance over the past 40 years is definitely apparent.
Still snowing here, Marty. It’s very wet snow and the flooding will only be exacerbated.
Love the image of the Meadowlark singing his heart out in the rsbbitbrush( interesring background) .Glad you got to visit with your sister…where does she live? Far away? Is she a blog watcher? As Rocky noted, it’s too bad about the often high price paid for something good…the flooding sounds horrible! At least it willl add some much needed water to the GSL…at a terrible cost….
Patty, Sheila lives on Colorado so we have no excuse for not seeing each other more often. Something always seems to get in the way. Yes, she often reads my blog.
“Something often seems to get in the way”—I am very familiar with that scenario…how true!
Family is #1 Ron, ALWAYS!
I haven’t seen a Meadowlark for several years, so it is wonderful to see again this colorful spring songster.
Hope you have good news on your lens.
Thanks, Dick – fingers crossed about the lens.
Why is there always such a high price to pay for something good? Flooding vs. filling up the Great Salt Lake? I’m very sorry for the people who have to endure the flooding. Thank you for the Meadowlark – I need cheering up this morning. I’m glad you got to spend time with your “baby sister”. I get to do that with mine in May after our travels. And even though she’s in her late sixties, she will always be my baby sister (I’m sure she wishes she could outgrow that).
There’s just something special about “baby sisters”. I hope it won’t be another two years before I see mine again!
Nice photo of the Meadowlark – we nearly always see them on fence posts here so the rabbit brush is a bonus. 🙂 Glad you got to spend time with your sister – the older we get the more important those visits become – and, hopefully the bill you received in indicative of “fix” for your pet lens and it will soon be home. 🙂
Thanks, Judy. Yes, the older we get the more family dramas and tragedies we’ve lived through and reunions like this become even more significant and meaningful.