The First Signs of Spring...

While those of us here in Texas cannot whine or gripe too much about the reasonably mild winters in our neck of the woods, it is always a pleasure to see the first hints that spring is getting ready to , well, spring upon us. The other day( a chilly 35 degrees F) as I was walking across campus at the school where I teach, I noticed the buds of the Bradford Pear trees were just beginning to hint at breaking their winter dormancy. As such I had to get my camera out & snapped away.... if you happen to be in a place still locked in by Old Man Winter, please accept this photo as my gift of springtime promises.....

An Afternoon with the Mighty Rumpus

This afternoon we went out to a local lake to enjoy our nice winter weather here in the Dallas area and took our 8 month old Scottish Terrier, Rumpus MacGregor, with us so he could see some of the wider world and have a chance to socialize with new people. I found this an irresistible opportunity to work with my new (as of Christmas) Pentax K-10 camera. Needless to say, the mighty Rumpus had a fun time as he got to meet babies in their strollers as well as his first (uneventful) encounters with local ducks and geese.

As Rumpus enjoyed his day at the lake, I snapped away trying to get good photos of a dog that’s almost all black. While it was not an easy task, I did manage to get a few decent ones. Here they are so you can enjoy our handsome boy also!

Enjoy your weekend!

Video of the Day - February 20

Today's "photo" is actually a video. During my visit to South Africa in July of 2007, I had the pleasure to stay for 4 days at the Impodimo Lodge in the Madikwe Game Preserve located in the Northwest Province. This was a fantastic lodge that I’d recommend to anyone. The service was great and the surroundings were 5 star (certainly better than I deserve!). One of our great game drives brought us to a water hole that had been "staked out" by a lioness and her 3 yearling cubs. We watched with great interest as all of the prey animals (mostly zebra & wildebeest) kept their distance despite being eager to get a drink of water. We laughed as the lioness would start to stalk prey only to have the impatient cubs blow her cover by coming up to play with her or try to chase prey themselves. The video clip you see here was one of her better attempts to take down a wildebeest.



Later that same day we had the thrill of having 3 of the "Big 5" within 200 meters of our vehicle at the same time. The three were a group of elephants, the lion family and two white rhinos that wandered into the area. All of these animals maintained a respectful distance from the other two.

Photo of the day - Feb 18th

Today's photo also comes from a day on the Chobe River in Botswana. After the elephants, the largest & most deadly land animal in Africa is the hippo. Due to the riverine ecosystem of Chobe National Park, There is a healthy population of hippos. These animals are easily observed from a distance, but once you venture too close, you get what at first appears to be a "yawn". However, this is a warning sign that you're violating hippo territory. Falure to turn back can get you injured/killed as hippos do not take kindly to interlopers in their world. These hippos offered their warning from enough of a distance that we were easily able to reverse course & stay safe. Sadly, many people in Africa who travel in small dugout canoes will paddle directly over submerged hipos & are killed by the offended animal. As a result, hippos account for more human deaths in Africa than any other large mammal.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Photo of the Day - Feb 15th

In both June of 2006 & July of 2007 I was lucky enough to travel to Southern Africa and have a chance to go on 3 separate safaris. As a biology teacher, these were a dream come true for the "Biology Guy" as well as the aspiring photographer in me. Today's photo is taken from my 2006 safari in Chobe National Park (Botswana) where there is the greatest concentration of elephants in the wolrld. We were able to see many elephants on each day of our 4 days there and they always provided interesting behaviors. This young elephant was just having TOO much fun crossing the Chobe River. He was by far the most expressive individual we encountered.

While his mother was very protective of him on land, in the water she let him roam a good bit farther away from her as the potential threats in the water (rarly seen crocs) were less concerning than the lion pride that dominated the land area.

Hope you enjoy this initial post ....More to come!

Welcome!

Hello Friends (both old & new) & welcome to my blog.

This space will serve as my spot to share my hobbies and interests over time. As of today I see this really focusing on my growing interest in photography as well as my ongoing efforts to record things I see under the microscope. It may also include rants and raves on other topics as life progresses.

I am going to try to be faithful in updating this space with examples of my photography as well as videos I ahve posted on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/jsmead )for a wider audience to see. I welcome your thoughts & feedback.