Golden Ray Moments before I took this shot, I had a nasty spill down an embankment where I almost lost the camera and could have been seriously hurt. That's when I realized I was no longer 25. When I climbed back up the embankment, I needed to clean myself off and rest a bit at a nearby picnic table. I checked over the camera to make sure it was okay, and decided to take a few test shots. Then I spotted this leaf on the ground, and thought it had interesting lines. I was just about to snap the shot, when suddenly the sun illuminated the leaf. This is the RAW image. No post work, no saturation, nothing - only the sun. :) I couldn't believe the image when I saw it. I really love how this came out. Must of been a sign from above. :)

Hog's Back Park in Ottawa, Canada is a very scenic park with water falls, a river, numerous biking/walking trails, and lots of wildlife.

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banjon > White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) Male.

A small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine subspecies differ mainly in the color of the body plumage.

Like other nuthatches, the White-breasted Nuthatch forages for insects on trunks and branches, and is able to move head-first down trees. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, as do acorns and hickory nuts that were stored by the bird in the fall. The nest is in a hole in a tree, and the breeding pair may smear insects around the entrance as a deterrent to squirrels. Adults and young may be killed by hawks, owls and snakes, and forest clearance may lead to local habitat loss, but this is a common species with no major conservation concerns over most of its range. More information available at: Wikipedia.org

Hogs Back Park, Ottawa, Ontario. 22 September 2007.

banjon > Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) Male.

The Cardinals or Cardinalidae are a family of passerine birds found in North and South America. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae (previously placed in Emberizidae).

These are robust, seed-eating birds, with strong bills. The family ranges in size from the 12-cm, 11.5-gram Orange-breasted Bunting to the 25-cm, 85-gram Black-headed Saltator[verification needed]. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinctive appearances; the family is named for the red plumage (colored cardinal like the color of a Catholic cardinal's vestments) of males of the type species, the Northern Cardinal.

The "buntings" in this family are sometimes generically known as "tropical buntings" (though not all live in the tropics) or "North American buntings" (though there are other buntings in North America) to distinguish them from the true buntings. Likewise the grosbeaks in this family are sometimes called "cardinal-grosbeaks" to distinguish them from other grosbeaks. The name "cardinal-grosbeak" can also apply to this family as a whole.

Most species are rated by the IUCN as least concern, though some are near threatened

Hogs Back Park, Ottawa, Ontario. 22 September 2007.

banjon > Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)

A small wader (shorebird). Its only close relative in the genus Tringa is the Green Sandpiper (Pereira & Baker, 2005). They both have brown wings with little light dots, and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. In addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids. The Solitary Sandpiper lays its eggs in abandoned nests in trees.

It breeds in woodlands across Alaska and Canada. It is a migratory bird, wintering in Central and South America, especially in the Amazon River basin, and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

This is not a gregarious species, usually seen alone during migration, although sometimes small numbers congregate in suitable feeding areas. The Solitary Sandpiper is very much a bird of fresh water and is often found in sites such as ditches (too restricted for other waders) which tend to like a clear all-round view.

This species is a dumpy wader with a dark green back, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. It is obvious in flight with wings dark above and below, and a dark rump and tail centre. The latter feature distinguishes it from the slightly larger and broader-winged (but otherwise very similar), Green Sandpiper of Europe and Asia to which it is closely related. The latter species has a brilliant white rump. In flight, the Solitary Sandpiper has a characteristic three-note whistle.

The Solitary Sandpiper lays 3-5 eggs in an old tree nest of a songbird species, such as a thrush. The young birds are believed to drop to the ground on their own soon after hatching.

Food is small invertebrates (sometimes small frogs), picked off the mud as this species works steadily around the edges of its chosen pond. Source: Wikipedia.org .

Hogs Back Park, Ottawa, Ontario. 22 September 2007.

banjon > Solitary Sandpiper

Hogs Back Park, Ottawa, Ontario. 22 September 2007.

banjon > Golden Ray

Moments before I took this shot, I had a nasty spill down an embankment where I almost lost the camera and could have been seriously hurt. That's when I realized I was no longer 25. When I climbed back up the embankment, I needed to clean myself off and rest a bit at a nearby picnic table. I checked over the camera to make sure it was okay, and decided to take a few test shots. Then I spotted this leaf on the ground, and thought it had interesting lines. I was just about to snap the shot, when suddenly the sun illuminated the leaf.

This is the RAW image. No post work, no saturation, nothing - only the sun. :) I couldn't believe the image when I saw it. I really love how this came out. Must of been a sign from above. :)

banjon > Golden Ray - Edit

post: Curves adjustment, slight Color Balance shift, 15% sat and Unsharp Mask

banjon > Chickadee eating seeds from Barb's hand.

Golden Ray

Moments before I took this shot, I had a nasty spill down an embankment where I almost lost the camera and could have been seriously hurt. That's when I realized I was no longer 25. When I climbed back up the embankment, I needed to clean myself off and rest a bit at a nearby picnic table. I checked over the camera to make sure it was okay, and decided to take a few test shots. Then I spotted this leaf on the ground, and thought it had interesting lines. I was just about to snap the shot, when suddenly the sun illuminated the leaf.

This is the RAW image. No post work, no saturation, nothing - only the sun. :) I couldn't believe the image when I saw it. I really love how this came out. Must of been a sign from above. :)