An Apple A Day

This squirrel was quite protective of his find. Not to mention my amusement trying to get a picture of the little fella.

Watching the Jellies

A youth watches the Jellyfish at the Minnesota Sea Life aquarium at the Mall Of America.

White and Brown Butterfly

From the butterfly cage at the St Paul Como Zoo.

Theme Day: Animals

Welcome Theme Day viewers to the "Animals" theme day. Jellyfish are animals too, right? From the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall Of America. Quite an interesting place to visit with lots of fish and sea life to look at.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Just Ducky

Captured these ducks this summer on the hottest and most humid day of the summer. In fact, it was the most humid day that I can ever recall from these parts. I'm unsure if these ducks were enjoying the heat, but this swampy looking land was a flooded out area near the Mississippi River. We had received quite a bit of rain a few day prior to this photo.

Waiting For Santa

Every year, my cat Ruby would lay by the Christmas tree lights and under the tree as well. He is missed this time of the year.

Falcons

There was this grouping of falcons, or at least I believe they are falcons. My zoom isn't the best at how far away they were. But anyway, this grouping as you can see there are quite a few. To the right of this flock, there is another grouping, probably double this size of the pictured birds. I'd never seen so many flying over head before.

Say What?

Really?

Eagle Dance

Contrasting

I've photographed this particular section of roof on the St Paul Public Library in the past. There's just something about it that I like. I do like the contrasting colors, plus the two different textures between the red roof and the building behind it. Throw in 50 or so pigeons landing on the roof and I had to photograph it again.

More Cowbell

An unexpected find in the heart of St Paul while traveling along Randolph Avenue. I spotted what looked like a cow standing in the front yard, so I had to make a u-turn for a closer inspection. This artwork is an old oil drum from the home of a St Paul home, painted to look like a cow. The head is a large milk jug, with a bowl for the mouth. Interesting idea....

Friendly Company

Yesterday I mentioned having dinner at the River Boat Grill on the Harriot Island peer. During our dinner date, another couple sat down at the table next too us. They happened to be on a walk with the dog, which joined them at their table. The restaurant owners were kind enough to bring water out for the collie as the heat and humidity levels that evening were very high that evening.

Yo!

Hello, from the Minnesota Zoo....

Hunting Wabbits

I finally shot the rabbit! Well, at least with my lens. This little rabbit has made a home in my yard. We couldn't figure out why we kept seeing rabbits in our yard. The last time I mowed the lawn, I found his home. Silly wabbit.

Duck Duck Grey Duck

I'm from Minnesota, it's Grey Duck here, not Grey Goose.

So I'm driving my kids to school the other day when my son blurts out, look at the ducks on the cars. We're like 300 yards from their school, so I drop them off and return to where he saw the ducks. Sure enough, the ducks are still sitting a fence and a Ford F150 while doing a courting dance of some sort.

Cold Hearted Snake

Ohhhh....look what we found!

Dog Show

Adjacent to the Xcel Energy Center is a large convention center type building call 'River Center'. As I was making my way to an event at the Xcel, I peered into the window and saw a dog show competition. I'd personally never been to one before and stood and watched for about five minutes. There was two or three different judging areas for the dogs and so much additional activity in the room. I know this photo has a lot in it and is incredibly busy to look at, but I did crop out quite a bit to help on the eyes.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

My first thought was, this is a 'red-headed woodpecker'. After a google search, I found out it was a 'red-bellied woodpecker'. [wiki page] There actually is red on the belly, it's just very hard to notice when they are standing. This contribution photo from swc was captured a couple weeks ago. It landed on the feeder, he ran to get the camera hoping it would still be there for photographing. Luckily the bird cooperated long enough.

And I'm Back

Where did I go? I didn't go anywhere, but I did spend a lot of time sleeping. It turned out, I had 100% of the H1N1 symptoms. Yep, the 'swine flu' caught me and caught me good last week. I just didn't really have the energy to turn on my computer for a few days. I had heard late in the summer they predicted the H1N1 would peak in October, before the vaccine would be available. I believe we are pretty close to peaking. So, the good news is, now that I've had H1N1, there is no need for me to get the vaccine.

But alas, I have returned to the daily photo and will start off with a simple indoor photo and back to the Twin Cities photos tomorrow.

Flock Of Seagulls

Sorry, I couldn't resist the cliche title. If you haven't heard of the band, Flock Of Seagulls, the cliche made no sense to you.

This outstanding action shot was taken in Duluth with Lake Superior in the background. The seagulls coming right at the camera in a frightening way. Almost like a scene from a Hollywood horror film. I cannot take credit for this capture, this contribution belongs to swc. Well done!