Of Rodents and Dogs and Things

I'm sure some of you are mystified at the concept of actually feeding squirrels and chipmunks.  Frankly, the whole idea seemed a little bizarre to me, too.  Until I tried photographing the rodents, and lemme tell ya, those chipmunks are fast little devils.  And easily spooked, too.  Squirrels will run off when I approach, but they squawk at me; the chipmunks are like subatomic particles - they just vanish.  So, of course, photographing chipmunks has become my new challenge.

Sneaky little devils!

At least the squirrels tend to stay put more.  And they're bigger, so they are easier to 'catch'.

And for those of you who are wondering, yes, the girls do bark at the rodents - the chipmunks teleport to locations unknown, while the squirrels run up nearby trees and shout HBO words back at the girls.  It's actually sort of entertaining.

The birds are rather happy that the squirrels have been lured to the backyard.

And the girls are happy as long as the tennis balls are flying!

And a quick experiment in depth-of-field.  This is the 55-200mm lens at f/4.0, 55mm.

Day 208/365.

Will Pose For Treats

Fi and Abby had their first doggie class together since Fi had her surgery.  It was nice to get some posed pictures of the girls together, again.

And they haven't lost their ability to pose for treats.

Of course, our wildlife will also 'pose' for treats....

Yes, Mom, I am feeding the squirrels and chipmunks.  What can I say?  I have to pay my models something!

Day 207/365.

Some Birds! (Finally!)

While I have been generous in allowing the squirrels to snack at the bird feeder (generous, and not wanting to seem like a crazy person shouting epithets at the squirrels...) it is nice to see actual birds at the bird feeder.  And watching the birds was very entertaining.

It started off with this dude munching away....

And then this little bird shows up, and Mr. Yellow isn't keen about sharing his bird feeder, so he does some wing flapping.

Wing flapping was successful, and Mr. Yellow Bird has the bird feeder to himself again...

Pfffth!

Mr. Yellow Bird wasn't the only one trying to intimidate other birds with wing flappage.  This bird on the bottom branch wanted at the bird feeder and didn't like the other little bird above him thinking about joining him for a snack.

Mr. Wing Flapper was successful and the bird feeder was his!

Of course, the other little bird was a winner in my eyes, as he decided to land himself on our flag, resulting in a couple cool pictures.

Hi, photographer lady!

So far, this bird feeder thing has been a grand success!

Day 206/365.

Pioneer Day, Or Dogs in Funny Hats

Today is Pioneer Day in Utah, our state holiday celebrating, well, Utah's pioneers.  For people descended from the pioneers, this a Big Deal.  For us 'gentiles' who only settled in Utah 25 years ago, it means another holiday weekend in July.

And an excuse to dress the girls up in silly costumes.

Either Abby is giving me the Stare of Death, or she thinks she's posing for a daguerreotype - it's hard to tell which.

Clearly Pioneer Doodles didn't have to wear silly hats.

I think Pioneer Doodle Abby is thinking Pioneer Day should be best celebrated by a trip to the Magic Cheeseburger Window.

 I didn't spend the entire day torturing the girls, however.  They also got a little tennis ball action before it got wickedly hot out.

Stand tall!

Stalking.

Day 205/365.

Variations on a Theme (or Themes)

Another wicked hot (for us) day, and I really didn't want the girls out baking their brains whilst chasing tennis balls, so there was no tennis ball action today.  Which meant I had to find something to take pictures of today. 

I looked around the living room until I found something...

Oh yeah.  We have all these guitars....

 So I went for variations on a theme.

Interesting reflections here.

Obviously, I know nothing about the art of guitar photography, but I liked the shots I posted here (I got several shots that didn't do much for me).  So I've got another area to explore.

And just in case you were concerned that I didn't get any photos of the girls, you can stop worrying.  This is 'Variations on a Theme (or Themes)' after all!

Bookends.

Blonde dog is not amused that her tennis ball zoomies have been curtailed for the day.

 Day 204/365.

In Which Our Furry Friend Returns to Dine

I had the wrong lens on my camera for capturing wildlife, so the hanging-off-the-bird-feeder photos didn't come out very well, but when I stepped outside, my furry friend tried to make himself (herself?) invisible.  I didn't want to disturb my furry friend too much, because I want to get future "wildlife" photos, so I only got a few pictures from outside.

Don't mind me.  I'm just hanging out....

Fine, be that way.  Just keep snapping photos.  At least it keeps the hawks away.

If I get really flat, maybe the crazy lady with the camera will go away and leave me to my dinner.

To quote the former California Governor, "I'll be back".  And could you make sure there are plenty of sunflower seeds in the squirrel feeder, please? 

Day 203 (part 2)/365.

A Few Portraits On a Hot Day

It's hot today (93 degrees at this writing, which is mighty hot for us), so tennis ball action was minimal.  Instead, I took the girls out on the front porch with the flash to get a few 'portraits'.  And then we went back inside and I put yogurt in some Kongs and put them in the freezer for cool snacks for the girls later.

Look deep into my eyes.  You are getting sleepy.  You will give me the treats in your pocket.  All the treats...

No need for hypnotism here; Abby only poses for treats!

Those treats are coming right up, aren't they?

Day 203/365.

Just Another Summer Day

I love this time of year.  The warm weather and the long days make me feel very content.  Especially since the long days give me plenty of time for quality tennis ball action with the girls.

"Back off, Hippobottomus!  This tennis ball is MINE!"

The World Cup might be over, but Fi's still practicing the snooter shots!

This shot make me smile - Abby's focus, the flying ball, the action - just what I always hope for!

This makes me smile, too - I'm glad to see Fi bouncing around again!  (And I have no idea why she looks so orange in this photo.  I think it is blogger, because when I look at it in Lightroom it doesn't look that way.)

Happy, happy girl!

Silly girl!

"Yes, I'm pretty, but throw the tennis ball already!"

Day 202/365.