Lent Photo-a-day Challenge Week 2

Here are my pictures from the second week of the Lenten challenge.

2/17/16: MIGHTY...
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

2/18/16: REFUGE...
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it... Psalm 24:1

2/19/16: LOVE...
Our church is filled with loving people who show their love for God, their neighbors and each other every day. It was hard to choose one photo from the many examples of love. This one shows the core group of leaders and volunteers for our Family Promise mission. We house homeless families in our church building four weeks a year. Love in action!

2/20/16: LIVE...
Whoever eats this bread will live forever. John 6:51

2/21/16: CELEBRATE...
This morning we sang an old gospel chorus: Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Revive us again.

2/22/16: VISION...
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Joel 2:28

2/23/16: COVENANT...
God said, “This is the symbol of the covenant that I am drawing up between me and you and every living thing with you, on behalf of every future generation. I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:12-13 CEB

2/24/16: SHELTER...

This photo shows one of our Sunday School rooms at St. Paul's, set up to provide shelter for a family of four. This week we're hosting three families, providing beds and meals. Next week they move on to another church.

I slept over as a host on Monday night, and spent some time talking with one of our guests. She and her young grandson are in the Family Promise program until they get approval for an apartment. She has a job and said she's always worked, but because of having her grandson she sometimes loses a job, and then loses her home. They've been in two homeless shelters, and she said Family Promise is much better. She was grateful that they have their own room at our church this week, and is waiting for their apartment.

Her story made me very grateful for the blessings in my life, and thankful that St. Paul's is a host church for Family Promise. May God bless all of our guests with their own homes.

I'm finding this challenge to be a real blessing. Watch my Facebook page for the daily photos.

Lent Photo-A-Day Challenge, Week 1

On Ash Wednesday someone shared the United Methodist Church's Lenten Photo-A-Day challenge. It came through the "Rethink Church" initiative, which seeks to help us put our beliefs into action. Here's the challenge:

I thought this would be a good exercise of Lenten discipline. Every day I must spend time either taking photos or looking through my collection for something appropriate for the theme. And every day it pushes me to think about my relationship with God.

So here are my photos for the first week of the challenge.

2/10/16: GATHER... Ash Wednesday
Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning... Joel 2:12

2/11/16: VOICE...
O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 96:1

2/12/16: LOOK...
A large flock of Canada geese looking... for a place to land, for rest, for food. God provides what they need. God will provide for our needs, as well, if we have faith and trust in Him.

2/13/16: INJUSTICE...
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. Job 5:16
On a bitter cold, windy day, I'm lucky to have a warm coat. Not everyone is as blessed.

2/14/16: CELEBRATE... Happy Valentine's Day!
Saint Valentine of Rome was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, Saint Valentine healed the daughter of his jailer, and before his execution, he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.

2/15/16: SETTLE...
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. Psalm 139:9-10

2/16/16: GO...
Therefore walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just. Proverbs 2:20

Almost every day I search the hashtag #‎rethinkphoto‬ to see what other are posting. So this year Lent means more to me than just giving up dessert.

What do you think?

Snow birds

So I spent hours sitting up in the spare bedroom during winter storm Jonas. I opened the window and rested my super lens on the sill. This is what I saw.

"Whoa! The diner is full!" Goldfinch stops in mid-air. On the feeder: two goldfinch, a junco, and a song sparrow. First pic taken through the back door, 2 layers of glass.

All getting along. From left to right: House finch, female cardinal, house sparrow, female cowbird and three more house sparrows.

Another pic a little later. Top: cowbird and mourning dove; lower level: Female cardinal, house finch, a couple more house sparrows and another cowbird.

Starling all puffed up, trying to keep warm. Just before I sent Mya out to chase the big bunch of starlings away.

Carolina chickadee with lunch.

House finch, also with lunch.

Dark-eyed junco, chowing down.

"George, is there something wrong with my hair?"
"No, dear, it looks fine."
Blue jays.

One of my best pictures of the day, the two blue jays. The reason we buy peanuts in 50-lb bags from the farm store.

Song sparrow, a regular in our yard, both summer and winter.

Tufted titmouse. I don't think it's possible for these guys to not be cute.

Beautiful male cardinal waiting for his turn at the feeder.

The star of the show! White-breasted nuthatch with snowflakes, one of which looks like a star. This is full frame, not cropped at all.

Catch of the day! A fox sparrow, mostly a woodsy bird, not usually found at backyard feeders. He stayed on the ground underneath the nyger feeder.

Downy woodpecker, male. 

Almost missed this one. She kept flying in, grabbing, and leaving before I could focus on her. Female red-bellied woodpecker.

I missed getting a decent picture of the grackle that swooped in and out, and am still waiting to catch the Carolina wren. But all in all, the snowstorm gave me a great bird day!


Photos all taken with Canon 7D Mark II with Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens. Most cropped and corrected with Photoshop "smart fix."

Ducks Galore!

Not only did we see lots of snow geese on our trip to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge last week, but there were lots of ducks.

The first ones we saw were the American Black Ducks, squabbling and showing off.

"Don't crowd me, pal!"

"Look, ladies!"

And a lone American Black Duck, ducking for food. Is that why they call them ducks?

"Yum!"

Then we saw the Northern Pintails, hanging out with the Snow Geese and constantly foraging for food.

Then, a first for me, Hooded Mergansers, male and female.

Of course there were Mallards.

Finally, as we were leaving, Mute Swans.

So many birds! I took over 500 pictures in order to get maybe 20 or so that I thought were good. That's the beauty of digital. You can just delete the ones that are out of focus, wrongly exposed, blurry, or that you don't like.

Love my birdies!

Canon 7D Mark II with Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens. All at 600 mm leaning on the car window. Cropped and corrected with Photoshop "smart fix."

Snow Geese!

We took a drive down to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Ocean, NJ on New Year's Eve day. I'd heard there were snow geese there and I'd never seen them before, so I was looking to get some pictures.

There were a lot of them!!

A snow goose lands in the wildlife refuge, surrounded by his kin.

Trio of snow geese in the water.

A juvenile follows an adult.

They kept dunking their heads to eat the underwater vegetation.

I got some good pictures, and even found an elusive "blue goose," the dark morph snow goose.

Dark morph snow goose, or "blue goose."

Marching to the beat of his own drummer.

They all were very peaceful, swimming around and eating.

Saw a lot of ducks, too, several different kinds. More on them in a few days.

What the flock? Northern Pintail ducks swam and fed among the snow geese.

What a great day!