Posts coming hopefully soon!

I have been extremely busy lately, but I hope to put a post about my 18th Birthday (Oct. 1st) and our Vacation to VA Beach, as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, here are some Photos of a female Mourning dove on her nest in a tree beside the hotel where we had Chad & Angie Burn's Reception for their wedding. (Marjo posted about this awhile back).

Shortly after this, I tried to get even closer, and she flew of to a nearby light pole, but returned a little while after I left.

Starling hunting in summer

In the hotter summer months, Starlings are quite active, if you know where to find them. Personally, I have not found much time this summer to search them out, with work and studying, but if you do, this is definitely a challenging type of hunting.

Hunting during this time is nothing like Spring or Winter, when the main concept is to wait for a Starling to perch in a tree. Without searching, the only ones that you'll see will  be those in the air. The cause for this is that when Summer rolls around, the parents merge with others and their young, forming compact bands which are constantly on the move from one feeding ground to another, attempting to satisfy the brown immatures endless hunger, leaving them little time for sitting in trees!

So how to find them? The feeding grounds which Starlings utilize at this time are usually fields bordered by protective brush, to enable the clumsy young to reach safety s rapidly as possible. When one such location is found, the flock descends, and begins to search for invertebrates. When the field is covered, they move on in search of another such location.

Trying to sneak up on a flock of this sort can be tricky, with several parents on the alert, but even if you do spook them, the first place they'll fly to is into the brush. Here, you can get quite close and search for the young ones hiding within. This kind of hunting works best with a smaller gun, such as my Umarex Steelstorm, as you will need space to maneuver in the brush.

As for me, I am still busy trying to wrap up Precal. These past few weeks have certainly been busy ones! Last Sat. was Chad and Angie's wedding, of which you have a sneak peak on Mazzou's Memories. This Friday is my little sisters birthday, as well as a friends B-day party, and many other similar events are creeping up fast. I also was working at the Larimore plantation of course. Besides grass cutting, I did a lot of driveway sealing, buried a wire, planted some grass, and cut down some brush.
A little while back, I got permission from Meagan Wanschura (Carpe Diem Photography) to draw Ella, a cute little 4 year old with amazing eyes! :) I will start that as soon as I finish Rena.

Conference, 2011

    I know I'm late in putting this post out, but I was busy with the Principles of Management CLEP, and Principles of Supervision Dantes tests.

    This Conference was certainly a fun one, with lots of good speakers and homeschooling families! Sadly I wasn't able to get as many photos as usual, or as I hoped to, maybe I'll do better next yr.! Here are some of my photos from the event. (Some of these you may have seen on my sister's blog).

My little sister, Elodie, Amy A., Meg H., Mrs. H., ?, & Tessa W. stripping armbands.

Elodie & Tessa, Matching up maps.

                    The escalator! It's where you can see all your friends, in a compact view!


Whittingtons and Tornatores




At the top. Note Nathan M., on escalator,
 trying to look natural among his family with a stack of new books...

The guilt of his deed is getting the better of him, as he peers over his shoulder. 
Darcie & Leah are suspicious!

 


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Down to the left, (and above this photo) we see that Nathan has decided to return the books to their rightful owner. The righteousness of his decision brings a smile to his face! :)

The Dischers

Nick Burns, one of the filmers for the conference, behind another industrious character

Example of bad ethics on an escalator!

Example of Innovation on an escalator!

Example of, well, loneliness on an escalator.

My sisters and some friends, talking

Vendor Hall

My sister at our booth, Civil War...and More!

A Dwyer session.
Variety is what homeschool conferences are about!

Dwyer himself

Headless boys (left) are a common sight... (zzzzzz!)

My sister, Jessie's notes

                    My sisters, Elodie and Jessie, and Leah & Amelia M. The latter is trying to pretend she doesn't see the camera...

Row of faces

Amelia wishes I would stop ;)

                                            The rest of these are taken by my sister, Marjo


A scene to spark the imagination! :) Note the mischeivous head, peeking above the stroller!

Me and Matthew T. Check out the guy who's armed to the teeth, behind us!



Me and my brother, Alexandre (center) at a Potter session

Burns and Belleys: Sara, Elodie, Nikola, Jessie, Peter, and myself.

Other Mixed Subjects

The Outdoors in May is (or should I say was!) an amazing place to be! I love the diversity of wildlife it brings!

A young mourning dove, about to take flight.



Peeking Blue Jay

WANTED (for bird assassinations)

These are photos from an area behind our place that's great for birdwatching! (and bug watching!)

A Wooly Bear Bee Fly, not a bee! Those huge compound eyes give him away. The mimicry is for protection from predators.

 After I finish my current drawing project, Rena (near completion), I think I'll do one of these two. This is actually a friend of Rena's, Mary-anne. Just a great little ten-year-old! (I took these photos after my sisters graduation). I'll probably go for the top one since it looks more natural. Tell me if you think otherwise.

Today just so happens to be the setup day for the CHEF conference! I am going to be helping to setup our booth and others. Wer'e planning on leaving at 9:15, so I gotta get crackin'! Here is a general sample of last years photos.


 

One of my favorites from last yr.

Up the escalator, by Mazzou

Great Snakes!

I usually can't resist catching snakes when the opportunity arises, especially the large ones, like this Rat snake! They are usually more challenging to get around and catch than smaller snakes. One advantage in going for the big guys is that they rarely use their musk glands for defence once they attain near full-size.

This rat snake put up a good fight, but I finally managed to catch him. (No he's not dead, I would never kill a good snake like this one!)



 These two photos are of a bigger Rat snake from last yr. He was almost as tall as me then, and when I found him again this year, he was taller than me! (these 2 photos by Mazzou sorry, didn't get photos of him this yr.)

Here's a vicious Black Racer I caught not far from where I found the smaller Rat snake. Sadly, being a small specimen, he didn't hesitate to make use of his musk glands!:(

Insisted on keeping his mouth open for the pictures!