This downy woodpecker is one of our regular visitors.  To minimize competition at the feeder we are using a suet feeder that is oriented horizontally,  This position discourages visitors like the European starlings that can wipe out a feeder in a few hours.

Here is a wren that shows how awkward eating at one of these feeders can be for some birds.

Feeding is not a problem for the nuthatch either.

Fall is tied to memories of family traditions.  One of ours that has persisted through the years and generations is home made ravioli.  Hopefully digital images will evoke memories like old photo albums have in the past.  Not too many images but a few well chosen photos that bring us back to some of our most cherished moments.

The Seward Johnson Center for the Arts is the site of Grounds for Sculpture. Many impressive sculptures in a natural setting where you can interact with the art.  It is located outside of Trenton in Hamilton, NJ. Highly recommended.

If you make a trip to the Philly Zoo you may get so see the baby lemurs. Cute, very cute.  If you're looking to make a great shot take advantage of the clouds, to reduce the contrast so  you can capture detail in the shadows (the dark areas of their fur) without blowing out the highlights (their white areas).  You may still need to cut back and underexpose 2/3 to 1 stop to retain detail in their fur.

The Nikon D500 paired with the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 is proving to be a useful combination for photographing birds in our neighborhood. This house finch is a regular visitor to our feeder.

Red winged blackbird looks to be full of energy. To fill the frame for this image, used a 200-500mm f/5.6 Nikon lens at 500mm on a D7100 about 18 feet away.  

Visited the Steel Stacks at Bethlehem, PA today.  And today was also a walk for Autism Awareness.  Thousands of folks came out to support their friends and family members who are on the Autism Spectrum.

Today is a Spring-like day in SE Pennsylvania.  So, here's a robin without snow in the scene. For many of my walks I'm using a Nikon D7100 with a Nikon 200-500mm f5.6.  It is a fair amount of weight to carry on a walk.  The images I'm capturing are hand held.  I'm pleased with the sharpness at this range about 15-20 feet.

During the winter several birds visited our feeder that overlooks a valley.  The natural result is that the background is plain, almost the same effect as if they were in front of a gray screen.  To compensate, I created a composite of two images from the same vantage point giving a more interesting background.  An oil painting filter from Photoshop was added - just for fun.