Eagle Video.

This video was edited from about 40minutes worth of footage. Not too exciting but wouldn't you know 3 minutes after I quit videoing they flew away into the blue.

Weekend Pictures

Last week I was looking over ebay and since I had some Xmas money that was burning a hole in my pocket I decided to get a new lens for my Canon SLR. The lens I got was a Canon EF 70-300mm 4/5.7 IS usm. I researched this lens and it seems to be highly praised in the non professional photography world. It is just a step down from an L lens and since I dont have 1200 to 10000 dollars to pay for those kinds of lenses this will have to do. My friend "D" and I has been going out looking for eagles the last few weekends and we thought we would make a trip to Mt. Carmel to see if we might chance upon the eagles which has made the area their home for the last several years. Upon arriving to the area we meet a elderly couple watching with binoculars from their truck and another gentleman that was watching from a car. We moved upto the area as to not crowd the people already there and started to set up. We noticed the gentleman from the car started to get his photography equipment out and I think you could have knocked "D" and I over with an eagle feather. I thought I would never see one in real life but what he had was a Canon 800mm L lens. We are talking a 11-$12,000 lens. Of course we gathered around the young man and drooled over the images on his lcd screen. Wow! Blad eagles have feathers....AMAZING! I thought they were just covered in blurr. Hmmmm. Anyway we enjoyed talking with a fellow wildlife photographer and had a rather productive day with 3 mature eagles sightings and photos on the board. Here are a few of the picks.

Video from Samsung SC-MX20 w 36X optical zoom.

Hello Stranger...

Today "D" and I got a late start on the day and with the crappy lighting due to the second weekend in a row with overcast clouds, we stayed local. We started driving around the back roads in an area he has chanced upon eagles before. We were able to see a few hawks and other wildlife. We drove up to a road that runs parallel with the Wabash river and with all the ditches and creeks running full, we were wondering if the road might be washed out due to the recent rain and snow melt. Before long the car came to a sudden stop and I heard "D" say "There he is!" I think we were both amazed and excited that we just happened upon an adult bald eagle that we really wasn't expecting to see. I jumped out and snapped a few pics but with the crappy lighting, I didn't have my 2X on the camera. After snapping a few shots with the 300mm, I decide to try to get the 2X attached when the stranger hopped off the branch and flew away into the distance. I am just glad we got to see another bald eagle even though the encounter was brief.

Apple is iPain in the Arse.

I purchased an ipod touch 16G 2 gen for Needles a couple of months back. It was to be a Xmas present for Needles and we waited until Dec. 23 rd to open the item. Upon opening the iPod and syncing it with Needles computer it seemed fine for about 15 sec. or so and then the dreaded white screen of death. I called Apple and the young man told me how to reset the iPod by pressing the button on the top left of the ipod and the bottom button and hold for 10 sec. After I did this the screen bounced back with the Apple logo. I hung up with the Apple phone support person and just as I did the screen went white again. I tried to reset the iPod several times and when that didn't help I called Apple again. After being on the phone with another person for 15 to 20 minutes we did the restore on the iTunes program. After starting the restore I was told to call back if this didn't resolve the problem. The restore took about 20 minutes or so I checked the iPod and while restoring the screen started to flicker. I called Apple for a third time and talked with a lady who instructed me to remove all Apple programs from the computer, reinstall all Apple programs to the computer and then do yet another restore in iTunes and the final result was that the computer couldn't detect the iPod. All in all I was on the phone with Apple for around 3 hours. After this I was on hold for another 10 minutes until I got to talk with a supervisor which told me to email a couple of diagnostic files from the computer to him. After this was done I was told since it was the holiday that it would be next Wed. before I heard anything back from their TECH dept. It turned out to be about 10 days later that I finally got a call from the supervisor. He shipped a box to me so that I could send the Ipod back to Apple. I received the box on the 6th and shipped it back the next day. We got an email that the item was replaced and was sent back to us. The problem now was that when they shipped it back they sent it Direct Signature. This means that someone has to be here to sign. No print out a signature page form the website and sign it so that they can leave it at the door. FedEx would deliver 3 times and then the package would go back to Apple. They tried to deliver it last Thursday. No one was home to sign. They tried again Friday and still we were working and not going to take a day off to sign for a package. Today Needles was able to stay home for MLK day and she was finally able to sign for the package on the 3rd attempt. I already made up my mind that if this didn't get delivered today due to some screw up and it went back to Apple then I was going to demand my money back. I am glad Needles now has her Ipod but I a feed up with Apple and the way they take care of their customers. This will be the last Apple product I purchase.

Goodbye Old Friend.

Sam 1993-2010

This is Sam. She has been a faithful companion to my friend "D" for 17 years. Sam passed away today and I am glad to be one of the privileged to have known her and have her in my life the brief moments that I could. She was sometimes crabby but mostly very sweet and loving. You could tell she loved her owners arms wrapped around her and the spot on the stove over the pilot light. She left behind 3 younger siblings Lilly, Simon and Reggie. My heart is hurting for my friend "D" and it is always hard to see the hurt, pain and feeling of loss when things like this happen. They say time heals all wounds.....Right now it doesn't feel like it. Goodbye sweety you will be missed.

Immature Bald Eagle Spotted

Look what I spotted while driving around in the country 1 mile West of Sumner, IL.

Here is a reference image of a known immature bald eagle to compare.

New OH TEN Pichers!

Juvenile Eagle in flight (3year old) White head but dark tail feathers.
Red Tail Hawk in flight.

Red Tail perched.

Doves.

Today was a balmy 12 degrees when I got up. My friend "D" and I had plans to make a trip to Mt. Carmel to see if we could get a few pics. When we arrived the temp had topped out at 20. It was nice to be able to get out and snap a few shots again. Until next time.

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Happy New Years OH TEN!

Earthquake wine for New Years.

We are finally back home after being gone what seemed like weeks. I think over the last 6 weeks we haven't been home much. Three weekends in a row at Needles Mom's, first deer season then Thanksgiving and then second deer season, then a visit from my Parents for about a week and then Christmas Eve & Christmas at Needles Mom's followed by a trip to Kentucky then another visit to Needles Mom's for late antlerless deer season. I am glad to be home. I was successful in the late antlerless season for more details visit the hunting blog. I think we are going to try to relax and enjoy the last couple of days before we both have to go back to work.

Above is a picture of wine we had for New Years. It is called Earthquake wine because when it was being fermented it was shaken by the April 18th 2007 5.2 magnitude earthquake. This winery is within 10 miles north of the epicenter of this quake. Hence the name.