Horses

 Many horses at this farm are rescued...the white horse below looks old and was put to pasture to live out the rest of it's life. Nice place to shoot.

Three Barns and a Field

Washtenaw County Historic Barn Tour

 Red barn #6

White barn on Lamb Rd.  #2

 Red barn on Austin Rd. Barn #3

 Our Advanced Camera Class

Picture by Jeff Thomas

 Behind the lens..............

Our fearless leader, Jeff Thomas

Clouds and Hayride

 Wow! What a beautiful sky....wanted to run out to the marsh for sunset pictures.

 Had a nice hayride through Oakwoods Metropark and then bonfire after

 Mare tails, I believe these cloud formations are called.

Unusual to see some of the Crack O Dawners up this late ;-). We were enjoying cider and dounuts and throwing hatches.

In My Backyard

 This grass (Zebra Grass) is in the back corner of my yard and it is about 10ft tall...just now getting blooms ( or tassels). When I took this photo the evening sun was reflecting on it...beautiful.

 Hope this isn't the last rose of summer. Heavenly smell from this one.

More Birds of Prey

 "I'll just have a doze. It is my sleep time you know"

Red-tail 

 Wise guy

 Yikes!

 "Say what"

Hooded

Lovely Day!

 Explored a lot of the island today....was surprised at all the leaves that are turning. We have been having the BEST weather and today was perfect. A lot of people there...big groups, bikers, runners and picnickers.
This is the light house on the north end of the island...a little bit of a slog uphill but beautiful views once you get there. Took lots of photos...still need to edit.
Saturday we are going on a hayride (bonfire after) with Crack O' Dawn group at Oakwoods Metropark and Sunday we have a photo shoot. Doing the Washtenaw County Barn tour...my favorite!

Gerry Wykes

 Our old friend Gerry Wykes gave a talk at Hawkfest about the history of hawks. Gerry was the interpreter that led us on our merry walks for Crack O' Dawn. He retired two years ago and we miss him a lot. It was good to re-connect.
The talk was really interesting and I learned that in the 1930's there were sand hills in Gibraltar that were excavated by a group of armatures diggers. The replica of a pipe (shown below) was a big find. It is a ceremonial pipe from ancients that may have been the woodsmen. I lived in Gibraltar for 14 years and had no idea of the history there and in the metropark area.

 Another replica of a pipe.

Pot found also in the area. This is the real thing and can be found on display at the Nature Center at the park.

Hawkfest 2014

 We had a great time at the Hawkfest at Lake Erie Metropark. I went both Saturday ( with Tim and the kids) and Sunday. Great turn out both days and the weather was great....a bit windy though. There were presentations in three different areas and if you caught them all, you now know all there is to know about birds of prey. There were games and crafts for kids and also many live hawks and owls on display (great for photography) There were also vendors and birding clubs there.
I saw so many people that I know....my one time handy man Billy, Pam from the Obama campaign headquarters 2012, Donna from my camera class and Lyn a new camera class member. All of the Crack O' Dawners were there, a lot volunteering for the event. Good to see so many people that I know...thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend!

 Tim, Liam and Emma catching a presentation... Emma seems attentive but looks bored.

Tim, taking advantage of the kids activities ;-)

I love this wise old owl.