I use the definite article - 'The' winter stroll because this is it - there wasn't an earlier stroll and there most probably won't be a later one. There's been no winter this year! I don't know how to describe my feelings... I felt compelled to go out and get a whole season worth of photos in just one afternoon. That's impossible, of course - the sun is already too high in the sky and the shadows are... well they don't match what I see in January.
This is my favourite spot down in the bottom of Vale Cemetery; the upper pond. The construction equipment is gone and the snow is covering up the recent earth-moving. The city's busiest street is in front of us, up the hill a few thousand feet away but not a whisper of that traffic reaches down into this quiet little valley. The crows are active today; wheeling and jousting with the blue jays, they make the only sound except for the trickle of melting snow and the crunching of my boots in the snow. These geese are migratory; they weren't here a few weeks ago. So they have already begun moving back south for their summer family time.
The water is only a few feet deep here, but against the white snow it seems as deep as an ancient Scottish loch, and with the quiet all around me, I can indulge my fantasy of travel, imagining myself in a Highland valley waiting for the sun to wheel overhead and bring news of the next season.
| F Number | 8.0 |
| Lens ID | LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 |
| Focal Length | 45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm) |
| Exposure Time | 1/125 |
| Exposure Program | Manual |
| ISO | 100 |
| Exposure Compensation | 0 |
| Flash | Off, Did not fire |
Posts
Sparrows line up on the fence, waiting their turn. For what, I'm not entirely sure. There's an impromptu watering station behind them, and a tiny strip of sand in front. Drinks, then a sand bath?
It's a sunny day in Schenectady and the birds are singing from every tree!
The birds came for a visit to scrounge through the grass to see what they could eat. They keep clear of the squirrel who apparently has the same idea. This is about how far apart the houses are in my neighbourhood.
Some birds have learnt to coexist with people, and robins seem to be one of those species. This is a light sconce at work, under a metal awning. It's reasonably sheltered from sun, wind and rain, and the robins have decided that this is a good place to raise some babies.
We put out some bread for the birds, and it wasn't long before they began to arrive. The larger bird is a starling. They're quite common here, roost in trees in flocks of hundreds at a time, and make quite a distinctive chatter.
