What are you doing today?

They're fast little devils and it's easy to miss seeing them. Often they land in an area where it's hard to see them, much less photograph them, too -- having this gal right out there on the pier with great visibility was an unexpected delight. I only wish I'd had the A7R IV with the Bazooka on the tripod set up, but I hadn't really thought I would get anything interesting. Just casually picked up the RX10 and stepped out on the deck for some fresh air and to see if maybe the Hooded Mergansers would do something exciting or different like that time I was able to capture one with the fish (they didn't)..... When I saw the Belted Kingfisher go zipping past, right over their heads, I immediately shifted my attention to where she had landed so that I could see what she was; my brief glimpse of her flying by had revealed that she was too small, not to mention moving far too quickly to be Alfred. Didn't occur to me just then that she was the Belted Kingfisher. When I zoomed in on her and realized who she was, I was delighted. This is the second time I've been able to photograph her, although I have seen her fly past a few other times when I didn't have a camera available or didn't see where she landed. I was surprised to see that she is still around, even in the colder weather; I'll have to check the bird book and see what their usual behavior is, but apparently they don't migrate in the wintertime. ?? Only other time I've ever seen (and only just barely because it was in the bushes) a Kingfisher was down in Florida, where it was considerably warmer than it is here in January.
 
Clix Pix said:
apparently they don't migrate in the wintertime.
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The ones migrating south from far northern reaches will leave your area if the water freezes, but where you live is also part of the range where some belted kingfishers settle in and live year round. They'll head farther south in an extended cold snap but then work their way north again as the weather shifts.
belted kingfisher distribution.jpg
 
A wet, dark, dreary, dismal, overcast, day.

The bins have been put out, emptied, and returned to their respective niches, I am debating whether (or not) to put on a wash, but I am preparing some chilli. No debate there.
 
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I'm going to spend the day glued to MSNBC and the impeachment process.
 
Spent several hours earlier on this dismal January afternoon pottering around, and preparing chilli, and must say that I enjoyed it.

Both the prep, and the (delicious) dinner.
 
Smiling broadly here at how today's impeachment process went, and at the result: YESSSSSSS!!!!!! Donald Trump has been impeached for the second time!!! The House impeached him and when the Senate next convenes, things will go on from there. Wheeeeeeee!!!!!! To top it off, he is still being smacked right-and-left by places shutting off his access, bringing a halt to business transactions and contracts his company has had, etc. Karma is so sweet.....
 
Clix Pix said:
Smiling broadly here at how today's impeachment process went, and at the result: YESSSSSSS!!!!!! Donald Trump has been impeached for the second time!!! The House impeached him and when the Senate next convenes, things will go on from there. Wheeeeeeee!!!!!! To top it off, he is still being smacked right-and-left by places shutting off his access, bringing a halt to business transactions and contracts his company has had, etc. Karma is so sweet.....
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Likewise.

Enjoying the impeachment process, and enjoying my Ethiopian coffee.

A wash is on, a small crate of (good Belgian) beer has been delivered.
 
Today I had to laugh (OK, inappropriately) when I popped open the daily email from the local newspaper and somehow their usual array of highlights -- one national, one state and one local piece-- seemed as understated and blasé as it usually is.

Maybe it was me but that first one read almost like they got the order of pieces reversed and it was similar to "The Harendons' Angus got out in the road again."

'and in other news today'.png
 
lizkat said:
Today I had to laugh (OK, inappropriately) when I popped open the daily email from the local newspaper and somehow their usual array of highlights -- one national, one state and one local piece-- seemed as understated and blasé as it usually is.

Maybe it was me but that first one read almost like they got the order of pieces reversed and it was similar to "The Harendons' Angus got out in the road again."

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Yes, it's that "again" that makes it so bizarrely hilarious, especially when reported alongside other sundry, but almost quotidian disasters (climate change stuff, soaring Corona Covid-19 related mortality rates and so on).

Actually, it is almost as though this was a satirical show, where they simply proceeded to read the catastrophic news in calm, collected, tones.
 
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Emptied the wash - and, as it is not raining today - the evening dusk is somewhat brighter than usual.

As my mother would have said, (but, not usually before the very end of January, by which time this process would have become somewhat more marked, or more pronounced), "there is a bit of a stretch in the evening."
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Yes, it's that "again" that makes it so bizarrely hilarious, especially when reported alongside other sundry, but almost quotidian disasters (climate change stuff, soaring Corona Covid-19 related mortality rates and so on).

Actually, it is almost as though this was a satirical show, where they simply proceeded to read the catastrophic news in calm, collected, tones.
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And so it was not just my local paper seeming blasé about recent news...

https://www.Twitter or X not allowed/i/web/status/1349800990413893640/
 
Other Brother phoned; we chatted about Mr Trump ("he hasn't one single virtue, not one," fumed my brother. "Not one single redeeming virtue. Not one." "No," I replied, "not one; even Adolf liked his dogs, and his dogs liked him"), the Trump cult, Twitter, FB and the fact that I should watch Hamilton soon, as I have access to it for a few more weeks.
 
lizkat said:
And so it was not just my local paper seeming blasé about recent news...

https://www.Twitter or X not allowed/i/web/status/1349800990413893640/
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My brother (Other Brother) and I were chatting about satire and Trump, for he is beyond satire - and we both wrote satire, me at university, where I was published in student periodicals, as was he, both then and later, as a comedy writer - we would both consider ourselves connoisseurs of that art form, - and we both agreed that you simply couldn't make this stuff up.

That clown with the bearskin, bare-chested on Capitol Hill, refusing to eat the foul fare on offer while imprisoned because it is "not organic" (and I am from the organic eating middle class, as are my siblings).
 
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