Hawk Cliff

September wouldn't be complete without a visit from my father and an excursion to Hawk Cliff on the north shore of Lake Erie.  Each autumn, hundreds of thousands of birds fly past this area on their way south.  Earlier in the week some 30,000 birds, mostly Broadwing Hawks, flew by.  Today's winds out of the south blew the birds on a more northerly track.  As a result there were probably more people on the ground than birds in the air.  Fortunately for us there are licensed banders nearby.  Part of their mandate is education.  Today they brought a few birds to us to teach us more about them.  In concert with the bird migration, butterflies also fly south.  I couldn't resist shooting a couple.  A couple of Kestrels flew by but were so high and fast my results were terrible.  Here are a few shots of American Kestrel and a Sharp Shinned Hawk that the banders trapped, banded and released this morning.

Evening shots

Last night we again had the chance to go back to one of my favourite barns.  We got there for sunset.  Then turned our cameras inside towards that great old Oliver.  The results of painting the outside of the barn with light was surprising - the light colour, the clouds and even stars.

Autumn Sunflowers

I guess the sunflowers felt the lack of summer more than I did.  The flowers, now dying, weren't two feet tall.  Their flowers were barely 4-6 inches.  Even in this depressed state, what is it about sunflowers that make you smile?

September's Super Moon

After thinking about how to incorporate September's super moon in the background of something, I gave up and copied last month's composition.  Then while focusing, a bird flew in front of the moon.  too bad I was way out of focus.  Tonight's moon was not clouded over like last month which gave August's super moon a nice warm colour.    You decide which one like better.