Winter Birds ~ Dormant Bath...

I felt the time was ripe for me to visit a personal project of mine.  The bird bath a few buildings up.  Although it sits a number of feet from the end corner of the screened in porch of the end condo, it looks to be abandoned.  The only time I have seen water in it is due to rain.  Over the last several months, I have been taking pictures of the natural 'trash' that collects in the basin.  The collections of leaves, twigs, berries, etc. that accumulate have proven to be illustrative of whatever season is 'happening' at the time.  The images I have snapped are among my favorites.  My prior visits have found a certain amount of water in it. This visit really reflected Winter's presence.  The shedding of the old and dead to make way for the renewal of Spring.

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Bird Bath & Bird Song...

I visited the neglected bird bath today.  Photographing it's contents every few weeks has become a regular part of my picture taking routine.  I really like the images I get.  Light level, water level, amount of flotsam spotting the marred grey concrete bowl...it's always different, changing with the seasons.  It has become a personal project of sorts.  Today there was more 'stuff' inside.  Flora detritus.  Today was quite sunny, but the bath stands in a shaded area near a run-off pipe at the top end of the tidal creek.  The light level was enough to make some reflections in the still water that was making a crescent around the inside of the bowl's rim.  I got several shots that I like.  

The visit to the bird bath was part of a walk I took today.  Not a long one, but long enough.  Getting out for even a few minutes makes quite the difference to a day.  One thing I observed...well, at the moment they are hard to miss...the birds, and the sound they make.  It's the time of migration for crowds of birds, and Savannah is a stop.  We were serenaded daily by cicadas not too long ago, and now it's birds.  Doesn't bother me in the least, on either count.  It just struck me how 'chatty' they are up there in the tree tops.  

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song." ~ Chinese Proverb

"My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather." ~ Terry Guillemets

I recorded the above few seconds of the mass chirping to give an idea, but I don't think it does the actual sound justice.  Between the sounds of the birds and the Hawks riding thermals, it feels like an aviary here on the marsh.  Before much longer the birds will be on their way, and their song will go with them.  I think I'll miss them...

Below are some of the photos I took at the bird bath...

(Photo:  Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo:  Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo:  Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo:  Lisa Erin Brown)

(Photo:  Lisa Erin Brown)

Leaves & Water...

There is what appears to be a forgotten bird bath that I pass on one of my walk routes.  It has become a regular source of photographs for me.  It's "bowl" goes through changes...water level rises and falls, various pieces of flotsam float silently on it's still surface, or roll back and forth in barely discernible movements on it's bottom.  (I posted a few pictures I took there in the post titled "A Stroll, Some Leaves, and Haiku".)  Taking pictures of it has become a regular thing for me.  I really like the different elements of each shot...how the various pieces of plant life create textures in the water depending on size and the depth they are sitting at; whether there is any kind of wind ripple; the shadows on the waters' surface in contrast to the bowl's bottom and the leaves, etc.  I let some time pass since my last visit to the bird bath, and since it has been roughly 2 1/2 weeks since I was last there, I went by.  I am really pleased with the pictures I got.  Some of them are below.      

(All photos in this post are by:  Lisa Erin Brown)