Our local hospital has an enclosed garden and visiting area for patients, staff and visitors to enjoy. One of the features is a Koi pond in which there are water lilies. That’s not something you see everyday in Arizona.
I was at the Wickenburg Hospital today collecting a report from a recent test I had and took the walk out into the courtyard to take some photos of their Koi pond. Click on the image to enlarge.
The paint crew showed up here again today to renew the faded reddish stain that was applied to the beams and posts almost five years ago. This sort of maintenance is necessary in the desert due to the intense sunlight and extreme temperature changes. Click on the image to enlarge.
We will probably have the whole house repainted within another two years, but we’re good to go for now. We also need to get the roofer out here to inspect and repair the roof as may be necessary. More on that later.
I was standing with my camera near the retention wall at the bottom of the little wash when I saw the red cardinal in my peripheral vision. I turned the camera toward the redness and was surprised to see the rabbit in the viewfinder.
I see cardinals in my periphery due to their color. In order to see a rabbit or other critters that blend in with the surroundings, they have to exhibit some movement. I was lucky that the rabbit was in this shot because it was motionless and didn’t get my attention until I saw it there with the cardinal through the viewfinder.
The critters were about 20 or 30 feet away from where I took this photo. I had the lens set to its maximum focal length of 300mm. Both critters were kind enough to remain in my field of view while I took several images at 1/400 sec, ISO 200, F6.3. This was the best of them. Click on the image to enlarge.
Now that virtually all of the dust-generating construction is complete, we decided to fill up the spa for the summer season. In the image above, the water level is nearing the three hundred gallon level, which is the nominal capacity.
This year, we’re using salt, rather than chlorine, as the clarifying agent. Salt is composed of sodium and chlorine, but the odor and harshness of the agent is eliminated.
I went out behind the patio and was immediately greeted by this hummingbird gathering nectar from one of Verna’s feeders. It didn’t seem to be disturbed by my presence because it repeatedly poked its beak into the little yellow plastic blossoms on the feeder.
The feeders are recent replacements for the old plastic ones which became quite weather worn in our harsh desert environment. The new feeders (other than plastic blossoms) are all glass and metal construction and should last longer than the ones we had before.
The Canon SL1 photo parameters: F6.3, 1/4000 sec, ISO 1000, 300mm Focal Length. The bird was approximately fifteen feet away.
