Hawk that Scared Me Silly!!!

Hawk in the Audubon II
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

This hawk found a way to make me jump higher than I ever have. I was on the edge of the John James Audubon state park trying to get a good pic of a "Red Bellied" woodpecker, when some noise scared the bird away. I was annoyed, but decided to move a little further in and try and find a good spot to find him/her or another one. Little did I realize there was a raccoon in the tree over my shoulder, I never notice him though. The reason I knew he was there was a hawk out of the blue decided he/she was small enough for dinner. He/she dove down, hit the raccoon, and broke its neck, I had no clue what was going on and the noise was intense from this epic battle (ok it wasn't a battle, I am sure the raccoon was as aware of the hawk as I was of both of them!!). I nearly had a heart attack, I had just recently heard of a man that was hit by a bullet from a stray shot of a .22 and that was the first thing that went through my paranoid head, and the next thing was why is the hawk just sitting here eating. I guess when your hungry matters don't matter =)...anyway he stayed and let me photograph him while he had dinner and then nonchalantly flew off. Made for a very exciting day out in the wilderness, very exciting indeed!!

My Cover

Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

This is the cover of the atlas that bought and used my pic. I took this last year on the banks of the Ohio. I was across US41 South from Ellis Park on the bank. A beautiful early October afternoon, beautiful blue sky listening to "Ladies and Gentlemen...." The Grateful Dead..the last night of the four night stand at Filmore West. Great show and inspired me to take some interesting pics. I thought someone was playing a joke on me when I recieved the email requesting the use of the photo and offering money too. Thats what made me think it was a joke!!! Well come to find out it was real. Not a huge deal, but it made my day nontheless and enough money to invest in a new Canon EOS Rebel XTi. Love it btw. Just thought I would share this with everyone...

Last Weeks Winter Storm (Through out the Tri-State) [Tri-State =

Another Look
Originally uploaded by mightyquinninwky©™

Like I said earlier in this blog it can always be worse. This picture was taken on Waterworks Road right outside of the River Front and Downtown area of Evansville, Indiana. The Ohio river has flooded way over it banks and has made things a little difficult for the people that have to travel this area to go to work or to get to their homes. And to add insult to injury a winter storm to add snow, sleet and of course more rain to an already saturated ground and streams and rivers that are pouring over their banks and levees. The road here connects downtown Evansville with US41 and the twin bridges to Henderson, Kentucky. As if this last storm wasn't enough, we are expecting another storm today and precipitation through Friday (be it sleet, snow, or freezing rain or a combo of all three). Last summer I promised myself I wouldn't complain about rain or snow because of the drought, but this is starting to get ridiculous. No middle ground in this area any more, either so dry its a dust bowl or so wet its a water bowl. Anyway till later stay warm and dry and ask questions, keep your leaders honest, or at least nervous!! ;-)