Fanned Feathers

I believe this is a Cooper's Hawk. If I am misidentifying this raptor, drop me a note. He was caught watching the activity in the yard and remained on the pine tree branch, no more than fifteen feet away, for over forty-five minutes.

As soon as the camera was retrieved to photograph him, he got ready fly. . . 

 . . . slowly spreading his tail with this wonderful display of fanned feathers.

Smiles in the New Year

I found this cute fish in a large tank aquarium at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and was able to capture his image through the glass. He kept passing back and forth in front of me with, it seemed, a smile on his face. In doing so, he made me smile.

I hope when you saw the image it made you smile too.

On this new day of the new year I wish you a wonderful, nature filled year with many smiles for the immense beauty that surrounds us on our beautiful blue planet.