Picture Time

My apologies for the poor quality of this photo - I was rushing and also didn't have my longer lens on hand.  The other day, I was out on my back stoop and noticed this squirrel acting strange on the roof of the house next door.  Then my gaze fell upon why- this huge, beautiful bird was flapping its wings and darting towards the squirrel.  I sprinted inside to grab my camera- luckily, it was sitting on the kitchen counter.  When I went back out, I shot 4 frames and the bird took off.  It was so fast and it's wingspan so huge that I gasped and then I tried to get it as it was flying off, but it was so dark out that I could barely see it (I tried to lighten this up so that the bird is visible).  My mom and I couldn't figure out what kind of bird it was (my mom thought it was a hawk, but I pointed out the long beak instead of the short, hooked beak that most hawks have).  My cousin Meghan said that female Blue Herons are all gray, so I'm thinking that's probably what it is.  However, I've never, ever seen a Blue Heron in Wilmington that wasn't at a park or a lake!  

This was just a cute photo op... our cat Simba has a kitty-friend who lives outside.  I have no idea who he belongs to, but he's obviously an outdoor cat.  He likes to walk up and down our long lane, and then he comes to the front stoop and sits and taunts Simba!  Simba is always trying to catch a peek at that cat, however, we'd never seen him to go such great lengths!  

Me, Coulby and her classmate Jervis.  Today I went on a field trip with Coulby's class to Chesapeake College to see a Holiday Magic Show.  The show was awesome.  Spending time with Coulby was awesome. Riding on a bus with 40 six year olds... not so awesome.  (The name Jervis... not so awesome... ??)