Bird in Chapel Hill Final

At 6pm on 29th June 2008, the young bird managed to get onto a branch of an azalea tree about 3 feet above ground. We did not see how it got up there. However, we believed it might jump or even fly. Once it was up there, it stayed there comfortably for almost 3 hours. It was so used to our presence. So, taking pictures would be no problem at all. We even had time to change to different lenses with and without flash to get better shots.

It had been a wonderful experience to see the whole process for a bird from an egg to being premature. Hopefully, it would stay around our house so that we would meet once a while. You never know, it may remember us.

Bird in Chapel Hill Continued

We thought that the 8 days old bird would take a few days before learning how to fly. It turned out to be very wrong. Just a few hours later on 29th June 2008 afternoon at 2pm, the baby bird came out and started practicing how to fly. It went underneath of an oak tree trying to get up on the tree. Its parents were demonstrating and coaching. When human parent teaches a kid how to write, he/she would hold the kid's hand to demonstrate. When the baby bird parents teach how to fly, there is no way for the parents to hold the wings to learn. So, we believe the coaching job for the bird parents will be very difficult.

Bird in Chapel Hill Next Day

We continued to spy on the new born bird in our house. The next day, 29th June 2008, after it was born for 8 days, we found that it moved to a spot about one feet away from the nest. It had grown some since the day before. We are sure that it will start learning how to fly within a few days. If you think about it, human can not even fly even 8 years after birth.

It was hiding behind the leaves and we had to use flash to take pictures. This time, we found that the new born bird was able to reflect with the flash. Its eyes were functioning and that was great. Again, it was not scare of our presence at all.

Bird in Chapel Hill

About a month ago, we found some leaves in a pot of plant. It turned out that those leaves were the construction material of a bird nest. So, we left it alone and started to spy on what was going on in that nest on a daily basis. Later, we found 4 eggs in it in light blue color with brown spots. A week ago, we saw 2 new born birds in it. Today, 28th June 2008, the one week old bird came outside of the nest waiting to be fed by its parents. There was no sign of the others new born for some reasons. However, there was still an egg inside the nest.

With no hesitation, we had our camera out and took some pictures for the one week old bird. It was looking at us with no fear. It knew that we meant no harm. But, its parents were screaming and flying around. They might be worrying apparently. Their mouths were holding food ready to feed the baby. So, we left as soon as we could to allow nursing to occur.

After reading numerous books about north American birds, we was still not able to find out what kind of bird it is. Maybe, we should take a picture of one of the parents to show to some bird experts.

Mission Hill Winery in Westbank

On 13th September 2006, we were on our way from Banff back to Vancouver in Canada. We took a detour to visit the Mission Hill Winery in Westbank in British Columbia. The winery completed a spectacular rebuild in 2002 spending about $40 million. The outcome from what we saw is amazing. The picture shows you the entrance of the winery. As you can see, it is elegant and at the same time welcoming. While we walked the arch, there was a gentleman greeting us and talking to us about the winery. All of a sudden, rain came in and it was pouring hard. We hid ourselves under the arch and kept talking to the nice man. This picture was taken right after the 5 minutes rain. In fact, we saw rainbow after the rain.

Even though we do not drink wine regularly, while we were in Mission Hill Winery, we felt that the winery was alive and well. We did not have time to tour the facility unfortunately. However, we were sure that we would go back there for a much more detailed visit in the future.

Yellow Dog III in Pittsboro

On 3rd May 2008, we went to the Hewitt Pottery Open House in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Mark Hewitt is the chief potter of the pottery. He made this big jar, about 4 feet tall. It is a beautiful piece of art named Yellow Dog III. We think there must be Yellow Dog I and II before this one. The price tag for this jar is 8 thousand US dollars. By the end of the Open House, we are sure that someone would have claimed this master piece.

Lions in North Carolina Zoo

We have been in the North Carolina Zoo many times and we have taken a lot of photos for the lions there. After we review all the lion pictures, we agree that this one is the best of all. This photo was taken on 26th March 2006 when it was still a little cold and chilly. We did not expect the lions would come out and provide such a good posture with the couple side by side. They did and we were really presently surprised to see them like that.

By that time, our zoom lens was not good enough to have some close-up pictures. So, we have to crop it some to emphasize the beauty of these animals. They looked so serious and they would not be able to do "cheese" even though we had tried hard. In fact, while we tried, people around us were giving us their "cheese" smiles.

Hanging Rock Park in North Carolina

We like to go for long trips, visiting friends and family and touring some cities and historical sites. However, planning for a long trip takes a lot of effort. It is much easier to go for a day trip and we do not have to plan much and pack a lot. For day trip around where we live, we like the Hanging Rock Park in North Carolina very much.

On 9th October 2005, we visited that park once again with good friend, Kevin. it was a short drive to get there and a short hike to the top of the rock. Once we were up there, the view was gorgeous. It was cloudy that day. Otherwise, this photo would be much nicer. In case you do not notice, there is an eagle flying in the sky in the middle of the photo. We sat on that rock for a long time enjoying the view and having lunch. Of course, we left no trash there. The only thing we took from there was pictures and we left only foot prints behind. If we stepped on the ground gently, we did even have to leave any foot print there.

Horse in Mt. Airy

Normally, we do not pay much attention to business sign. However, once a while, we see a really nice one such as this one on this picture. On 15th June 2008 while we were on our way to the Levering Orchard for cherry picking, we stopped by a convenient store named Lucky Horseshoe. Outside the store, we saw a life-size horse sculpture about 20 fee above ground. That sign had attracted our attention and we are sure it would get more customers because of that.

Cherry Picking in Ararat

On 15th June 2008, we were invited by Sue and Gary to take trip to Levering Orchard in Ararat, Virginia. Levering Orchard is a farm growing cherries, pears, apples, etc. The farm is celebrating its centennial this year. It was found by Ralph and Clara Levering in 1908.

Cherries grow on trees. So, we had to climb up on ladders to at least 8 feet above ground to pick them. In a few hours, we had been in a lot of treetops. It was a fun experience to be able to pick our own fruits. Actually, we ate a lot of cherries while we were up there. We picked and ate the cherries right away so no one could get fresher cherries than that.

Washington Monument in DC

Most people in US must know what that is. That is the famous Washington Monument in Washington DC. On 6th November 2004, we took one of our best friends, Raymond, to tour DC. Raymond resides in Hong Kong, China and DC is a wonderful place for him to visit in order to know more about US history.

That monument was built in honor of George Washington. The shape of that monument is like an Egyptian obelisk, 555 feet and 5/8 inches high. It was finished on 6th December 1884. It is one of the older attractions in DC. While we were in the Mall area, we was able to see it from a lot of places and it looked nice from different angles. We found this angle quite attractive since it had the reflection in the water. Also, the curved side walk by the water was very artistic. It would be a lot better if there was an airplane on the top right corner. We simply could not spend too much time waiting for one.

C-5 Galaxy in Pope Air Force Base

We always enjoy going to Air Show. On 6th October 2007, we visited the Air Show in the Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Once we walked in to the base, the first huge airplane we saw and touched was the C-5 Galaxy as shown in this picture. There are only 131 C-5 manufactured from 1969 to 1989. So, we were so lucky to see one in person. We even walked through the plane cargo area from the tail to the head.

The cargo compartment can hold a total volume of over 34 thousands cubic feet and 75 passengers. Surely, it is capable of carrying big things through the air to somewhere far away.

Ballet in Chapel Hill

On 2nd June 2007, good friends, Sue and Gary, invited us to attend the ballet performance by a bunch of students in a ballet school. Their daughter, Jessie, was one of the dancers too. We were presently surprised to see some wonderful dancing skills by the youngsters. They were very focused, well-dressed, and well-trained. The show was well-organized and professional.

The lighting during the performance was a kind of gloomy and we did not want to use flash of course. So, we had to bring up the iso value of our camera and make good use of our VR (vibration reduction) lens. Since the movement of the dancers were so quick, we were not able to take sharp pictures most of the time with the equipment we had by that time. The only time we could get good shots was when the dancers stayed still such as this one. This picture was taken at the very end of a performance. Everyone had a nice smile on their faces and they stayed like that for a few seconds. That was enough time for us to take a few shots. In fact, in most cases, a few seconds were what we only had to catch some wonderful moments.

Cabin in Boone

On the last weekend of October 2007, we camped in the KOA Campground in Boone, North Carolina with a lot of good friends. It was freezing cold in the evening and therefore, we had to put on winter clothing. In that campground, most people drove in with their RVs (recreational vehicles), parked there and enjoyed the natural environment. We did car camping, drove there, opened up our tents, and camped there. It was really fun.

Within that campground, there were some cabins for rent too. This picture shows one of them. It was a kind of small log house. Unfortunately, we were not able to get in one of them to check it out. From the outlook, it looked nice. We would not mind to wake up in a cabin like that for sure.

Golfing in Durham

On 25th May 2008, we were invited to visit the Lakeshore Golf Course in Durham, North Carolina with a bunch of good friends. In the golf course, there is one spot which is for practicing golf stroke. The ball is lighter than the regular gold ball and we hit the ball to the lake. All the balls in the water float to the surface and eventually they are collected to be reused. So, we paid for 2 buckets of balls, drove them one by one to the lake, then we were done. It is an interesting system.

One of our friends, Hy, was practicing his golfing skill and he showed his son, Bryan, how to do that too. Bryan, 4 years old, was very interested in hitting the golf ball as far as his dad did. So, he was trying to listen and learn the techniques. We said that he was off to a good start to become a good golfer.

Japanese Garden in Duke Garden

On 25th May 2008, we spent a couple of hours in Duke Garden in Durham, North Carolina with some good friends. In the garden, we walked into a section designated to be Japanese style. One of the typical objects in Japanese garden is stone garden lantern. This one we saw in Duke Garden was as tall as a human being. It was right by the water. We took this picture from across the pond using our 70-300mm zoom lens. If we did not have such a telephoto lens, we would have to row a boat on the pond to take this photo.