my lucky day

We have had three glorious weather days in a row, corresponding perfectly with three days off in a row (federal employees got today off for Juneteenth). 

I took Samuel to Wilde Lake. I didn't put my really long lens on because it didn't seem likely that I'd see great birds. When we arrived there were children's groups there, so the bathroom was open. (Children are delighted to see a dog in the bathroom.)

There were several photographers there, all with longer lenses. Sigh. I felt so inadequate. Such performance anxiety. 

I said hi to one, Keith, and he said hi back, and then called to us to let us know there was an osprey in the sky! An osprey is a fish-eating raptor 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. 


The next time I saw him he was talking with Steve and we all got lots of social interaction. Keith comes regularly and stayed for two hours hoping to photograph an osprey diving for a fish. 


On our way back to the car Steve spotted a heron for me and I got shots of it flying and then of it being harassed by a red-wing blackbird. Steve spotted more osprey. Altogether we saw SIX ospreys!! Then Steve spotted and shared with me the location of a nest. There was fuzz in the nest and then the fuzz moved!! And then the parent green herons came home and fed them!! And then there were THREE moving pieces of fuzz! All of this was impossible to photograph given the plant life in between us and how well hidden they were but very cool to see. Without Steve I certainly would never ever have seen them. 


The bathroom was still open when we got back and as we were leaving someone was locking up the building, so I lucked out again. 


We walked a little further and to my right, 25 feet from me, an osprey dived into the water for a fish. If I'd just happened to be shooting that direction and gotten a photograph, I never would have told Keith because that would have been so unfair. 


On the way home I saw a tiny praying mantis on my car dashboard right in front of me. I assume it was left over from the holly I bought on Friday because when I was moving it I saw another one on the bag. So the luck continued. Once I got home the chances of finding and catching this little endangered insect in my car seemed infinitesimal. I went back to the car to open the windows to give it some shot, saw it, and was able to catch it and move it to my backyard. 

At this point I was feeling like it was my lucky day. I bought lottery tickets. 

I'm so getting that bench at Kate's garden. 

The US won the court battle in Fiji to seize the $325 million superyacht. It had a new crew all ready and has sailed the ship to Hawaii. The Amadea has a helipad and a pool, and the pool is mosaic-tiled. More than a dozen yachts worth of $2.25 billion have been seized. One of those, impounded by Germany, cost more than Putin's, at $750 million. Did that make parties together awkward? Usually Russian tycoons go party in Spain at the Balearic Sea but not this year because they are afraid their megayachts will be seized. 

Who suggested that excess American guns be sent to Ukraine? A Miami gun buyback program is going to try to send the weapons to Ukraine. The Miami Police Department held a gun buyback on Sunday called Guns 4 Ukraine. People could get $150 for high-powered rifles. 

While entry into the EU will be interminable, the very good news is that the process will include implementing laws to ensure the selection of qualified judges and limiting the influence of oligarchs and an improvement of its track record on investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for corruption. This will be incredibly important as Ukraine rebuilds.