Oh shenandoah....You gave me Joy

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

One cannot look up into the sky without seeing the beauty
of a sunrise or sunset or more.....

which is what this post is about
~~~~~

the more being

BIRDS!

We saw a Peregrine Falcon while in the park. My friend Barb
has a great interest in this bird and all it's shenanigans
so you will want to check out her posts about the

Peregrines at Shenandoah My Bird Tales

As we watched on several occasions I did get a few
flight shots of this falcon

and one shot of it fighting with another Peregrine.

Every other bird you see will be the beautiful blue
Indigo Bunting. They were everywhere singing their
hearts out.

When we were hiking the Limberlost Trail I was more
than thrilled to get this close to the Chestnut- sided Warbler.

He didn't seem to mind us snapping pictures of him

Even seeming to pose for the camera

The Common Yellow Throat Warbler was there too

It helps immensely if you can ID the call and then
use your ipod ...

They hop right in to get their picture taken and even sing
a song too

On the screen right outside our room we saw this
beautiful Moth... Looking it up I think it is the
Polyphemus Moth

This giant silkmoth gets its name from the large eyespots
on its hindwings, referring to Polyphemus, the Cyclops
of Greek mythology in in Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey.

The American Redstart was flitting around and making
it hard to get a shot

but I managed a few

I was so hoping that this bird was the Worm Eating Warbler
but upon closer inspection it is a probably a Vireo

Ravens were plentiful in the park..
They are known for their intelligence
and can live up to 13 years in the wild.

Right beside our room we were able to sit in the car
and have a very long photo shoot with this
adorable little character.
He was perched in a pink blooming Mountain Laurel

There just wasn't any pose he didn't strike for us..

My favorite picture being the "angelic' pose of this
Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Early one morning on the way to breakfast we
came upon a Father Robin giving his son a
little advice.. son was listening intently

A hawk that Barbi spotted high up in a tree - no ID on it

We saw a lot of vultures... both Turkey Vultures and Black
Vultures

Again, the star of the show

At an overlook on another day the Chestnut-sided
gave us a show worthy of praise

I just loved the 'wing' shots I was able to capture with the

new DSLR Pentax

Singing the 'blues' again

On the way out of park on day 5 we saw a bunch of birds
eating berries... my settings were all wrong so I only saved
this shot

When we stopped for lunch a bunch of the same birds
were on the ground ... an unusal place to see a Cedar Waxwing

Bye Bye little blue boy....

As another sun sets on another day at Shenandoah National Park
I can't say I want to go home. I enjoyed everything about
this place and hope to come back in the fall for some more
beautiful pictures and adventures with my friend Barbi.

.....
All of this beauty makes me acutely aware of God's handiwork.

For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth..... all things were created by Him
~Colossians 1:16

To God be The Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done