Well, today I am writing from my sickbed. The windows are open to let in some much needed fresh air and the sunshine is begging for me to come out. I tried it for five minutes then had to come back and lie down. I hate being sick, especially when everyone else is too and there isn't much you can do other than pray. The boys are doing better now. Can you say we had the worst Halloween this year but our son took no to trick or treating like a champ. I will have to think of something fun to do in costume when we get healthy again. Big news, just in case you have been living under a rock lately I have started a YouTube Channel called Naturally Adrift Photo Adventures! Please, please, please like, subscribe and click the notification bell! If I can (and that is a big if) we get up to 1,000 subscribers I will be eligible for monetization. How nice it would be to have an income! So what is Naturally Adrift Photo Adventures about? It is about the pursuit of adventure and the photography it may or may not lead to. There will be, hiking, kayaking, camping, wildlife, waterfalls and sadly a lot of brain farts. Yup, I said it brain farts. Even though for now I stay behind the camera it seems I sometimes have trouble conveying my thoughts. I hope that improves with practice. Videography is a fair bit different from photography and the learning curve is much steeper than I expected but I will get there. I do not have a dedicated video or vlogging camera so for now it is just my Canon 7D Mk ii. I tried to use my phone to make videos too but the volumes didn't match up. Edit my husband just gave me permission to use his footage, so now Naturally Adrift Photo Adventures will now truly be a committed partnership! Which is good since we do nearly everything together anyways! In other news I have swapped my photos on Fine Art America (prints and gifts tab) to be entirely autumn photos call it a Fall Fiesta of sorts, now through December first. We did actually get out a little bit this fall. I couldn't stay away from my beloved mountains forever. We of course had to checkout the migration at Montezuma, visited local waterfalls and made two stops at Verona Beach State Park on our way home from errands and visiting my in-laws. The first stop was after having to have our car checked out by my husbands favorite mechanic. We started out going to the beach portion of Verona Beach. I photographed seagulls and caught sight of a juvenile Bald Eagle or so I thought. I eventually abandoned the Seagulls and walked to the other end of the playground which is where my son and husband were.. I kept my eyes to the sky and my ears open. I heard a crashing sound in the top of the trees ahead of me. A moment later a juvenile Bald Eagle flew over my head with a stick in its claws. I clicked away and the moment was gone. However, a few minutes later it flew back over my head into the same trees it had come from with a sibling hot on its heals! It was like they were playing some sort of game! I tried to follow the sound to see if there was a nest nearby. I never saw one. This late in the year it would be hard to believe that they would still be using a nest. I followed a path that led down to the lake just in time to see one of them fly out over the Oneida Lake. I stood there a long while and a photographed a duck or two. Then I decided to go check on the rest of my family. A lady stopped and asked me a couple of questions. Then three juveniles flew above us in what seemed like a game of tag. Can you say wonderous, breathtaking, exciting! It was a wow moment for sure. I am glad that lady stopped me or I would have missed the moment! Growing up Bald Eagles were only seen on TV and behind bars in Zoos! I was absolutely giddy, here were three Bald Eagle Babies playing free and wild in the skies above me! As an adult I've seen lots of them at mall or about Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge but for some reason this moment was more exhilarating! I ran off to tell Chris what happened and let him have a turn while I watched our son on the playground. Eventually we all wound up in that corner of the park. We saw one adult fly out over the lake. I climbed down to the lake and our son joined me once he calmed down. I don't know how long we waited but they started to return and then head back out to fish. It was during this time I caught the best Bald Eagle Photos I have ever taken (in my own opinion of course). Eventually we got hungry and bought three extremely overpriced slices of Pizza from the local gas station which had also refused to make us a whole pizza due to a severe lack of staff. The next time I made sure to pack a lunch. After lunch we explored another region of the park we had never been too before.. Across the road was Nine Acre Pond and a bunch of trails leading around the pond, forest and wetlands. The ground was soft and made it easy on my feet. The sun revealed a few mushrooms in the forest which begged to be photographed. I decided we would return when the leaves change color. It was a nice hike. We left before sunset though, which broke my heart but I was more determined to make it happen the next time. I hope you enjoyed today's blog and will help support us through subscribing to Naturally Adrift Photo Adventures on YouTube. Some of the videos are linked under the videos tab check them out!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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