Plumage On Parade ...

"You musn't be afraid to dream 
a little bigger, darling."
                        ~ from the film "Inception,"
                                             ~ 2010  
A domestic turkey puffs up, struts and parades
its beautiful plumage in March at the Lehigh Valley Zoo in Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.  

Peek-A-Blue ...

 “The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”

               ~ J.M. Barrie

                     ~ 1860-1937

                 from “The Little White Bird”

                           ~ 1902

                 Barrie is the creator of Peter Pan, who first appeared in “The Little White Bird”

A beautiful tree swallow – known for its iridescent blue-green color upper parts – peeks out of its nesting box on a May evening at Lehigh Gap Nature Center.

While there are young or eggs in the nest, adult tree swallows frequently dive bomb intruders, including curious humans, and attempt to drive them from the area – I personally know this to be true, and so does my camera!

In the shadow of the Kittattiny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Corridor Trail (D&L Trail). 

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Peering Atop The Apple Tree ...

“Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me,

Anyone else but me, anyone else but me, no, no, no!

Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me …”

            ~ “Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree 
                  (With Anyone Else But Me)

    ~  Sam H. Stept, composer 
      ~ Lew Brown & Charles Tobias, writers

         ~ A popular song made famous by Glenn Miller & by The Andrews Sisters during World War II. Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war. It remained in “Your Hit Parade’s” first place from October 1942 through January 1943, the longest period for a war song to hold first place.

“Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me” ~ perhaps that’s what this Great White Egret – also known as a Great White Heron – is thinking as it almost seems to be waving while peering from atop an apple tree while on the hunt on an August evening at Cedar Creek Parkway,

Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Winter Satin Video ...

Smooth, silky and sophisticated, the legendary Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" sets the jazz-infused mood for this celebration of winter showcased in my original photos.

My greatest joy as a photographer is harmonizing my favorite original photos to music to create a lingering snapshot of the season. 

Also on my YouTube channel at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3jIRKnfpag 

Sunset Snuggle ...

"Study nature, love nature,
stay close to nature.
It will never fail you."
                    ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
                                 ~ 1867-1959

The light of an April sunset wraps softly
around these precious goslings as the
baby Canadian Geese snuggle at 
Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.   
 

On The Sidewalks Of New York ...

"East Side, West Side, all around the town ...
We tripped the light fantastic on
the sidewalks of New York."
               ~ "The Sidewalks of New York"
                ~ James W. Blake, lyricist,
                  Charles B. Lawlor, composer
                                 ~ 1894
~ This wonderful Tin Pan Alley tune
was a popular song about New York City
in the 1890s.

This painterly pigeon steps spritely
in spring on an April day on the 
sidewalks of New York City.     

  

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever ...

"On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being
Outshines every star
You'll feel part of
Every mountain, sea and shore
You can hear from far and near
A world you've never, never heard before
And on a clear day
On that clear day
You can see forever, and ever, and ever
And ever more." 
      ~ "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" 
~ from the 1965 musical
            "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever"  
~Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner,
Music by Burton Lane 

Basking in the April sun, this seagull perched in New York Harbor seems as if it could see forever while gazing over the Hudson River on a beautiful and clear spring day in Manhattan. 

The Spring Seeker ...

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

                          ~ Mark Twain

                                      (Samuel Clemens)

                                       ~ 1835-1910  

The rays of a waning winter sunset

brush this sweet robin perched atop

the highest branch of a tree at

Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania

as it dreams of the nearby spring

just around the corner.