The rain started to bring back the much needed moisture to the dry California, with it the clouds and the magical, enchanting evenings to the XAnadu.

these are the images of my recent photo ventures. I printed and framed 3 of them and put them up for show in the office. Every patient loves them so much that i thought they just come to see the pictures.
The images are so marvellous, I promise myself i will be back there before long.

This Sunflower Oasis was created accidentally by the birds seeds. It serves a great backdrop for the hummers.

This is my first try to grow Lotus. Please enjoy.

These are some new images from Xanadu. The red marble lantern just came from Vietnam. We bought it together with a marble waterfountain and a planter. These last two items are so huge and heavy that we will have to hire some muscle men to put them together.

Please click on "Vietnam2008", on the right to see the images from my recent trip to Vietnam.

Friends,
Here is finally what I saw in Cambodia, the once great empire. You will have to be there to somehow understand the enormity and the magnificence of this Temple complex. The Cambodians stand tall among the most able builders of the ancient world, Chinese, egyptians, Greek, Inca.... Some thing to be proud of not only for the children of Angkor Wat builders but also of all humanity. It is one of the premier World Heritages.The weather, the light was not quite inducible for photography. In most case I had one chance. But I think you get an idea of this most amazing place.

Friends of Trip to VN and Cambodia,
Here is my first "show". Please check if I miss any one of you, if so, we will have to go back there and do it all over again. Anyway, it was quite cool for Ruth&me to have met all of you nice folks for the trip. We think we have made good friends from this trip. Please log on Xanadu's Lightmagical.com often in the next few weeks to see and relive your wonderful trip.

In Spring, one would find gold on the mountains of California, specially this year when we have an abundance of rain. The Spring has started out gloriously. The Poppies, California state's flower are in full bloom everywhere, on the meadows, on the roadsides and of course these golden beauties cover the mountains as you can see here. Enjoy! many more pictures to come.

Of course, Yosemite is not on fire, but the effect of Southern CA big fire is seen so well in this picture of Yosemite and on the moon above Xanadu. They are unsusual and beautiful.

The Rut season is around the corner. One can see the males are well prepared for the battle to impress the gentle sex. It will be quite a sight.

It is still rather early for fall leaves in Yosemite valley. But here is what I found yesterday. The big surprise: lobsters, yes lobsters, lot of them in Merced river.

It is harvest time in California. Every one is hoping for rain. It has been so dry. Many places are running out of water. I had to let part my lawn go brown. But the farmers don't want any rain, not yet, Thay are harvesting their bounty crop of 2007.

I stayed up all night for this event. It was the first time I used my digital camera for a heavenly body. It was worth it. I hope you all enjoy this picture with different phases of the Eclipse. The colors are all real.

These beautifull citizens of the Planet Earth are regular visitors of the Xanadu.

For few weeks there were flocks of hummers visiting Xanadu Not able to separate them as photographers would like to do most of the time, I hope you all enjoy the double visions of these amazing helicopter of birds.

So here is the last collection from Florida. I just printed out 2 photos and one already sold. This money ($200.00) helps pay my next trip!!! So friends,guess which ones were printed.

Friends, I still have quite a few keepers. Here again anotther collection from Florida. Enjoy and come back for more.

I still have quite a few more keepers from the Sunshine state. It may be easier for viewing if I create another collection. So here they are. Enjoy.

Friends, I came to Augustine,FL yesterday after a 12hours delay of my flight. It is amazing, fairly tale like. I can't wait to show Ruth and Daniela, Andrew who are in Switzerland to celebrate OMA's 90's. And to all our friends, this is just preliminary. Enjoy and stay tuned.

Before I fly to Florida "for the birds," I thought I would introduce you to the new beautiful visitor to the Xanadu. I hope he would stay. But the hummers are highly territorial and as you can see in the previous collection, there has been a resident "tiger". Both look majestic, but this one is for me unusual and only one like this since I start shooting hummers 2 years ago in my home in Fresno. Up here of course we have thousand times more wildlife varieties. At any time I usually see only one "Simba" (Alfa male) and a harem of beautiful ladies.

Flying has been my dream. Yes I have been dreaming about it. NOt in a plan, that I take rather often. Next time as soon as next week to Florida for the birds. But really just taking off and flying to the open air. Yes, I do dream like that. But not in the real world. That is why I find the birds amazing , specially the hummers. Have you ever watched how the hummers fly? Well, here you see the amazing flying machine: Jet and helicopter combined.

At the Xanadu, Spring is in full bloom. California is very dry this year, so we don't expect a particular show of wild flowers, but the wild life is back in full force. The deers, the multitude of birds other than the swifty Hummers and the happy Finches, the call of wild turkeys.. are all here. Today while washing the cars (after a long neglect of winter) I heard the hawk calling his mate and looked up to spot him high on the blue sky The days are getting longer and warmer. Every morning I jump out of bed so that I don't miss the glorious Rising Sun. In the after noon Ruth and I would hurry back to Xanadu for the dramatic Sunsets.

We are very proud of these two ladies who came home with us from our recent trip to Hanoi, where we found, quite unexpectedly, a flourishing art market.

California has been dry for few years. So far this year, we get about 1/3 of rain allowance. But late February, we got a pleasant surprise storm that give us at the Xanadu just enough snow for few days for fun.

Yes, friends, I am getting power without puffing up any smoke! It is green and clean and great!

A view of the Sierra

Other than wildlife as you see in the collection "Mating call", Yellowstone has glorious Fall landscapes. Here they are through my eyes.

These are finally the images of Yellowstone, Fall 2005. This is the rutting call of the elks during their mating season.

Here is the collection of my last expedition to Maine. Please enjoy. Lots more to come to this collection in th next few days.

OK, Friends, Here are finally the Eagles of Alaska that I captured way back to Feb 06 but haven't had time to put them on the web. Please enjoy and feel free to comment.

On this unique, unspoiled place, one finds the greatest concentration of Grizzly Bears on earth. Humans "protect" them by treating them as equal citizens of planet earth. By respecting(not interferring) them, we humans have the greatest honor of enjoying them as they really are in their own surroundings.

The big pine tree was just pruned to give a better silhouette and an unobstructed view to the Sierra.

The magical showing of Sunrises and Sunsets at the Xanadu. Every day is better than the other. I jump out of bed at 5 AM for these wonders.

This magnificent Hawk visits Xanadu's backyard every morning. These images were captured from the swimming pool deck. Next week, we will be prunning some huge pine trees and oaks to improve the view even more and a nest will be built to entice him to move in with us.

Just for Kiara, Nala&Simba

A View through the North Window.
An adventure in the Arches National park.

For the last many nights, I have had recurring dreams of being chased by three young college students, all female. Their combined age is still less than mine alone. I huff and puff. They breathe on my neck and yet I keep on running, not giving up an inch. Well, before you conclude that it is just a dirty old man’s dream, please read further.

In the depth of the winter cold, I packed and flew to Arches NP, Utah, for a photo adventure. Everything was ready for landscape photography, from wide angle lenses to polarizing and split ND filters, from a steady tripod to warm gloves and boots. I was there when the moon reached full circle and was bright on the evening sky.
The geologic history of Arches and Canyon land NP is nothing short of fantastic. There are plenty of clues and signs to back up the scientists. However, the time dimension is overwhelming for my imagination. Hundreds of millions of years have been the construction time for this amazing place. It is built with delicate giant arches, spires, precariously balanced rocks and eroded monoliths. All that lies atop an underground salt bed. Yes, a pure salt layer that measures thousands of feet thick is the foundation for the Arches National Park in Southern Utah. This salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau when the sea flowed into the region and eventually the water evaporated leaving dry salt behind. The oceans came and went. Each time, it added to the salt bed’s thickness until it reached the dimension that is now under us. The debris, that was collected on top of this salt bed, was compressed into solid rocks! Its weight and its resulting pressure on the unstable salt bed below was responsible for its bizarre appearance today.
The history seems outlandish and fantastic. But the result of it is even more far-fetched and unbelievable. If blindfolded and dropped from space to this location, one would not think of being on earth. Looking at some of the pictures I took, my wife said: it is like from Mars! She was never on the Red Planet, but what she meant was: the images were so weird and strange that they must have been taken from outer space, anywhere but on earth. In this park, we would see the familiar names: Garden of Eden, where one would visit Adam and Eve. Few miles down the road from Eden, one would be in the middle of Devils Garden. These figures were all made of solid rocks, of course.

So now to the photography. There are countless rocky arches, small and big. But one of the most amazing and most photographed landmarks is the Balanced Rock. The huge heavy top looks like it belongs to the ground but it manages to balance right on the tip of a tall slender base. It provided a great foreground for the moon on my first photo session in the evening, and for the rising sun the next day. Adam and Eve also gave me a good composition with the full moon perched on top. One of my favorite compositions was the moon, next to Adam, which seemed to rest comfortably on top of a bush branch. It all looked surreal.
In the morning, one could shoot the Balanced Rock silhouette at f16 to catch the sun star peeping from behind.
One day I went to the Turret Arch with the intention of shooting from behind the North Window to get the classic picture of this location. Unfortunately, I was late. There was one spot, just one spot for one photographer for this shot and the window of opportunity would last a few minutes right after the sun rise. I was informed that there would be more groups to come in the next few days, all vying for the only choice spot. So, strategically I was planning and plotting for the chance of getting the shot.

But in the meantime, I had other places to shoot. A trek up to the famous Delicate Arch took some effort, but it was rewarding to view this archly rock formation standing precarious at the edge of a precipice. I did hope to see the moon rising on top of this Arch. That would have made the picture of the trip. Unfortunately, this time the moon chose to pass way off “my” intended path.
The Mesa Arch is one of the most famous landmarks of this area. It has one excellent spot for photography, that I got as a reward for getting up really early and beating every one to it. But I found out that the spot wasn’t that unique. There were dozen of other spots next to me that offer different compositions, and that may be even better to the liking of many. Next to me, a photographer from Germany was extremely happy to have gotten the second best spot.

Now to the race to the North Window---you guessed it, there is a South Window, to the South--- for the only available spot. On the fateful day, I got up and took to the road more than an hour earlier than necessary to get to the location, at 4 AM. The sun would rise and shine through the window illuminating the Turret Arch offering an unmatched view. There was no other car on the road. My companion and I, we congratulated each other for being early risers. Getting into the parking lot and finding ourselves alone, we were relaxed, elated and started to prepare the photo gear in no hurry. It would be a long way uphill, so I would not want to lug a big load on my back. All of a sudden, a big van rushed in the parking lot. Its screeching stop signaled to me what the occupants were after and what they were up to. I grasped the whole heavy backpack and the tripod and ran. The occupants of the van were even faster getting ready. They were just few feet behind. I ran fast. They tried to catch up. I put up all my effort to stay ahead, the rewarding picture in front of me. I knew my competitors were right behind me, breathing on my neck and nipping at my heels, I still had the temptation of looking back now and then to get a glimpse of my competitors, doubling my effort at the same time. “Darn it, they are so young”, thinking to myself. The race was silent except for the quickening footsteps and the heavy breathing. The sight of my rivals worried me. They were three really young girls, age 18 to 20 as I found out later. Their combined age was less than mine. In addition, they didn’t have the heavy pack on their backs. Yet the competitive spirit in me didn’t allow me to slowdown. I stayed ahead of them, just few steps. At times, they gained ground. That pushed me to quicken my old legs. My lungs and heart could hardly keep up with the demanded workload. The way to the view was uphill built of rock steps. Again, looking back to gauge my young challengers, in the twilight I overlooked a big rock and fell to my knees. It hurt, but losing not one second I got up and pressed on, the heavy pack on my back and the big tripod in my hands. The half mile from the parking lot to the North Window seemed like a marathon course. I was about to hand the palm leaf to the young lady right behind me. She caught up and tried to bypass me at the very moment I reached the location, where there was room for only one person at a time. She was pinned behind me. I was safe for the choice spot on the ledge as it was called. It took my circulatory system quite some time catch up with the energy deficit I spend running up the mountain - well it seemed like a mountain. My companion congratulated and called me mountain goat for a reason.
When in place, me on the very best spot, the others were behind. We waited and waited. The black clouds covered the horizon where the sun was supposed to peek though and shine on our target. We were all disappointed. Not saying a word, but my young rivals must have been laughing their hearts out secretly. Finally they gave up. I persevered for a while longer. The sun couldn’t make a crack through the thick clouds. So, finally I also gave up and started to hop over the rocks, tracing my way back. When finally I managed to put the treacherous stretch behind me, cruelly teasing, the sun shone brightly through the Window. The light was glorious. Not hesitating for a second, in a hurry I bounced all the way back and got the shot.
To see more of the price shots, please log on my web site http://www.lightmagical.com/ and enjoy. I worked hard for these shots.

Arches&Canyon NP
January 2006
Robert Nguyen, MD.
www.lightmagical.com

Miracle of nature. Every winter, these delicate butterflies gather along
the coast of California, coming from thousands of miles away and taking
generations of butterflies to do the journey. They have been doing this
journey for millions of years. Hard to understand, but the sight is some
thing to behold. Thousands upon thousands of them gather at any of
various eucalyptus groves. On the sunny days they are fully active. Love
is in the air, on the grass and anywhere. Oblivious to any danger, they
mate anywhere. It is up to you, the visitors to avoid stepping on the
amourous delicate flying flowers that cover the floor, the walkways, busy
doing their thing.

Jerry and Jessie. No, these were not their names. In fact, I never knew their
names; but emotionally they were truly close to me. So I gave them names, if
only for my own sake. In the last 3 years, I had seen them practically every
day. They meant so much to me. I saw them whirling around one another, so
intimately and tenderly. They were one. They sang. They laughed. They shared a
fruit the way only lovers do. They chased one another teasingly. Always
together. I never saw them separated.
The pair was lost in an amazement of love and intimacy. They were so carefree
and oblivious of the time and the world around them. One would not be out of the
other’s sight. Not even for a moment. They just had each other and that was
enough.
Secretly I envied them. I couldn’t help it, but being a photographer, I had to
capture what I found beautiful. This couple was beautiful. Their love to one
another was so special. I knew, they cherished their privacy. They wanted to be
by themselves. So I kept my distance. I used the longest lens I had for
wildlife. I don’t think they ever suspected that I was keeping a secret watch on
their happiness. One would instantly detect their love just by the sight of
their big eyes when they looked at one another. Every day, early morning or late
evening, I would find them frolicking around. I knew their secret places. I
could predict where I would find them on a beautiful day or in gloomy weather.
It might have been raining, but I always saw sunshine when they were around. The
thick and cold winter fog of the California Central valley just helped to
enhance their coziness. Even the bushes came alive with their giggling from
within.
It had been 3 years. I felt their happiness was forever. I saw no reason why
not. For sure, for them, time stood still, in ecstasy of happiness. Everyone
loves the lovers. I sure loved these two. I took so many pictures of them,
secretly of course. Time passed. They were still dancing their carefree way.
Late last fall, the bright fall colors and the clear sky were gone. It was cold,
overcast and gloomy. A few days had passed and I didn’t see them. Instinctively,
I was worried. I didn’t know why. But I was. I tried to convince myself that it
was nothing, But I couldn’t help it. I missed them. I became restless. So I went
out looking. The first two days, no luck. So I told myself, perhaps they moved
away. Somehow I felt hurt because I wasn’t aware that they had left. But then, I
was ridiculous. After all it was not my business.
The third day I was about to give up finding them when I spotted Jerry, standing
still by himself in a corner. He didn’t seem to notice anything around him. I
wasn’t about to say hi or any thing. After all, for him I was nobody but a
stranger. I thought I knew him, but in fact I was just spying. So I kept my
distance. But something was clearly wrong. Jessie was nowhere around. This was
definitively not the scene I was supposed to see: Jerry standing still, all by
himself. Despite my overwhelming curiosity and concern, I didn’t dare approach
him. So I pretended to be just passing by.
Of course, I couldn’t just let go. I came out to see again and again. Nothing
changed. It seemed for ever. Jerry was still standing still, all alone. Jessie
wasn’t around. I tried to tell myself to mind my own business.
But the unusual situation worried me more than I wanted to admit, despite
myself. I went out again. The winter cold gave me a shiver that was transformed
into a sudden profound shock. Jerry was lying on the ground, still, alone. I
tried to believe that he was just sleeping. But no, that was not the way anyone
slept. I came closer to check out. Oh no, he wasn’t breathing. Something went
wrong, terribly wrong. He was dead. Jessie wasn’t around.
The next morning, Jessie finally showed up, alone, on the branch, where she used
to perch with Jerry and where I took hundreds of pictures of them together in
their happiness. She just stayed there briefly. No frolicking around. No
singing. Like just to say goodbye. I never saw her again. Poor Jessie, what
would she be doing now? I know so many inseparable couples, who can’t live
without their partner. If one goes, the other one would sure follow soon. I
wouldn’t be surprised if Jessie has gone after Jerry, her love.
Jerry and Jessie were the first Mocking birds I ever knew. I feel privileged to
have witnessed their happiness. Their love will be forever with me, in my heart
and my pictures. I still can see it in their eyes. Now I know the meaning of the
expression: the Lovebirds. The world would be infinitely better for
all if we, humans, could show our affection to one another like these two birds.
Let’s hope for the new year. Happy New Year for all, for every one on our tiny
earth. Bob
http://www.lightmagical.com/
Winds are my breaths
Sun my eyes
Sky my open mind.
My home is the Stars,
from big bang to big bang,
forever I will be.
RobertNguyen,MD

(Attachments

By the time you read these lines and see the pictures, I may be in a venetian gondola singing “O sole mio.” I will be celebrating Thanksgiving eating pizza instead of turkey. Yes, friends, you will get to see the images of Venice and Florence. I have been dreaming about these cities in the last 30 years, long before the photographic fever caught me. My photographic muse is waiting, full of energy.
But in the meantime, you get to see the “Fall in bloom” around me, in the local park and my backyard, Yosemite NP. Beauty of nature is all around me. How can’t I ignore it.
I know, I still owe you the “Silhouettes of Yellowstone”. They are coming in due time, as soon as I find time to handle the rush of new images that keep coming relentlessly. So little time, so many pictures. So, to all my friends in the US and abroad, enjoy and stay tuned.

Friends,
From your feedback , I can see you enjoy my images of the Tetons. Many of you visit the site over and over. That is great you like those pictures that I really treasure making and showing. I haven’t finishing it yet. As the matter of fact, I still have the other half of the trip, the one with Yellowstone images. They are as wonderful as the ones you saw, may be even better in different ways. But I am still processing them.
In the meantime, I flew to see Sedona, a little town that was voted the most beautiful city in America. Mornings and evenings, I enjoyed capturing the captivating landscapes. Day time, when the light was not inducing to photography, I was taking a class of water color painting. My purpose was not to paint but to improve my photographic art.
See my images and you will understand why the city was chosen for this title of Miss America. Exactly one hundred year ago, the place was named for a lady who lived there because her name that was short enough for the post office to handle. It turned out to be a pretty name. Now the city is famous for its beauty and its culture. It thrives from its artistic activities, that in turn because of its enchanting landscapes.
I promise you the “Silhouettes of Yellowstone’” But in the meantime, please immerge your-selves in one of the most wonderful place of America :”the red Rocks of Sedona.”

Friends,
I just spend 11 days “hunting” moose in Grand Teton and YellowStone. It was as memorable as Serengeti in East Africa. But in many ways it was a lot more than the premier land of safari in Africa. Grand Teton and Yellowstone NP, in addition to the abundance of wildlife, offer unsurpassed landscapes. I was there during the best time of the year for both. The mountains and the lakes were painted with the best fall colors. The wildlife was in full activity of reproductive season. To add to the excitement, I was in company of the best: the photographers. I have been excited in many photography expeditions. But this is the first time I have the feeling I got so many keepers that I will have hard time picking in both landscapes and wildlife. Here are just some pictures to start with. Friends, see these pictures and you may feel what I lived.

The grapes of California.
Ten years ago there was a TV sequence of California grape moguls, who lived lavishly and drove RR. Well, it flopped badly. Hollywood may not have made a lot of money, but the grapes of California survive and prosper. As you probably
know, California wines have being doing rather well ever since the fateful blind tasting 25 years ago. Up to then, if one talked about good wines, one had to assume that were Gallic ones. Amazingly, the blind tasting proved that Californian drops of the gods are as good as or some even better than the French
ones. I learned to appreciate the good drops when I settled down in the Golden State 30 years ago. There is an abundance of grapes in California. If you drive from North to South, you will see miles and miles of vineyards, specially this
time of the year. The most famous ones are from Napa Valley, but you can see good wine grapes all over California, from the valleys to the foothills, from the hot Sacramento valley to the cool Pacific coast. Seeing so much wine grapes, one can’t help but wonder how do the Californians stay sober. Amazingly,
Californians are leaders in every field in the USA if not the world. Their heads must be clear despite all the wines. California not only feeds the world with her premier agriculture, she is the home of most of the computer innovations
with Silicon valley as the head quarter. And of course, Hollywood is here. Well, what does that have to do with Photography? Living in the middle of millions of acres of grapes, I have yet to make a decent picture of this wonder
vine, despite the fact that I have been photographing all over the world. So I made the point to get some decent ones. Last week end I ventured out off the free ways in to the vineyards. I got “caught” stealing the sight of grapes by a lady friend. Jan is one of those one would call “big farmers” in the valley. She
promised to let me know when her best vineyards are photo ready. I will try to show you some good images of Californian grapes. So "A la sante". Cheers! Wine is good for the heart, in moderation of course!

To start our Hi Sierrra expedition, we drove over the Tuolomne Meadows driving through Yosemite Valley, where of course the water works are the show. In the early PM when the light was not inducing to photography, a visit to Galen Rowel gallery in Bishop made a week end for my friend Mario,who bought every book that Galen wrote. But my profound wish was to capture the images I saw in the gallery. I didn't know it while in the gallery, but as you can see, I had my wishes that very evening 3 hours after the gallery. I saw and captured the magical light show on the Mono lake. In the setting of the Tufas, it was primordial. I had been in this place numerous times. This is the first occasion I had the privilege to witness this magical light over the Mono lake.
The two reflections were from Tuolumne Meadows following morning.

Sailing was once my passion. I had the dream of sailing around the world and was prepared for it . Life took different turn than I was dreaming of and was prepared for. Now I think photographing the sailing is actually better than sailing itself.
These are the images of Hi Sierra Regatta, an annual event. I was there yesterday(Jult 17.05) and had a ball. enjoy.

These amazing and gracious birds have been my neighbors for almost 30 years without me knowing any thing about it except some wondering when I spot them along the free ways. That changed when a patient of mine informed me about them, In fact, they are just an hour driving from my home. At this time early in Spring, they are busy building their nests in an eucalytus grove, just next to a small airport. There are hundreds of them, elegant and gracious. Here is the first instalment. When I am back from Europe mid May, it should be time to see them with babies. Stay tuned.

In Spring one can see the Nature at work on the cliffs of La Jolla, where the brown Pelicans call home. They are beautiful, proud, showy and ridiculously so. Being driven by instinctive preservation of their species, they show funny "bizarre" behavior. Well, as bizarre as we are to them with our courtship routine. One just have to look down to the beach 100 ft away, where the young men and the young ladies "play". Yes if you look at these Pelicans, you would understand human behavior.

Thanks to the abundant rain season, California has been blooming. From any road side to the foot hills of the Sierra, from my back yard to the Antelope valley, from the Pacific coast to the Death Valley, one hasn't seen this floral display in years.

If you want to \"shoot\" the birds, any bird, follow them and fly to Florida in winter. I was there last year. I was just back there this year and will be there again next year. Just a pilgrimage to the birds santuary.

I used not to have any respect for the Elephant Seals. For me they were just "fat". ungainly, "lazy", dull and plainly ugly. Well that was before my first encounter with them this week end. I went to the Coast off San Francisco to see them at the height of their breeding season. After a day of observation and listening about them, I sure gained respect and admiration for these remarkable animals. They are any thing but what I thought of them before this first hand observation.

Here one can "fly" with the birds. From before sunrise to after the sunset, one is immersed in the sounds of the winds and the calls of the wild. One just follows the Cranes with a long lens and before long emotionally one is there: flying with the birds.

These images came from the amazing Valley of the Eagles, Haines, Alaska. At this time of each year there is a grand gathering of the eagles at this valley, where the salmons come to give life to their next generation of salmons than fade away to become food to sustain life of the eagles.

Off the coast of Monterey, California, one can see all these beautiful creatures and many more. These images were taken from my recent "whale watching trip."

This is the second collection of our Amazon trip. You will notice that it is more personal. You may recognize people in this collection. The MachuPicchu is here because I don't want to create another collection just for few pictures. We were not so lucky with the Inca empire. Being rained down two times we were there, the light was never cooperating.
A message to members of the group: please let me know if you want to see any particular picture that is not here, I will try to find it. In any case, I would love to hear from all of you. Many send me messages, I sure appreciate them and pleased to know that you like my pictures. I see that most if not all of you have logged in to see them, but if you don't send me a note, I would have no way to get back to you. So please send me a word ( nugeny@comcast.net ), if not for nothing else, Ruth and I would love to know that you "survive" the checking in at the Lima airport on the way home. So don't be strangers!!

Dear Friends and Amazon adventurers, here are the first of many wonderful images of Amazon. It will take some time for me to process more. But in the meantime, please relive the magnificent images we enjoyed together during the unforgettable trip. Please send me a note when you see this picture. Bob.

I never knew why this flower is named Morning Glory until I planted it in my back yard. Every morning it greets me with a new crop of glorious flowers.

Mysterious web over Buddha

They are three, born in captivity. 9 months old. Never known any thing better than being fed and playing. They are happy and horsing around like any other little kittens. They are so cute. The first pic with two of them just kidding.

This is the very first lotus flower that I manage to get bloom in my water garden. I have been nurturing 3 different lotus varieties. One didn't survive. Two are doing well. I hope this is only the first of many. Symbolic enough, the blurred golden background is the reflection of the lady Buddha (the first picture)

I hope this is only the first of a serie of eagle pictures. It doesn't look like I would have luck like the "study" of the hawks. But one never knows. This was the first time, I came a bit late in the morning looking the their nest. The chicks were there but the bright sun forced the birds to look away from me. But please stay tuned, these "bold" eagles may just pose for me just like the redtailed hawks did...

These diving birds nomally are almost black. But this time of the year, Spring time, they are sitting on their nests, incubating? I don't see any eggs, it was to far to see. But the obvious change in appearance was the fluoresncent blue of their necks. The birds are just like humans, they look best when they try to have babies.

This is the continuation of the "Mother Hawk"
May22: The chicks look like their Mom in size and color. They start to open their wings imitating or initating the act of flying, jumping from one branch to another. They are now in human term "teenagers."It is now a matter of days when they would fly away, going to college, to the world and we won't see them so easily any longer. I hope to catch those moment remembering when I left home, my kids left home to fly away...
May 26 , today was probably the last time I would see these "baby" hawks. For 30minutes I didn't see them in their nest, I thought they must have flown away. In a way they did, to another tree. They no longer hop from branch to branch. They fly from tree to tree. Looking at these babies, one sees flying machines. Ever since the Mother’s day, every thing has been concentrated on developing their wings, the only thing one would see now when the flying started. Flying is survival. For birds, flying is life.
Let’s welcome the young hawks to the world. Now is the time they should and would make it on their own. Their parents have been doing a tremendous job ensuring the survival of their species. Only on one occasion I could see both MOM and Dad in the nest at the same time. To keep these youngsters going at their warp speed growth, these parents have had to feed them constantly. Appropriately Nature has provided them with an abundance of food in the area.

This is a continuation of the Hawk mother day. For some reason I can't add more pix to the other gallery.
May 13 : One can see the tenderness in the mother's eyes and the pure innocence in the chicks's. Looking at the eye and the expression of the mother, one can see the happiness. She is just human.
May 17: The chicks are growing leaps and bounds. They look cutely "ugly." The raggedy newborns now are almost as big as their mother in size. Their eyes are now shiny. I think they can see.That was not the case when I saw them on May 13, when their eyes looked like the worst cataract, that for sure would not let any light go through.

These images were taken today Mother's day.
The chicks are not in focus. they are to small and there were so many branches in between. I will go back to get better pics of them.
Monday May 10: Friends, please follow me as I grow up with the chicks. I was there again the day after Mother's day. One day and I can see the difference.
PLEASE CONTINUE ON GALLERY hAWK MOTHER
May 12 One can see the tenderness in the mother's eyes and the pure innocence in the chicks's

Spring is here in California, please stay turned

a dove incubating her offsprings(eggs). I am keeping my camera focused on their progress. So please stay tuned to see the wonder of nature.

This pic was taken in MOntery, California.
It is a mating scene. Perfect mirror image.