Gazing into the eyes of animals

In March we were traveling along I-81 in Virginia and made a stop at the Virginia Safari located in Natural Bridge, Virginia. The animals there get real close up and personal. Here are a few shots taken as the animals visited our car -

A zebra's eye

I believe this is also of a zebra - you can see my camera and hand reflecting in its eye

A doe's eye

Abandoned houses....What stories would they tell?

I am always intrigued, saddened and curious any time I see an abandoned home or the remnants of what was once someone's house. I always wonder what kinds of stories it could tell if its remains could talk. 

Today's photos were taken over the summer up in New York as I was driving by and had to briefly stop to take a few pics from the car. I remember when there was a house here and then remember a tree falling on it, putting a huge gap in its roof. A couple of decades later, all that is left is the foundation. Nature has now moved in to become the current resident.

I wish I could have captured the mist on the water a bit better, it really was a fascinating view that morning

Chasing dragonflies this summer

Dragonflies have always been pretty elusive for me and I usually catch a blur, but I got kind of lucky this summer. Where I live it's suburban and the dragonflies never set anywhere for very long, however, I found exploring other places they were in more numbers and easier to spot.

As the summer comes to a close I've been going through all the pictures I took during the last two months. We spent a fair amount of time chasing wildlife in the hopes of getting some good shots. Our travels were to various states including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and, of course, Virginia. Here are some of the dragonflies spotted.
 

This dragonfly was spotted in Virginia

I'd never spotted a red dragonfly before. This one was on Kent Island in Maryland

Either the same dragonfly as the first pic or a family member ;)

This one was also found on Kent Island

Flowers at Boscobel House and Gardens

In July we took a trip to New York and did a lot of exploring. One of the places we visited was Boscobel House & Gardens - it's a lovely historic property to tour with spectacular views of the Hudson River. Here are some photos I took in the garden (for more information about the history and the property, I have a detailed article on InfoBarrel with more photos).