The southern Tufted Titmouse, pictured above, is known for its attraction to backyard feeders and its active song that sounds something like a high pitched peter-peter-peter. You find them in wooded areas throughout the Southeast and farther north nesting in tree cavities and nesting boxes.

This soprano was sitting in a tree behind our house belting out a tune that got returned regularly from a distance. Was he issuing a territorial warning? Calling for a mate? Or, maybe, announcing a newly filled feeder to his compatriots. I don't know. Whatever it was, he filled the air with song.

Perhaps it is fitting, given how prone to song many species of birds are, that those who oppose the theory that traces bird origins to the dinosaurs call themselves BAND, or the "Birds are Not Dinosaurs" movement. I don't know who's right but I favor the majority view that ties birds to the flying Archaeopteryx  and similar dinosaurs.

It's not that I don't appreciate a good disagreement. Anyone who went to law school appreciates the value of a good debate. But we also understand that not every position is a good one.

Darren Naish, British vertebrate palaeontologist and science writer, opines in last November's Scientific American that BAND "proponents have seen themselves as crusaders, true skeptics and better scientists than those who support what is now the mainstream model; they’ve – I think unwittingly – molded themselves into a distinct social group, even going so far as wearing special badges at conferences." He goes on to say that enthusiasm does not make them right and that the evidence for birds descending from dinosaurs is compelling.

And, even though I always wanted to be in a BAND, I am going to skip this one. Instead, I think I will just enjoy the thought of having flying dinosaurs in my backyard.

Image and text copyright Clinton Richardson. More Wild Atlanta images are available at our TrekPic.com web site in the Wild Atlanta Gallery, which is part of the Close to Home Collection.

If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

It's also the first of what we hope will be many more photographs by our oldest granddaughter, now ten.

She and I have started meeting regularly to share a love for photography. She's been clicking away on her own with a new version of the Polaroid instant camera not unlike the one we enjoyed when it came out for its ability to deliver near instant pictures.

On our first day out, we introduced a single zoom-lens 35mm digital camera to the mix, went over the functions and basics of handling a camera and then headed out to start shooting, talking about some basic composition elements as we shared an afternoon. This image was the best one from her camera. The goose was a willing participant, hoping for a handout. But the granddaughter was a serious observer.

What I like about the image is that it captures the goose talking and uses the composition rule of thirds to help draw your eyes to hers. What do you think?

Image and text are copyright 2018. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

One of the great pleasures of retirement is the extra time it gives you to spend with grandchildren. While walking on the path at Cochran Shoals, this adult Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, rare for these parts, flew to a tree just a few feet away and was spotted by my grandson. Cochran Shoals is national parkland that runs along the Chattahoochee River just outside the perimeter highway for about a mile and a half. Its a great place to see water birds and the occasional woodpecker.

We both whipped out our cameras to see if we could photograph this elusive neighbor. The picture above is our prize. My grandson wanted their to be no confusion about which of the two Clinton's on the hike spotted the woodpecker first. Hence, the title of this blog entry and the photo. This picture, along with others of wild Atlanta, can be found on the 13 Plus 1 Gallery of Photo by Kayak at https://kayak.smugmug.com/East-Coast/ or through a link on the Photos page of Readjanus.com, the host of this blog.

All images and content Copyright Clinton Richardson, the elder one. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Sadly, Clay's Corner, extraordinary gas station, meeting place and host to the unique New Year's Eve Possum Drop is no more. Clay has retired and the station and Possum Drop that marked the beginning of each new year in Western North Carolina are now relegated to a past tradition.

No more country bands at Clay's Corner to accompany the dropping of a live possum in time with the new year's beginning. No more celebration of this unique but abundant creature. Locals who have enjoyed the tradition for years must now find other entertainment. PETA advocates, however, are probably quietly celebrating the news.

To see more images of the self proclaimed Opossum Capital of the  World and other unique images from the Blue Ridge area of Northern Georgia and Western Carolina, check out Blue Ridge Gallery in the Close to Home Collection at our TrekPic.com photo website.

"Welcome to Clay's Corner" image above courtesy of TrekPic.com. Text and image are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Selfies are everywhere and Death Valley is no exception. Here you can see a couple standing in front of their camera a tripod, snapping a memory with the undulating hillside of Zabriski Point in the background.

Death Valley in the early winter can be a great time to visit. The temperatures are tolerable throughout the day and into the night. Here it was in the 60s as the sun set and evening took over. The picture was taken last November, a great time to avoid the extreme heat of the California desert.

To see more of the images from Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Park, check out the California Desert Gallery at at our TrekPic.com photo website. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Introducing the Ancient Selfies gallery to Readjanus.com. Don't have time to read the International Book Awards Finalist in History but would like to see the coins. Check out the Photos link at Readjanus.com and check out more ancient selfies engraved on coins.

Above you will find coin fronts from the three most powerful people of their age, Marc Antony, Cleopatra and Octavian Augusta. She was a polymath who spoke multiple languages and captivated both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and very nearly created a long term empire of her own from a civil war torn Rome.

We are introducing something new to our TrekPic.com photo resource.

Check out the New page and Coins pages when you are there. In addition to our works that inform (Ancient Selfies and the Growth Company Guide 5.0), we will now be including photographic 'images that inspire' with links to our TrekPic resource.

The image was taken in late Spring from a relatively remote spot on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. A mile long hike through a light snow and past a tree recently maimed by bears was all that was needed to reach the site. The reward was the chance to see and feel a snow storm sweep toward Shoshone Point just after dawn. Shoshone Point is shown on the right.