Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Boone Hen” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
Tilley settled down on her favorite roost on the banks of the beautiful Kanawha River. The water lapped gently against the stone as the clouds parted and sun came out to greet her. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the smell of the mint growing by the river. After a long morning of foraging she was ready for a break. She didn’t really need much to relax. Just a quiet spot on the river and the warm sun. A Swallowtail butterfly floated by on the breeze and caught her attention as it sailed into the mint and began to feed. Tilley turned her head slightly and became mesmerized by the way it fluttered it’s wings grooming each flower as it searched for nectar. When the butterfly finished and fluttered off again Tilley settled in and began watching the river. The sunbeam was like a warm hug as it lingered on her rock. It wasn’t long before she would succumb to the state of relaxation and fell into the perfect nap.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
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Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Duck Bathing On The Kanawha River” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
George the mallard has been scavenging the park all morning. He’d had quite a bit of luck finding scraps left behind by the humans. Humans are always dropping their food in the water or on the ground. They didn’t really seem to mind when he waddled up and claimed what they dropped. Sometimes they even shared with him.
As he was making his way across the parking lot of the park he spotted a large male human straddling a motorcycle. Parts of the motorcycle were so shiny that he could see his own face in them. George carefully approached the big man from behind pausing for a moment to practice his “hungry face” in the reflection of big shiny pipe near the back of the bike. He tried to make his cheeks hollow and his eyes sad. Then he circled around wide and stood in front of the man. The biker wore black leather and was covering his eyes with dark glasses. In his hands was a crinkly bag full of something crunchy. George’s mouth began to water with anticipation of whatever the large human was enjoying. “Excuse me sir, might I have a taste of the crunchy stuff in your bag?” He asked politely. But all the human understood was a series of low quacking sounds. The human took another big bite out of the bag. Once more George made a polite inquiry and started walking in circles to get the biker’s attention. The big man smiled. “My friend, are you sure that this what you want?” He asked. George responded with excitement and was quacking like crazy. The big biker gave George a doubtful look but even though he looked big and scary he had a soft spot in his heart for wildlife. He dropped a single reddish colored chip in front of George. The chip never hit the ground. George swooped in like a falcon on the hunt and started to grind the chip in his bill. But something was wrong. George’s tongue began to burn and his eyes watered for real. It wasn’t an ordinary chip. It was a flaming hot red pepper pork rind! George took off like a rocket and dove head first into the water. He opened his bill as wide as he could shaking his face under the water. He felt like he had drank half of river before the spice relented. As George relaxed and began to recover Ralph paddled up to him. Once he saw that his friend was going to be okay Ralph gave George two pieces of advice. Be careful what you wish for and beggars can’t be choosers. After a long while George began working the crowd at the park again. It’s just part of being a duck and he couldn’t be a successful duck without the resources of the local humans. However, was never as greedy as to accept what was given without first making sure that it was something that he actually wanted. And his friend the biker began to make sure that he had a small pouch of rolled oats to share with the ducks from that day on. In fact, every Saturday without fail his Harley Davidson rolled up to edge of water and waited for George to show up.
* If you like to feed ducks at your local park please don’t give them bread because it can make them sick. Oats, cracked corn and regular bird seed are all acceptable. After writing this I did a quick search. It seems that hot peppers are regularly given to chickens but a few sources said that ducks won’t touch anything with peppers in it. Things Are Just Ducky is of course fictional and intended to be pure entertainment.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Perched Gray Tree Frog” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
I had a special visitor come to my door the other night. I found her peeking in through the glass as if she wanted to come in. I quickly made a makeshift terrarium from an empty mason jar by threading the ring over scrap piece cotton cloth. I caught some insects to put in with her along with a twig and some distilled water. The terrarium was for her safety. Hopping frogs look like fun toys for dogs and as a fun loving doggy I was concerned that Scout may not understand that the tree frog was a guest.
I took the little tree frog into my office and left her there to get comfortable. One of the ways that I can tell it’s a female frog is because she didn’t sing. Generally speaking female frogs are quiet. The don’t sing among other things.
First thing the next morning I found the little tree frog clinging to a leaf on the twig. I could tell that she’d had breakfast because the insects were gone.
I took her outside to set her free and when I opened the jar she hopped out onto the tip of my pinky finger.
The little Gray Tree Frog On My Pinky Finger looking me in the eye.
The she turned to look me in the eye and thanked me for the night’s lodging. I was a little shocked. Kermit was the only frog that I’ve ever heard talk. The shock must have shown on my face because she smiled a froggy smile and winked. “There’s a lot about tree frogs that you probably don’t know.” She said. I simply nodded because I was still in shock. She continued without being prompted. And here’s what she taught me.
You’ve probably been told that it’s not easy being green. However, it’s no problem at all for a gray tree frog. In fact they can change color like a chameleon. Unlike thier cousins in the Amazon they don’t have the bright colors but they do have a range of gray, brown, green and black. The little tree frog on my pinky finger was such a light gray when I found her that she was almost white.
The secret to their Spider-Man like climbing ability is the large suction cup like pads on their feet. If you look closely at the tree frog’s feet you’ll notice that the toes are not webbed. That’s so that they can grip on the twigs like a monkey.
There are actually two species of Gray Tree Frog in Appalachia. They are identical in every way except in genetics and songs. The Gray Tree Frog has 48 chromosomes and the other species, Cope’s Gray Tree Frog has 24 chromosomes. This means that they can’t really hybridize and that even if they did that the offspring wouldn’t survive.
The other way to tell the difference is by the call. I could give you the pulse per second and frequency etc but there’s no substitute for hearing the difference yourself. So, I found a YouTube video that gives a great sound byte.
Once the shock of a talking tree frog wore off I asked the little frog how she learned to talk. She replied, “you left me next to your laptop all night and I got bored so I used your internet. You can learn how to do anything on Google. ”
With that said she took one graceful leap into the Alder tree in my yard and that’s where she lives today.
*I am not a herpetologist and so I am not positive about the sex of the tree frog.
The little tree frog now living in my Alder tree.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Nice Day For A Swim ” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
George waddled up to the edge of the river and took a deep breath. He paused for a moment and caressed the cool grass with his webbed toes. The sun was shining and he didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He enjoyed the soft breeze as it ruffled his feathers slightly and looked out at world around him. Then he hopped into the river with a plop. For a moment he bobbed like a cork which was always something that made him giggle. He plunged his face into the water and shook his head vigorously to clean his bill just like his mother taught him.
The smooth water flowed around him as he paddled across the surface in no particular pattern. He went where he pleased as his curiosity inspired him. The odd swirl moving against the current meant an insect that he could chase.
George allowed the current to carry him to the edge of the falls. He could hear the water crashing into the rocks below and just as he went over the edge a quick flap of his wings he was airborne. He circled around and landed on the water at the base of Kanawha Falls where the minnows are stunned by going over the edge. George ate his fill before finding some quiet cove where he could nap in peace. Just before his eyelids became too heavy to hold open he looked skyward and thanked God for making him a duck.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Red-winged Blackbird On Cattail 6119” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.
I was on Muddelty Creek the other day in the marsh and heard an unmistakable sound. The trilling call of a red-winged blackbird. And then another, and another. The marsh was suddenly alive with them. Well, their calls at least. They didn’t really seem to want a portrait on this particular day. I would catch one setting still for a moment but as soon as I raised my lens they would take to the sky and disappear into the greenery.
A red-winged blackbird darting across Muddelty Creek
I remembered the iconic pictures from wildlife books I had as kid. The red-winged blackbirds were always pictured as being perched on a reed or cattail stem and I really wanted to reproduce that childhood memory.
I discovered that even when perched these hyper little guys are never really still. They seemed to be more jittery than I had remembered. Finally the one that’s pictured in mid flight moved a little closer and gave me the shot that I had been waiting for.
I definitely want to go back to this spot for more shots. I know there’s a female in the area but she’s much better camouflaged and will be harder to spot. I also want to catch the male in full display during his call and I’ve downloaded the call to help pull one in a little closer. For now I’ll have something that I have wanted to capture ever since I was a little boy leafing through an encyclopedia at Mt. Lookout Elementary School in the 70s.
Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook
If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is
Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.
LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC 