Brett Peters's Photos

At the Shelburne Museum.

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Taken by my wife during an observing run in Spring 2004.

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The only brown woodpecker in Virginia, the Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is an odd duck among woodpeckers: it migrates and commonly feeds on the ground. A pair have moved into the area in the last few days. When I first saw them rooting around in the leaves, I thought it was a Brown Thrasher... then a Mourning Dove... then a woodpecker that had lost its mind. (The red chevron on the nape of the neck was what clued me to its true nature.) This is the female of the pair, lacking the black moustache of the male. It was actively feeding in the leaves around this tree for almost 15 minutes this morning.

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This juvenile Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) digs into the pine straw near my parent's in-law bird feeders.

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An Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) visits the deck in my backyard.

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Photos of my 2002 VW Jetta after hitting a deer on 13 November 2006. Detail shot of the corner of the rear door footwell/fender junction. That powdery substance is deer remnants. Ew. While these photos were taken at the body shop, they are geotagged at the spot of the accident.

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Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

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View of my backyard from my hiding spot under a pine tree, waiting for birds. This is a different shot than I normally take, laterally along the treeline instead of across the lawn. I'm quite surprised at how different it looks from this angle, considering.

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Note the angle of the wheels on this enclosed carriage.

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Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

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I really should ask someone what the heck this thing is.

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A male American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) perches on a thistle feeder in my backyard. The patchiness is caused by the winter coat moulting.

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