Sky-watch Friday (Or is this tree watching?)

I'm back on another sky-watch. Actually, I was tree-watching when taking these photos.

I was trying to capture how the sun-rays were hitting the trees, and creating the illusion of them being set on fire.

Maybe I was 5 minutes to late to capture exactly the images I saw in my head as I ran downstairs to grab my camera? Or maybe I just wasn't able to tweak the right White Balance or aperture settings for an optimal effect.

Well, it really doesn't matter. I were able to pull a few good shots as walked down the road from our house. And if you look closely on the black and white picture, I found a lonely bird, fluffing the feathers to keep warm on this cold afternoon.

Anyway, you can't really capture a tree without also catching a glimpse of what's behind. My camera was pointing up, and the sky was behind it. And the blue creates a good contrast to the fiery orange and yellow on the leaves.