Sunsets Are Coming Back, the smoke has been clearing in the sky around my area so the sunset are becoming colorful again. I love a sunset when there are some clouds along with. Gives it a little more texture and depth.
I mentioned awhile ago about my brother out in Montana next to the fire called, Yaak Fire. He said it is down to a smolder, but still burning and creeping across the land. So they have not been given the all clear yet, I hope they get more rain and it goes out completely.
On this particular night, I walked down to the pond, knowing there would be a reflection in the water of the clouds all lit up as the sun dropped below the horizon.
The Snow Shoe Hare Snowshoe hares have an interesting adaptation that helps protect them against predators. Depending on the season, their fur can be a different color. During the winter, snowshoe hares are white, which helps them blend in with the snow. When the seasons change to spring and summer, snowshoe hares turn a reddish-brown. This color helps them camouflage with dirt and rocks.
Not every part of the snowshoe hare changes color throughout the year. An important identification trick is to look at a snowshoe hare’s ears. The tips of the ears are always black no matter the season.
The hind legs of a snowshoe hare are noticeably larger, and have more fur and larger toes than those of other rabbits or hares. These adaptations provide additional surface area and support for walking on snow. The hind legs are what give the hare its common name.
I never did get a photo of this rabbit last winter when it was all white. I saw it a few times, but only when it moved, they have excellent camouflage. I took this photo below early this spring when its feet are still white as it makes the change over to brown.
Now this one is a cotton tail Rabbit below, there is a difference between a hare and a rabbit. Mostly the hare is quite a bit larger and not as tame. Hence so much harder to get a photo of.
What Camera Lens I Use, I love photographing up close and most of the time I use my smaller bridge camera with the macro lens. But, I have found that my biggest lens actually does very well with close up shots also. I use the 600 mm lens mostly for bird photography, but to my surprise I really like it with close ups as well. You can see more samples and the camera I use at this link Here; 600mm Tamron Lens
Shooting For the Moon, This weekend was perfect weather for sitting outside in the evening and watch the moon travel across the sky. Mosquitos tried to make a comeback early in the evening, but then the wind picked up and they did not have a chance after that. This time of year I love to go outside at night to take photo’s of our beautiful planets above, come winter, the cameras don’t do well at night, nor do I.
Trying to get a crisp clear photo of the moon is just a little difficult with a regular camera. I use a 600 mm lens and it does pretty well. But when you think of how much space is between my lens and the moon, I am in awe at what I see every time.
When you photograph something outside of our atmosphere, there is a fair amount of air between you and the subject. The thickness of Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 300 miles, with most of the dense air in the lower altitudes (obviously). Light is transmitted from the sun (or stars) or reflected from the moon (and planets) and it travels through the vacuum of space until it reaches earth. Once it arrives in the atmosphere, all your sharpness bets are off.
Then add some motion like clouds rolling in and trees blowing in the wind. I am just grateful that earth has a protective shield around it that gives us air to breath and protects us from the harshness of outer space. It is mind boggling to me sometimes to sit here and look up into the heavens at night and just wonder how big it really is and how small we really are.
This shot looks like the moon is on fire and rolling across the clouds to me.
What Day is It – Varietay Friday, Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay cool, it is warm in my neck of the woods. Enjoy the Great Outdoors if You Can. 💕
Orange is the Color of Autumn, this is my first sighting of the Monarch Butterfly this year, it is late in the season, so I am surprised to see it but thankful I got to see at least one this year. Early this spring I saw a few butterfly’s or moths and their wings were pretty scraped up from the long flight up here. But this one looks pretty healthy.
I hope he makes the long journey to its winter home. It is written in their design, from the moment they are alive, to go to the same place, even though some have never been there before. They just know.
Before Migration Begins, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds double their weight from 3 grams to over 6 grams prior to departing. They don’t stay pudgy for long, though. In northward migrations, it’s not uncommon for a hummingbird to weigh around 2.5 grams when it reaches U.S. shores!
Each year, hummingbirds embark on two migrations – one north and one south. These migratory journeys, which can span hundreds or thousands of miles, require immense preparation and a shocking amount of energy from these small birds – the smallest in the world.
In the fall hummingbirds can set out as early as late July and the last stragglers will cross the southern U.S. border by late October. It’s this amazing cycle of hummingbird migration that can also bring a sudden swarm of activity to your hummingbird feeders. If you have a well-maintained hummingbird feeder, expect plenty of new visitors as they try to boost their energy before the next stage of their journey.
I am taking lots of photographs of them right now before they leave. I look forward to seeing them again next year.
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow;
I Can See How Hard You Work, for You Are Covered in Sparkling Yellow Snow ——- No wait, that doesn’t sound right.
You Are Covered in Yellow Pollen Snow ; Alright I am not a poet for sure, I could not think what rhymes with grow.
Feel free to add some suggestions below, WAIT, that rhymes,
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow, I See How Hard You Work From All the Pollen on You in the Photo Below. Whew, I think Daryl Madden or Mr. Ohh might have a few ideas as well. 😊
Manipulating the Perception of Distance, is possible with forced perspective in photography. It is about making your subject look larger or smaller than it really is.
Perspective in photography is created by the spatial relationship between objects in an image. It’s this relationship between objects that helps us perceive depth, distances, and the size of different elements.
For example, this pink flower looks like a normal size flower because of the angle I took the photograph.
But in reality, it is actually smaller than an eraser on a pencil. Matter of fact, I would not have even seen it if it was not for the bright purple flowers petals that caught my eye.
Forced perspective happens all around us everyday. Not just in photography, sometimes people make things out to be bigger than they really are. How we perceive it is the key to understanding the size of any situation, knowing the facts is crucial. Never be forced to only see the perspective to what others are putting in front of you.
One of My Favorite Spots, This is a small hill made out of sand, I love this spot along Lake Superior. From the parking lot you can not see what the water looks like until you walk up this little hill. I love places like this. It is like opening a door not knowing for sure what I might see, but the anticipation is exciting and the view always takes my breath away.
It is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
Young Eagle Stopped By today, I have not seen many eagles this year. Only on occasion when they fly by and sometimes stop and hang out in a tree for a little bit. This one here just glided right in, he was so far away, I wasn’t sure what it was at first.
So I got the big camera lens out and that is when I realized it is a young Eagle. I never get tired of seeing them.
So I thought I would share some of my favorite Eagle photos below.
Something a Little Different, I don’t know what these flowers are but they were growing along the beach of Lake Superior. Sometimes I don’t know if I need to know a name to some of these wildflowers. I just like to enjoy them and know that they will be a surprise next year when I see them again.
I believe I mentioned awhile ago about framing your own photographs and art work. I enjoy sharing them on the web, but I do like to print them and hang them in my home. I have taken up digital painting of my photographs. Where you actually take a paint brush and paint on your photos. Very relaxing to do and amazing what technology can do as well.
Thinking outside of the box, create what your heart and mind sees.
The Dance of the Hummingbirds, as the sun was setting last night the hummingbirds became very active. I watched them as they flew back and forth, chasing each other from one corner of the porch to the other. But it appeared more like a dance as they hovered in mid air and then flew off together.
I got my camera out and pulled up a chair below the feeder. They became silhouettes in front of me as the sun glowed on the clouds behind them. A put a video down below so you can see the; Dance of the Hummingbirds.
They are Back, yesterday I talked about the migration beginning for some of the birds in my area. Well, not for these two birds. They were gone during the month of July, nesting and raising their young. But they are back, amazing how it all changes, one group leaves and the next one comes back.
The Chickadee and the Blue Jay’s are back in my yard. One of the things I love about the Chickadees, they are not to afraid of people. If the feeder is empty and I go outside, heading towards the garden shed where I keep the bird seed. They actually follow me and go back and forth in the trees every where I walk, waiting for me to get some food for them.
Oh, and I found another orange leaf laying on a green leaf. Summer and Fall together as one.
Change of Season with Birds, most of the time people notice the change of seasons to Autumn by the colors of the leaves and temperature. But this year is the first time I have noticed exactly when certain birds have left my area. Migration is a big thing in the spring and fall, especially for birders like my self.
These Red Winged black birds made their presence known all summer. They are very territorial and nested all around the pond here and two days ago they were all gone, just like that. Not one is here. The days are getting shorter by 1 minute a day. Birds sense this along with, weather, geography, food sources, day length, and other factors.
I had a pair of Robins that built a nest right by the cabin. They really enjoyed the bird bath I set out this year. Every day they were using the bath, especially on hot days. But, they are all gone now as well. Robins don’t mind the cold weather as much, they can handle that. They leave for warmer areas because of lack of food here in the colder months. Flocks of them arrive in Florida to spend the winters.
Yes, all the moths and butterfly’s are gone, along with my summer flowers not producing anymore. But the fall flowers are just starting up. A welcome sight, all the rich warm colors.
But, despite the birds telling us winter is coming soon. There are some exciting things that have returned since the summer birds have left. Take for example the Ravens, this one in particular I have named Edgar. Now he never left all summer, but he could not come visit as often as he would like because the Red Winged black birds would always chase him away. Now, he is back on his perch, high above the forest and comes and goes as he pleases.
Migrating birds can cover thousands of miles in their annual travels, often traveling the same course year after year with little deviation. First-year birds often make their very first migration on their own. Somehow they can find their winter home despite never having seen it before, and return the following spring to where they were born.
Taking a journey that can stretch to a round-trip distance of several thousand miles is a dangerous and arduous undertaking. It is an effort that tests both the birds’ physical and mental capabilities. The physical stress of the trip, lack of adequate food supplies along the way, bad weather, and increased exposure to predators all add to the hazards of the journey.
To me, seeing what nature has to endure to get to the end results, speaks to me from that silent voice within us. We are on a similar path. The ups and downs, the long journey finding our way in this world. There will always be some hard times and ruff roads to travel and a lot of good things as well. But in the end we will find our way home, to where we were born. None of us die, we just go home.
Twins The White Tail Deer, this is my first sighting of twin White Tail Deer and the only time they both came out of the forest so I could witness this extraordinary beauty of wild life. The Mother is very watchful over these two, I have heard her in the woods now and then, giving her loud snort to warn the babies of any danger.
But Mom is used to me, I put some bird food out in the mornings and she comes by everyday to check out the food. It isn’t much food, because I don’t want a lot there at night when Junior bear walks through. I put together a video of these two running and playing in the tall grass, you can see this video here; White Tail Deer Mother and Twins.
This is also the first buck I have seen here in years. He stops by once a week. He doesn’t stay long. You can see his horns have the soft velvet on them still.
August Brings Clear Skies and some sunshine. With all the fires out west and to the north, I have not seen blue skies for most of July. My brother is very near to one of those fires in Montana. They are packed and ready to go if needed. The fire fighters come by and tell them if it is time to leave.
They do have a chance for rain soon, I pray that it reaches all the areas that are burning, hopefully they will see the sun soon as well.
This red bud reminds me of the strong hearts that we all have, especially during times of trouble. That we can get through anything, helping our neighbors when we can and having faith to keep us going on the straight path. My brother said they are ready to go if needed, he isn’t worried about the things left behind, those things are replaceable, they are just things.
I came across this yellow flower with petals in the shape of hearts. There seems to be a pattern I see, as I walk through the forest thinking about things.
Through the dark times, there will always be Light. New growth will appear, pristine and white. To remind us that life on this earth is temporary.
Make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
Happy Friday, it is the end of July already. I have two trees in my yard that have started to change color. That seems to early, but I do love the change of seasons and fall is my favorite one. I love the cooler temperatures and all the warm colors and sitting by the campfire on a cool evening. Have a wonderful weekend.
Nature Speaks to Us, I spend a lot of time outdoors, sometimes just listening to the sounds of creation around me. Now I have a lot of ringing in my ears, sometimes it is really bad, but it is always there. It never really goes away. When I am outside, I get distracted very easy. I begin to notice everything from the leaves rustling in the trees, the butterflies going from flower to flower.
The sights and sounds of nature, begins to replace the ringing in my ears. For a few moments in time I can tune out the constant noise in my ears and I can feel the calmness that nature provides. I can see and hear a beautiful symphony of soft spoken words, from the sounds of birds singing and seeing the beautiful colors of the butterflies as they go by.
When I focus on all of these things, it pushes the noise away.
It reminds me of this song;
I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright) Bright (bright) sunshiny day
Lightning in the Night, my first photos of lightning. A fast moving storm rolled in with only heat lightning at first and then I saw a few lightning bolts in the night sky. It was about 11:30 pm and I decided to go out onto the porch and see if I could get a few shots of the night lights covering the sky.
I wasn’t sure if the camera was picking it up at first. All of these photos were taken with a Go Pro camera, I did not get any on my regular camera. There is another storm rolling in today, so I will be trying it again though.
Ka-ty-did, this is the sound the Katydids make. Katydids are related to crickets and grasshoppers, with large back legs for jumping.
Unlike grasshoppers, Katydids have extremely long, thin antennae. Unlike crickets, their bodies are more rhomboidal, like a kite with four equal lengths. They have wings and will fly away from danger. Most sightings occur when they land on an object and linger. Some have even gone on car rides, clinging to the hood of the vehicle.
I have never see this particular critter before. They blend in so well with leaves. It flew onto the porch, stuck on the wall for a little bit and then was gone. Amazing critters.
Varietay Friday II – includes taking a photo from the back of a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. I love looking at the back of flowers. This particular flower closes up at night, these green shoots fold up around the flower as like protection over night. Along with a tiny red bug in the left corner of the flower.
I do not know what this is, but it had not opened up yet early this morning and you could really see the details of the fine hair that protects the stem of this flower.
42 degrees F. this morning, finally cooling off a bit and water droplets resting in the base of these leaves in the morning light.
Along with, some art work I made on the computer today. Art comes in many different forms, computer generated and outdoor objects, both of which are applied on this photo.
Pretty in Pink, not the movie, just the flowers blooming in my garden today. Even though I saw that movie many years ago. I love these little flowers called Cosmos that always seem to bloom in July. Such a soft hue of pink.
My husband and I were talking about the state of the world today. Which is a huge subject to say the least. For me, I do not follow the left or the right, I listen to what they say and the language is very confusing, it is as if none of them can understand each other as well. There are so many different sounds coming from all directions.
I can only speak of what I know and bear witness to what I see. For me, what I know is, there is a straight path to the One who makes perfect sense, which in turn opens my eyes to where I am at today. It is a journey, to get to this place that I see.
Little Wonders of theWorld – The Flowers and theTrees, Places Where I Find Peace andTranquility
Time Keeps Moving Along, Changing of the Way, Places of Reflection of Where I am Today
AttheLadders Top, The Older Generation, At the Golden Age, A Humbling Realization
I see where I’m going, and Past That’s Behind Me, I Have Reached the Light, When Younger Couldn’t See
Which Gives Me Peaceof Mind, Of Searching to Engage, That Wisdom Only Comes, Attainable by Age
Wisdom is only attainable by age, there are no shortcuts, Inheriting the wealth of Knowledge, from the quality of Experience becomes Wisdom. Owning nothing but yet owning everything.
Amazing Are The Wings that Fly – Sometimes to really see nature, one has to become one with nature. I have never seen a dragonfly’s wings quite like these. I was watching this one particular dragon fly land on this same rock over and over. Finally realizing it was sunning itself on this rock and as I would step closer to it for a photo it would fly away.
So I figured I need to lay down in the grass with my camera and just sit still. This dragonfly was between me and the sun and what a surprise it was to see the sun reflecting in its wings when I looked at the photos later. I did not see this as I was laying there watching it. What a view from their level. You can see my video; A Walk With Nature in My Back Yard Here.
I remember the days as a child, when laying in the grass was so much fun. I never worried about all the bugs and critters back then. I usually avoid doing that now because the thought of wood ticks and spiders. But I thought, just do it. I surprised myself on the results with this beautiful creature.
Rock Camouflage, In nature, some animals are built with the perfect camouflage to blend in with their surroundings. Which helps to avoid becoming something else’s snack. This particular dragon fly is one of those animals. Those transparent wings really throws me off, you can see the rocks right through them.
North East vs North West, I drove to the lake to catch the sunset for a change of pace. I was hoping there would be a few clouds, nothing but blue skies even as the sun dipped below the horizon. Clouds sometimes make for a better sunset photo so the sun isn’t so bright glaring into the cameras. So after the sun drops below the horizon we go back to blue hour.
This first photo is facing North East, leaving a cool view of blue and just a touch of pink in the corner.
Looking back to the North West, the sun is still leaving just a trace of color on the horizon as it leaves us for another day.
Small Wildlife Around the Water, these tiny little creatures are called Damselfly, such a strange name. They are not a dragonfly. I did not realize until today that they are two different species. These are so tiny, very hard to photograph also. But Damselfly eyes are separate, there is a space between their eyes and a Dragonfly has eyes that are almost connected, looks like one giant eye on their heads.
Dragonfly
I have not seen any monarch butterflies this year. But this one here was hanging around my porch. Its wings look a bit torn up, probably from the long flight to get up here. But it was flying around just fine all day. It was taking a rest on my porch chair.
It had two tones of color, under the wings it was a brown tone and on top of the wings it was black and white.
So I will leave you with a photo of one of my favorite lakes, hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
