Sunset Cirrus: Ahead of heavy weather expected overnight, cirrus clouds decorate tonight’s sky.
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Last Leaf, Last Light
The evening light falls through bare branches to the forest floor, illuminating the few remaining leaves that are not on the ground. Soon darkness will fall. Soon the leaves will fall. So ends the day.
Not All Sunsets Start Out Brilliantly – November 6
For a couple of days, weather conditions were perfect at the hour of sunset for spectacular sights. The first time it happened, all I could do is admire the color-fringed clouds through a line of trees at the end of our street; sunset colors, once they peak, disappear but fast!
Became a Spectacular Sunset – Through a Window – November 6
It happened again the next night (Friday, November 6) and again surprised me! Wouldn’t you know, I was in the middle of something and unable to throw together my gear and drive to a nearby clear vantage point! The best I could do is grab my trusty iPad and shoot images through a window. Still in all, I got a pretty amazing picture out of it.
Sunset Clarity – November 7
Not to be “fooled” a third time, I watched the western sky carefully as sunset approached Saturday night. When conditions began to look ripe for another beautiful scene, I was out the door with camera and tripod in hand! Standing in the chill breeze, I watched as the color built and the sky grew cold. No, no color-fringed clouds overhead, just the deep blue of an evening sky with some gray clouds dotting the velvet background.
Sunset Streamers – 6:12 PM – November 7
Saturday’s pictures turned out pretty and it was a beautiful sight to behold, just not the breathtaking beauty of Thursday … the one I missed, or Friday … the iPad/window shot. As I packed my gear into the back of the car in the gathering darkness of nightfall, I looked to the southwest. Near the horizon I saw rain streamers — shadowy streaks — beneath a cloud with sunset oranges in the background. I quickly set up again and got what I could of the drifting cloud, now out of optimal position. The exposure was long but the shot was pretty good — super moody — anyway.
So I’ve sunsets on my mind and, as you might suspect, I’ll be checking the sky every evening for quite some time hoping to not let the good ones get away unrecorded.
Sun Sinks behind Line of Trees
Fall colors have peaked in Northeastern Ohio and the light of late day often brings out their best. Cleveland Metroparks’ Hinckley Reservation.
Sadly, as it turns out this is the last new photograph we will see from my trusty old Canon PowerShot G11. I sold the little all-in-one along with another older digital camera in order to upgrade to one more sophisticated compact.
View from the Top
Likely the most popular of the two attractions in the Emergent Tower. The structure rises some 120 feet from the forest floor and is outfitted with excellent non-slip, grating stair treads and landings. As the tower rises it also narrows until, at its top, the tower flares out into a spacious observation platform. The view is splendid, offering expansive scenes of treetops and distant hillsides. Lake Erie, miles away to the north, is easily visible on the horizon. Folks of all ages made the climb and many photos were being made by the triumphant, proving they made it.
Tower Selfie
Corner Support: Murch Canopy Walk
Murch Canopy Walk
Black Vulture Balancing on Barn Roof
Sunday, October 12, presented us with beautiful autumn weather so we set off to check out an historical open house in western Medina County. The drive out was excellent but the open house itself was a bit disappointing. Heading back along our earlier track we stopped to explore a place She Who Must Be Obeyed noticed earlier: the Chippewa Inlet Trail North Trailhead, a property of the Medina County Park District. As we exited the car in the parking lot we noticed the distinct silhouettes of four vultures on the fish scale roof of an ancient barn. As I shot photos of the birds I could see that something was different… these were not the Turkey Vultures we so often see around here. The birds danced and squawked along the ridge of the roof and I moved around the barn to see the birds, not as shadowy shapes but lit by the sun. Grey heads and legs, white wingtips on the underside; nope, not Turkey Vultures! Happily, I had my iPad with me and a copy of the Peterson Field Guide: Birds of North America. I quickly learned the dark quartet were Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus), and rarely sighted in Northern Ohio! We walked around trailhead area and its beautiful shallow ponds, enjoying the sun and soft breeze. What really made my day, however, was the sight of the Black Vultures against blue skies.
Jostling Black Vultures on Barn Roof
Super Moon, Not-So-Super Sky
The much-anticipated total lunar eclipse of September 27, 2015 was a challenge for me, a disappointment for many others. The night started out with a thick layer of clouds floating overhead, a few breaks (known as “sucker holes) visible here and there. I was pretty sure I would see nothing.
Supermoon Emerging
Enough openings appeared, however, that I got my tripod and cameras ready just in case. I’m glad I did!
Totality – Total Lunar Eclipse
By standing on my balcony, watching, camera pointing to where the Moon was behind the clouds, I was ready for the brief appearances it would make. I was able to see most stages of the eclipse and capture some reasonably good images … considering the conditions!
Totality Ending – With Stars of Pisces
The hours of watching seemed to pass quickly and before I knew it, the event was ending. We are privileged to have the opportunity to see only a few total lunar eclipses in our lifetime so it’s best to make the most of each one!
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) Excitedly Showing its Crest
Too beautiful a morning to stay home, we paid another visit to the Ira Trailhead and its canal boardwalk in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP). Birds have finished rearing this year’s young and have scattered, some have begun their migration treks. It was a weekday, during the school term, so the area was nicely quiet. We spotted a tiny heron plying the waters of the old Ohio & Erie Canal. A passerby had said there was a Green Heron just up the path; did they get the ID wrong? The bird was so small! Through the telephoto lenses we could see they were correct… it was a Green Heron all right though it must be a 2015 hatchling to be so tiny. The bird may have been small but it showed the behaviors of an experienced and aggressive hunter as we watched from the path. For the most part, and typical of herons hunting, the bird stood very still and stared at the lily pads and surrounding water; it jabbed once or twice catching some tiny creature for sustenance. Suddenly something on the far canal bank caught the heron’s eye: it stretched out its long neck, jerked its head around, and stood up its crest — the first time I’ve seen such a display by a Green Heron! The crest went down. The crest went up again and our little guy popped into the air, alighted in the water at bank’s edge, and a frog flew off the bank, over the alighting bird, and safely into the water! A missed meal for Green but froggy lives to see another day!
Green Heron Showing Off Beautiful Markings on its Breast
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) Watches from Amongst Yellow Blooms
One of our more recent discoveries that has become a favorite place is the Sandy Ridge Reservation of Lorain County Metro Parks. A wetland surrounded by super-highways, industrial plants, and new suburban development, the place is a haven for all manner of wildlife … most especially, birds. While I’m only posting the one image (above) today, we were enthralled yesterday by the beauty and behavior of several Great Egrets, the statuesque poses of a couple of Great Blue Herons, and a pair of Sandhill Cranes that were patrolling drier areas between open water and the pedestrian path. The weather was excellent for our visit — high 70s and low humidity — though all around us were hints of coloration more reminiscent of fall. The day felt like summer but looked like autumn.
PhotonStopper 