Transitions
There was a feeling of transition in the air at Hinckley Lake today. It didn’t feel like summer, though it is still summer. It didn’t feel like autumn, which it isn’t. It is some in-between, transitional season. On the ground, at the base of a tree, was an illustration of change: a green leaf, leaves fading from color to lifeless, beautiful fringed fungi thriving on a dead tree branch, and ultimately soil.
Canadian Storm Developed a Halo as it Weakened
I spent a happy, lazy morning watching a thunderhead bloom and disperse from the shores of Lake Erie. I’d seen a very photogenic cloud developing over my area earlier in the day but was not in a position to get a good shot — we’re at a high elevation here but there are obstructions everywhere blocking the view! So after grocery shopping I headed for the lakefront. As I drew closer to the lake, I could see there was an interesting cloud blowing up in the distance. Fortunately, the far away storm developed slowly, allowing me to reach the lake and even change location. I started out in Bay Village, and finished my vigil on the fishing pier in Avon Lake. As the storm began to weaken, it stretched out over the water and even developed a halo! Checking weather radar I learned the storm was all the way across Lake Erie on the southern shores of Canada! A pleasant morning of cloud watching indeed and why not, it’s Saturday, after all!
The Cloud I was Watching? It was a storm in Canada! (circled)
Blue Hen Falls, August 2015
A Favorite Spot for local photographers is Blue Hen Falls in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I’d never been there so I checked it out Monday afternoon. I found an open parking spot in the three-car lot (more space across the road) and made the all-downhill, 1/6-mile hike to the falls observation spot. The view from the park bench was all right but, of course, I couldn’t stop there. As have many folks before me, even a few just before I arrived, I found my way down to the rocky riverbed and set up shop. With little recent rain, the falls were down to a trickle but fallen rocks, green mosses and trees, and subdued light made for a restful scene.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) Takes Flight
A quiet walk today in the Lorain County Metro Parks’ Columbia Reservation let us witness a Great Egret’s takeoff from shallow waters.
Beach Flag
On an errand, I paid a quick visit to the beach today, really to see the lake and not swim or sun! The skies were mostly hazy and cloudy when I arrived but, as I walked a breakwall, some clearing happened. I got a very few interesting shots out on the wall: water rushing over gull-perched submerged stones, open water beyond. The most interesting image of the day, to my eye, was a grab shot taken at the top of the long climb from beach to parking lot: a jet ski bobbed along on the lake under cloud-decorated blue sky as a beach-goer shook sand from her towel. It was almost as though the woman was using her beach towel as a signal flag for the speeding boat.
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) Watching the Water Below
I spent some quiet time along the Ohio & Erie Canal in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park late Sunday morning watching the herons. I was surprised at how many Green Herons I spotted — at least four — and how close I was able to approach two of them. The first of the greens was perched on the trunk of a tree that had long ago fallen into the canal. From the wooden perch the smallish bird watched for prey, preened, and even messed with a twig it picked off the trunk! A little farther down the canal I watched a Great Blue Heron as it struck a typically statuesque pose studying the water for signs of fish. After a while the blue struck and caught a small, wriggling fish. I shot a good number of photos whilst standing or sitting and watching the green and blue herons but the best part was just quietly being there.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with Fish
Peek-a-Boo Lightning
“What you lookin’ at?” – Juvenile Northern Cardinal
This disheveled-looking creature is a young male Northern Cardinal. I was waiting for a chickadee to show up on a sign post beside a trail in the Summit Metro Parks’ F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm. I heard a light rustling of wings nearby and to my left. What should I see but a bright red cardinal perched on branches only a yard away! I slowly turned and aimed my lens at the bird as he looked around, then preened, and looked around some more, allowing me an extended photographic opportunity before he apparently figured I had no food for him and he flitted off into the brush! This is my favorite shot of the bunch … the youngster briefly interrupted his preening to, it seemed, look right at me. The chickadee? Yes, it showed up too!
Trail Post Chickadee
With all the hubbub over the “blue moon” lately, I popped out late last night to shoot a very bright and beautiful Moon. I decided to give the Canon 2X focal length doubler another go so attached it between the camera body and my 400mm lens; that gave me 800mm of telephoto goodness. Add to the 800 another approximately 50% due to the camera’s “crop factor” and I was shooting through a 1,200mm scope! The doubler does soften the image slightly but, with a larger image falling upon the camera sensor, I crop less to achieve a nice-sized Moon. At any rate, it was a beautiful sight to behold, I captured a pretty fair image, and, if you were wondering, no, the Blue Moon isn’t really blue! Next night, however, I was intrigued by the just-past-full Moon shining through clouds. Wouldn’t you know… refraction of moonlight by those clouds gave the scene a bluish tone! And that’s the last Blue Moon hubbub ’til 2018.
Time To Come In
My timing worked out perfectly again this evening! I had been watching on radar as an approaching line of storms ran along a cold front hoping for another opportunity for dramatic weather photography. On a hunch I climbed into the car after dinner and headed to the Lake Erie shoreline at Bay Village, Ohio. No sooner did I arrive at the parking lot and start the short hike to the shore than I spotted it… an amazing, thin line of clouds known as a gust front approaching from the west. I shot a good number of photos of the clouds but adding to the image was a man standing nearly waist-deep in the water as the weather approached. Yes, there was a little lightning and thunder and yes, he should have gotten out of the lake as his relative urged from the shore. Time to come in! Fortunately the wader escaped harm. Behind the gust front I could see the effects of the, well, gusts: the lake water was darkening as wind-driven waves formed. The rain, this time, did not drive me from my perch but had the courtesy to begin after I was safely back in my car.
PhotonStopper 