Joining the gullfriends at the beach.
nature
All posts tagged nature
Dull morning light reveals a snow-flocked tree.
We’re nearly one week into spring, says the calendar, and today we received about four inches of very wet snow. Yep. Lots of wet snow. On the one hand, most of us are kind of tired of looking at it, much less dealing with the slipping, sliding, and shoveling. Then again, it can be very pretty.
It was hard to keep driving.
Driving this morning was actually a pleasure. I took the most scenic route I know of to get to my destination. It was very tempting to stop every five minutes and take it all in. I did not stop every five minutes but I did stop several times, right in the road, to shoot photos from inside the car. I would make an exposure, look into the rear-view mirror which (I swear) seconds before was clear, only to find a car approaching, pushing me forward. The only real stop I made was at the Strongsville Wildlife Area where I hoped to see dark water surrounded by snow-flocked trees. I got a surprise. After spying on the Canada geese squabbling on the chilled waters, I turned to the left and, from inside the observation blind, was shocked to see a Great Egret standing only a few feet away. I had only my little PowerShot G11 with me and its operation is as near-silent as can be. Still, the great white bird allowed one photo, then took wing. I’ll bet that’s the same bird I spotted last summer. I’ll get ‘im yet!
Not a Snowy Egret but a Great Egret in the Snow!
The snow didn’t stick to the trees for long and later in the day, despite continuing spits of new snow, their branches were bare and dark. We may be ready for spring but we need to be ready for unexpected treats.
Layers of decaying wood fiber decorated by lichens and snow on the forest floor.
Surprise! Instead of a cloudy and cold day, we received a cloudless and mild (~ 30 degrees F) Saturday! It was a fine occasion for a little walk at Akron’s Nature Realm park. The woods were loaded with Black-Capped Chickadees that were being hand-fed by some visitors. I was most fascinated by snow and shadow. What, to my eye, really stood out was a pinwheel of decaying wood capped with lichens and snow — an amazing touch of color in a seeming monochrome landscape.
Spots of light fell on snow formations in the shadows of the woods.
Baldwin Lake on a Frigid January morning.
It was a very cold night, last night. The skies were partly-cloudy offering Earth the chance to send its feeble warmth drizzling into space. The day dawned clear, however, the first time we have seen the Sun in some time. Warm-colored rays were softly lighting the predawn sky. The land was wearing a coat of frost and open water a thin jacket of ice as I drove through the scene and air temperatures ran from seven to 13 degrees (F). There were several possible places to stop and take it all in but I’d time for only one and chose Baldwin Lake, Berea, Ohio. I shot as many photos as my cold-aching hands could bear before fleeing to my car to continue my travels. A warm and frigid morning it was!
There May Yet be Hope
Snow drifts around breakwall stones as waves crash ashore
Today was the winter solstice. In Northeastern Ohio the season arrived with howling predawn winds and snow. Around midday I took a little trip to the Lake Erie shore to see what those winds had stirred up. Unabated, the wind fiercely drove across the lake from the northwest at about 32 MPH picking up the waters and piling them on to the beach. Sand-tinted whitecaps rolled ashore and crashed on breakwalls. Whisps of snow snaked across the beach sand while spray was blown off the wave tops offshore. As I stood, freezing, icy bits of snow stung my face, my hands hurt from the cold. I watched and wondered at the awe-inspiring and frightening maelstrom and worked to capture the scene. After 15 minutes I fled to the shelter of my car. Yes, it was winter’s first day here and there was no doubt about it.
Waves crash ashore on the day of winter solstice.
I made a hurried stop at Huntington Beach park on Lake Erie around noon today. The sky and the water are in a constant state of change there. Today sky and water were shades of gray and the water birds black. I have some beach shots but will process and post them later.
A pasture on a foggy morning in late autumn.
Back on Monday the morning was foggy, lending a wonderful soft mood to the landscape. I took a little drive that day hoping to find interesting scenes and wound up in a Cleveland Metroparks area. I continued my travels that day and headed south and into the rolling countryside. One of my favorite areas presented itself in a wholly different way from how I am accustomed to seeing it. A farmer’s grazing field showed off a pair of naked trees silhouetted against a featureless sky, foreground of colorful weeds and grasses and background veiled in fog. A weathered barn I love to look at was also set off by deep red-brown dead weeds made more colorful by heavy dew. It was a good morning to slow down and look around.
One of my favorite barns.
I had the morning off from remodeling house-sitting and the day began with beautiful fog hanging over the landscape. I thought one of the Cleveland Metroparks areas might be beautiful draped in fog but as I descended into the valley, the fog thinned! What remained of the fog, however, contributed to wonderfully soft light and the pervasive moisture deepened the colors of plants and earth. Along the way I came across a tree of unusual bark: patches of bark were scaling off, leaving smooth areas of variegated color behind. I have seen trees of this species many times before and the scaling bark appears to be normal and healthy; the day, however, made the appearance all the lovelier. I gathered a number of nice images from areas near the tree and a drive to the south produced some great stuff that I’ll share later. This tree of unusual bark and beauty, however, is my surprise favorite of the day.
A rainy Sunday afternoon.
It Was That Kind of a Day. Hard to tell where the sky ended and the ground began with the mist joining them. The geese know their worlds and have no trouble moving between on a rainy Sunday.
PhotonStopper 