Sometimes the morning commute isn’t so bad!
October's morning mists and early light play on still waters.
nature
All posts tagged nature
The living decoration at our door.
During the past few years I have been enjoying making photographs of dragonflies. Though I sometimes see them in unexpected places, I usually travel to nearby ponds and still, small lakes to find the gossamer-winged beauties. Today we spent on errands, traveling all about shopping for groceries, looking in on contractors preparing mom-in-law’s house for sale, buying a new office chair for She Who Must Be Obeyed. Arriving back at home, walking ’round the bend to our house what should I see but a big, beautiful dragonfly perched at eye-level, just to the left of our screen door! I hesitated a bit thinking the big insect would take flight as soon as I approached but no, it stayed put! I was carrying several items so I set them down on the porch, took my trusty G11 from its pouch, set it for macro and moved it. The dragonfly stayed put, even wiped its eye as I lined up shot after shot! Once I was sure I’d gotten as good images as I could, I slowly stretched out my finger and touched the resting flyer’s abdomen. Still, it stayed put! Our visitor stayed in place until I tried to place a piece of white paper under its wing in order to photograph the intricate details then off it went… but only about six feet higher on the same wall. Such a welcome visitor; it’s as if it knew it would be appreciated.
PS – Not long after this, we spotted the resident garter snake sunning itself among the barberry hedges. Hopefully the neighbors will leave mister snake alone.
Dragonfly Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina)
The library invited me to hang another showing of my photographs in their art gallery area. The gallery is actually an alcove in a long corridor that leads to the facility’s meeting rooms. Hundreds of people will pass pay on their way to and from events. It may not be the Cleveland Museum of Art, but it’s something!
It was fun and a bit challenging (self-editing certainly can be) choosing from among hundreds of photos which to show. I’d decided on a nature theme, “Down by the Pond”, which helped narrow the prospects. Despite that the selection process took hours. Once I’d made my picks, I made final technical and artistic adjustments to the images and set the digital files aside.
Late Wednesday morning I placed the order for 12 of my photographs to be printed and framed through Mpix, a company whose work I’ve appreciated. Their quality is high and their prices are quite reasonable. Still, when you take even a respectable price for framed art and multiply by 12, well, it gets into real money pretty quick!
Thursday afternoon a big box arrived at the office … the photos! I was stunned. I’d expected a bit more delay between ordering and receipt but that’s just one more thing about Mpix that I appreciate!
Friday I spent a few hours revamping my photography Web site. It’s still fairly basic but a lot more attractive and well-organized than it has been. Print sales there are disabled, at present, until I can create a price list.
So everything’s coming together for my little show. I’ll add some pond-themed photos from a 2009 exhibit to the new pictures and will have about 20 themed works for people to look at. Now, if only they’ll buy a few!
Red dragonfly in flight over sparkling water.
Saturday night was spent at the Observatory showing off Earth’s Moon, brilliant red giant star Antares, a faint star cluster, and the Ring Nebula to a nice group of folks. The sky was mostly clear but high humidity and moonlight make for less than optimal seeing. Still, our visitors were interested and enthusiastic. Views of the Moon were exquisite and exciting with craters along the terminator showing off inky black unlit floors and brilliantly sunlit walls. Mountains cast deep shadows across the lunar seas. The old telescope was in fine form. Two couples stayed late and we enjoyed the night’s best views of the Ring as I changed out eyepieces. As they were leaving we stepped out on the front lawn talking and looking at some constellations, parting company at 11:25 PM. That meant a very late night for me but the overall experience was so positive, I didn’t mind at all!
Today we got around slowly and, because the day promised to be uncomfortably hot and humid, we went to the zoo early enough to arrive a little before opening. We saw some wonderful exotic animals ranging from meerkats and elephants in the zoo’s new Elephant Crossing area to flamingos, lions, giraffes, and storks. We took loads of pictures but, as these things often happen, my favorite photos were of free-flying, native dragonflies that were buzzing around a small pond on the grounds.
It was an all-too-short weekend of cosmic smoke rings and flying dragons.
Dragonfly "Widow Skimmer" (Libellula luctuosa) female pauses on a twig.
We sought out and found a couple of natural places, away from the day’s noisy festivities. We had quiet strolls in woods, fields, and around ponds and wetlands. We saw the denizens of those places: herons, white-tail deer, frogs, fish, and dragonflies. It’s turning out to be another “dragonfly summer” for me and I like that. One of the best photos of the day was a beautiful black and golden female Widow Skimmer spotted in a small township nature preserve.
A dragonfly captured in flight is not an easy catch!
After dropping our cat off for a brief hospital stay, I stopped by Hinckley Lake for a hike and another effort at dragonfly photography. I was quite disappointed with my efforts on Sunday, coming way from that session with only a couple of acceptable pictures. So I walked the entire circumference of the lake stopping now and again to shoot images as opportunities arose. It wasn’t until I’d nearly completed the walk –about three-quarters of the way around– that I began to see a few dragonflies. I photographed one that perched for a while on a leaf of grass. Others stayed out of reach — too small and too far away for me to image properly. I noticed a large, dark variety liked to fly in figure-eight patterns in set territories and it occurred to me to try and capture dragonflies in flight. What the heck, it’s digital so I’m not wasting film! So I tried and tried and deleted a good number of blank or blurred frames in the field. What I got back, however, was astonishing to me and of better quality than I managed shooting still-life insects Sunday!
Dragonfly in flight over the waters of Hinckley Lake resembles an unusual aircraft over an ocean coastline.
A tiny Eastern Amberwing dragonfly rests on a bright green leaf.
Don’t worry, I’m not sure how to pronounce it either! I believe it’s “Show-fel” but hesitate to say the name out loud. What I can say is that it’s one of the gems of Northeastern Ohio parks. Located in Lorain County and part of the parks system there, Schoepfle features large formal gardens, paved and earthen walking trails, ponds and a river, along with woodlands to explore. On a whim we took off Sunday morning and paid a return visit to the place spending an unusual and welcome time quietly watching and photographing the grounds and, in my case in particular, the dragonflies that flit around the ponds. I saw and photographed several varieties. We saw many thin and tiny blue-headed damselflies in the act of mating! Dragonfly copulation is an interesting hook-up (literally) and you can read about it elsewhere. At any rate I’m sorry to report that many of my photos did not live up to my expectations — and I wasn’t seeking dragonfly porn but beauty shots of the various gossamer-winged creatures. She Who Must Be Obeyed often bemoans her humble all-in-one pocketable digital camera but yesterday managed to out-do my digital SLR and its top-of-the-line close-focus telephoto. It’s a great little camera she’s got so I wasn’t too surprised. I’ll just have to learn from my mistakes and try again… maybe today!
A Great Blue Heron with a fish it has speared with its lower beak.
I’d taken the day off in order to deliver Tasha to animal hospital for iodine 131 treatment … a cure for hyperthyroidism. Yesterday I received a call from the hospital informing me of their need to postpone admission. It seems there is a shortage of iodine 131. Without the treatment, and because of her apparent sensitivity to methimazole, Tasha would remain untreated until the rescheduled date for the procedure; her thyroid levels might return to their formerly dangerous highs. So I decided to take advantage of my scheduled day off. I would pick up a prescription of methimazole gel for trans-dermal dosing (less trouble for Tasha) at the compounding pharmacy which has very limited mid-afternoon hours. My morning was open so I headed to Hinckley Lake for the first time this season or even this year. It was a comfortable but hazy morning with thin to moderate overcast as I began my little hike along the lake. On the walk “out” I saw no large wading birds at all –unusual, I think– but was content to look around at the quiet beauty of the area. Low rumbles of thunder began but seemed to be to the north and west of me. As the skies darkened I felt I’d better turn around and so began a somewhat faster walk back around the lake. As I approached one of my favorite spots for finding herons I did, indeed, spy one. It was wading slowly through the shallows, apparently looking to spook a fish and find a meal; that’s just what happened. The Great Blue Heron struck lightning-fast and hauled a writhing fish from the muddy waters. The big bird had speared the fish with its lower beak. It held its prey aloft for a bit, lowered it into the water briefly, and repositioned the fish so it was head-first in its mouth. Then it lifted its head high and in a few gulps swallowed the fish. In less than a minute it was all over. The fish was gone and the heron was again wading slowly through the muddy waters, seeking another meal. It’s the way of nature: life and death, death and life.
Dragonfly Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina)
We got around early today and set off for what we hoped would be a “day to ourselves” — a relaxing time away from work and worry for the two of us. The journey was a good one. We visited the Carlisle Reservation of Lorain Metroparks and had a fine (if warm) hike along a meadow trail. I also got my first look at the John Nielsen Observatory there; it’s a place built in cooperation with amateur astronomers to serve their needs and those of Parks’ star party guests and looks to be in an excellent location. I’m still gathering observatory design ideas for possible future developments. It was getting on towards lunch time when we left Carlisle so we headed to nearby Oberlin. We were surprised and pleased by stunning new business developments there including a fresh new building that features condominiums up and businesses down. Looking at the new development, right off the town square, made us feel as if we were in some trendy section of a much larger city. After good lunch at the newish Aladdin’s Eatery, we began a loop towards home with a planned stop at the Caley Reservation nature preserve of Lorain Metroparks. Almost exactly two years ago we visited Caley and were delighted by the presence of large numbers and a wide variety of dragonflies. This year we saw not so many of the little beasties but I noticed two that were unfamiliar: one had black wings with blue tips and the other was decorated in brown and red-brown colors. The former escaped un-photographed. The latter posed nicely and several times for a number of shots. The heat, humidity, and blood-loving insects were setting in so we stayed not long. A thunderstorm to the south added dark drama to the sky. It was a very good day away.
A fern, illuminated from above, sprouts from shallow soil held by rocks along Chippewa Creek.
It continues to be a stressful and tiring time. Our mothers are facing health issues. Our cat, Tasha, has reached a health crisis of her own — hyperthyroidism. There’s too much to do, and too little rest. Still, it’s possible to find a respite in nature. Wednesday morning, before heading off to work, I took a brief, solo photo hike along a portion of Chippewa Creek. Calm now after the spring’s torrents of rain, the stream flows gently over age-smoothed stone in a gorge carved deep into bedrock. The stream is canopied by the branches and leaves of old trees. Mosses and ferns grow in tiny trays of moist soil formed in the rockface. Despite the location, near a busy street and business center of town, the scene is calm and soothing to the soul. Just what I needed.
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