Goodnight Moonlight
A little experiment involving the waxing crescent Moon, our pond, and the lights from neighboring properties….
spring
All posts tagged spring
Shelf cloud panorama shot May 28, 2017 in Grafton Township, Ohio
I have loved weather-watching since I was a young boy and I believe that love has grown as I have grown older. I am now located in an area where, with a little head start, I can reach open country — away from town — to observe and photograph weather phenomena. My current favorites are lightning, and shelf clouds. (BTW: I don’t shoot lightning from open country!) Lately I’ve had two successes resulting from interpretation of weather radar that allowed interception of storms. I drove to places in the path of oncoming storms, waited, and photographed the developing scenes. In each case, once the storm shelf clouds appear, there are a very few minutes to set up the shot, record images, and then duck out of the rain as it arrives fast and furiously! The first picture (below) did not turn out as well as I’d have liked. I simply cannot seem to process the image in a way that pleases me and represents what I saw; and it’s way too blue! The second picture (above) is much better, in my opinion, depicting the leading edge of a thunderstorm as it barreled towards me. Both experiences were exciting, great fun, and rewarding in themselves. I’m working on photo techniques that will better depict the wondrous scenes.
The leading edge of a thunderstorm – May 21, 2017.
Watching from a small tree, a male Red-Winged Blackbird sits in shade, its red shoulder markings hidden.
The Red-Winged Blackbird announced itself from the branches of a small tree nearby. He allowed visitors to approach only so much, then flew off. Repeating.
Too close! A male Red-Winged Blackbird rockets from one tree to another.
Northern Water Snakes – (Nerodia sipedon)
At Lorain County MetroParks’ Schoepfle Garden last Sunday, I spied two snakes sunning themselves on the bank of a pond. The snakes became aware of me but unpanicked, moved into the water and away at a leisurely pace. As they submerged and wriggle-swam, the pair changed from dark and dusty — nearly black — to their true shades of brown, revealing beautifully-patterned skins. As the larger of the two reptiles turned to meet its (apparent) mate which had gone in the opposite direction, it passed by a large bullfrog. Wary of the possible danger the frog, though too large to be swallowed, held perfectly still as the water snake passed.
Northern Water Snake Swims Past a Large American Bullfrog – (Lithobates catesbeianus or Rana catesbeiana)
Approach: A Cold Front Arrives
Scattered thunderstorms were roaming the area. Watching radar, I spied a “gust front” — the leading edge of encroaching cold air — that could be visually interesting. So I headed out to a favorite spot with a fairly good view to the southwest and over Medina. I thought I was well ahead of my target clouds but arrived at the site with clouds already overhead. In this shot a “roll cloud” can be seen in the distance — the actual leading edge of the front. As it passed overhead winds picked up from a breeze to probably 25 MPH and higher … and chilly! My burgeoning interest in weather has led me to get National Weather Service Skywarn Spotter training and, because I had to guess the wind speed I’ve ordered a handheld anemometer. Yeah, I love this stuff!
Radar Image of April 27 Storm Activity – Cloud photo was from a site on the south edge of an area of heavy rain, near West Salem in this image made earlier.
Last Light – Sunday Afternoon
Storm clouds engulf the last remainders of clear sky.
Cirrus clouds glow orange in sunset rays.
I took a late-day stroll Friday, exploring the neighborhood and enjoying the warm spring air. As the sun sank low in the west, I could see it had potential for a beautiful sunset — streaked cirrus clouds aligned north and south across the sky. So I waited. The air grew cool. The cirrus seemed to disappear. And then warm color rose, first lighting a few scattered cumulus and then revealing the missing cirrus. Just after sunset the sky turned orange, glowing clouds reflected in water, ducks made ripples as they found their nighttime moorings.
Colors deepen as night falls; ducks make ripples on the pond.
The Ancient Rite of Spring
For wildlife, springtime is usually when family life begins. The hard winter is nearly gone, spring’s warmth is moving in, and the hope of a summer plentiful with food is ahead; so it is with the Great Blue Herons. Large numbers of herons annually nest together at their rookery in Cuyahoga Falls, at the edge of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The big wading birds build nests of twigs and some surprisingly large branches, pair off, and raise their young. On Sunday, the herons were mostly quiet, little mating, nest building, or flying, and no vocalization at all. The sky was milky white with cirrus — not the best conditions for bird photography. Still, a silhouette can tell a story of the ancient rite of spring,
Lake Erie Storm off Vermilion
A quick house hunting trip to Vermilion produced no new home June 6; it did, however, produce the opportunity to photograph a storm moving in across Lake Erie. I love the beautiful scenes the lake produces and that is, primarily, why living near the coast is something I think I’d like. Sun, clouds, and water are constantly changing and when a storm is involved those changes happen rapidly.
Against the Coming Storm
I (stupidly) didn’t have my DSLR gear with me but was carrying my trusty iPhone 6SE with its tiny but mighty internal camera. As winds rose, I was able to make a panorama of the lake scene (above) and a nice portrait of the Vermilion Lighthouse brightly popping against the darkening sky.
I’ll try and remember to bring the “big guns” with me from now on as we seek a new home out there, somewhere….
A Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Perched Atop a Nest Box
UPDATE: The original version of this post mis-identified the location of the Tree Swallow photograph. While there was much activity at Sandy Ridge Reservation, the nest box bird portrait was actually made at the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, Huron, Ohio.
On Monday we ventured to Lorain Metro Parks’ Sandy Ridge Reservation for a walk and to see how wildlife activity was going. In short, the protected wetland is becoming busier all the time. We saw Canada Geese sitting on their mounded nests, some just a step off the trail, and we spotted the first goslings of the season … all ready! A flock of Coots floated in one area, and four widely-separated Great Egrets waded, looking for prey. Tree swallows zoomed over the waters, between hollows in trees. We even spied a water snake catching some rays, that unusually warm afternoon!
We also visited the Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve in Huron, Ohio. Tree Swallow activity was very high there, and finding a bird that would stay perched for more than a minute was pretty rare. One swallow, however, stayed put — perched on a nest box — for several minutes, providing a great photo op! Among the numerous shots I made of the little bird was the one shown here: my best ever of a Tree Swallow, showing off its beautiful iridescent head and back. Although I have other good shots, the one of a little bird looking into the sky is my pick of the day!
PhotonStopper 