summer

All posts tagged summer

Froggy lives to see another day

Posted by Photonstopper on September 16, 2015
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Photo: Green Heron (Butorides virescens) Excitedly Showing its Crest. Photo by James Guilford.

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!

Photo: Green Heron Showing Off Beautiful Markings on its Breast. Photo by James Guilford.

Green Heron Showing Off Beautiful Markings on its Breast

Looks like autumn

Posted by Photonstopper on September 16, 2015
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Photo: Sand Hill Crane (Grus canadensis) Watches from Amongst Yellow Blooms. Photo by James Guilford.

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.

Transitions

Posted by Photonstopper on September 10, 2015
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Photo: Plants transitioning from living to soil. Photo by James Guilford.

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.

Cloud Watching… it’s Saturday, after all!

Posted by Photonstopper on September 5, 2015
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Photo: Storm cloud over Lake Erie with speed boat heading out. Photo by James Guilford.

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!

Image: Weather Radar

The Cloud I was Watching? It was a storm in Canada! (circled)

Blue Hen Falls at last

Posted by Photonstopper on September 2, 2015
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Photo: Blue Hen Falls of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. August 2015. Photo by James Guilford.

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.

Beach flag

Posted by Photonstopper on August 18, 2015
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Photo: Women on beach with jet ski passing on lake. Photo by James Guilford.

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.

Herons of green and blue

Posted by Photonstopper on August 17, 2015
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Photo: Green Heron (Butorides virescens) Watching the Water Below. Photo by James Guilford.

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.

Photo:Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with Fish. Photo by James Guilford.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) with Fish

Not very photogenic

Posted by Photonstopper on August 15, 2015
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Photo: Nighttime thunderstorm over a house and trees. Photo by James Guilford.

Peek-a-Boo Lightning

The storm showed promise… on radar the approaching line was preceded by a gust front and followed by storms with plenty of wind and rain and LIGHTNING! So, despite suffering from a head cold, I headed outdoors after 11 PM and into the heavy summer air. Making a long story short, I shot many images hoping to catch a lightning bolt before the arrival of rain. I heard thunder alright and saw soft-edged clouds lit by internal cloud-to-cloud sparks. The one bolt I did see during my hour’s efforts arced between clouds and between snaps of the shutter … perfectly bad timing! I muttered to myself quite a bit about that. The lightning petered out and sprinkles of rain began to fall. A disappointing night. So here is the one halfway decent shot from a not very photogenic storm.

What you lookin’ at?

Posted by Photonstopper on August 10, 2015
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Photo: Juvenile Northern Cardinal. Photo by James Guilford.

“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!

Photo: Black Capped Chickadee. Photo by James Guilford.

Trail Post Chickadee