A weed is merely a flower in the wrong place

Experimenting

Remembering that I had taken some close ups (not true macros) of both plants and animals with my first camera, a Canon Powershot 90, I thought I'd dig it out and see if it still worked.

It didn't - not sure what the problem is but the batteries drained in about 2 minutes after turning the camera on - so I went on to Plan B. The Pro90 had an optional "close-up" lens you could attach to the front of the camera for magnification, so I attached it to the front of my shortest lens to see if it would work with an SLR. It took some practice to get any benefit out of it, but eventually I figured out how to get it to work.

These are two of the results - raindrops on hostas - and I think they turned out okay for a first try. More pix tomorrow.

Wonderful Weekend

This picture is from the Wrenaissance Era in Virginia, and is the first digiscoped picture I took, ever. Not bad, eh?

I spent this past weekend with a dear friend, visiting from my former life down south. It was wonderful to share the vista, the comings and goings of the local birds and wildlife, and good weather with someone who appreciates them all as much as I do. Reconnecting was wonderful. We spent a lot of time "vegging" - reading, playing with scope and binoculars, chatting about nothing and everything. I used some veg time to update my website and set up a flickr account, in between catching up on life, solving the problems of the world, and deciding the important issue of what to do for dinner.

Baby Sandhill Crane Pix

Too good to miss

I thought the adults were great, but the baby's just adorable. If a tiny sandhill crane shows up at Wrenaissance, I'm taking the day off from work and camping out in the wetlands with my camera.

Planet Earth

Is anyone else watching the Planet Earth series on the Discovery Channel? Five minutes into the first episode I had decided to buy the DVD as soon as it's available.

Red-throated loon » Graf Nature Photography; Notes from the woods

I asked a colleague this morning if she ever saw loons at her lake front home, and was disappointed when the answer was in the negative. By coincidence, I saw Mark's photo of a Red-throated loon at his blog, Graf Nature Photography; Notes from the woods as soon as I got home tonight.

I've been watching the Planet Earth series on TV (it's fabulous, but that's a differnet post)and enjoying the short trailers at the end that go behind the scenes and explain how the series was made. It's clear to me that my fondness of central heat and indoor plumbing is a barrier to world renown as a nature photographer. While Mark was taking pictures of loons in sub-freezing weather, I was complaining under my breath about the 1/2 block walk from car to office (uphill both ways!).

Two good reasons to check out this post

Naturephotographers.net « Mike Moats

First, you'll get to see a really beautiful macro photo of bright green leaves.

Second, Mike points you to Nature Photographers Online Magazine where you'll get to see even more beautiful photos.

I have looked at the Nature Photographers Network (NPN) site before, but hadn't looked at the NPN membership info. I really like that one of their principles is "the use of nature photography as a means for generating interest in habitat conservation."

Hairy woodpecker in flight - Cindy Mead photo

I have always been particularly interested in woodpeckers - they are neat birds to watch, for both appearance and behavior.

Check out this photo by Cindy Mead of a hairy woodpecker in flight - isn't it wonderful?

Burning Silo » aquatic invertebrates - part one

Since I discovered Burning Silo, I've learned a new appreciation for invertebrates. Check out Bev's post, Burning Silo » aquatic invertebrates - part one and enjoy her wonderful photos while learning from the text.

This post also links to earlier entries on surveys and monitoring, continuing a discussion begun at Niches.

Niches :: Aftermath

More pictures and commentary after the flooding, Niches :: Aftermath, including a reasonable and balanced discussion of the effects of development upstream. I'm torn between concern for unintended side effects and a celebration of the resilience of mother earth.

What I'm waiting for

In spring, this is what I see out my back windows.

Right now, it looks a lot like this, but coated in white everywhere. Earlier this winter, during the ice storms, it looked like a fairy tale come true, glistening in the sunlight.

The wetlands run across the entire width of our yard in the back. On the far side of them, the right hand side of the picture is a distant view of a golf course; the middle is a buffer of trees where we frequently see deer and other wildlife; and the left side is an open field - currently farmed, and I hope it remains that way as long as possible. You wouldn't think from this picture that we are in the middle of a typical suburban housing development, would you? But sure enough, we have a paved street out front, near neighbors on both sides, and a full complement of other houses and their occupants all up and down our street. That street is also part of a much larger housing development, in the middle of a golf course.

It's an odd area - you can go out one side of our neighborhood and drive through farm country, and out the other side and drive through endless auto dealers, strip malls, and fast food joints just like those which seem to be outside every city in the country. The next stop light past our turn, the paving ends and the dirt road begins. But go three miles in the opposite direction, and we're downtown.

Unfortunately, we're on a side of town that is growing rapidly. On my way to work (a roughly five-mile drive) I daily pass one former farm now under construction, and across the street there's a large "for sale" sign in another field. Despite all the talk about the housing glut in this area and the downturn in the economy, the building continues unabated. Like everyone else, I want to pull up the drawbridge now that I'm here.

A magical, three-part story

Close encounters of the butterfly kind:

Burning Silo » Blog Archive » houston, we have a problem
Burning Silo » Blog Archive » feeding a butterfly
Burning Silo » Blog Archive » he or she?

I'm truly touched that she gladly goes to the trouble to nuture and sustain this beautiful creature.

There's something wrong with this picture

From The Firefly Forest

Cacti. Snow. In the same picture(s).

It doesn't get any cuter than this

Yes, I am jealous of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Otters are cute, and baby otters are even cuter. These baby otter pictures make me want otters in my back yard.

The closest I've gotten are two critters that were either martins or fishers, assuming I correctly identified them by the pictures in my Critters of Michigan book.