The back deck lab is ready to go. The kids will look at various plants we grow in our back yard or in pots. Sometimes we need a break from bugs and such.
Make A Wish
What happens when you kiss a deer and make a wish? You live happily ever after.
“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”
― Crazy Horse
― Crazy Horse
Baltimore Oriole
Still widespread and common, but surveys show declines in recent decades. In the mid 20th century, Dutch elm disease killed many of the American elms that had been favorite nesting trees for this species in the past.
When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not. Georgia O’Keeffe
Cormorants
Once used as living fish hooks.
There’s scarcely a bird in the world as unfairly maligned, deemed the world over as a dreadful seed due to its awkward proportions and reportedly ravenous appetite for bait fish. But this discomfited family is of an ancient lineage, one of the oldest of all the birds and with similar ancestors reaching all the way back to the dinosaurs. Below, Plymouth Waterfront.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
nature’s sanitation engineer
Turkey Vultures, without them, your neighborhood just might be more foul smelling. Highly territorial, (below) red wing black birds are aggressive to almost anything that comes too close to their nesting. Including much larger creatures.
My Choice
Photoshop CS6 (wont pay for monthly CC) 99.9% of time, this is my first option for workflow.
Lightroom (my choice for white balance and noise correction)
On1 Photo Raw (I need to run this on my i7 – 5960 computer for best performance. But will run I7 920 with a bit of patience.)
Luminar (windows) and Luminar Creative Kit (mac only) (verdict is still out, but so far, I like it.
Topaz (best all around plugin for filters)
Nic Color Collection (never count this collection out)
Gimp (when on Linux)
Imagenomic (not as often as once, but still has it’s place)
Earth, still going strong
Recently, I came across some splendid nature videos on YouTube. It was here I found NaturesFairy’s channel. One such video titled, ( My favorite thing to do every spring is to go out searching for Wood Frogs) is something we often do in our area as well . Earth is four-and-a-half-billion-years-old. There’s been life on it for nearly that long, 3.8 billion years. Today, a telephone pole was knocked down by a motorist in my neighborhood. The consequence, no electricity. Accordingly, I opened the shades to bring a full spectrum and dynamic light into the room to read by. I have read The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert, (Massachusetts) several times. NaturesFairy video, directs me to reference it once again on the topic of Frogs. Amphibians in general. (read the first chapter) Helen Keller has said that modern life has removed us too far from a direct contact with nature. A quotation I happen to be in agreement with. Are we are witnessing a similar mass extinction event happening in the geologic blink of an eye as Kolbert writes in The Sixth Extinction? I judge we will be ok, or at least the planet will. It’s nice to see someone be concerned about our natural world and our diverse natural science and NaturesFairy’s videos are up to the task.
Wood Frog
Gray treefrog?
Our thoughts, visions and fantasies have a physical reality. A thought is made of hundreds of electrochemical impulses.
Carl Sagan, 1934 to 1996
A Mouse’s Worst Nightmare
Out The Window
Fox Pups
Fox pups.
Fox pups in the back yard.
Storm Grayson 2018
High winds and lots of snow left my bird feeders in need of repair. So, a temporary fix is needed as soon as possible. In the mean time, lets see what we have going on in the back yard. An upside down coal scuttle and split log will be the feeder for now. Toss some Black oil sunflower seeds ( high concentration of oil, which is especially important in the winter) and enjoy the view.
At rare sight until recently in SE Massachusetts, the Red-bellied Woodpecker makes a grand appearance.
As annoying as they can be, while dressed for winter, the European Starling, below, is covered in what seems to be sparkling white spots during winter.
Northern Cardinals below, hve reputation of getting more people to bird watch than any other bird. Everyone recognizes the shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Did you know: Its not unusual to see a male cardinal attacking its reflection in a window, car mirror, or shiny bumper fiercely defending their territory against any intruders. A female below, shares the seed with other birds.
