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.
Out the window
One good thing living in North Dighton country side, you don’t have to go to far for some wonderful nature viewing. Just look out your window, it comes to you. These images were all within a few hours.
Plymouth Eclipse With Jackson
What better place to spend the day, Plymouth, MA, waterfront. Especially on the “Great American Eclipse”, day. April 2024 will be the next one. I hope crickets will chirp and streetlights pop on during this one. Jackson, where were you on August 21, 2017 ?
There is no science in this world like physics. Nothing comes close to the precision with which physics enables you to understand the world around you. It’s the laws of physics that allow us to say exactly what time the sun is going to rise. What time the eclipse is going to begin. What time the eclipse is going to end. “Neil deGrasse Tyson”
If the sun were just a little bit bigger or the moon a bit farther away, total solar eclipses may never occur. But they do, and it turns out this celestial phenomenon that has changed human history, and our perspective of the universe, may be a sheer coincidence. So until 2024, REMEMBER: Looking directly at the sun, even when it is partially covered by the moon, can cause serious eye damage or blindness. NEVER look at a partial solar eclipse without proper eye protection.
Who Am I
If you are from the Plymouth MA area reading this, and recognize the bride and groom, or engaged couple, send me a note. I will send the images on over. Hanging out in Plymouth, I get some great shots from far off, using an old Nikkor 1200-1700mm.
American Snapping Turtle
American Snapping Turtle mating in a once used waste water sewer pond. I repeat “unused waste water pond”. In this pond, “see size below” I counted at least 12 turtles. Turtles are ectothermic animals. That means they get their body heat from their surroundings–the air, water or ground. They need to be warm to move around and eat. If they get too cold, everything in the body will slow down. Then they can’t eat and digest food. The heart slows down and the lungs do too.
