30 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Branch Brook is a park in Newark, NJ which boasts more cherry trees than Washington, DC. It has over 4,000 trees and more are being planted to bring the total to 5,000. Last week, on the last day of its Cherry Blossoms festival, I went there. The morning started out cloudy with a little bit of rain, which kept many people away. However, the sun eventually made an appearance, and everything brightened up.
Branch Brook Park
Branch Brook Park
Branch Brook Park
Branch Brook Park
29 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
The centerpiece of our front yard is a cherry tree whose name, Shogetsu, means blushing bride. It is at its peak bloom today and I took the following photo of one of the many blushing brides covering the tree.
Blushing Bride (Shogetsu) cherry blossom
28 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
I took the following macro shots with a trusted old lens from Canon. I bought the lens many years ago when film was reigning and digital cameras were unheard of. It still works and performs flawlessly.
Asian pear flower
Asian pear flowers
Bleeding Hearts (Lamprocapnos Spectabilis)
26 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
This is my submission for this challenge: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/motion/
Snowy Egret in motion
25 Saturday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
The Butterly Magnolia is in full bloom, and even the birds have to stop in their track and admire its flowers.
Blue Jay: Hmm, Butterly Magnolia, so pretty!
House Finch: Yeah, pretty flowers, I agree.
22 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Jane Magnolia
21 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
20 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
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We received two inches of rain today and most of the time it was not only wet but cloudy and humid. However, there was a brief interlude when the sun came out which allowed me to capture our flowers at their best, covered with rain drops.
Butterfly Magnolia to weather: Go ahead, make my day!
Pink Magnolia: Who’s the fairest of them all?
Pink Magnolia
Not to be outdone, the PJM Rhododendron bushes also flouted their splendor.
PJM Rhododendron
19 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
There is a lone cherry tree planted in a common area near our home. When it was growing up, no one took care of it, and for a few years it was not much to look at. However, today I went to look at it up close and, as the following photos reveal, it has beautiful cherry blossoms.
Cherry blossoms
Cherry blossoms
Cherry blossoms
18 Saturday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
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Spring has finally arrived in our area. The magnolias have started to bloom and daffodils flaunt their bright yellow and gold around the yard, daring winter to come back. This morning dew covered all the flowers as shown in the following photos.
Daffodil still trying to open in the morning sun.
Daffodils completely covered with dew.
Magnolia Soulangiana in bloom. This photo was actually taken the previous afternoon.
Butterly Magonolia: it won’t fully open for several more days. The tree is the last one to bloom.
17 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
Tags
brokeoff mountain, early bird, lassen volcanic national park, mt diller, photography, pilot pinnacle, postaday, weekly photo challenge
For this challenge, I submit the following photo taken at 7:22 AM near the Childs Meadow Resort in Mill Creek, CA, only a few miles from the southern entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park. There was not a soul in sight, and sunlight had not reached the valley floor, but it highlighted dramatically three of the mountains in the park.
View from Childs Meadow Resort. From left to right: Brokeoff Mountain, Mt Diller, and Pilot Pinnacle.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/early-bird/
16 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
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The House Finch is the other red bird next to the male Northern Cardinal. Yesterday one of them posed for photographs.
House Finch posing for photograph: magnolias aren’t blooming yet.
House Finch: What? Now you want me to turn to the other side?
House Finch: How is this, good?
15 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
John Etheridge who blogs marvelously at Book of Bokeh has invited me to participate in the Monochrome Photos Challenge. As you know, I mostly publish color photos and only dabble in monochrome twice in 371 posts. This will be the third time.
The following shot of a Snowy Egret at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge could be a black and white photo in its original form. The egret was white except for a black bill and black feet, and some yellow around its eyes. The morning sun made the water appear pale blue, almost white. I converted the image to monochrome and it may look better than its color version.
Snowy Egret
To give some color to our drab front yard, I planted pansies in an island right in the middle of it. Unfortunately, the deer found the pansies irresistible and promptly chomped on them and pulled several out. I had to spray deer repellent to keep them away, but the pansy leaves now look blotchy. The following photo is of a flower that is almost intact. Its bright colors are yellow and deep brown, almost black. In monochrome, it is vividly black and white, and I hope you will like it this way.
Pansy: note the small puddle of rain water inside the flower.
14 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
butterfly magnolia, daffodil, forsythia, magnolia, photography, postaday, soulangiana, spring flowers
Winter keeps lingering on in the Northeast, but there are sure signs of spring. Today, even though it was rainy and cloudy I went out around the house to take stock of which spring flowers are coming up. Many are, perhaps later than in other years, but, as the following photos prove, they will be in their full glory in a matter of days.
Daffodils
Forsythia
Jane Magnolia
Butterfly (Yellow) Magnolia. This tree is right by the bird feeder and the birds love to perch on it while waiting for their turn.
Magnolia Soulangiana
13 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
My entry for this challenge is a coffee mug imprinted with an image I took of a Blue Heron at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge last fall. The golden yellow background is the surface of a pond reflecting early morning sunlight. The image is also shown on the banner for this post.
Blue Heron mug
https://sundaystills.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/sunday-stills-the-next-challenge-cups/
12 Sunday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
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A Blue Jay came to our bird feeder this morning. They are known for their blue color and crest. When they are feeding at peace, the crest is lowered as seen in the following photos. Since the Blue Jay was so large compared to other birds, it monopolized the feeder for a few minutes.
Blue Jay at bird feeder.
Once it got a sunflower seed, it flew to the nearby magnolia tree to break it up and eat the inside.
Blue Jay with sunflower seed.
Then of course we had the usual staring match.
Blue Jay: it’s you again, photographer!
11 Saturday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Weekly Photo Challenge
Last week, I thought I saw this pair of Northern Shovelers afloat on a pond at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Northern Shovelers afloat?
However, they were not floating. It was low tide and they were actually standing in the water.
The following Northern Shoveler was really floating.
Northern Shoveler afloat.
This type of duck got its name from its long bill which is about 2.5 inches long. The male duck in these images, the one with bright colors, was in full breeding plumage.
10 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Ponderosa pine is a common tree at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. On our recent trip there, I saw a pine cone and a seedling growing next to a small lava rock, all symbols of the environment around them.
Ponderoa pine cone, seedling and lava rock.
09 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
Male American Goldfinches are beautiful birds with vibrant yellow and black feathers during breeding season. In the winter the yellow feathers become duller, almost beige. Then when spring comes, the birds molt and look like flying disasters. Yesterday was cold and rainy, but some came to our bird feeder and I was able to capture the following images of them.
Molting Goldfinch
Molting Goldfinch
Molting Goldfinches
Even though they looked terrible, these birds were tough. Despite their small size they kept other birds off the bird feeder, only allowing an occasional chickadee to fly in and out quickly.
08 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
In a pond at EBF National Wildlife Refuge, a Snowy Egret looking for food passed by a preening Great Egret. I don’t often see Snowy Egrets preening like their bigger colleagues do.
Snowy Egret and Great Egret.
07 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Tags
Yesterday, driving toward the end of Wildlife Drive at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, I saw this Osprey perched on top of her nest.
Female Osprey waiting for mate to come back.
A photographer who had been there since sunrise told me that the Osprey was part of a pair at the nest. They had breakfast earlier, and then he had flown away somewhere. The gentleman told me that he was due back “soon”, and as he said that I saw the male Osprey flying toward the nest. We both clicked away with our cameras, but I was not expecting to take the following kind of photos.
Ospreys starting a family.
Ospreys…
Ospreys…
Ospreys…
Ospreys: it’s over.
Total elapsed time: 12 seconds.
06 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Today I saw this couple of Ospreys at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge building a nest. At first, he was just watching her arranging their nest.
Ospreys building nest: he was just watching or waiting for orders from her.
Then she told him what she needed, and he took off.
Osprey took off to look for nest materials.
He soon flew back clutching a branch.
Honey, do you like this?
After a few minutes, she sent him off again.
Honey, look what I found!
03 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge
For this challenge, I am submitting a photo of a Tufted Titmouse using its bill to open a sunflower seed. It was going very fast and its head was just a blur!
Tufted Titmouse opening sunflower seed.
This image was taken at a speed of 1/50 second.
02 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Yesterday at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, several egrets were standing enjoying the rising sun. They were wearing their breeding plumage with long airy feathers (see https://janthinaimages.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/she-sits-in-her-beauty-upon-her-nest/).
Great Egrets enjoying the sunrise.
One was playing pickaboo as it preened itself.
Great Egret peekaboo.
Great Egret: I see you!
01 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in EBF Refuge, Photography
Early this morning at the Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, a Peregrine Falcon was hunting. It glided back and forth across a pond, making both wide and sharp turns, and swooping down occasionally. However, I did not see it catch anything in the few minutes that it was in my sight. Here are two photos showing this raptor. It is reputed to be the fastest bird when it dives toward its prey at a speed which can reach 200 MPH (320 KM/H).
Peregrine Falcon soaring over Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Peregrine Falcon soaring over Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
