Wordless Wednesday

Tags

az, canyon de chelly, chinle, photography, postaday

Sunset at Spider Rock Overlook, Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Chinle, AZ.

Factory Butte

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factory butte, hanksville, mesa, photography, postaday

A year ago, on a drive from Capitol Reef National Park to Green River, UT, I saw a beautiful mesa on the western side of Highway 24 near Hanksville, UT. It was still early morning, the sun was shining brightly, and upper atmosphere winds whipped clouds into fascinating swirls. Here are two shots of the mesa which was named Factory Butte by early Mormon settlers who thought it resembled a woolen mill.

Factory Butte near Hanksville, UT.

Factory Butte.

High School Rodeo

Tags

broadus, photography, posataday, rodeo

Last year, on the way to Glacier National Park, I stopped for about an hour at Broadus, MT. Population 387, the sign said. High school girls were competing in a spirited rodeo and lacked nothing in prowess and skills as you can see in the following photos.

Rodeo scene at Broadus, MT.

Rodeo rider.

Rider jumping off.

Rider roping goat.

Another rider starting her turn.

Rider jumping off.

Once a rider jumped off to tackle the goat, their horses kept running until someone caught them. One horse came real close to me, literally breathing off in my face!

Close shot of horse.

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge

Tags

cee's odd ball photo challenge, photography, postaday, st vladimir memorial church

The link to this challenge is: https://ceenphotography.com/cees-challenges/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge/

A few weeks ago I drove by a Russian Orthodox church in Jackson, NJ. It’s St Vladimir Memorial Church which was built over 50 years, starting in 1938. The onion domes, brightly lit by the afternoon sun were too tempting, and I had to stop to take this shot.

St Vladimir Memorial Church, Jackson, NJ.

Young Swan

Tags

cygnet, mute swan, photography, postaday

Almost two years ago, I saw this beautiful cygnet swimming on a pond at the Abbott Marshlands next to the Delaware river.

Young Swan.

The parents were watching close by and enticed her (I am assuming it was a female) to swim away with them.

Young Swan and parents.

The young Mute Swan was almost full size, and differed from her parents by her feather colors and a gray bill. Here’s a look at the three of them preening together.

Three Mute Swans preening.

Chicory and Sweet Pea

Tags

chicory, photography, postday, seet pea

These two photos below show chicory and sweet pea flowers that I encountered on a walk yesterday.

Chicory is an edible plant and its roots, when baked or roasted, can be ground and mixed with coffee. Some claim that it makes coffee taste better and healthier.

Chicory flowers.

Sweet peas on the other hand are toxic if eaten and should only be admired for their beauty and scent.

Sweet Peas flowers.

St Mary Sunrise

Tags

east glacier park village, montana, photography, postaday, st mary

On this day, a year ago, I drove from East Glacier Park Village to St Mary in Montana on one of the most tortuous roads. It was 6 AM and still pitch dark when we left our hotel. Driving distance was only 30 miles, but it wasn’t until almost 7 AM that we reached a hill near St Mary. The town was invisible, shrouded by clouds, but the sunrise was stunningly colorful.

Sunrise near St Mary, MT. The town was totally under the heavy blanket of clouds.

Sunrise near St Mary, MT.

Sunrise near St Mary, MT.

One Year Ago: Hay Bales

Tags

hay bale, montana, photography, postaday

Montana is a big state, and you can really feel it when your try to drive from one corner of it to another. A year ago today, I drove for almost two days from South Dakota to reach Glacier National Park near the border with Canada.

On the way there were miles and miles of ranches, fields, or just open country. To prepare for the winter, ranchers and farmers had harvested hay and piled it as cylindrical or rectangular bales. Their cattle, horses, and sheep would feed on those bales throughout the winter. Never having seen so many hay bales, I had to stop several times to take the following pictures.

Hay bales, Montana.

Hay bales, Montana.

Hay bales, Montana.

Hay bales, Montana.

A Year Ago

Tags

badlands national park, photography, pinnacles overlook, postaday, yellow mounds overlook

A year ago a friend and I were in the early days of our transcontinental trip to visit as many national parks as we could in 33 days. The first park we visited was Badlands National Park. Despite its name, the park was beautiful, easily accessible, and not as crowded as better known parks such as Grand Canyon.

Going through my photos, I reprocessed and am posting one image published on this blog last year on the same date. This is one of the first sights of the park when one enters it through its north gate near the town of Wall, SD.

View from Pinnacles Overlook at Badlands National Park.

Here’s an image taken near Yellow Mounds Overlook just 3 miles (5 km) from Pinnacles. As you can tell, the sun was setting, adding its vivid colors to those of the Badlands striated rock formations.

View from Yellow Mounds Overlook, Badlands National Park.

Praying Mantis

Tags

photography, postaday, praying mantis, tenodera sinensis

The Praying Mantis has been the subject of several blogs that I read in the past two weeks. This must be the season for them, for when I came home today I found one on the patio door.

Praying Mantis.

With a mostly green body with brown wings, it is a mantis that originated from Asia but since 1896 has escaped captivity, and is now a common insect in the Northeast United States. It is called a Chinese Praying Mantis (Tenodera sinensis). As I came closer and closer to it, it only made minor moves, jumping from the glass door to the screen as I opened the door.

Praying Mantis.

Praying Mantis, closer.

Praying Mantis, even closer.

Praying Mantis, closest.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

american robin, chipping sparrow, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, snowy egret, wordless wednesday

Downy Woodpecker.

American Robin.

Chipping Sparrow.

Snowy Egret.

Birds, Bees, and Butterflies

Tags

photography, postaday, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, squirrel, swallowtail, yellow tiger swallowtail

This female hummingbird has been fiercely defending her feeder, except when the male is around.

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.

Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird: “Nah! This is my feeder!”

However, the squirrel did not get the memo.

Squirrel climbing on feeder hanger, to no avail. He did climb down and went to another feeder with the same results because it was squirrel proof.

The following images are from last year’s summer end.

Bee.

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail on thistle flower.

A bee and two Swallowtails.

Before the Storm

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, hermine, photography, postaday

Tropical storm Hermine is coming toward our area in the next day or two. This morning I went to Barnegat Lighthouse and walked from there to the beach fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Many people were fishing, while parents, children, and even some dogs, were strolling along the beach, trying to enjoy this last weekend before school starts again next week.

It was very windy and going toward the water was harder than usual. The wind was blowing sand and droplets of water on everyone. I tried to protect my camera and lens as much as possible, and hurried to take the following shots before the elements got too destructive.

End of jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. The small steel tower at the end of the jetty was constantly struck by high waves crashing against it.

Another view of the end of the jetty in a momentary calm minute. The tower is probably 20 ft (6 m) high.

Waves on the beach at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.

Beach front at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. Note the 2-foot drop shoreline already carved out by the waves.

Looking back at Barnegat Lighthouse. These were thousands of swallows flying near a fresh water hole on the beach. They are those black dots on the lower right of the photo.