Monday, September 20, 2010

Turtles and Tufts!

You never know WHAT you will find
when you go on
a photo shoot
out in the woods.

One day, we were surprised to
still see turtles.

We ordinarily see quite a few
in the springtime,
but when autumn rolls around,
we don't usually see many.

We rolled up to a beaver pond in our truck
and saw a turtle way out in the pond
on the very edge of a log.

I hopped out of the truck, expecting the turtle
to jump in the water right away, and not give me the opportunity for a shot at it.

Imagine my surprise, when not only did he STAY on the log,
but began to do some funny antics for me:
(Tell me that he is not "balancing" on that log and sticking his leg out?)
I began to laugh, at which point, he jumped in the water.
Embarrassed no doubt. haa







We found another turtle on a log sunning himself further down the road
in another pond.
Must have been a suntanning kind of day!:








Here is a plant beside the pond that had metamorphized into a seed tuft. I loved it!:









Three turtles on a log! (Gee that sounds like the name for a child's book, doesn't it?):

We saw a few more, but they immediately jumped into the water, the minute I got out of the truck.
(They must have heard from the first turtle and didn't want to embarrass themselves either!)

This time of year, one is usually disappointed
about the lack of wildflowers
(or hybrid flowers for that matter) to photograph.

Up this far north, things are dying fast due to frost and the cold night temperatures.

However, if you take the time to look close, you find seed pods that are very interesting..
or in my case,
little TUFTS in plants that you wonder what the heck they are!



So, upon gazing on these, if anyone out there knows what kind of plant or bush
this was before it went to "tufts", please share your knowledge with us in the comment section.

But, I was amazed at the artistry in these seed tufts...I found them full of texture
and wonderful to photograph due to the movement in them!!


A bush of little dustmops!!








I just loved their looks-like-I-just-woke-up-with-tousled-hair look!:








I wanted to run my fingers through their hair:








And, I loved the little seed pod centers inside all that "hair":






And...
you know ME.
I had to play with the image in black and white too.
Loved how it looks that way!
Very dramatic!:







The shaggy bush, from afar,
reminded me of something you'd see in a
Japenese garden:
(and the U.P. is pretty FAR AWAY from Japan, people!!)








Maybe next time you go into the woods
and are disappointed not to find beautiful flowers
or exotic animals....

look closer.

Because nature has beauty
everywhere, at all times.....

You just have to
let it show you....

look closer...............................................................

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Mergansers!

If you are wondering
if I am smitten with birds
on my blog lately,
you
are
CORRECT!!

Autumn here is a time for migration to begin
all over again,
this time with the birds heading south
through
the U.P. of Michigan.

One of my favorite ducks to capture with my lens
is a Merganser.

There are two types of Mergansers,
a
and a
(Please click on their names above which will link you to a wonderful
website called All About Birds and will tell you about these two species!)

We saw a group of
Common Mergansers
on the lake,
and I was lucky enough
to get a few
far off shots
of them.

Enjoy!:



Here is one preening itself:
(You're so vain, I bet you think this blog is about you, about you...)



TEN!!!
That is the biggest group of Mergansers I have been able to see in one bunch for a photo!
(Color me HAPPY!):





A lovely couple:






Maybe they are the most conceited birds, EVER!
They all seem concerned about their appearance for
the camera!:






Who could blame them?
They ARE rather handsome!

One of the things I love the MOST about them
is that they have this feathery, bushy, rusty "mane" behind their heads...it really shows up
in the first bird on the right in this photo:
(I just want to take out my pick or comb and run it through it there...I know. I KNOW...
I am STRANGE. Try to forget I even said that.)





Flapping for attention:





Again with the preening!!:
(no, don't tell me it's bugs. I refuse to listen!)




Not on THESE beauties!!:
(That last one was just camera shy...he wasn't eating bugs on his back...REALLY!!)
Okay.
Okay.................
Maybe I just might want to WASH that comb
after combing those back-of-the-head feathers....

Thursday, September 16, 2010

What the Heck is a Bittern???

If you didn't read my last blogpost
on the Sandhill Crane Migration,
please drop down to the bottom
of this one,
and click on "older posts" on the right hand corner
and read that first.

We went on a trip out to the Sturgeon River Sloughs
and watched over a hundred Sandhill Cranes migrate in...
it was wonderous!

While waiting for the Sandhill Cranes to fly in,
a guide spotted a bird.

He said it was rare in our area
and wanted us to see it.

It was WAY across the field in a pond, so I didn't get
great photos of it.

But I wanted you to see one,
in case you didn't ever see one before.

A Bittern!

A Bittern is a heron-like bird.
Read about it HERE.
(You can even click on the sound this bird makes on the link, which is very unusual.)


So, now that you saw a good photo of one
at the All About Birds site (by clicking on the link),
here is my
not-so-clear-but-I-was-glad-to-try-to-photo-one
attempt:






There brown, tan and white stripes makes them blend in with
their environment so they are not easy to spot...especially across a pond
on a cloudy day!:








The sun came out a few times, and when it did,
it's feathers looked redder and it was easier to spot:



I am so happy to be able to share
it with you....
my blogger friends...
because like the theme
for the Enquirer goes:
I knew:
"inquiring minds want to know!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sandhill Crane Migration!!

My sister-in-law called me one day out of the blue,
saying:
"Gotta pencil and paper? I have something you are going to want to attend!"

Being the adventurer I am (NOT so much with surprise ideas)
I quizzed her..
"What is it??"

Upon hearing the news, I did indeed run for a pencil and paper to get the details
to write down.

And then I made a reservation by calling the phone number given to me as fast as I could dial the phone.

What was it?

The local Audubon Society
was hosting
a trip out to the
near Arnheim, Michigan
to
watch
the autumn
Sandhill Crane Migration!!!!

To say I was excited is an understatement.

I knew I probably wouldn't get any closeups
of these beautiful birds during the fly in,
but I had to go and watch it.

And, I had to TRY
and photograph it.

They said there weren't thousands of birds gathering at this site,
(like in someplaces in the U.S. during a migration), but that we'd see over a hundred fly in that night, around dusk.

I was so excited to go.
They only charged $5.00 to go, and a local shop agreed to "match" any money gathered
and donate it to the Audubon Society for this event.

That just sweetened the trip that much more.

So, my husband and I gathered both cameras that I own,
and off we went on the scheduled date (August 31, 2010).

 

Here is the group hiking out the the sloughs.  It was just about 1/2 mile from the parking lot:

About 30 people went with us.

We waited...
and
waited....

We spied some Bitterns, which are rare birds here (I will post their photos in another blogpost),
and we saw one blue heron fly in..
but
no
Sandhill Cranes.

We waited some more....
and
more....
and
more....

And then?

We heard them!!

They make noises like what you hear in Jurassic Park...almost sound like prehistoric dinosaurs!!
Click on THIS LINK to hear them!

And a group flew in!!!!:
Aren't they GORGEOUS??








One landing in a field:
(sorry about the unclear photo on this one..he was wayyyy far away and I had my lens at the strongest I could, with my image stabilization feature on..but still hard to capture!)





Another flying in over the treetops!:









Oh MY!:






Help me Rhonda! Help, help me Rhonda!!!!
Help me get them out of my heart...............





They kept coming in,
in groups of two,
then groups of 5,
then groups of eight or eleven:







We kept counting....and it was getting darker.
They were landing in tall grass for the night:







All in all, the group counted 156 (give or take four or five)...

We loved it!!!
I was so happy to be able to witness
this awesome ritual
of the U.P. Sandhill Crane Migration.

According to the group, they will continue to fly in to the same spot for a few weeks,
and then they will all fly south together
to join up with another group,
and another group
and so forth,
and continue on their trek down south.

So, for all my southern Blogger friends,
just a word to the wise....
get your cameras ready!!!

They are coming your way!!!

Say hi to them from Joan
when they fly in your area, ok????

Tell them I was the excited one
with the camera, clicking
it about a thousand times
trying to catch
them in midflight.....

****************************************************************************
Don't forget the FREE Monthly PHOTO CONTEST!!!

Submit ONE photo to me by Sept. 30, 2010
of the theme this month of:

WATERFALLS or FOUNTAINS!!

(Now, you MAY use a photo that you already published on your blog, I removed that silly rule!)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bugs, Buds, and other Beauty!

Today,
a popourri
of
nature shots!



Apples in our own apple trees:










My yellow hollyhocks with a bee in it:










A Circadia!:







I love the seeds that come on a Queen Ann's Lace
at the end of it's life:









Look closer!
Aren't they marvelous?:









Wonderful sunflowers!:









Side profile of the sunny Sunflower:









Green tomatos in my garden:

I hope you
find some interesting things
in your day today!!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

August 2010 FREE Photo Contest Winner for Sunrises/Sunsets!

Hoo, Boy!

I TOLD YOU
this month's
winner
would be impossible
to pick.

It WAS.

The three judges
could not agree
on a winner
per majority.

So, per the contest's process,
I had to go to a fourth
judge,
who then had to pick the
winner from the top three picked by
the previously randomly-picked three judges.

So, all of you that entered photos
can feel
very, very, proud.

As far as I am concerned, I wish I could hand out
winning widgets to each of you
for your entries.

But, in life, that is not the way it works.
I can only hand out
ONE winner widget....

So, without further ado....

(drum roll, please)............

August's Theme
was
SUNRISES or SUNSETS.

To refresh your memory, go to THIS LINK to see all of the entries.

The winner picked,
after much deliberation
and pain....

but certainly
WELL DESERVED
is
THIS beautiful photo:


Congratulations, to SCOTT Pierce!!!!....
He does not have a blog...
Perhaps he should???  A photo-centered blog perhaps? (Hint, hint, Scott!)

A wonderful shot! The judges thought it looked "heaven-like".

The judges had wonderful other "special mentions" also, to the following people:

--Larry J ("the texture on your sunset left me breathless!")
--Connie ("the color was so unique and it looked almost spooky looking")
--Carmen (" a wonderful photo!")
--Linda R. (the sun and the rocks, wow!")
-VaBookworm ("loved the incorporation of the trees in the sunset")
and
J.J. ("loved the color of the blues in J.J.'s sunset")

But, please NOTE...
the judges liked them ALL....they said it was a very tough decision....
So, all of you that entered should be very, very proud...
and
each and every one of you should keep on clicking those shutters...
because you are truly gifted.
Thanks so much for entering August's contest!
*********************************************************************
And remember,
enter your best
WATERFALLS or FOUNTAIN
photo
for September's Free Photo Contest
no later than
midnight, Sept. 30, 2010
following
(except you CAN enter a photo that you already had on your blog, if you have a blog).

Friday, September 10, 2010

Butterfly, Bridge, and Nature's Beauty

I have been trying to get out in the woods
now that summer's heat has passed
(and
before the autumn shows us
it's full beauty)
to still
capture all that I can with my lens.




Sometimes you just turn around in your yard and find nature's glory too:









We went for a ride and found this little waterfalls
about a stone's throw from a bridge over an old road:








One day, we followed a ride on a road off the highway to get to a rummage sale
at a tiny, township hall.
Right next to it was a gorgeous little pond
with this fantastic curved bridge built over it!:









I loved the view of the bridge up close...
but
even better,
was the "orb" in the photo
when I downloaded it!
Doesn't it make you wonder?:






We went out on our lake
and captured this
fabulous sunset....
I may enlarge this one and frame it!
What do you think? Should I?:









Another shot of that lovely pond with the curved bridge:









A red dragonfly!:









I guess you could say
I was a little obsessed with
the curved bridge:

I hope you find
"end of summer"
beauty
in your life, too!