Dutchman's Breeches

Dutchman's breeches are one of the first springflowers to appear in our woods. They literally explode out of the ground, in a couple of sunny days they go from little bunches of frilly green leaves to larger bunches of frilly green leaves with stalks of white blossoms shaped like puffed out pantaloons. They're blooming in abundance this year, many of them on hillsides/rockwalls where I can climb up and view them at eye level, not having to crawl upon the ground to view them close up.

My Audubon guide tells me that these are pollinated by bumblebees who have a "proboscis long enough to tap the nectar". I often see bumblebees buzzing about these flowers, trying to get a clear photograph of them is challenging. They're busy trying to get food and don't often sit still posing for me.

Another critter I sometimes see crawling about is the stilt bug, pretty little green bug, looks like a miniature walkingstick. To get these shots I was standing amongst the rocks on the hillside, picking my way about carefully to get a footing for both me and tripod. There was a 3 foot drop behind my heels, I kept my left arm firmly wrapped round a small ironwood tree to steady myself. To the left of me was a large section of rock that has parted from the base rock, there is a long 18 inch wide gap. When I was 4 and 5 years old I used to scamper through that gap, it was like a secret hiding place. I looked longingly at that gap, reminded that in my near five decades of life on this planet my travels through these rock hills have slowed from a scamper to a careful treading and plodding.

Hepaticas

Hepaticas are one of my favourite spring flowers. Trying to photograph them can be a bit of challenge. Even though they're blooming in abundance this year, trying to find some that are in a good "clean" situation without a lot of grasses or twigs or other debris, and with a good background, has not been easy. I finally found a clump that was growing at the base of a clump of trees that looked like what I wanted, but it was behind a pile of pine firewood. I had to jam my overgrown self in against the tarp and pull branches out of the way in order to get the shot. There were a few bits of pine needles and dead grass that I picked out of the way so that streaks of white wouldn't show up in the photograph.

Many shotst that I take are what photographers refer to as "record shots", which are just fine by me, sometimes I want a record of how nature really looks. I think too much of our visual presentation of "cleaned up" scenes can create an unrealistic expectation of how nature appears. Many people who grow up in cities and who do not have much experience getting out and about in the woods and fields are disappointed when they don't find the showcased images on t.v. or in magazines. Having been influenced by fellow photographers I do try to get the "best" image, but have to watch that I don't overlook grabbing some shots of what's "really there". Sometimes those "record shots" are valuable when teaching people about where to look for things in nature, and about their real life history.

After shooting the "pretty" blue hepaticas in their nice clean setting, I wandered on up the hillside. There were bunches of white hepaticas growing in the grass...er, sedges. I took some shots of them in their "real" setting. Only after downloading the pictures did I realize that the abundant sedges surrounding the hepaticas were not a distraction to the image, but became a background pattern, and enhanced the shape of the flowers.

Tom Turkey

Couple days ago we were driving along the back roads and spotted this ol' Tom Turkey struttin' his stuff to impress a hen. They were only 20 feet from the road, he was busy trying to get the hen's attention, she paid no attention to him or my truck, she was busy turning leaves trying to find some breakfast. He puffed out feathers, waved and strutted...such a guy thing.

Went down to the park with Tanka again today, good thing I brought my camera. Several pairs of geese were wound up and fussing at each other, bullying a small flock of ring-necked ducks, and getting looks of annoyance from a pair of tundra swans.

One pair got just a little too close to another pair's territory, and a fight broke out.

A lot of pushing and shoving and biting until one of them finally gave it up and took off.

The maples are in bloom. A close examination shows a pretty frilly blossom. Didn't have my tripod with me, but managed to steady my arm using the "firewood hook" I keep in the truck to get a focused shot with the macro lens.

Bath time

Took the dog down to his favourite park this afternoon for a walk and some sniffs. We were entertained by the antics of the Canada geese. They've paired off and have staked their territories, hanging close to their nest sites to ward off intruders. One pair was revelling in the warm sunshine, splashing, rolling, flapping, preening and just enjoying a good bath.

Along the trail we saw our first mourning cloak butterfly, and in another small pond we spotted our first turtle of the season, a painted turtle, who was basking in the sun at the edge of the cattails.

Elk

There have been elk sightings in our area the past couple of years, but so far I hadn't seen them. My neighbour has been telling me of one that has shown up just down the road, it comes out at about sunset and munches on the leftover corn that was harvested in a farm field this winter. This evening I finally got the chance to see it, and managed to get a few pictures of it. These are about as sharp as they get, it was getting dark and I had the camera set at IS0 1600. Even then the speed was very slow. There were about 50 geese in the field around the elk, apparently the corn leftovers are good pickin'. In spite of about 20 cars pulled over and people standing at the fence, the elk seemed undisturbed, in fact came over closer to get a look at us, then went back to eating.

Garter Snake

'Tis December 2nd, and a mild overcast day. Took Dad and The Beastie for a walk at the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area, fed the chickadees, and headed for home. When we came back past the Outdoor Center I dawdled along looking for late-season blooming plants in their flower garden, and spotted a garter snake lying on one of the edging stones.