Mother Nature's Photo Gallery

[Gliondrach]

Some people have strange imaginations.

[Oracl]

:rolleyes: :laugh:

[Tails4wagging]

Some people have strange imaginations.

You can talk!:)

[Gliondrach]

Thank you.

[thevegantwins]

I do love the reflections. Reflections rock :D

Are you actually saying that reflections of rock rock?

Nice shots, BWM. :photo:

[Bowwowmeow]

Thanks!
Here's another reflection:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/Mallard2.jpg
:duck:

[Oracl]

Beautiful! :)

[Gliondrach]

Very nice, but we call them ducks where I come from.

[Bowwowmeow]

:rolleyes: And there I was thinking that your imagination would tell you it was a picture of a penguin. ;)

[Gliondrach]

Well, the head and reflection look like a seahorse.

[Bowwowmeow]

He is a lucky. duck, and the rest of us around here are lucky too. Just the day after I took the picture, somebody crashed into a tanker, and 2500 gallons of gasoline were spilled on the freeway right where it crosses our channel. Both sides of the freeway were closed for ten hours, there were helicopters, police, firetrucks, hazmat people, all frantically cleaning it up before it seeped through the drains into the bay. They managed to keep it out of the water! :cheer: The fumes were awful, though, and lasted for six hours at least. It also melted the asphalt, and they had to dig up two lanes. Everyone was scared about how flammable even the air was, but disaster was averted. There's still work being done at night on it, though. I can see them with their bright work lights on at night.

They haven't figured out who is at fault yet, but they will bill the trucking company for over $15,000.00 to cover the cost of clean up.

I was glad to get home, since all the side roads and short cuts were jammed with people who were forced off the freeway. It happened around 2 pm, an hour or so before the freeway gets clogged up anyway. Thousands of people were forced off both directions, and it made their trips home triple and even quadruple in length, not to mention many people being sickened by the fumes.

[thevegantwins]

Yuck. Sounds like everyday life in NJ. :blecch: :laugh: Glad the duck :duck: made it.

[Oracl]

:agree:

[Gliondrach]

A narrow escape.

[veggiesosage]

Here's a picture of a bee, with a small friend

[Oracl]

Amazing detail! :thumbsup:

The bug with the bee must be tiny! :)

[Gliondrach]

That's an animal in action, is it not? What about the Countryfile comp?

[veggiesosage]

This would def have qualified as 'animals in action' :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2948562567_6ca364dd50_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/veggiesosage/2948562567/)

[Oracl]

:rofl:

[veggiesosage]

Here's one who didn't get the girl

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2949415076_7ef4546cb7_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/veggiesosage/2949415076/)

Bless!

[Tabitha]

The leaves are starting to change:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/AutumnColor1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/AutumnColor2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/AutumnLeaf.jpg


I was just looking back at all the beautiful pics. This one took my eye. Absolutely gorgeous.

[veggiesosage]

Went to Edinburgh at New Year to see my sister and her family.

[veggiesosage]

Couple of pics of the sunset from Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park

[Gliondrach]

Great pics. Especially the second one.

[Oracl]

Excellent. :colors:

[Bowwowmeow]

Beautiful Andy! Do you have a fish-eye lens now, or is that a little Photoshop magic? :photo: :magic:

[veggiesosage]

Thanks all. BWM, yep, I got a fisheye lens now and its dead cool. Tails, I've got a Samsung digital SLR camera (which is basically a rebadged Pentax).

[veggiesosage]

Err mine was free I won it in a photo competition :yea:

Also, the model I've got the GX10 isn't made anymore, they do the GX20 now.

Tails I'm happy to give you advice about buying cameras if you like, it all depends on what sort of photography you want to do and how much you wannt to spend. Send us a pm so we don't clog this thread up :D

[Stormy]

Wow, beautiful photos in this thread :)

These are a few taken on my mobile phone so the quality isn't brilliant...but anyway this is a walk up to Little tarn on a mountain near Hawswater in Cumbria not to far from where I live at the moment, with Kai, my son Torr and my partner Stonesy

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/35/l_a8521d8e7f9a4cf3a3f1c45610218f3d.jpg

ttp://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/31/l_ba9e4f7cb1c242c5babb109dc9cb0079.jpg

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/18/l_c8ba0d8d26154a5bb277392604c08aaf.jpg

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/57/l_895853d23b0042f2b60961ee52d53981.jpg

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/36/l_9179917a12b646c9b6db0d823945a9bc.jpg

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/64/l_4f487110337c42b29948d53bf6296f46.jpg

http:http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/49/l_1d1bea5820d24d1ea05fb1eaf7f6ae00.jpg//

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/9/l_0c5801f5a0be4158b22f3b9e5a302aa0.jpg

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/20/l_f5ad78b23356471a945bb5c12bd9b0ac.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Beautiful place.

[thevegantwins]

I can't imagine living somewhere so beautiful. Where are the oil refineries? The landfills? The factories? :rolleyes:

[Gliondrach]

Windscale nuclear power station is not too far away.

[Stormy]

Windscale nuclear power station is not too far away.

Shhhhh don't spoil it :D

Actually Windscalle or also know as Sellafield is on the coast where are we are in land near Ulswater lake and at the moment living in a village outside Penrith :)
Mind you I moved up from Hastings, East Sussex before here and we were nearer to Dungeoness Nuclear Power station.

It's sad to know they are there, and I think where ever we are in Britain there is something dodgy near by whether a mobile phone mast or a landfill site or a nuclear power station.

[Gliondrach]

Yes, we're surrounded by dangers.

[Oracl]

Lovely photos, Stormy. :)

[Stormy]

Thanks Oracl :)

[Fauxmage]

I took a few pictures of snow yesterday.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/FishCamp.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/CedarsinSnow.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Fence.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Snow.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/SnowShadows1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/SnowShadows2.jpg

It was weird that only ten miles away and a thousand feet lower in elevation it was warm enough for t-shirts and shorts. It wasn't even that cold in the snow.

[dreamer]

I want snow:sigh:

[Gliondrach]

The first one is very scenic.

[Bowwowmeow]

I just got a new macro lens for my Nikon, with some of my Christmas and birthday present money. Here are my first test shots:

I just planted some cosmos in my planter boxes and the back deck railing:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/CopyofNewlens010.jpg


This is my Gramma's cymbidium orchid. My Dad gave it to her one Mother's Day, back when I was still in high school I think. It has six bloom spikes on it this year!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/CopyofNewlens004.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/CopyofNewlens003.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Nice pics, especially the first one.

[Fauxmage]

Thank you. I am hoping the wildflowers will be in full bloom next week, in Yosemite, so I can use my new lens there. I love flowers. :)

[Fauxmage]

I'm having a heck of a time with all my new pictures. I guess I took too many. Or I am trying to process them too quickly. :o

But anyway, here are a few butterflies. I found them all hanging out at different mud puddles, sipping water, so you will have to excuse the drab backgrounds! They are such teases. They hardly ever open their wings fully, and take off as soon as you aim your camera at them, only to fly right out from behind you and land again.

I was wildflower hunting along the banks of the Merced River, outside of Yosemite itself. I guess they don't call it Mariposa county for nothing! (Mariposa is Spanish for butterfly.)

Here are a couple of beautiful little tiny blue butterflies, who absolutely would NOT open their wings all the way. There were dozens of them flapping around this mud puddle. I even saw one perched on a pile of coyote dung. I didn't take a picture of that one.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/BlueButterfly1.jpg
Western Tailed Blue

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/BlueButterfly2.jpg
Western Tailed Blue


There were lots of butter yellow butterflies around too, very nervous and flighty, and hard to get close to.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/YellowButterfly.jpg
Southern Dogface

Here is a pretty one, the only one of his type there. He was very cooperative. Probably a show-off, and who can blame him!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly.jpg
California Sister

[Gliondrach]

That last one's a real beauty. I like seeing butterflies but hardly ever see them here - except the common whites.

[Fauxmage]

More butterflies:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly1.jpg
Edith's Checkerspot

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly2.jpg
Edith's Checkerspot

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly4.jpg
Pale Swallowtail

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly5.jpg
Pale Swallowtail

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly7.jpg
Edith's Checkerspot

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly6.jpg
Hoffman's Checkerspot

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Butterfly3.jpg
California Sister

And a bee:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Bee.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

I went to the Yosemite area on Tuesday to property hunt again, and of course nipped into the park while I was there! The wild azaleas are in bloom now. They are so beautiful, and they smell good too!


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/Azalea.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/DSC_0167.jpg


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/DSC_0178.jpg


There were other visitors to the azaleas too!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/DSC_0166.jpg
Pale Swallowtail


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/DSC_0161.jpg
Western Tiger Swallowtail

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/DSC_0165.jpg
Pale Swallowtail

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/ButterflyandAzalea.jpg
Western Tiger Swallowtail

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/BumblbeeandAzalea.jpg


I am really enjoying my new lens!

[Gliondrach]

They're beautiful. They look a bit like honeysuckle.

[Fauxmage]

Yes they are. The colors of the buds do remind me of the colors of honeysuckle. The azaleas have a different fragrance from honeysuckle though.

I did my butterfly identification homework, and added names to the above posts, in case anyone is as curious as I was to know who I was photographing!
:butterfly11:

[Bowwowmeow]

Today was Father's Day, and my Dad wanted to go to the California Academy of Sciences. We haven't been since it was rebuilt. I used to work there part time for a woman who was working on her doctorate in micropaleaontology.

I'm not so sure I like it anymore. Way too many live animal exhibits, including of course the Aquarium. The live animal exhibits seem to be featured now at the expense of many more anthropological and other types of exhibits. The Geology section seems to have vanished completely. I miss all those beautiful minerals!

There is a huge rainforest exhibit, under glass, full of tropical birds, butterflies, and frogs running around loose. So I did bring my camera. I just wish the Aquarium was as nice for the fish as the rainforest is. Its not as bad as the Zoo, but I still don't like it.

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the butterflies though.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest9.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest8.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest6.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest4.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest16.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest15.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest14.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest10.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest1.jpg

An unusual flower:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest13.jpg

Poison Dart Frogs:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest12.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest7.jpg

This pretty bird:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Rainforest5.jpg

And on the roof, which is a living roof planted with California native plants, this little bee:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/Bee.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

Here are some shots of the living roof of the Academy. It surely was a beautiful day in the city. The typical summer fog hadn't arrived yet.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/LivingRoof3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/LivingRoof2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/LivingRoof1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/LivingRoof5.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/LivingRoof4.jpg

[Fauxmage]

I spent the last four days in a cabin on the Russian River, about two hours northwest of the Bay Area. This morning I hiked to the tip of a sand bar in Jenner, a tiny town on the Sonoma County coastline situated right where the Russian River rushes into the ocean, to visit the Harbor Seal nursery, where these cuties come on shore from May to July to raise their young.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/RussianRiver003.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

Here's another. The fog was so thick and dark this morning! I couldn't see across the channel behind the seals.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/Seal.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

Here's a deer in the morning fog. She had her baby with her, but he was too short to see above the grasses. I saw him later when she crossed the road.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/DSC_0195001.jpg

I was facing due west, and that is the ocean behind her, but you can't see it for the fog.

[Bowwowmeow]

Here's the nursery from the cliff outside Jenner, on a sunny afternoon. I wanted to take a nap with them on the warm sand!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/DSC_0171031.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

Here are some seals on a rock further down the coast, on the way to Bodega Bay.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/RussianRiver036.jpg

Hehe, the seal in the foreground is barking his head off!

[Gliondrach]

Beautiful beasties, especially the deer.

Strange name for a river. Might it have once been Rushing River?

[Fauxmage]

The area was once heavily settled by Russians, who virtually wiped out the otter population by killing them for their beautiful fur. :( :loser:

[Gliondrach]

:mad:

[Fauxmage]

Here is a shot of the Russian River rushin' on down to the sea.

Its not really in a hurry though...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/RussianRiver022.jpg

[Gliondrach]

It's a beautiful place. Those houses are in a nice position.

[Bowwowmeow]

California poppies are one of my favorite kinds of flowers. :)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Nature/3712220482_645fa1258b.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

I went tidepooling along the coast, on beaches I haven't visited since before my Mom died. I was amazed to see more marine mammals returning to beaches I have never seen them at in my whole life!

Here are some Harbor seals at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools001.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools002.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools003.jpg

To the left of the last picture is a haunted beach. It is at the back of a restaurant called The Moss Beach Distillery, which used to be a good place to obtain illegal hooch during the Prohibition. The Distillery is also haunted, by the Blue Lady (http://www.mossbeachdistillery.com/ghost.html).

You can't wander through anymore though, on account of the seals. I used to go there all by myself, very early in the morning, in hopes of maybe seeing the Blue Lady on the beach. Some of the employees of the distillery have encountered the Blue Lady. :ghost:

[Bowwowmeow]

Much further south, at a cute little set of coves called Bean Hollow State beach, I saw dolphins! I have never seen wild dolphins off the local coast before. :colors: :colors: :colors:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools128.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools127.jpg

[Fauxmage]

Some Rock Sculpins. They belong to the stonefish or scorpion fish family, and have poisonous spines. I used to play with them in pools when I was younger and more foolish, but I never got hurt. They didn't even seem to mind resting in my hand. I never took them out of the water of course.

Here is one peeking out of a hole in the rock, that was made by a rock boring clam:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools046.jpg

Here is another:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools050.jpg

They vary in their patterns, according to the backgrounds they rest on, kind of like chameleons can do. These two are about two inches long.

[Fauxmage]

Here is a Giant Pacific Green Anemone:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools056.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Nice pics.

Those seals look as if they are posing. The rock in the middle of the last seal picture looks a bit like Bamburgh Castle. That's on a beach as well.

Have you been to the restaurant? That's probably the place to see the Blue Lady, if she exists.

Those dolphins are very close in to the beach.

[Fauxmage]

No, I haven't been to the restaurant. I don't think she does much when its full of customers, according to the documentary. She supposedly has been sighted on the beach as well though, which is where she was actually murdered.

Yes, those dolphins are very close to the shore there. Many of our beaches have very close, sudden drop-offs, and the rip currents kill people every year. They get knocked over by sleeper waves, dragged under by the rip current, and forced into very deep water. Few survive, mostly on account of panicking. I did see a great white shark swimming off this beach once too, many years ago, much further off shore than the dolphins.

[Fauxmage]

Purple Shore Crabs:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools031.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools074.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools064.jpg

[Fauxmage]

Green Shore Crabs:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools079.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools080.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools076-1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools071.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools062.jpg

This one just molted his shell:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools082-1.jpg

[Fauxmage]

Hermit Crabs:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools016.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools011.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools017.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools007.jpg

Lots of these were under the water, so forgive the distortion caused by surface currents!

[Fauxmage]

I took too many pictures of crabs. I love crabs! They are so funny.

[Bowwowmeow]

Limpets:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools093.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools092.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools018.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools043.jpg

All that crusty pink stuff is calcareous algae.

[Gliondrach]

The second last one is of the type and colour you find here.

[Fauxmage]

We get a huge variety of limpets around here. Many more than I photographed. Limpets for every tidal zone found at a beach.

Some anemones:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools006.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools010.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools014.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools013.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools024.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools049.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Animals/TidePools057.jpg

[Gliondrach]

I like the red ones that look like rubies.

[Fauxmage]

Argh I have been working on almost nothing but my photo collection for nearly a week! I have finally gotten over 1500 photos off my computer and off my camera's memory cards and onto thumbdrives and Photobucket. It was the uploading to Photobucket that took so long, at over 1 minute per photo.
My computer was bogging down something awful though, from all those stored images.

Here is a nice one I really didn't realize I had taken. It was from a collection I thought wouldn't be very good, on account of the cloudy afternoon.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/lauralb/Yosemite/CopyofBridalveilFallsRainbow.jpg

This is Bridalveil Falls, on a late afternoon in May, when the sun is at the right angle to produce a rainbow as it sets. A cloud had passed over the falls, leaving it in shadow, but the sun peeked through and lit the bottom which produced a beautiful rainbow. :colors:

[Gliondrach]

Yes, it's very nice. Especially in the darkness.

[paul]

wonderfull pics.

[Bowwowmeow]

A couple of shots of a crashing wave:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/SrMhaT8i16I/AAAAAAAAAGs/pJUBy2lWy4Y/s640/Wave%201.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/SrMhasm7uaI/AAAAAAAAAGw/0Qe1qtHK3xw/s640/Wave%202.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Were they taken in the San Francisco area?

[Fauxmage]

No, quite a ways north, at Russian Beach, or Russian Gulch, near the Russian River. I had to hike through quite a dense woods, and it was the creakiest, most haunted-seeming woods I've ever seen. The wind was the strongest I have ever felt, even in a storm, and it made the trees seem about to rip out of the ground and chase people.

[Gliondrach]

The haunted wood sounds good. Do you have any pictures?

[Bowwowmeow]

I do have some pictures I took of a few plants in there, though not of the woods as a whole. I found and ate the most wonderful wild raspberries I have ever eaten in my life!!! They were really one of the most wonderful foods I have ever tasted! They were like manna from heaven. I only found twelve too. I ate every ripe one I could find.

I am in the midst of sorting my photos again, and getting the bulk of them off Photobucket (over 4000 still to go :Sigh: ) as I am not happy with them, and no longer wish to give them my money, so as soon as I come across those pictures and load them elsewhere I will share.

[Bowwowmeow]

This is a wild raspberry blossom, from the haunted woods:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2469/3712220658_fc6a940de3.jpg

And this is a leaf:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2592/3895770758_c73f6e2046.jpg

I have many more, but it was so windy it was hard to get decent photos of anything, since nothing would stay still for very long.

[Bowwowmeow]

A bunch of Cliff Swallows collecting mud for their nests.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/S1uExhO-QvI/AAAAAAAAAvU/tcVFtru2BaI/s640/Cliff%20Swallows.jpg


Of San Juan Capistrano fame. They were so frantic and excited I am amazed that they are in focus.

[Bowwowmeow]

Morning rainbow at Lower Yosemite Falls:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4348331788_4c43f0644e_o.jpg

[Gliondrach]

That's a beautiful picture.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. :)

Lower Yosemite Falls is one of the most thrilling places in the park, when it is at peak flow in the spring, and one of the easiest walks in the park too! While I was sitting out of the spray, which is like being in a shower on full blast, a crowd of tourists came up an even easier paved walk than I used, and some of the ladies were in high heel mules. :disbelief:

In contrast, the hike from the valley floor at the base of the falls to the top is supposedly one of the parks most grueling hikes.

[Bowwowmeow]

I used my new mirror lens to photograph the moon, a few days before it was full last week.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/S99nzM0dm4I/AAAAAAAABDM/IIj15u_fa0s/Moon.JPG

[Gliondrach]

I'd never heard of a mirror lens before. I suppose they let the camera use more of the light that comes through the lens.

Good picture. I like the moon.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. :)

A mirror lens operates on the same principle as a telescope I believe, but doesn't have the length of a true telephoto lens.

Has anyone ever seen a horizontal rainbow going straight across the sky? I never have. I saw this above the copper-clad roof of the grocery store I used to work at. I just happened to have my camera with me.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/TBHFNOoI9NI/AAAAAAAABXM/FuDcmOausJc/Weird%20Rainbow.JPG

[Gliondrach]

Never seen one before. If it is a rainbow, it's curving the wrong way. Could it be some sort of iridescence?

I've just checked in my Collin's Weather Guide. They have a picture of a halo with red on the inside. But it is very circular. And not many other colours visible. And a circumzenithal arc - but it has red on the bottom.

Very strange.

[nagev]

Huh. I've seen different curvatures on rainbows, but none quite like that. It's neat. :)

[Bowwowmeow]

A shot of last night's crescent moon:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4889269449_dcbb18a395_z.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Very nice. But where are the meteors?

[Bowwowmeow]

I'd like to try to photograph meteors sometime. I think I would need a wide angle lens though, and use a timed exposure, since you have no idea where in the night sky you might see one, and they are over so quickly.

I may experiment with just taking some photos of the night sky, meteors or not. My cable release wasn't working properly the other night, which can spoil photos taken with a slow shutter speed, as any movement of the camera, such as caused when depressing the exposure button, will make the image blurry.

[Bowwowmeow]

Plum blossoms:


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/5446241055_a3b92f1e61_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5446837216_cf3d255863_b.jpg

[manzana]

Beautiful, especially the softness, colors, and lighting of the first one.

It reminded me of an album cover, so I'm listening to that now.

http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-NonVocal-BIG/Kussmaul-R-O03-2a%5BDGG-CD%5D.jpg

Yours would also look good in a museum setting.

[Bowwowmeow]

Oh thank you! Haha, yes it would. :)

[manzana]

Trametes versicolor:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5457735225_712cf447bd_z.jpg

[Bowwowmeow]

Wow that's pretty!

[Bowwowmeow]

Last night's snow:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5458562189_74c808b99e_o.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5059/5458560875_56a9e090ef_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5459167044_79d3baa34b_b.jpg

[manzana]

Look at those islands of grass under the trees. :magnify:

[manzana]

Scans of my chance photo op with a roadrunner:

Perched on the Horizon
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5020/5459059377_047897e734_z.jpg

Urban Camoflage
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5457735199_bf154f7390_z.jpg

Eyes in Back of Head
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5457735201_72d2813871_z.jpg

Wild Flowers, Wild Bird
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5457735207_5b5bec91cb_z.jpg

[Gliondrach]

So that's what they look like.

Beep beep!

[Bowwowmeow]

More like "meep meep!"

[Gliondrach]

I bow to your superior knowledge of the minutiae of the Road Runner and Wily C. Coyote animated films.

[Bowwowmeow]

Some shots of the sun setting from the bridge across the Merced River:


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5466730781_35984a5fe3_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5294/5466731079_9e76cb97d2_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5466731401_ccc746448c_z.jpg


Merced is one of the most wretched and miserable cities in California, according to a recent article I read. Hard to tell from here.

[Gliondrach]

I don't know about the city, but those views are beautiful.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. :)

[nagev]

Great pictures!

[Bowwowmeow]

Thanks, and welcome back! :)

[Kimberlily1983]

Bowwowmeow, wow! Your pictures are beautiful... :D

Manzana, I don't think I've ever seen a real road runner before. I'd wondered about them before, haha, but never got around to looking them up.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you Kimberlily. :)

[Bowwowmeow]

I've got another bunch of jonquils in bloom They sure smell good. :)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5575427331_322977762f_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5576006556_eb3f5fd614_z.jpg


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5254/5576038434_cffe81fa17_z.jpg

[manzana]

Purdy. :)

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. :)

[manzana]

The dogs and I ran past a yellow flower bulb on the sidewalk this evening. :)

[nagev]

Those flower pictures are beautiful.

[Bowwowmeow]

Here's the bridge I drive over when I cross the Merced River:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/TcMQF69oXVI/AAAAAAAACqI/SJyfuY5lkIY/s640/DSC_0258.JPG


And here's the sunset last night from the bridge:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_M8aAcoQrumc/TcMQIOscLNI/AAAAAAAACqc/Gho2oQmOzfU/s640/DSC_0273.JPG

[Gliondrach]

I like sunsets. Is that a swallow skimming over the water?

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes there were dozens of them there. You can see mud nests at the tops of some of the bridge supports in the first photo, and a few silhouettes of swallows here and there. There are a few sitting on the bridge as well.

[Bowwowmeow]

I am still discovering surprises in my yard, since I wasn't living here full time last year. I have some beautiful white irises blooming now. I knew I had irises, but I wasn't here to see them bloom last year. I picked one and took some pictures of it. These are the first photos I've used my Photoshop CS5 on. I am kinda happy with how they turned out.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2624/5729590128_693296b0a0_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5729598176_7988a19971_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/5729603078_79ba5b3a01_z.jpg


This nectar is very sweet. I tasted just a tiny drop, and it was wonderful. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3520/5729039521_c91d8ef6ff_z.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Lovely picutures. They are the best irises I've seen. Better looking than the usual blue ones.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. It is a beautiful flower. The oldest bloom has faded, and now there is a third bud emerging from the stalk I had no idea was even there when I cut the stem. The nectar is delicious. Tastes slightly of vanilla, and very sweet.

[Gliondrach]

Are they edible?

[Bowwowmeow]

I have no idea. I've never come across any reference to them being edible.

[Gliondrach]

Can you be sure the nectar's not poisonous?

[Bowwowmeow]

Well I'm still alive. :p

I only tasted a tiny portion. Not much more than would fit on the head of a pin. It is amazingly sweet, for such a tiny drop, and the usual test for unknown poisons is the tremendous bitterness if you put a tiny bit on the tip of your tongue.

[Ox11]

Wow, those are really nice..

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. I've been slacking lately. I am thinking of joining a site where you are encouraged to take a photo every day for a year. Might light a fire under my butt. :wigglebutt: :flame:

[Bowwowmeow]

African violet:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6844538823_1a10eb3114_b.jpg

[Gliondrach]

Beautiful picture of a beautiful flower. I used to have some of them in a pot.

[Bowwowmeow]

Thank you. :)

[Bladerunner]

Thank you. I've been slacking lately. I am thinking of joining a site where you are encouraged to take a photo every day for a year. Might light a fire under my butt. :wigglebutt: :flame:Do I understand from this Bwm that one of your daily photos will be of you with a fire under your butt?

Oh well Arse gratia artis as we say in the UK.:yea:

[Gliondrach]

:D

[Bowwowmeow]

Well there's an idea for a self portrait. I could start a fire in my woodstove and sit on top of it before it gets too hot. :p

[Bladerunner]

^^^
That's one way to get rosy red cheeks Bmw. :yea:

[Bowwowmeow]

I'll have to wear asbestos shorts. I'm gonna need them eventually anyway. :shiftydvil: