Photo Hunters: Bridge

Barton River Bridge

This is a bridge in a pasture in the village of Barton that the cows use to cross the Barton River. In the winter, snowmobilers use it.

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Photo Hunters: Wild Cherry

Spring

Late summer

The woods are full of cherries now — all ready for the bears before they hibernate and for other creatures. The cherries glow a deep red in the autumn sun.

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Photo Hunters: Another Beautiful Barn

When I take the dogs for a walk we go by my neighbor's beautiful barn. It's been over 100 posts since I participated in the Photo Hunt. Now that school has started again, I have to take the time to post and comment regularly.

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Photo Hunters: From Water to Land — Damselflies

The larva of damselflies live in water. This particular one is the larva of Calopterygidae — the larva of a broad-winged damselfly.

And here is a damselfly. Not the same species, but you get the idea of the drastic changes that happen. This is a taiga bluet damselfly. The photos will open full-size in a new window when clicked.

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Technorati Tags: Calopterygidae, broad-winged damselfly, taiga bluet damselfly
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Photo Hunters: Freshwater Wetlands Bird Quiz

Grab a paper and pencil and see if you can identify the song of these seven species of birds that are often associated with either open water or marshy edges. The audio is from Birding by Ear, a Peterson Field Guide. The photos are of the clouds (which are water vapor) that floated over the beaver bog one day recently. The answers to the quiz are at the end of the video. All of these birds have been at the bog and I have photographed three of them. If you would like to see the photos, please see the labels on the bottom of the left-hand sidebar (if I link them here, I would give away the answers to the quiz).

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Technorati Tags: Birding by Ear, freshwater wetlands, clouds, quiz

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Photo Hunters: Candy

Raw dough formed into cookies

Not candy — cookies! Better than candy! Amelia (2nd daughter) has created a recipe for cookies that is so good that she now sells them for $2 each. The recipe is secret, of course, but she is sold out every day. She has two kinds: oatmeal-raisin-date-walnut and oatmeal chocolate chip. Each cookie is very large and all of the ingredients are organic. One cookie prevents my midmorning slump and keeps me going for hours, unlike cookies from processed foods and white sugar.

These walnuts are waiting to be roasted
before being added to the dough.

These are the chocolate chips and chunks that will go into her dough.
I used my new Canon Rebel for these photos
in order to practice program mode.

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Photo Hunters: Another Unidentified Plant

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Seen growing near river in open sun and sand. Do you know what this is?

This is the fertile stem of Field Horsetail (Equisetum arvense). It is a problem in pastures and can cause illness in lifestock. I would like to thank Wildlife Gardener for help with the identification.

Technorati Tags: scouring rush, field horsetail, Equisetum arvense 

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Photo Hunters: It's About Time

My new Canon Rebel SXi arrived at the house today. I spent the late afternoon setting it up, putting on the strap (yikes! that's tough!) and taking photos around the house. I am overwhelmed with all the widgets on it but excited. I took the daffodil photograph by simply lying right next to the flower, pointing and shooting. I am still using automatic mode while I read the manual and practice shooting. I hope to get to using some sort of program mode tomorrow.

This photo of Scout was the very first photo I took with the camera, after I put in the battery. Why is this "about time"? Because after saving my money for months in order to buy this camera, my car's front end needed to be completely replaced, taking all the cash. But because of raises, no bills, and Bush's reparation payment, I was able to get the camera and the software to support it (Mac OS X Leopard, iLife '08 (including the newest iPhoto) and Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac).

I have found that I do macros by simply standing as close as possible. The camera does the rest. This is a photo of buds on my kitchen lilac bush.

I'm thinking that my zoom photos of beavers and birds will be a thing of the past until I am able to buy a zoom lens. Until then, I will carry both the Canon and the Kodak. The macro seems okay at this point but may not be adequate with bugs. I'll also need a safer tripod and a flash attachment. And a case. Extra battery, filters. Oh, more storage . . . . . (are my children listening?)

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Photo Hunters: Thirteen Birds of Spring

↑ American Robin
Turdus migratorius

↑ Canada Goose
Branta canadensis

↑ Chipping Sparrow
Spizella passerina

↑ Common snipe (Wilson's snipe)
Gallinago delicata

↑ Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis

↑ Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias

↑ Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus

↑ Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos

↑ Northern Junco (Dark-eyed Junco)
Junco hyemalis

↑ Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus

↑ Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis

↑ Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia

↑ Wood Duck
Aix sponsa

These 13 species of birds have appeared here
in Barton during the past 13 days.
The world is simply exploding with life.

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Technorati Tags: American Robin, Turdus migratorius, Canada Goose, Branta canadensis, Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, Common Snipe, Wilson's Snipe, Gallinago delicata, Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis, Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, Hooded merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, Northern Junco, Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis, Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, Wood Duck, Aix sponsa
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Photo Hunters: A Twist On Turkeys

Here is a new twist to my previous turkey photos (see also here): a displaying male. I saw these three turkeys in a field on Chamberlin Road in Barton on Friday afternoon. I have never before seen, let alone photograph, a male displaying his plummage. Click here for information on wild turkeys and to listen to their sounds.

I had to use a full 10x zoom in order to photograph these birds.

Another twist: I have never seen such
red heads on any wild turkeys before.

Here you see the birds meandering into the woods.
These turkeys survived the winter in great condition.

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Technorati Tags: Meleagris gallopavo, wild turkey
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