Dec

31

Regifting…

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 6 comments

Shot of the Month – December 2013

Northern Hawk Owl, Vermont - USA (1032)Each December many children’s heads are full of ideas of what presents they would like a certain someone from the north to bring them.  Although I had left such thoughts behind long ago, this year I received a wonderful gift from the north just in time for the holiday season.  My gift skipped the flying-reindeer-driven-sleigh thing and flew in under its own powers to allow me to get my first sighting, and photograph, of a Northern Hawk Owl (NHO).

NHOs normally live in the boreal forests across the northern Holarctic so it is pretty rare (though not unheard of) to see one this far south. This little stunner has been hanging out in a nearby town (about 25 minutes away) since mid-December though I was not able to go see him until just before Xmas. This NHO flew hundreds of miles south from the desolated arctic landscape and perplexedly made his winter home in a series of fields right beside a very busy road. He seems completely unfazed by all the commotion.  He could often be found sitting at the top of a dead tree (as in this photo) as the traffic buzzes by.  I have seen him catch at least 5 rodents within 30 yards of the traffic so the noise must not bother him.

By the Road (1838)

Talk about drive-by shooting…..a bit too close for comfort.

This guy can sure draw a crowd.  On separate days while out shooting I met excited birders who had driven up from Pennsylvania and/or New Jersey (6 hour drive one way) to get a glimpse of this fellow. Every day, not too safely, I had more than a few cars stop on the road as the driver leaned through the open window and asked in a gasp, “Do you see HIM?”   Their glee was immediate as I pointed him out.  They would then quickly pull into a parking area 100 yards up the road and scurry back with assorted binoculars, spotting scopes, and/or cameras.  At times traffic was almost brought to a halt as drivers slowed to try and understand what all the commotion was about while others tried to look around and see what we were all looking at.  The crowds usually did not last too long given how bitterly cold it often was.  The flurry of activity would ebb and flow as one group saw and left as another hopeful group arrived.  Your average visitor spent perhaps 12 minutes gazing in wonderment or waiting for a better view.  I typically spent about 4 hours at a time during the five days that I visited the site trying to get a good shot.

How did so many people hear of his arrival?  All things can be found on the internet, grasshopper.  As word got out the pilgrims came from all around Vermont, New York, Maine, Massachusetts…  I met a friendly couple from Chicago who were visiting family in Vermont.  I met a nice young woman, Annie, who lived just a few hundred yards from the most common areas to view the NHO.  She walked over one day to see what the brouhaha was about.   After looking through someone’s powerful viewing scope and REALLY seeing him she exclaimed, “I am not even a birder, but this is pretty exciting.”   I met another nice couple from Connecticut, they had driven up through treacherous icy roads and fog to catch a glimpse of what for many is a “life bird.”  One day I had a cement truck quickly slow down and veer into the parking area as I was walking from my car to take up my normal viewing spot.  The driver jumped out and ran up to me.  He explained that he drove by this spot each day and wondered what was going on.  I explained, and with his curiosity quenched, he thanked me hopped back in his truck, and drove off with a satisfied look.

As I stood by the road with the tripod and large lens I was an easy beacon helping many a pilgrim find their quarry.  A surprising number mentioned that they had seen me along the road a previous day and decided this time to stop and look.  Some say that regifting is not polite, but in this case, I took great pleasure in helping others, even if inadvertently, share in this wonderful offering from the north.

Cold (1844)

How cold? Breath-freezing-on-the-balaclava cold.

 

Happy Holidays!

 

P.S.

I recommend opening the image up to full size to really see how beautiful he is….make use of that big monitor if you have it.

 

 

Dec

21

Happy Holidays – 2013

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20061230b

Nov

30

A Lovely Lady

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 1 comments

Shot of the Month – November 2013

Painted Lady, Vermont - USA (1984) Check out Vanessa, isn’t she lovely?  Actually, it could be a he, I have no way of knowing, but either way, it definitely is a Vanessa.  Perhaps a full introduction is in order.  Please meet Vanessa cardui, her more formal, scientific name.

There is a pretty good chance that you have met “her” before as this is one of the most common butterflies in the world and is found on every continent except Antarctica.

In less formal settings Vanessa is known as The Painted Lady.  In some circles, mainly in Europe, her nickname is the “Cosmopolitan” highlighting her global distribution.

In my image to the left, we see the underside of the Painted Lady’s wings. In butterfly lingo, this is the ventral side of the wing.  The ventral side is seen when the wings are closed.  When the wings are open we are looking at the dorsal side.

Dorsal = open wings

Ventral = closed wings

On the ventral side, the wings have a fascinating camouflage pattern and have 4 colored eye spots.  The eye spots and the pattern markings on the hindwings are designed to draw predators’ attention away from the butterfly’s head.

painted-lady-butterflyWith wings open, as shown to the right, Vanessa is draped in orange with black and white highlights. (source)

Alas, such beauty is fleeting.

The life cycle of the Painted Lady is typically 2-4 weeks!  In warmer climates, they can live longer but rarely do they survive beyond one winter.

Painted Ladies are very popular in elementary schools where students can observe the entire “circle of life” firsthand.  Butterflies go through 4 distinct stages of life:

Egg:  3-5 days

Larva(Caterpillar):  5-10 days

Chrysalis: 7-10 days

Butterfly: 2 weeks

Here is a nice graphic showing the life cycle.

Moral of the Story:  Life is short, get out there and do your part to make it beautiful.

Thanks, Vanessa…

Oct

31

Redily Available

Shot of the Month  Posted by / 2 comments

Shot of the Month – October 2013

Northern Cardinal (female), Maryland-USA (2031)This month one of the most readily recognizable and popular birds in the United States.  How popular?  Well, no less than seven states have made this species their state bird (North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia).  And then there are the sports teams.  This bird is a very popular mascot — a certain St. Louis baseball team uses this bird as their moniker, as does an NFL football team in Arizona.  Many a high school, college, and university fly this bird’s likeness on their team flag.

Still in doubt? (you non-birder, non-sports fan, non-mid-west/Southerner types) Part of the problem might be that this photo is of the female gender of this bird species.  Per usual, the male tends to garner all the attention.

Another clue, they are named after these guys:  Cardinals

No, it is not the monk bird.

Of course, it is a Cardinal.

To be accurate, it is a Northern Cardinal (NC).  For you bird geeks out there, the term cardinal includes about 60 species of birds (see the whole list here) that us laypeople would call tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings, chats, and saltators that may exhibit a broad range of colors from red to blue to green to just about any color in the rainbow.

To the right is the flashy male Northern Cardinal that is almost universally recognized, even by non-bird enthusiasts:

 

Northern Cardinal (male), Maryland-USA (8547-3)

No doubt that the male is a stunner, a startling all-out attack of RED; the female is more subtle, with delicate tones of tan and caramel with well-appointed red highlights.

A few bird bits to ponder:

  1. Northern Cardinals used to be found primarily in southern states.  With the proliferation of bird feeders and warming climates, these birds can now be increasingly found from Mexico to Canada, from Maine to Nebraska.
  2.  NCs are ground feeders and dine mostly on seeds (hence that powerful, seed-cracking beak).
  3. NCs used to be popular pets but the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 put an end to that silly practice.  If you capture or kill a NC you can be fined $15,000.
  4. Cardinals mate for life.  The females really dig the red — the brighter the male plumage, the better the success in finding a mate.
  5. NCs don’t migrate.
  6. Unlike many other songbirds in North America, both the male and female can sing.  Usually, only the male sings.

 

Next time you spot that glorious jolt of red at the feeder or in the woods, take a bit of time to find and appreciate his lovely partner…

 

 

Until next month….:-)

 

 

 

Sep

30

Revealing Times

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Shot of the Month – September 2013

Fall Foliage, Vermont-USA (3420)In my current state of being (geographic, not metaphysic), Vermont, September is the month when the trees explode with color.  I found this scene during a short walk down the mountain road that we live on.   I like how there is a spiral of color on the outside that guides you to the forest within that seems intent on resisting the change of seasons.

Revealing Times-spiral

How and why do leaves change their color?  I forgot long ago.  As a service to all those who also forgot their 5th-grade science here is a simplified summary:

Leaves create the food trees need to survive by converting light energy into chemical energy that is used to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates (sugars).  These sugars are the fuel for a plant’s growth and maintenance.

Leaves contain several pigments, chlorophyll, and carotenoids, to absorb different wavelengths of light to facilitate photosynthesis. Chlorophyll captures red and blue wavelength light but reflects green light — that is why most plants are green.  Carotenoids (also found in corn, carrots, and bananas) increase the efficiency of photosynthesis by expanding the spectrum of light captured by the leaf. Carotenoids capture blue and green light and reflect back yellow and orange.  Leaves always contain yellow and orange pigments but we can’t see them in the summer due to the dominance of chlorophyll.

In the fall trees begin to produce less chlorophyll as they begin to shut down food production.  As the green chlorophyll fades from the leaves the carotenoids are finally revealed in all their glory.

Ok, so we have covered the different shades of yellow and orange found in the autumn palette, but what about the reds?  Ahh yes, the glorious reds.

The red pigment (including pinks and purples) in leaves is produced by anthocyanins (also found in cranberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums).  This pigment is not present in leaves until the fall and the production of this pigment varies greatly depending on the weather.  Surprisingly (at least to me) scientists are not exactly sure of the role of anthocyanins — the leading theory is that the red pigment protects the leaves from the sun giving them extra time to transfer nutrients from the leaves into the twigs and roots before the arrival of winter.

Yellow, gold, and orange colors remain constant from year to year as carotenoids are always present in leaves and the amount does not change in response to weather.  The intensity of red can vary greatly from one year to the next.  The best autumn colors are produced when there is a:

  1. Warm, wet spring; plus
  2. A summer that is not too hot or dry; plus
  3. A fall with plenty of warm sunny days and cool nights (below 45 F but above freezing)

 

Who knew chemistry could be so beautiful?

 

 

Want to learn more?

Why are plants green? (a nice video)

Light absorption for photosynthesis (geeky physics with colorful graphs)