Butterfly

Stopping at the local Post Office a few days ago, I was disappointed by the lack of interesting mail, but happy with what I saw as I walked up to the building -- a beautiful butterfly investigating the flowers planted in front of the Post Office.

Once again, I was grateful for the amazing zoom lens on my new Nikon. -- PL

Eagles

So I was in the local BJ's Wholesale Club on Friday, and I wasn't intending to buy a new camera, but passing by the camera display my eye was caught by one of the small signs advertising each camera's most appealing features. This one, on a Nikon model, said "42x Zoom".

I was immediately interested, given all the fun I've been having of late with the 25x zoom lens on my Leica. So 42x… well, just call me an impulse-buyer.

An hour or so later, I had pulled the camera out of the box and set it up so I could bring it with me on another bicycle ride over to check out the heron and eagle nests which I wrote about a few days ago.

But this time, I didn't just capture a shot of an eagle's head by accident -- this time, with the extra magnification of this new camera, I could actually see and shoot several photos of the whole bird.

Or I should say "birds", because there were two adults and one fledgling in the nest, and I managed to take some pretty neat shots.  -- PL

The things you miss when you don't know where to look…

A couple of days ago I was talking to Gary Richardson, and he was telling me about a nature walk taken by him and his wife. They saw numerous blue herons in their nests, as well as an eagle.

As he was describing where this took place, I realized that he was talking about an area past which I often ride my bicycle… but I had no idea these sights were there!

So yesterday, during a lull in the rain, I pedaled out to the spot and took a look. I didn't see the eagle or its nest, but I certainly saw the herons and their nest perched in some very tall trees.

(Actually, in looking at the photos more closely just before I posted them, I think I did get a shot of the eagle…

… even though I didn't realize it at the time.) -- PL

sure signs of Spring...

Madam Sherri's Castle, again

I've written before about "Madame Sherri's Castle" on this blog -- two entries, one at:

http://plairdblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/madame-sherris-castle.html

… and the other at:

http://plairdblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/rune-has-left-building.html

It's basically the remnants of a home which was abandoned and later burned, leaving some sturdy and lovely stonework standing, and is one of my favorite places to visit when I am in the Brattleboro area, as there is something about it that always inspires some of those delightful "ruin ruminations".

I took a drive up there last week, and parked in the small parking area next to the pond. I sat on the tailgate of my truck and ate my lunch from the Vermont deli, listened to the sounds, and enjoyed the sights and smells, of early spring.

After lunch, I wandered around taking photographs. I've done this at least half a dozen times on various visits to this site, but I always find myself wanting to take more. 

This time, in addition to some of the usual angles, I decided to walk around the ruins and look for other interesting perspectives.

Curiously, I don't think I had ever done this before on any of my other visits. I don't recall ever seeing this view of the west wall of the house's basement…

… or this one of the north wall…

… or this one of an old dead tree and the backside of the beautiful stone staircase.

I strolled back down to the pond and took some shots down there as well. -- PL

White glove forest

When we were starting to get our first serious snow of 2012 last week, I was out driving in it, practicing my snow driving skills. The snowfall wasn't quite as thick as I have seen it at various times in the past, but it was definitely coming down and decorating the landscape.

Coming home on a side road, I noticed the interesting pattern the falling snow had created on the branches of some large fir trees, and had to pull over to snap a few photos.

The thought that popped into my head was that the limbs of these trees now resembled hundreds of white-gloved hands.

Beautiful… but also slightly eerie. -- PL

I try to get in a walk every day, especially during this cold season when bicycling seems but a dream of the warm times. A few days ago, I decided to walk one of my favorite bicycle routes -- or at least most of it -- which took about an hour or so. It was a cold day, but walking that distance definitely got me warmed up.

Of course, the bright sunshine helped, too. And even though we're in that time of the year when most things seem brown or grey and a little grubby, there is still beauty to be found. Maybe not the lush green beauty of the spring and summer, but perhaps the dry golds and browns and pale yellows of old grass.

I spotted these specimens as I was crossing a field which I usually walk around. I was hoping to find something interesting to photograph, and these well-preserved stalks of tall grass which had either been mowed down or flattened by snow months ago satisfied that desire.

I like the brushy look of the heads of these grasses. They might make good material for a wreath. -- PL

Greens among browns and greys

It wasn't quite as balmy today as it was yesterday, so I didn't get out on my bicycle, but I did go for a walk on the bike path at the far eastern end of Amherst. There is a lovely swamp along the path there, and I was hoping that I might see some interesting birds and capture them with the big zoom on my new Leica camera.

However, it seemed that while I was there it was a bird-free zone, so I ended up looking down more than up. And I'm glad I did, because otherwise I would have missed these things -- I think Jeannine calls them "princess pines". They are so darned cute in their tiny selves (about four or five inches high)…

… and not too far away, I noticed a log covered with what I thought was moss, and took a couple of close-up shots.

It wasn't until later, when I was looking at the images on my computer, that I realized this "moss" was not really like other mosses I have seen -- it looks to my eye like some sort of miniature creeping evergreen (if such a thing is possible).

Whatever it is, I like it. It adds a touch of welcome color to the drear hues of this winter. -- PL

Moon view

While driving home just before sunset a few days ago, I happened to glance over to the east and saw the moon rising, set against some beautiful sky colors. I parked near the local library and got out my new camera, hoping to capture some of the colors in the sky, but not really having a lot of hope -- it's difficult, if not impossible, to really get the same impact in a photo that you get from standing and looking at the sky.

I took several photos, but realized fairly quickly that none of them were going to be what I was hoping for. So I decided to try out my new Leica V-Lux 3's zoom lens, a 24x element, by photographing the moon on the highest zoom setting. I wasn't expecting much from this experiment, either -- most of the time, those come out blurry or washed out by the moons brightness.

So I was more than pleasantly surprised when I looked at the images later, on my computer, and saw that I had gotten one shot with some fascinating details of the moon's landscape. The craters on the lower left-hand side stood out in stark relief, giving me a sense of the moon's physical nature that I don't think I'd ever really felt before.

Here's the image taken with the full 24x zoom, unaltered.

I cropped it, to better see the details…

… and then applied Photoshop's "Auto-Levels" command to give it a bit more "punch". 

I like the more dramatic contrast in values, but I have to say that I think I like the previous, un-Photoshopped version a little bit more. -- PL

More turkeys in the yard

I haven't blogged much lately -- I think it's mostly been from a bit of "blog fatigue". (Hopefully, that's not just a rationalization for laziness.)

I suppose part of it too may be due to the fact that it is summer, and we're finally having some stretches of good weather after all of the rain in the spring.

Anyway, at the risk of inducing "turkey fatigue" in the readers of this blog, I have to share at least one photo from yesterday. When I came home, I spotted our flock of turkeys nonchalantly strolling past the front of our house, and I managed to quickly roll down the window of my vehicle and get my camera out in time to capture some images. This was my favorite.

I kind of like the fact that this group of birds feels comfortable enough in our yard to make it part of their weekly perambulations. -- PL

Turkeys in the yard

Not quite as dramatic as a moose, but still…

Yesterday, I was relaxing in the hammock on our back porch, reading a book, when Jeannine alerted me to the presence of some creatures crossing our lawn.

TURKEYS!!!

Unfortunately, I did not have my good camera handy, so I was only able to get a few shots with my pocket camera, and those were through the screened porch windows.

Nonetheless, you can still see that not only are there two adult birds, but either six or seven young ones with them. I'd never seen a "family flock" like this before.

They crossed the yard in silence and then were gone into the woods. -- PL

MOOSE!!!

For a long time, I have been wanting to see a moose. 

Not in a zoo, but in the wild… or what passes for "wild" in this area. I have heard other people's stories about seeing mooses -- Steve Lavigne says they are fairly regular visitors to his neighborhood in Maine. I've seen many a deer, but never a moose.

One of Emily's favorite children's books when she was young was Jan Brett's "Annie and the Wild Animals", and in it a girl makes corn muffins and feeds them to various animals, including a moose. Em was, for some reason, really into the moose thing, and I think it may have influenced me. I recall that when we would drive around in the more rural areas out here, we would look at every pond and marsh and swamp to see it there might be one of these majestic creatures lurking within.

Well, a couple of days ago Jeannine and I decided to take a day trip up to Williamstown to see the Camille Pissarro show at the Clark Art Museum, and also do a bicycle ride on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail which stretches from Adams to Pittsfield. We weren't sure which to do first, so, to give us more time to ponder the options as well as optimally situate ourselves so we could go either way at the last minute, I decided to take Route 116 up to Adams instead of going the usual way to Williamstown, which would be to head up to the Mohawk Trail and go through North Adams.

And I'm REALLY glad I did.

Because as we were driving through Plainfield, past a small swamp which extended on both sides of the road, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye on the north side. Could it be…?

I slowed down, looked back, and sure enough -- it was a moose!

As quickly as I could, trying not to lock up my brakes and noisily SCREECH to a moose-frightening stop, I did a three point turn in the middle of the road, and eased the car onto the verge of the road as close to the moose as I dared, about thirty feet away. I fumbled with my camera, trying to get it out before the beast got spooked and left. Fortunately, not much fumbling was required, and rolling down my window, I got several decent shots.

The moose did not appear to be overly nervous about us being there… it just kept dipping its large head into the water of the swamp and pulling up various dripping water plants, which it casually munched on.

It wasn't until another driver also stopped to peer at the moose that it apparently decided it was time to seek another place to eat, and ambled off into the woods, doing that amazing thing that large wild beasts can often do -- within a few seconds it was lost to sight in the dappled shade of the trees.

As Jeannine put it later, "That's one more thing you can cross off on your "bucket list"!" -- PL