In local news…

Al Denelsbeck

juvenile eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus sitting motionless at night
I finally got out and did a couple of shooting sessions, all local (meaning the front and back yards and the pond nearby,) so I have a few photos to post – no real theme, so these will be all over the place. The most recent is above, a very young eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) sitting motionless in the back yard as I did a little nighttime exploring, about an hour ago as I type this initial draft; I hadn’t planned on doing any photography tonight, but this guy made me go in and get the camera. I’d heard a commotion from the neighbor’s yard a bit earlier, something ripping through the leaves, but never spotted anything by flashlight. It was enough noise to sound like squirrels chasing one another, but well after sunset when squirrels aren’t active, and not the sound that deer typically make. I suspected either rabbits in mating/cavorting behavior, or a fox on the chase, and finding this palm-sized spud (and sibling) in the yard not long afterward supports this idea a little – their grass nest may have been disturbed and they scattered. I didn’t heard any squealing, which would have been a definite sign of a fox successfully catching one.

I have to do a brief update on the mantids, of course.

juvenile Chinese mantis Tenodera sinensis on red-brown Japanese maple leaves
I’ve had, like, five hatchings in the yard now, but they’ve largely scattered in all directions; the best I can say is they seem to always like the big Japanese maple near the door, and some of them are presently residing on another in a pot nearby. This one was likely from the last hatching featured, and no more than 15mm in length, so I backed off a bit to do more of a scale and fartsy shot. Nearby, one twice its size and notably green was within easy camera reach.

slightly larger Chinese mantis Tenodera sinensis on Japanese maple
The maple will turn green a little later in the year and the mantids will be able to blend in better then – this kind of reddish-brown is not among their repertoire. One of these days, I’ll either figure out how to tell one specific mantid from another and thus track their coloration changes, or get together a decent terrarium to house a couple within. I think they can only change color between molts, but haven’t confirmed that yet.

If the mantids abandoned the vicinity of their hatchings quickly, the wheel bugs are exactly the opposite.

wheel bug Arilus cristatus egg cluster with hatched wheel bugs still hanging around weeks later
These wheel bugs (Arilus cristatus) hatched six weeks ago, and every time I’ve checked there’s been a few still hanging out directly on the egg cluster. And yet, from the size, they’re apparently finding food so, good for them I suppose? There are no parents around to annoy, anyway.

A couple more from the yard, and then we’ll go visit the pond.

likely female American five-lined skink Plestiodon fasciatus basking atop fence post with regrowing tail
Don’t ask me why I find the Carolina anoles more interesting than the five-lined skinks, even when we have several of the latter that live within easy reach – actually, I can tell you that, because the anoles have cooler skin and look more like Komodo monitors. All that aside, this is an American five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus,) likely female from the coloration, having lost its tail at some point in the past. Don’t ask me, because this is the first I’ve seen of it, but it seems to be growing back, as they will.

American five-lined skink Plestiodon fasciatus bolting as shutter tripsShe was being fairly mellow in her basking spot right alongside a gate we were using, but proved she wasn’t stupid by seeking shelter if we drew too close, returning when it seemed safe. A little after the detail shot above, I decided to go for the portrait angle, and maneuvered around to head-on, slowly closing in. Curiously, as I tripped the shutter and the viewfinder blacked out for that fraction of a second, she was gone when my view returned; whether she actually heard the slap of the mirror and shot away that quickly, or her decision to bolt was merely coincidental (I had stopped moving entirely at that point,) I’ll never know, but the resulting image wasn’t quite as intended.

Now we go to the big pond – no, not the Atlantic ocean, a hair smaller than that. While it has an overflow drain engineered into it, that was done before several housing developments nearby all changed the stormwater management for the area, and the pond frequently overflows during heavy rains. This has created a new channel, and when the heavy flow subsides, it leaves behind a few mini-ponds, or deep semi-permanent puddles, and the wildlife have adopted these as legitimate. A few days back, The Girlfriend’s Sprog had spotted numerous tiny frogs hanging out on the banks, and I carefully collected two for a studio session, but they weren’t having it: my photography set wasn’t to their liking and they immediately abandoned it as soon as they were introduced, causing me to pursue them across my desk. So I returned them and tackled some pics right at their home instead.

unidentified tiny frog on muddy bank
Now, a few notes. Some idea of the size can be garnered from the surroundings, including the strands of pine straw cutting through the frame, or I can simply tell you that the frogs would fit comfortably on your pinky fingernail. I’m quite sure they’re juvenile, having emerged from tadpole stage within the past couple of weeks, so this is little indication of what the adult will look like, and they remain unidentified, though I’m trying – most guides only show adults, and juveniles often look entirely different. I can tell you from experience that the Copes grey treefrogs look different at this stage, including being twice the size, so I’m sure this is a small species, perhaps a spring peeper or little grass frog, or one of the narrowmouth toads that I’ve definitely found in the exact same area; the head shape doesn’t seem to be indicating that, but who knows? However, I carry little paper scales in my wallet for a reason.

unidentified juvenile frog next to millimeter scale
That’s a millimeter scale, so we’re talking 7mm – there isn’t even a full inch visible on the scale within the frame. I was hanging over the edge of the bank by a tiny ‘cliff’ for this perspective, aiming down from above, and was having a hard time breathing since all my weight was directly on my chest, my shoulders and arms hanging out into open space. The things I do for three readers…

At the edge of the pond proper, several different species of frog were alternating sessions of mating calls. I’m never sure what the criteria is, but any species will be silent for a while, then erupt into a chorus of sound among individuals spread out dozens of meters apart, then after 30-60 seconds fall silent again for several minutes; this is most often the various treefrogs, but the green (aquatic) frogs and the bullfrogs also seem to run in waves, the bullfrogs the least erratic of them. I got lucky in tracking down one in particular during a jam.

green treefrog Hyla cinerea inflated between calls
This is a green treefrog (Hyla cinerea,) inflated during a calling session but between actual solos. And then…

green treefrog Hyla cinerea in mid-call
… this is in mid-call, producing the curiously electronic sound that they do. I was not set up to do either video or audio for this session, which I may rectify soon, because attempting to describe their call is a waste of time; it just sounds alien. And the best I can say about their timing is that it seems like they remain silent until one of them in the area gets up enough nerve to sound off, and immediately everyone else, glad that someone had the guts, will chime in and the night will ring with the babble of frogs. Then they quickly peter out, like how audiences decide that the clapping has gone on long enough. This may not be very far from the truth; certainly just one treefrog can be found by sound quickly, but a bunch of them is disorienting. Or I could be talking out of my ass.

We need a profile.

green treefrog Hyla cinerea in profile, between calls
This was just as this individual decided the calling had gone on long enough, though my presence and attempts to get a good angle (by the light of a headlamp) probably had something to do with it. It remained half-inflated in this manner for a few seconds, then abruptly went down to normal proportions and resettled onto the branch.

I have a couple other finds, from earlier that evening as the sun was setting.

yellow-bellied slider Trachemys scripta scripta out of water
I’m not sure the exact intentions of this yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta) – it wasn’t far from the water, but in an odd location perched on some tree roots. From the shine on the carapace, it hadn’t been out long, but there was no wet trail up to it either. It moved on quickly once I got out of sight, and wasn’t there when I tried to show it to The Girlfriend a couple minutes later.

northern water snake Nerodia sipedon peeking out from debris at pond's edgeVery close by, however, something else remained put for a few photos. The photo at left is how I first spotted it as I went to the water’s edge to see what might be about, and I was pleased, because this is the first I’ve seen this year – I include the full frame to show you exactly how subtle it was, and it might have been even harder to spot, but the colors were bright and I suspect it had shed its skin very recently. This is a northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon,) which average about a meter in length but thick, like 5 to 8cm in width. I always like to see them because they’re impressive – and harmless, though far too many people can’t identify common snakes in their area and mistake these for either copperheads or cottonmouths, which they do not resemble very closely at all. Now, granted, if you grab one it will bite the hell out of you, unlike some other species, but you have to make the first aggressive move by, you know, grabbing them in the first place. Given their choice, they’ll simply flee.

No, that’s not the best photo that I obtained.

closer look at northern water snake Nerodia sipedon
For this, I had switched from the stabilized 18-135 to the non-stabilized, 20-year-old 100-300 L, a risky move in the fading light, but boosting the ISO and firing off several frames while trying to remain perfectly still produced a usable pic, even at 1/50 second shutter speed (a few times slower than recommended.) I know all my readers are sharp-eyed, and didn’t miss the apparent hook protruding from its back; this is not a normal part of the anatomy, nor is it even protruding, but just a trick of perspective. I was fooled for a bit too, but another frame makes it clearer.

northern water snake Nerodia sipedon mostly hidden under debris
See? Just a bit of the damnable pine straw seen almost end-on. And don’t think I missed the curious shape from this perspective: I named this photo “ThrobbingPython” for a reason, but if you don’t recognize the reference I’ll let you puzzle it out. By this time The Girlfriend had joined me and could see the snake for herself, and I was creeping closer to see just what kind of detail I could get, but the snake revealed that it was not asleep as suspected – another half-step and it launched itself from this spot and sped for the water.

northern water snake Nerodia sipedon heading for safety in the water
Had it kept going at its original pace, I wouldn’t have had this photo, but it paused at the weeds (poisoned by the HOA in the area to prevent them from “taking over the pond,”) to debate its best course, and I could get a few more frames. Displayed now are the markings which distinguish it from the near-identical banded water snake, which are the broken bands towards the tail; the banded water snake has intact crosswise stripes. Some nice colors, though.

Okay, two more, and then you can go. I expect to see you back within a few days, though.

green frog Lithobates clamitans sporting duckweed on head
We return to the backyard for the last two. I’d brought back some aquatic species and shells from last year’s trip to New York, and dumped them into the backyard pond when I was done with them; this included a few leaves of genuine NY duckweed, which this spring took a firm hold and completely shielded the water’s surface. Which is evidenced by this green frog (Lithobates clamitans,) one of the three or four residents in the pond, at this point out foraging in the yard. I don’t know if this is accidental or intentional, but it’s a dashing look, don’t you think? Sets off the nostril speckles nicely.

And another, quite-common-now resident of the yard.

Copes grey treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis perched on lawn chair
I believe this Copes grey treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) had been sheltering under the grill cover when I removed it to use the grill the other evening, and extricated itself to perch on top, whereupon I moved it to a lawn chair, a maneuver it treated with aplomb. Just had to show off those eyes.

But how? Part 26: Some other religion

Al Denelsbeck

I think I have to go back and rename these posts so the topic title is more appropriate and no longer a question, but that would ruin all of the outside links to these posts (snerk!) so for now, we’ll just continue blithely onward even though we can no longer phrase things in the form of a question. Today we’ll talk about how the disturbingly huge number of horrendous and outright bloodthirsty actions done in the name of religion inevitably invokes the response, “but that wasn’t my religion!” or more generically, “but that wasn’t us!“

First, there’s a curious distinction that needs to be addressed, because I am very much in favor of avoiding over-generalizations, ‘painting everyone with the same brush’ so to speak, and firmly believe that actions should be judged individually; there is no ideology in existence that can be said to enjoin or provoke specific behaviors universally, and may of them are so vague that they can be interpreted at will. When we look at any of the christian crusades in history, for instance, they were a product of cultures, of economic circumstances, of current knowledge and educational practices, and of perceived consequences as much, if not more so, than they were a product of religious leaders’ provocation, much less scriptural guidance – it is not safe or accurate to say, “religion caused this,” in any circumstances.

But then, there’s the other side of the coin, where we notice that religious motivations lie entwined within that huge number of vicious actions, then and now, and are forced to ask, “So why is this so frequently the case?” It is certainly safe to say that anyone’s local episcopal church is not even remotely aimed towards slaughtering infidels, but ignoring the common denominators in some of the worst events in history – again, then and now – is not prudent or rational. We can put such things down to simple ‘human nature,’ which is a rational possibility, and claim that the religious influence is simply a unifying by-product, a semi-tangible cause that people can focus upon, and note that it occurs for other ideologies as well – political parties for sure, and cultural influences, and so on. But by what margin should these outnumber the religious motivations, especially the outright religious banners and organizations and root goals? And as I’ve asked before, if religion is a by-product, a handy flag to wave because the cultures of the times put influence upon them, how did this even come to be seen as ‘proper,’ especially given how often most religions espouse doing ‘good’ things? At what point, and in what manner, did, “Love thy neighbor,” get twisted about to mean, “and watch him die in pieces”? If we put such a thing down to, for instance, a particularly misguided but charismatic leader of any kind, how did so many followers manage to miss the departure from the True™ message of their faith?

Since the reputed value of religion is in how it makes people good, we have to face the ugly fact that when it is linked in any form to violence, persecution, bigotry, and other such detrimental actions and attitudes, the value is nil – there is no better demonstration that it fails, really. What we have left are the claims that, no matter how horrific an action, “this is what god wants and I’m doing as I should,” one of the more common definitions of piety, but again, should we even attempt to see any value in this? Personal salvation is, as I’ve said before, remarkably self-centered and antisocial, not to mention completely antithetical to the altruistic messages put forth by most religions in the first place. And quite frankly, if any god really is pitting humans against one another in its name, who the fuck needs that? You could prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that such a god exists and I’d still consider it a piece of shit – I’d just make the switch from atheism to antitheism.

We’re now a lot closer to the heart of the matter, and the message, which is that zealotry of any kind can too often lead far, far away from beneficial outcomes; this includes religion, this includes politics, this includes animal activism and “health consciousness” and “the right to self-defend” and so on. While examining the deep sociological motivations behind large groups of people driven to extreme actions can be useful, especially in identifying the causal factors, the goal really is to prevent such things from happening again. Is it necessary to determine the exact sequence of events, the distinct methods of motivation? Or is it easier to espouse approaching all of our actions critically, the function of asking, “How is this supposed to help, and what am I hoping to accomplish?” for everything?

And let’s face it: anyone who believes in an ultimate authority, a guiding force larger and more important than humans themselves, is remarkably easy to manipulate, requiring nothing more than convincing them that they know what this authority really wants. Do we honestly believe that all participants in holy wars have received their instructions from divine visitation, that god spoke to them all directly? Or did most of them receive their ‘religious’ impetus through some self-appointed mouthpiece, one that even told them that such-and-such scriptural passage really means, “Let’s apply weaponry to others”? Exactly how many religious adherents are even capable of listening to any and every religious leader and saying, “No, that’s not right,” when the preaching starts going off the rails? Because we all know that virtually every religion really, really hates that kind of behavior, and the priests and rabbis and imams and other figureheads do everything in their power to ensure that it doesn’t take place. And so, when the protest comes that, “That’s not my religion,” the response remains, “But could it be? In what way do you assure yourself that you cannot be driven to extreme action?” Are we to believe that any given religious adherent is responsible enough to halt a trend towards antisocial impact, or is the protest merely that they have never been directed to act viciously yet? There’s a huge difference between these.

Most people believe they’re in control and not prone to irrational excesses – but then, when enough get together, what becomes the ‘norm?’ I live among three college towns, and when the local sports team of either snags the annual country-wide championship of one type or another, the downtown area becomes a riot scene in celebration of this. Why? What does this accomplish? Why do so many of the idiots out there setting bonfires in the middle of the street never ask themselves any questions at all about the function of this? And this is in relation to a fucking game, a ‘title’ that depends on more than a smidgen of random luck and disappears in a few months – followed and supported by those enrolled in one of our institutes of higher learning, the place that we count on to teach useful thinking skills…

There’s another aspect that I wish to point out, because I’ve personally seen this kind of response far too often, and it’s gotten both old and insulting. Whenever someone brings up any instance where religious fervor has led to reprehensible behavior, we’re/they’re not looking to throw blame – the goal is to prevent it from happening again. The protest that, “It wasn’t me!” is meaningless, whiny bullshit, especially if the protester can demonstrate no way in which they couldn’t have succumbed to such behavior. But more to the point, if you’re not part of the solution, shut up and get out of the way. While religious folk hate being compared to other religious folk when it comes to bad things, they certainly depend on it when the attitude seems to be beneficial, and extol their great numbers frequently, never bothering to differentiate. Worse, even when they’re assured that they’re following the right path, the one supported by the highest of authorities and powers, somehow they never involve themselves in eradicating or even protesting these ‘false’ religions that cause the ills. Who else in the world is most capable, most supported, in a goal of this nature? If god is on your side, then have at it; you’re the best soldiers in this fight.

Wow, that sounds like I’m suggesting another holy war, doesn’t it? And most of us see that as the most likely outcome, because it’s the way that so many such conflicts in the past have turned out – clashing ideologies never results in the formation of one consolidated, True™ one, and zealots convinced of their own goodness don’t ever have the mindset to stop and ask themselves what ‘good’ really means. That requires the ability to question oneself, exactly the opposite of ‘faith,’ and can only be done by those who admit to the possibility of being wrong. And let’s face it: umpteen hundred different religions across the face of the planet, not at all counting the thousands that came and went, does not in any way support the idea that one in particular is even effective, much less correct. This is, instead, what we should expect to see if they were all mythical nonsense.

Unfortunately, pointing such a thing out to most religious folk is only motivation to immediately make excuses, to search for loopholes, or to merely assert their own correctness once again by dismissing everything that runs counter to their faith. “This is the way god planned it to be,” they say, usually at least aware enough not to add out loud what they’re thinking, “and I will be the winner in the end.” Yet the soil is made up of others that believed exactly the same thing, and we don’t even know their names.

The last shuddering gasp

Al Denelsbeck

These are the final few photos from the brief trip further south, not really fitting any particular category so don’t expect a theme (like you normally do.) Mostly random, while still being in my deplorable style and subject matter.

While I did an earlier post regarding birds, this anecdote didn’t quite fit in. Our Host had been showing off the various nest boxes around their yard and was about to display the baby bluebirds, but on opening the box, it wasn’t bluebirds she found, or even blue.

yellow rat snake Pantherophis obsoleta quadrivittata digesting baby bluebirds within nest box
That’s a yellow rat snake (Pantherophis obsoleta quadrivittata,) the first I’ve ever seen, though Our Host tells us they’ve been found before in that area. She’s not at all fond of snakes, which makes it ironic that she’s so damned good at finding them when I’m around, and that’s not a joke. They (the snakes) also go by the name of chicken snake and eastern rat snake – inexcusable since there are way too many “eastern” named species around, c’mon get creative – but they’re closely related to the black rat snake, so we’re going with this one. After a couple of pics in situ, I reached in and drew it out for a better view, and The Girlfriend’s Sprog wielded the camera for that bit.

yellow rat snake Pantherophis obsoleta quadrivittata in author's hands, showing bulges from consuming baby bluebirds, by The Girlfriend's Sprog
This frame shows the coloration and size, the bulges from the consumed nestlings, and even the nest box in the background – nicely framed! The snake was only about a meter in length (though much thinner than gators of the same length,) about half of full grown size. It was incredibly docile, not making the faintest attempt to strike and only token motions to escape. Against Our Host’s judgment, I took it a few hundred meters off and released it into the woods – this is what they eat, after all, and a nest box atop a broad fence post isn’t going to deter strong climbers like the rat snake family.

Previously, I’ve found plenty of snakes on their property, mostly around the pond they have, and made a search on two separate nights of this trip, not finding a sign of any. This might have been due to the recent flooding that they underwent, which caused the pond to surmount all of its banks and extend into the yard for a bit, but it was a little disappointing nonetheless. What I did find were the typical subjects that I can almost always find around here, but hey, if I only post the one snake I’m not doing my part in maintaining the creepy vibe that I’ve nurtured for this site.

six-spotted fishing spider Dolomedes triton pausing on small branch in water
The pond did play home to numerous six-spotted fishing spiders (Dolomedes triton) of varying sizes, and if you know fishing spiders, this means anything from comfortably fitting within a dime with all legs spread to potentially puncturing your car tire if they bit it. This one split that difference, but had drawn attention to itself by cavorting with seeming abandon across the water, stopping at one point and raising itself high on its legs like it was standing on tippy-toe (who coined that damn phrase anyway?) before diddybopping over to pause on a branch where I could photograph it easily. What I find interesting about this photo is that one of the legs appears to actually belong to something else, like when people imitate kali by sitting close behind one another and sticking their arms out. Yeah, I’m in one of those moods.

Also in evidence was a largish wolf spider, keeping to what dry land it could find.

large wolf spider genus Lycosidae pausing for portrait
Some of the wolf spiders (genus Lycosidae) and some of the fishing spiders actually look a lot alike, but it’s the eye pattern that betrays their difference. Granted, you have to get pretty damn close to determine this, and for a lot of people, this is at least half a klick closer than they prefer. If you really need to know, the rear/top outside eyes on fishing spiders are more in line with the rear inside (main) eyes, while the wolf has them sitting further back like afterthoughts of the spider creator – you can see a comparison photo here, or use BugGuide.net’s handy illustrations (fishing spiders, Dolomedes, are found under Nursery Web spiders.) This guy and many others were all found at night with the headlamp, since their eyes throw such distinct reflections, but seriously, don’t do this in the woods if spiders creep you out because you really don’t need to know just how damn many of them there are around you.

Let’s take a scenic break.

entrance drive to Wormsloe Estate, Skidaway Island, Georgia
One of the few other places we checked out, on a whim, was the Wormsloe Estate near Skidaway Island, southeast of Savannah. It was brief, since it was later in the afternoon and near closing time, but I fired off a few shots while there, like the one above of the entrance drive. No snakes found there either, though it bordered some wetlands which should have been prime cottonmouth habitat. We did find a lot of fiddler crabs and I shot some video clips, which might appear later on if I get some more to make a decent length film (like, longer than ten seconds.) But there were some marvelous old trees to be found, just in harsh light that made it difficult to capture well.

twisted tree trunk in Wormsloe Estate near Skidaway Island, Georgia
In the peaty mud at the base of this were the fiddlers, disappearing when danger threatened but reappearing within only a minute.

I also happened to like this old tree from the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

unidentified thick tree decorated with Spanish moss, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
… though it should be noted, with the closing of public facilities, this was serving as the Refuge’s Men’s Room…

Another tree that we picnicked under, that it took the ultra-wide lens to do justice to.

broad low tree with Spanish moss shot from underneath, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
I kinda feel the need to clarify this for anyone that hasn’t ever visited the southeastern US, but Spanish moss really can grow anywhere and creates its own moody scenery without any intervention. Nor is it anchored or parasitic or anything; it simply pulls free if you try, like tinsel. Pretty curious plant all on its own.

One morning dawned fairly foggy, with great wisps of it twisting and rising off of the pond, though I hadn’t grabbed the tripod and so couldn’t get anything decent of that, so I settled for a web in an overgrown field.

dew-covered eb on foggy morning outside Savannah, Georgia
I also need to say (I need to. Really.) that we arrived there just at the start of love bug season, which is both good and bad. I’ve seen it much, much worse, but it did mean that I had to clean the windshield twice in three days.

mating swarming love bugs Plecia nearctica on color mutation of unidentified flower, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
I initially had ‘love bug’ in quotes, thinking it was a colloquial name, but no, it’s the common name of the species, the scientific name being Plecia nearctica. This time of year is mating season, and they can appear by the millions, clustering in ideal locations and being decimated by the hundreds by passing cars – apparently they’re drawn to auto exhaust. They can remain conjoined in ecstasy for days and even fly that way, one of them facing backwards (or maybe they both fly sideways – I’ve never looked close.) Here, a patch of unidentified purple flowers in the Refuge sported a smaller cluster of white mutations, and when I leaned in close I saw that it was covered in love bugs, though in hindsight I never checked to see if it was just the mutation gaining the attention or if I simply didn’t notice them on all of the flowers.

In closing, we go back the Our Hosts’ place one evening, making me feel right at home.

possibly Cuban treefrog Osteopilus septentrionalis perched on chair on porch outside Savannah, Georgia
I believe this is a Cuban treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis,) but am not positive of that ID – they appear in a wide range of colors, and so far nothing else that I’ve looked at seems to match. They’re invasive, and my reptile guide pegged them as getting halfway up the Florida coast, having first appeared near Miami, but that book was printed decades ago and currently, they’re found throughout Florida, with various ranges given as throughout Georgia and even into South Carolina (which Savannah pretty much borders.) This was one of my identification photos, with another of the full back, and really, I should have handled it to examine the underside and inside of the hind legs, which for frogs often provides more distinctive characteristics, but I left it sitting where I found it, and “worked my magic” (snerk!) by my own shooting position instead.

possibly Cuban treefrog Osteopilus septentrionalis telling fortunes with wooden ball
Now, if Our Hosts had chairs on their porch with crystal knobs on top instead, we’d have a great fortune teller photograph, but noooo, they had to be all rustic with wooden chairs. Sometimes you just can’t get good cooperation, so we’ll just go with this.

That’s it for this trip, except maybe not, but I really gotta get back into shooting locally, now that I have a little free time again. Kinda – there are still a lot of projects on the burner, only a couple of which might lead to something postable. Rest assured though, if it’s creepy, I’ll find it.

On this date 20

Al Denelsbeck

unidentified anemone possibly Aiptasia 'head on'
We’re back in 2004, in Florida, with the borrowed digital camera. I was maintaining a small saltwater aquarium in the simplest way possible, which was to get fresh water for it twice a week and run an aerator within, and that was about it. The residents cycled through, being returned to the Indian River Lagoon and being replaced by whatever I happened to find, with a few hardy exceptions. One particular evening while selecting rocks to decorate the tank, one of those that I brought home blossomed out, within 20 minutes, into motion; it was a ‘living’ rock, liberally decorated with barnacles, weeds, and several examples of the guy above, a type of anemone. I can’t get a positive identification, but I suspect it is a form of ‘glass anemone’ from the genus Aiptasia, and the distance across the tentacles is only 8-13 mm. When danger threatens, they close down into little more than a blob, which explains why I never knew they were there, and in fact they rode home in the car completely exposed, because I was collecting rocks and not specimens and hadn’t bothered with a bucket or anything. Didn’t seem to affect them, and I had them in the aquarium for months, until I left the state.

Eight years later in 2012, I was again playing with an aquarium, this time in North Carolina.

unidentified aquatic egg, hydra, and cluster of vorticella
I had spent the winter monitoring several finds such as snails, giving myself something to photograph in the slow months, and when spring arrived I had restocked with new water samples. Here we have a family portrait of sorts, with an egg of some unidentified creature, a vaguely anemone-like hydra, and something else that I never realized that I’d captured until I was selecting this photo last night – you’ll hear more about them in an upcoming post, but it’s the little cluster of white specks at the base of the hydra. Patience, patience.

Now we go to 2017, and the faraway land of Surf City. Well, a couple of hours drive is “faraway” enough for dramatic purposes.

unidentified sea turtle, possibly green sea turtle Chelonia mydas, undergoing rehabilitation in Goergia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, Georgia
On the first of two vacations to Topsail Island, NC, we had visited the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in nearby Surf City, where a rehab patient in one of their big housing pools surfaced, a very infrequent occurrence, and I fired off a series of photos for the couple of seconds (at best) that it was grabbing air – they stay under for long periods of time. Luck was with me in that the specimen, which may or may not be a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) – I can’t tell for sure – was facing directly towards me and I could do a dramatic if bizarre portrait. No one will mistake this for a photo from ‘the wild,’ due to the bright blue background, the light quality, and the annoying reflections from all of the fluorescent bulbs overhead, so mostly I do such shots to illustrate the rehab efforts, but it’s still a fun perspective.

A year later we were back again in Topsail, because it’s a damn cool spot and we had a wonderful rental condo, so May 13th found me out on the beach shooting sunrise.

crescent moon at sunrise off of North Topsail Beach, NC, showing Belt of Venus
Okay, fine, Smartypants, you’re right – that’s not the sun, but the moon instead, only I wasn’t out there to shoot the moon and this is only an incidental capture as I waited, and because it looked cool. Also captured is the Belt of Venus, which is the shadow of the Earth itself cast onto the distant clouds as the sun is just below the horizon – that’s the place where the pink fades abruptly to deep blue, the pink being the sunlight filtered through the atmospheric humidity. Normally this is most visible directly opposite the rising sun, but the crescent moon betrays the sun’s position, since the bottom of the curve aims at the sun (or if you like, the horns point away.) The moon was preceding the sun across the sky by a little over an hour on this date, while the sun was about 24 minutes from appearing. And one other detail, intentionally framed here, is the tiny speck of light from a distant channel marker down on the waterline – you can’t tell that it blinks, but it does. Keep watching.

From the land of lumpy lizards

Al Denelsbeck

American alligator Alligator mississippiensis in drainage channel in Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, SC
By that, I’m not referring to any of the arbitrary and silly boundaries like states, but the region where American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) can be found, which runs from the coastal regions of the mid-Atlantic US across the southeastern and gulf areas, but more so the further south you get. For this post, we’re simply talking about the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River right outside the city of Savannah, Georgia – there really isn’t any major town in SC that’s close. And we gots lots of gators, because it was a productive pair of days, which partially explains the delay – these posts take time.

But first, a small followup to Migratory Bird Day this past Saturday, where I took – no pictures. It was a bad day for me and I felt lousy, so I didn’t go out to chase birds, but if we count the week preceding, I got plenty, so get off my back man. And I forgot to include a photo with the previous post, so I’m putting it here now.

common nighthawk Chordeiles minor in flight overhead
Yeah, I know it’s not going to win any awards. Given the distance (this is a tight crop from a frame at 600mm focal length) and the brief period that it was visible, this is all I got, but I include it because it’s the only time that I’ve seen a common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) in flight at all, and perhaps only the third time I’ve seen one in the wild – partially because their name is apt and they’re typically nocturnal insect hunters. I’ve heard them plenty of times, over cities at night, and have handled two during my rehab days; that has an anecdote all its own, which I’m saving until I can illustrate it reasonably well. Which might take a while.

Back to the gators. The SNWR is generally a great place to find them, but it can vary – we’ve been there at times when it was almost impossible to spot any. Not so this trip, for sure, though granted, you sometimes have to be looking carefully.

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis lurking among lilies in channel
This one, perhaps a meter-and-a-half all told, was nestled among the lily pads and almost escaped attention as an old log or cluster of weeds, which their habits and appearance contribute to, though dog knows what the hell they have to fear at this size – mostly us, I’m guessing, but these traits may have developed millions of years ago when other predators were extant.

Note, when I say “a meter-and-a-half,” that includes a decent body and a long tail – the head, the bitey bit, might have topped out at 25cm, so dangerous to fish and smaller birds, maybe a housecat. As we moved along the drive, we were able to get a different perspective on the same gator.

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis from different angle
Let me set the scene, just for reference. The main drive through the refuge is bordered, most times, by wetlands on either side, though to the left for the first half, it’s more open water channels between the drive and tussocks of marsh bushes. Directly alongside the road, however, are thick bands of reeds and scrub plants, so even attempting to reach the water on foot would require thrashing through some dense undergrowth, and it’s only the drive’s height above the water (better than a meter) that provides much of a view at all. The gators have what they need in the channels and don’t venture near the drive most times, though in places you can find crossover paths where they wanted to be in the water on the other side. So while stepping out of the car is allowed, it should still be done with careful examination of the surroundings. The gators themselves are pretty wary of people overall and don’t like being close, but on occasion, you can find exceptions.

small American alligator Alligator mississippiensis snoozing in muck at bottom of retaining wall
You saw a closer version of this in the teaser post, but this guy – this fucking guy – was napping right at the base of a retaining wall and was about a meter below our feet, though not a lot more than that in body length itself – the little leaves surrounding it are bigger than duckweed, but not by much. Really, it’s hard to provide anything that shows scale, and all but the smallest gators look almost exactly like the big ones; only subtle cues can give a rough idea, and that’s if you’ve been looking at lots of gators – and paying attention of course. I have to include the image taken by The Girlfriend, as Our Host and myself were getting these couple of frames.

Wendy Hall and author photographing small gator at bottom of retaining wall, by The Girlfriend
Though it’s hidden by the grasses, the top of the retaining wall is right at our feet, and you can get the impression of how far the channels sit from the drive in the background. I found out later that another visitor to the refuge, standing next to The Girlfriend’s Sprog, leaned over much as we’re doing here and accidentally dropped her sunglasses almost directly onto the gator’s snout. The gator never even twitched.

They are, in fact, remarkably lazy critters. Some lazy animals get too fat, but gators rarely do because they’re too lazy to even feed – at least that’s what I maintain. Overall, we saw lots of basking alligators, and a couple idly making their way along a channel (at least half of which stopped dead from exhaustion as we watched) – and one bit of real action. Most of which I missed by being a little too far away.

American alligator Alligator mississippiensis carrying captured fish past common moorhen Gallinula chloropus in channel
This is the full frame, to give an idea of the surroundings and the distance, and the gator cruising through in mid-channel has a mouthful of food, though we couldn’t make out exactly what during its slow pass. I will point out the splash of red in the shadows, which shows a common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) watching the reptile pass. Now we’ll go in for the crop and a slightly better look at the prey.

American alligator Alligator mississippiensis with captured fish
That’s enough to make out the fish fin, but not a lot else. You notice the crappy light quality, which came from getting there too early in the morning (though this beat the heavy crowds of the previous day, especially since it was a Sunday in The South.) While early morning is ideal for observing birds, in the Savannah Refuge it means the first half of the drive, easily the most active and productive, forces you to look directly towards the sun.

Now the mistake, that all of us with cameras made. After seeing this guy pass and start to make his way into a muddy inlet area where the view was even worse, we moved slightly farther along to more subjects. But this one paused at the edge of a bank to gulp down its meal, attracting the attention of a much larger gator that we had seen basking back there, head hidden from sight. The larger one awoke and, whether hoping to steal some food or fending off an intruder, launched itself at the one we see here, creating a few moments of frantic thrashing between the two, though I doubt there was any actual contact. I was a dozen meters away trying to be fartsy.

channel reeds with out-of-focus American alligator Alligator mississippiensis
Given the context of the post, I doubt anyone is missing the background at all, but without a bunch of other gators it might be subtle enough to remain unrecognized for a bit, and sneak up on viewers. This was right the end of a small exit path through the reeds that obviously some alligators were using, but (from the minimal width) only small ones like this – again, maybe a little over a meter, big enough to give you an ouchy if they actually bit, but nothing dangerous.

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis lurking behind reeds
This looks way more dramatic than it was, because this head was only the length of my foot, if that. As I was maneuvering for this view, the gator realized it was closer to me than it liked and twitched sharply, ready to make a break for it if necessary. I’m pretty sure this is the same one we photographed the day before in the exact same location, who began to venture onto shore to bask before it caught sight of us moving closer and retreated hastily into the water. The appearance changes radically between being wet and being dry.

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis after retreating into water, by The Girlfriend
Bear in mind, this is in a refuge where they’re used to people being close by – they tend to be a lot more circumspect and wary in other areas. The Girlfriend and I got almost identical photos, so I’m featuring hers here. People from other regions hear about the occasional gator attack, usually on small dogs, and never realize that the reptiles are all over the place in the south – if they were a serious threat, there’d be a lot more reports, but venomous snake bites outrank alligator encounters by several orders of magnitude. Always be wary of course, but they’re really pretty shy critters.

I’m going to have to find out when birthing season is, because I want more pics of the newborns – I only have a handful. This does take a little more caution, though, as the mothers are protective.

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis floating in water showing stripes, by The Girlfriend
This one was probably a little shy of a meter, old enough to be on its own, but still showing more of the baby stripes that they eventually grow out of. I think it was the smallest that we’d seen, little more than a large water snake in size. Adorable! And you can see how much of their body length is just tail.

A few more gators for interest’s sake – I was going to add some other photos from the trip, but decided to bump them to a new post.

large adult American alligator Alligator mississippiensis with unusually smooth skin
This one seemed to be quite lacking in those distinctive alligator lumps and ridges, at least on the head, and I’m not sure if this is due to advanced age, or genetic variations, or a good moisturizer. Kinda disappointing, really – the lumps add character.

pair of large adult American alligators Alligator mississippiensis basking together on mudbank
dog's chew toy sitting next to basking American alligators Alligator mississippiensisLike the previous one, these were both quite sizable, well over two meters in length and probably a few hundred kilos each – able to capture and consume a deer, if they were, you know, not as abysmally lazy as they are. But there was a tiny detail that I found only while editing, seen at right.

Yes, that’s a dog’s chew toy – or a chew toy, anyway; I kinda doubt the gators bought it themselves, but I don’t live around there. The question is, was it just washed up on the bank, or did a refuge visitor toss it out there trying to induce one of the reptiles to fetch in order to work off a little excess weight (fat chance,) or was it coughed up after the dog that owned it was consumed, or what? So many questions.

Anyway, that’s long enough. More pics coming in another post.

Inspiration?

Al Denelsbeck

multi-level nest box for purple martins Progne subis
This coming Saturday – that would be May 9th – is World Migratory Bird Day, and since I just got a buttload of bird pics, I could either wait to inundate my millions of readers with them, or post at least some of them ahead of time. You know, to serve as inspiration. To set some goals. To gloat like a brat. However you want to look at it. For several of the past years, we were actually traveling to or from our spring vacation locales on that day, so my chances were much more limited than normal even though they were greatly increased immediately before or after that date, from being someplace with a lot more activity (at least, in the manner that I prefer, which is larger, more exotic birds than locally, but the holiday does not require such of course.) This year however, we did a brief trip the previous weekend, so I will be home and perhaps seeing what I can find here that day. For now, we have the photos from that trip, which was to the Savannah, Georgia region.

purple martins Progne subis on ledges of nest box, Savannah GA
We stayed with friends and largely avoided others entirely, so the risk was minimal, plus we had to take advantage of these gas prices for something. Our hosts maintain a couple of high-class nest box condos for purple martins (Progne subis,) so that’s where we’re starting. They do a routine inventory of the activity in the boxes, and we were present for one and got to see the various nests in progress; the whole shebang is on a pulley that lowers it down from its normal position five or six meters up, and all of the boxes have a hinged wall, so it took only minutes to inventory 28 nest boxes and 8 gourds, of which just one had newborns (surprisingly large for such small birds,) but just shy of half had eggs, and all had nesting material – the martins seem to approve.

six newborn purple martins Progne subis in artificial gourd nest
By the way, all of the box and gourd material is synthetic, which some might frown upon but it makes the nests a lot easier to clean and disinfect, which is necessary for the continued health of the birds. Bacteria, mites, parasites, and the like are not the kinds of things to introduce to newborns.

They had a bunch of feeders too, but I never staked them out in the morning to capture the wide variety of visitors – we had plans for each morning, among those being the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Twice. That’s where everything else here was captured, and it was plenty productive. Our timing was pretty good, too: the following day, the main drive in the refuge was due to close for maintenance. Since this was my prime target for the trip, I would have been very annoyed with myself if I’d gotten down there and found I should have researched better.

male boat-tailed grackle Quiscalus major stalking in pursuit of handouts
The boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major) were in abundant evidence, both visually and audibly with their distinctive rattling calls. They’re bold beggars, learning quickly that ‘people’ often means ‘snacks,’ and will hang around very close by in the hopes that someone will provide some food, either accidentally or on purpose, as we noticed when we stopped for our picnic lunch. When we weren’t forthcoming at one spot, however, a big male quickly discovered his own, and I shot some tight closeups to try and make out what they were.

boat-tailed grackle Quiscalus major with found caterpillar of unknown species
The best I can say is some kind of caterpillar, perhaps an inchworm-like larva. Grackles are big but not that big, so its meal was only 15 milimeters at best.

Notice the brilliant iridescence of the ‘black’ feathers, which contrasts against the other most-common denizen of the wetlands along the Savannah River, the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus.)

male red-winged blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus perched
female red-winged blackbird perched straddling a pair of reedsThe males are easy to spot when the red and yellow wing bands are displayed, though this isn’t always the case, and they can appear solid black – and it’s a black so deep and matte that only the best lighting allows photos to show any kind of detail at all; we were not so graced on this trip, the light being harsh and contrasty, and while distinct lighting can bring out the body shape, it has to be the right angle, and our models (slightly hyperactive as a species) were not cooperative enough. But a few females provided poses too, showing off the huge difference in coloration as seen at right. They build nests suspended in the tall grasses and reeds, and so benefit from the camouflage, while the males likely attract potential predators away from the nest.

I also got lucky and tracked another male as he came in for a landing on a lily pad, getting a sequence of his spread-winged braking approach, and while the camera somehow failed to lock tightest focus on some of the more stationary targets, it nailed this one quite gratifyingly (I am still researching this issue, by the way – I thought I had it largely corrected but this trip indicated otherwise.) Bear in mind, nearly all of these are with the Tamron 150-600 handheld, and many are cropped tighter from larger frames, so when they look sharp, they’re sharp.

male red-winged blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus from rear alighting on lily pads
There was another species that none of us recognized, that we kept getting slightly more than fleeting glimpses of, but no really good views of for a while, and it became a goal to get some decent captures, which eventually happened.

likely male bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus perched on marsh reeds and calling
This is a bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus,) which I was very pleased to discover because I’d heard of them but never seen one. This particular one is calling after snacking on some of the ripening seeds in the tassels of the marsh reeds, thus the filthy beak. The coloration is very distinctive – our female host was calling them, “calico birds,” which a rear view helps explain a little better.

bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus seen from the rear
But hey – we have a bonus today, because I snagged a couple of video clips on the fly, as it were, bracing the long lens against the windowsill of the truck. Nothing exciting, but the call is present at least.

The real photo targets among the wetlands, however, are the wading birds, and we were not disappointed. Not very far along the drive, the road became flanked by broader patches of near-standing water rimmed with reeds and dotted throughout with lily pads, and these were prime habitat for several species, two of which I recognized, and one I was unfamiliar with, only getting a positive ID upon our return. “Our,” by the way, refers to The Girlfriend, The Girlfriend’s Sprog, and myself – I had aimed to go, regardless of accompaniment knowing that they might not be able to break free of obligations, but both ladies finagled the time because they needed to get out too. Add in our hosts to make five all told.

American coot Fulica americana in water
This is one of the ones that I knew right off, though after seeing some others I got a little less sure, but I was right after all – it’s an American coot (Fulica americana,) and they have really cool feet that I was unable to even glimpse this time around, with webbing around each toe but not stretched between them – someday I’ll dig out an old slide I have that shows this well. We’ll throw down another for the profile.

American coot Fulica americana in profile with reflection and pond lily
And the lily of course. Use the little elements when you can.

The next one that I recognized was proving a little too elusive, appearing only on the far side of the open water channels and mostly just peeking out from the undergrowth (and possibly nests) from time to time. I include two frames combined here just for the record, and to show off their plumage a little, before moving on to better pictures. I said, “better.” Not, “good.” Though if you want to insist, I won’t argue with public opinion.

two frames combined of purple gallinules Porphyrio martinicus in reed beds
These are purple gallinules (Porphyrio martinicus) – really, hard to mistake for anything else once you’ve seen them, and I’ve spotted them a few times in Florida. I do have to wonder how they got away with naming them ‘purple,’ and I have to imagine no women were around at the time to correct the colors to something more specific, but…

Moving on.

common moorhen Gallinula chloropus looking suspicious within the water
This was the one that stymied me, despite looking so much like the others, but it’s a common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus.) Probably the most numerous among the waders, and like the others, quite adept at prancing along the tops of the pads, not the mention practically running across the water itself (with a bit of help from flapping wings) when territorial squabbles caused one to flee another. One of my bigger regrets was not videotaping (videocarding, whatever) some of what we saw, especially the wide range of sounds that they were all making, but let me paint this picture. The five of us were in a crowded extended-cab pickup truck, in a long line of cars wending its way through the refuge, and shots were being done handheld, often from the back of the pickup bed. Stopping in certain places where there was no room to pass meant everyone behind you waited. In short, not ideal conditions to set up a tripod and shotgun mic to do justice to video, but one of these days I’ll return on my own, on a quiet day, and make the attempt.

Meanwhile, another moorhen looking like a sports advertisement.

common moorhen Gallinula chloropus dripping water like sweat
And seriously, you gotta love that vivid, hand-painted look to the bill.

I wasn’t the only one shooting, of course, so I’ll include a few images from the others. The first comes from The Girlfriend, of a snowy egret (Egretta thula) that was foraging around a crossover channel.

snowy egret Egretta thula fishing in shallows, by The Girlfriend
For a few minutes, this one was quite active despite a large alligator lounging nearby – either the bird was stupid, or knew the alligator wasn’t hungry, or it was confident in its ability to avoid any sudden lunges. But the little minnows were certainly attracting its attention, judging from the erratic and rapid motions of the bird.

snowy egret Egretta thula in odd pose while fishing
What attracted my eye most from this frame (this is mine again) is the odd leg and foot position on the left leg; you can see the ‘knee’ – actually the bird’s ankle, so no, they bend the correct way – is still under the surface while the foot is raised. The egret was feeling ahead of itself gently with its feet, trying to stir food up from the bottom, and when the nearby gator started to move again, the egret boldly followed it, seeing what the reptile might have stirred up out of the mud.

snowy egret Egretta thula following behind American alligator Alligator mississippiensis as it drags itself through shallows
Yes, there will be more alligators, but World Migratory Giant Knobby Lizard Day isn’t for a few months yet, so we’re concentrating on the birds in honor of that holiday, plus the fact that I have too many photos for one post anyway.

Our female host was trying to attract my attention while I was a short distance away chasing another subject – yes, you could get out of the cars when safe to do so, and the gators kept to the channels overall, though road crossing spots were visible if you looked. But anyway, she got several frames of this little fellow while I got only one obscured by reeds, which is unfortunate, because I would have liked to have added this one to my stock.

female least bittern Ixobrychus exilis in open site on lily pads, by Wendy Hall
This is a female least bittern (Ixobrychus exilis,) and the only one that I’ve ever seen, so more power to her for capturing it in such good light. They tend to be shy and secretive birds, and are really adept at dashing through the reeds out of sight even when they’re only a couple of meters off. They’re about the size of a crow in body length, but longer neck and legs of course.

She also captured a female anhinga (Anhinga anhinga – seriously.)

female anhinga Anhinga anhinga perched on lw branch alongside water
These aren’t quite as hard to spot, though I have no idea where she found this one because I never saw it myself. They’re the kind of bird that fishes while entirely submerged, popping up only occasionally for air and to startle people near the water’s edge, but can often be seen drying their outstretched wings like some misshapen scarecrow near the water. Their call is this great low groaning croak, like me when I’m first waking up.

Not enough birds? How about a clapper rail (Rallus crepitans)? I know you’ve all been clamoring for a clapper rail.

clapper rail Rallus crepitans before disappearing into reeds
I had seen this from a moderate distance and was misidentifying it, but a proper birder on the trail corrected me. It disappeared into the reeds before I got a close enough or clear enough view of it, so I’m a little surprised Wendy got such a sharp image, but hey, this is why it helps to have a group of people shooting at the same time – someone else ends up capturing things that you miss. Or you may see that as a detriment, if you’re too competitive, but I’m bigger than that. Mostly.

Not so big that I won’t make the last image my own, though.

green heron Butorides virescens looking unnaturally colored in bright sunlight
We’d been out for quite a while and had seen all of the species above, save for perhaps the bobolinks, and I was remarking that we had never seen one of these, which should have been evident giving the conditions. This is a green heron (Butorides virescens,) one of three that we eventually found in two visits to the same refuge – but this is a misleading image, because their plumage really never looks like this. Either the sun angle was just right to cause a brighter sheen to occur, or the camera metering caused a color shift (the white balance was set for full sunlight, so that’s not it,) or maybe a combination of conditions, but the back is typically a deep jade color, tending towards blue in direct light. They’re notorious for remaining out of sight until you’re right on top of them, foraging among concealing reeds and foliage, so this one perched out in the open was a nice find, and I’m glad to nail the detail, even if it doesn’t look quite right.

So let’s see, that’s over 2400 words, 22 images of 12 different species, and even a video clip – I think that covers it for today, and even for Saturday if I get rained out or otherwise unable to pursue the migratory birds on their own holiday. Plus there are still more pics from the trip on the way in a bit.

On this date 19

Al Denelsbeck

great blue heron Ardea herodias in shallows of Indian River Lagoon, Melbourne Florida
Don’t ask me why, because I could have done this at any time, but putting together these ‘On this date’ posts serves as a reminder of what was going on in my life at times past, and it’s fun to find little gems to feature. The image above is used in several of my presentations and in a few posts, and I think it might even have been in the cropping video – I’m not going back through it this morning to see if I’m correct, but you’re welcome to. In the folders, it sits nestled among numerous others that tell me it was shot while my brother was visiting me in Florida, and we were out investigating what the Indian River Lagoon had to offer. It became a lot stronger with some strategic cropping, the version shown here, and now I don’t even want to let people see the original. For the record, this is a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) done in 2004.

Two years later in 2006, I had taken a few hours to drive around at random, doing experiments with both B&W film and digital infra-red on the Canon Pro 90 IS, and I think I might even have been shooting some infra-red film too – they were all about the same timeframe, at least, but of course I have no date stamps on the film.

irrigation sprinkler in digital infrared
original infrared image, unalteredThe Pro 90 actually autofocused in IR, which made it handy for such uses, and the Lee 87C filter rendered the image in a particular shade of washed-out lavender; that’s the original seen at right. Converting it to greyscale and boosting the contrast very selectively gives the version above, cropped vertically to change the impact of the elements within the frame – this one I am sure was featured in the cropping video. Last year for the Storytime posts, the monochrome film version was featured, so you can (kinda) see what it looked like in visible light. Shame I didn’t do a little more research and feature it on the correct anniversary date; wouldn’t that have been so cool?!?!

[Seriously, I try to do things like that, without any particular reason why, and then realize how ludicrous it is to worry about. Exactly a factor of 365 days ago – more or less kinda, because the year is not exactly 365 days long; it’s goofy. But it gives me a topic for these posts, so…]

And no, the camera was actually level (this time) – it’s the ground that’s sloped, in multiple directions.

Now, we leap all the way forward to 2015.

sunset over Jordan Lake
Five years ago today – well, a few hours from now at least, kinda, depending on how you calculate a year – I was out with a student who wanted to learn how to shoot sunsets, and the weather cooperated slightly. More, I chose (and demonstrated) selective framing to make the most out of the patch of sky where the colors were the most dramatic, with very few choices for foreground elements. Seen by itself, it works okay, certainly providing more color than average, but it’s not hard to find more captivating sunsets, which is part of the student lesson: it’s much more a matter of timing and conditions than of knowing how to take the photos, though the latter certainly helps a lot. The tree helps disguise the fact that the sky is not strong enough on its own, and even draws attention away from the plane contrail that would be too obvious otherwise. It’s not hard to have deep black sections in sunset photos, since everything is backlit and the exposure is typically set to capture the sky in midtones, but those black portions provide contrast for the colors and make them seem more vivid. So, hopefully, I provided some useful information for the student – maybe someday I’ll implement an exit survey or something…

Hint, hint

Al Denelsbeck

We did a brief trip this past (extended) weekend, primarily to go grab some pics that could not be obtained here in North Carolina, which means that some photo-heavy posts are coming – just, not right now. But I’ll provide this little hint of what’s to come:

juvenile American alligator Alligator mississippiensis straight down from above
Before that, though, must come the weekly reminiscing pics.

Oh, all right, not to keep you in too much suspense: yes, I did indeed get bitten – but only by an ant. An ant. As in, one. Which is actually well ahead of the game for me.

Just because, part 35

Al Denelsbeck

I know I won’t have the opportunity to do any serious posts for a day or three, but saw this guy hiding in the hosta as I went outside this morning and figured I’d sneak one in – don’t tell the boss. Our secret, okay?

juvenile green treefrog Hyla cinerea sheltering in hosta stems in morning
Yeah, he looks grumpy, but we had a wicked amount of rain the past day, so he was probably up all night partying – no sympathy whatsoever. You know I’m the kind of guy that becomes sadistic when I discover someone has a hangover, right?

Anyway, this is the first I’ve seen one in the same location since the holiday, though I know they never go too far. The shadows give a little hint of how far down he was, requiring a precise angle to get the flash to get down there. It’s safe to say that he would have remained out of notice completely, if it weren’t for busybody nature photographers.

April, I banish thee

Al Denelsbeck

newly hatched blurry mantises
Today’s end-of-month abstract is sponsored by Forgetfulness, where I intended to hit the button that starts recording video and pressed the shutter release instead; between the low light, the wind, and the activity of the newborn mantids (you couldn’t tell?) the photo came out a little less than ideal. Yet it’s a perfect illustration of the chaos and energy of… no, never mind, it’s not worth the attempt to justify. I fucked up, and it looks weird, and it shouldn’t be reinterpreted as any kind of commentary, but I got nothing else from this month that works for an abstract, save for some featureless purple skies when I attempted to photograph lightning that was completely obscured by low overcast, and even this has more going for it. Such is life. Roll May.

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