View allAll Photos Tagged MASON
Day 16 [1-16-2016]
So sick! Ended up getting home at 2:00 in the morning after the predicament Scott and I were in last night. Just to complete the story for anyone interested after yesterdays post being so abrupt and cliffhanger-esque, So Scott and I ended up having to dig his car out of the sand, using his portable car jack to jack up his car and strategically place balsa wood under his tires, and after about three hours of repeating that process we ended up getting out of the sand free of charge. Overall I would rate that experience hellish and would not do again by choice but it is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life without a doubt. For today I woke up feeling like death and am definitely down with a cold of some sort leaving me to the comfort of my bed for a majority of the day. I did spend a couple hours out with my dad looking for potential abandoned exploring sites as well as a nice dinner out with him and my sister. I had a pretty nice day, I just hope tomorrow I wake up feeling much better than I do now.
Can't wait to see what the next day brings!
K37 moves past the Marquette Yard at the start of its journey west over the Mason City Sub. With Mason City our destination for the night we were well positioned to follow this one until dark. With a new track warrant they started to dig in for the climb out of the Mississippi River Valley. October 15, 2023.
central Texas wildflowers in the Hill Country near the town of Mason. Photo was taken in 2010, which was a really good year for wildflowers.
It was quite a treat to take a brief break and sit in the spray of this waterfall on Mason Creek. It felt great after hiking on a very hot day. I prefer taking the Old Mason Lake Trail in warm weather as this trail stays in the shade of tall trees and has the added benefit of waterfall spray!
A look back at the coaches that visited the Farnborough Airshow in July 2014. Visitors using the Claycart coach parking area included Masons of Cheddington Van Hool T917A Astron C59FT YJ14BYS.
I purchased my first, solitary, bee hotel in the spring of 2018. It was quickly discovered by Mason and Leafcutter bees and by the end of the first summer, I had almost "full occupancy." The bee hotel was placed on a shelf in the garage for the winter to protect the developing larvae from sub-zero temperatures. The following spring, it was placed back on the front porch in the same location near the garden where the bees forage. Unlike, honey bees, solitary bees only travel a few hundred feet from where they emerge. I added a second bee hotel during the early summer of 2019 and both hotels had nearly "full occupancy" by the end of the summer of 2019 and again in 2020. It has been amazing to observe the female bees go back and forth from the garden collecting pollen, cutting bits of plant material or gathering mud, then returning to the bee hotel to begin the egg laying process. Once they choose a “nesting tube” they crawl to the far end to begin. The female bee places her provisions, pollen with some sticky nectar that she rolls into a ball, then lays a single egg on the top. Next, she seals the egg into a “cell” with mud or leaf material (depending on which species she is) and repeats this process until the tube is filled the whole way to the front. One female solitary bee can lay about 5-15 eggs depending on the length of the tube. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the provisions, then form cocoons, and don’t emerge until the following spring. Each year, I would bring the bee hotels out from winter storage, but missed their emergence in 2019 and 2020. However, on March 31, 2021, our first really warm day, I happened to look out the kitchen window, which faces the porch and noticed a swarm of small bees flying around the bee hotels, the porch and even resting on the aluminum siding of the house. They were warming themselves in the sun! I was able to determine that these were all Mason Bees because the bees that were emerging were all breaking through the tubes that were sealed with mud. I observed the male Mason bees fly back to the nesting holes to check on whether the female bees were emerging. The males could apparently detect where the females were and would remain on the bee hotel, to attempt mating as soon as a female came out or would even enter the tube to mate before she emerged. At times, several male bees would pile onto the female, fighting to mate with her, often falling to the ground. As each new bee made its way to the opening of a tube, their tiny faces could be seen peering out from the tubes. Each emerging bee would cautiously come to the edge, clean their antennae with their feet, quiver for a moment, then take their first flight! Since the weather has turned cold again and there aren't many flowers yet, the bees are staying inside. On the intermittent warm days, they emerge to work on cleaning out the tubes, as evidenced by bits of dried mud all over the porch, just below the bee hotels!
As of the time of this posting, the Leafcutter Bees have not emerged, as the holes are still sealed with the plant materials used. This photo series was taken over two hours and is only a small portion of the total number taken of the amazing event.
onegreenworld.com/mason-bee-care/
ento.psu.edu/news/penn-state-pollinator-webinar-series-ma...
Male of Megachile (Chalicodoma) parietina.
Technique: It was a cool day (18C) with partly cloudy skies and intermittent light showers -perfect weather to go looking for solitary bees since they'll have a tough time keeping their metabolism up. I got lucky and found this Mason bee semi-dormant in my Lavender.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.
Here's the Mason with the engine truck swiveled over about as far as it will go to the right; the inverted dish pieces under the smokebox slide along cylinder saddle until they encounter the valve chests.
21 September 2021
Masons, Cheddington LJ03 MDY
ex Arriva London South as DLA345 and Holmeswood Coaches
DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400
Snelshall St, Tattenhoe, Milton Keynes
There lies a road ahead of me.
I stand still, frozen in a moment
A place where I have no body
I am just soul
Leaves rustle up a storm
Signs of turmoil
The nip a little cold
But brings back the
Comforting memories
Of a Winter to come.
I hold still a moment longer,
Hoping for an omen of direction
But none arrives.
I step forward, treading cautiously
That my footsteps may not
Be told by falling foliage.
I quicken my pace,
Resolving that even an
Erroneous passage
Is better than the one
Which is never taken.
~CSM
22 October 2020
Masons, Cheddington LG52 DCY
Alexander ALX400 bodied DAF DB250
ex Arriva London DLA335, Holmeswood Coaches and Heyfordian, Bicester, though latter was possibly just on hire
Snelshall St, Tattenhoe, Milton Keynes
Mason Tank - AESTHETIC ! {rose}
👉 EMPORIO SUPREME World: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/INFINITA/162/27/23
I've been wanting to photograph this one for a long time. This is one of the few remnants of Mason's rural farming past that remains. Mason is one of the fastest-growing suburban sprawl areas in the entire United States. To the left of this picture is a Kroger's grocery store, and there are modern-day fast food places and stripmalls everywhere surrounding this house. How has this survived? This is located on Kings Mill Road (Route 741) in Mason.
Masons's Pool part of the Balladonia Rocks jumble at dawn with the stratocumulus (i think) putting on a show
Male of Megachile (Chalicodoma) parietina.
Technique: After photographing this mason bee in my lavender I turned it loose in a plant on my patio while I went to have lunch. Evidently the little guy got active and had lunch as well, because this is how I found him later on that same afternoon. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering).