View allAll Photos Tagged Predictable
The future
It's wobbly
It has no steady form
Not predictable
It definitely looks like this soap bubble that flew past me in Oslo
And
It's glorious
Colorful
Full of life
All good things will happen
Positivity
Happiness
Full of love
Even Sirius is there
Wow am I in love
Yes
In love with my life
Life itself
And all who is in there
Not what is in there, but who
And especially You
premonition or predictability?
on both the thought criminal and the prosecutor's part
……..
Multiple Exposure Experiments series
"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."
~ Andy with a fabulous find.
Explore July 12/08 ..Barn Swallow - View Large - To me, one of the harder birds to catch in-flight as they dart with no predictable pattern IMG_9809
I thought I'd better finish the year with a beach reflection. I would always end up as a pirate when going to New Year's Eve parties, predictably, and as this coast was famous for wrecking Stand and Deliver seems as obvious choice, by Adam and the Ants. Here's hoping for many more great skies next year. A massive thank you to all who have supported and commented and joked, it has meant so much, Happy New Year to you all, Paul:))
A very common bird in our region seen almost everywhere in the countryside. The birds are quite agile and active even during the hot summers. I am not sure if they have any natural predators apart from raptors - never seen a picture or in real life of a Bee-Eater kill.
This bird landed right next to the road on the fence around 6-8 feet away and didn't seem to care about our presence. I think it is a a subadult by the behavior but the long pointing tail that indicates adulthood confuses me. The birds are always seen in small groups. They are also predictable that they like Shrikes hunt from the same perch and come back to it.
In the right light, the bird's colors were amazing - bright and standing out. It was preening for a while, stretching and relaxing.
Thanks in advance for your views and feedback.
Well...
With crashing waves and a 1/30 shutter speed... maybe
Pan photography is usually reserved for motorsport where the subject (car/motorbike) has a predictable speed & Direction., applied to wildlife and suddenly those two 'key' factors become completely unpredictable
So it's challenging., and be prepared for failed attempts (I have a file full of those... trust me)
That said., when a 'set' comes out right it puts a smile on your face
These are badass birds. I was surprised when one landed on the faucet.
Here is a bit about the location. On any given day the light is predictably awful.
"Eternal Meadow, developed in 2016, is a section of grounds devoted exclusively to green burial. Eternal Meadow is a naturalistic wildflower meadow garden thoughtfully designed to emphasize the sanctity of life and harmony with nature. The space features a diverse mix of grasses and wildflowers native to California that display a natural cycle of flowering, degeneration, and re-seeding throughout the year. As the seasons change, so does the color and texture of Eternal Meadow, providing unique perspectives at different times of the year. The plants selected for inclusion in Eternal Meadow are intended to promote the presence of birds, bees, and butterflies, particularly the endangered Monarch butterflies that overwinter at Woodlawn, which in turn contribute to the cycle of growth."
I find human behavior to be interesting if not predictable. I avoid humans but on this particular day took my self to lunch at Quinns lighthouse in Oakland .It was good food in this old school diner , lovely weather and my entertainment was looking thru the glass at the boats and anything that moved.
It is the difficult horses that have the most to give you.
Lendon Gray
Horses are predictably unpredictable.
Loretta Gage
The horse is a mirror to your soul and sometimes you might not like what you see in the mirror.
Buck Brannaman
TDT(Copyright 2021) All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted, or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
Thierry Djallo.
Another day. Another Dahlia.
Another Wednesday. Another macro.
Rather predictable really. But I do think these flowers are rather pretty :)
This one was taken at Forde Abbey last month.
Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Mittwochsmakro :)
[Handheld in daylight. Developed in Capture One 23. Processed in Affinity Photo 2. Tweaked in Nik Color Efex Pro 5.]
-------------------------------
There is always something a little bit problematic when you know that you are moved by a picture because it's realted with you own history. When you post picture on social media, what you want is to test the ability of your picture to affect people living anywhere on the globe. For this reason, you want your pictures to be potentially universaly interessant : in other words, you want it to have equal chance to interest someone living in the cold mountains, in a big city, or on a lonely island.
However, sometimes, you can't help finding appealing images that are especially related to you or the specific place where you live, and so you have absolutely no idea how it will affect people living somewhere else… There's probably good reasons to post such pictures anyway – even if it's a little bit 'risky'. 1. For a lot of people, photography, as an art, should be a representation of it's author state of mind. In this sens, it has to be related with is own history. I am not in such a way of thinking, but I can understand it. 2. There's a problem with the 'universally pleasant pictures' : they are very predictable and conventional. You can see tons of them. Of course, they are always pleasing. But paradoxically, if it is true that we like predicable pictures, it's also true that we want photography to show us something that is really different from what we are used to see. Maybe, art starts only when this limit is crossed.
I don't have such pretension with this shot : it's quite predictive and consensual, I agree. But the very reason it moves me it's because it represent the typical landscapes of the place I am coming from. In this nightly snowy version, it achieves to make it cozy and to make me feel 'Home' when I watch it. I have very little idea what kind effect it can create one someone who is not used to such places. Let's see ...
I am still on Flickr breaking doing chores. Taxes are next, then cleaning the garage.
But I couldn't resist posting this picture I just took yesterday. My wife was slicing and eating these wonderful smelling oranges, and being the predictable flickr husband, I asked her to wait and let me take a picture first. She said it was delicious.
Shooting birds in flight during golden light is just so much fun. There were 100's of common birds in the area, few were flying. This dove flew past by giving me some excellent shots which I couldn't ignore.
This is very common bird across the country and found in urban areas and countryside alike. A predictable flight pattern, manageable flight speed for panning and lovely color - my preferred practice bird for improving flight shots.
Thank you so much in advance for your views, feedback and faves.
Now, as kings and lions go¹, Leo is quite small; only a few millimetres from end to end but he's a great king and lionheart ...
... not to mention that gorgeous mane, Leo's main feature!
When there's nectar up for grabs², Leo always gets the lion's share and, with a fur coat like his, most of the pollen into the bargain!³
Let's not talk about his roar, eh? (ツ)
★ Food for thought :
The bee is fast becoming an endangered species in many parts of the world. In France, the newly arrived Asian hornet (new tab) is just another nail in the coffin⁴. Without the bee, we too could well become an endangered species! :-(( - Love thy neighbour and thy bee however small and insignificant it may appear to be.
"If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live" - Albert Einstein
God slay the Asian queens and save our noble bees!
(ironically, to the tune of "God Save the Queen")
Tools of the trade! (new tab) Shh!!! Mum's the word!
¹ as something (or someone) goes = pour un ... / pour une ...
² up for grabs = à saisir / à prendre / disponible
³ into the bargain = par-dessus le marché / avec / en plus
⁴ another nail in the coffin = un pas de plus vers la tombe
Poetic licence
It has occurred to me that Leo could have been a female dressed up by my title as a male. These days, of course, anything goes does it not? And besides, "Lilly the Dande Lioness Queen" doesn't have the same ring to it nor does it roll off the tongue in quite the same way as my title does. So, Leo it is!
Please do read on by scrolling down the page till you're there!
And if that doesn't work, try hitting "previous comments" just below until it hurts! (ツ)
P.S. Sorry about the dandruff but bees will be bees*
(｡◕‿◕｡)
* allusion à l'expression anglaise: "boys will be boys" referring to the predictably mischievous behaviour of boys.
I thought perhaps I was alone in my absolute love of dandelions....yet it seems that throughout history other people have had tender feelings for them, too. Long ago dandelions were called Fairy Clocks, as their flowers opened and closed predictably. Some people said that a dandelion could be used as a tool for divination. If you blew a seed head, the number of seeds remaining would be the number of children you will have. More facts can be found at www.thepracticalherbalist.
What a bossy, bossy birdie. Dunbar (Northern Mockingbird) has a lovely voice and sings beautiful songs. However, as February approaches he is predictably becoming bossier and bossier towards the other birds. Still, I do love him.
There is plenty of food for all, I wish he would just relax. I know, it's not in his nature. But wow, he wouldn't have to spend near the energy he does if he would relax.
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. As for me, I will be covering plants today. Winter is here, and we are going to get freezing temps in the area. You can probably see that I have already begun covering plants. The green backdrop in this image is frost cloth.
I will be putting out extra feeders for all of my little feathered friends and furry ones like Robbie (gray squirrels). With the plants being covered, they won't really have access to the insects they are accustomed to.
Stay warm and happy snapping.
“Every spark returns to darkness. Every sound returns to silence. Every flower returns to sleep with the earth. The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimate art.”
― Suzy Kassem
Blog Post
The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed.
Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drumlike tymbals. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk. Only a rare few species are known to be nocturnal.
One exclusively North American genus, Magicicada (the periodical cicadas), which spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location. The unusual duration and synchronization of their emergence may reduce the number of cicadas lost to predation, both by making them a less reliably available prey (so that any predator that evolved to depend on cicadas for sustenance might starve waiting for their emergence), and by emerging in such huge numbers that they will sate any remaining predators before losing enough of their number to threaten their survival as a species.
The annual cicadas are species that emerge every year. Though these cicadas' life cycles can vary from 1–9 or more years as underground larvae, their emergence above ground as adults is not synchronized, so some members of each species appear every year.
Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer's Iliad and as motifs in art from the Chinese Shang dynasty. They have also been used in myth and folklore as symbols of carefree living and immortality. The cicada is also mentioned in Hesiod's Shield (ll.393–394), in which it is said to sing when millet first ripens. Cicadas are eaten by humans in various countries, including China, where the nymphs are served deep-fried in Shandong cuisine.
Class: Insecta
Kingdom: Animalia
Order: Hemiptera
Phylum: Arthropoda
© All Rights Reserved
The cicadas are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two families, the Tettigarctidae, with two species in Australia, and the Cicadidae, with more than 3,000 species described from around the world; many species remain undescribed.
Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drumlike tymbals. The earliest known fossil Cicadomorpha appeared in the Upper Permian period; extant species occur all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. Most cicadas are cryptic. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk. Only a rare few species are known to be nocturnal.
One exclusively North American genus, Magicicada (the periodical cicadas), which spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location. The unusual duration and synchronization of their emergence may reduce the number of cicadas lost to predation, both by making them a less reliably available prey (so that any predator that evolved to depend on cicadas for sustenance might starve waiting for their emergence), and by emerging in such huge numbers that they will sate any remaining predators before losing enough of their number to threaten their survival as a species.
The annual cicadas are species that emerge every year. Though these cicadas' life cycles can vary from 1–9 or more years as underground larvae, their emergence above ground as adults is not synchronized, so some members of each species appear every year.
Cicadas have been featured in literature since the time of Homer's Iliad and as motifs in art from the Chinese Shang dynasty. They have also been used in myth and folklore as symbols of carefree living and immortality. The cicada is also mentioned in Hesiod's Shield (ll.393–394), in which it is said to sing when millet first ripens. Cicadas are eaten by humans in various countries, including China, where the nymphs are served deep-fried in Shandong cuisine.
Class: Insecta
Kingdom: Animalia
Order: Hemiptera
Phylum: Arthropoda
© All Rights Reserved
As fall warbler migration winds down here in Georgia here are some reflections on the season. I've been shooting fall warblers for a number of years and there are marked differences in strategies used in fall versus spring. Every fall season seems to have its own flavor here in Georgia as there are variations in numbers of individual species and over all numbers of migrants. Weather is a big influencer with wind, fog, and rain competing with calm sunny days and everything in between. Still i find it immensely enjoyable as fall migrants of various species come through my area on specific predictable timetables with some passing through during a narrow window of time and others passing through for much of the season. Each time I go out in the fall I have an idea what species I might encounter based on the date and the probabilities of doing so. Here in Georgia fall migration begins the last week or so of July when fall season is no where apparent by any other criteria.
THE ANIMAL CRUSADE
One day all the sties and burrows opened
And out came the cave-bear the mammoth the seafaring
cormorant, that poetic diving bird, the white-headed vulture
the rock-goat from the mountains, the sea unicorn
You could see by their snouts that they meant business
You could hear by their flapping wings and their burr
They had thrown off their humility, cast down their yoke
once imposed by Adam’s secretive hero
the one with the garden
They were, to cut a long story short, fed up
And the morals of the shotgun had been cast off
the flayed skin of flight had faded
The viper walked tall and the swine wore polaroid glasses
that lent him pleasant looks. The beavers
gnawed down telegraph poles and so cut off any form of communication
Predictably enough, the lion led the way black black
as black gold and gold-coloured as deep black
It was a magnificent procession, blinding to the eye
At the back the unicorn reported as missing, the dodo the passenger pigeon
as well as various viruses and the elated spermatozoids
So the holy animals
travelled the holy world
And do you know how or why?
Oh no, they just went travelling, they didn’t have a flag!
Sometimes ripped up laws out of sheer happiness
or bled a city dry
Now and then trampled on a Jesus
or struck down a prophet or a princess
They were beginning to get tired
Haste no longer necessary
The one day’s deities left the fire
H.H. ter Balkt
Translation: Willem Groenewegen
Meet Sheldon, one of our bathroom’s most distinguished residents. He has spent years perched atop a pristine shelf, basking in the admiration of guests, and the occasional spray of air freshener. Life in our bathroom was orderly and predictable. I was feeling a bit sorry for him realising I spend a lot more time at the beach with his wild relatives than he does, so decided it was time for an excursion.
So one morning, the bathroom door opened not for its usual routine but for adventure. I plucked Sheldon gently from his shelf, wrapped him in a cloth, and whisked him away in my camera bag. Destination: the beach!
I think Sheldon was a bit stunned at first. The gentle hum of the extractor fan and the faint scent of lavender soap were replaced with the roar of the ocean and grains of sand blown about in the sea breeze. I placed him reverently on the damp shoreline and, Sheldon finally met his ancestral home. Waves lapped at his edges, and tiny crabs peeked out curiously (maybe I made that bit up). Sheldon, once a bathroom fixture, now basked in salty splendor, reconnecting with his beach origins. Some of the local roguish shells happened to wander by; Salty Sid, Clamorous Carl, Benny the Barnacle, Tidepool Terry, Saucy Shellie & Crabby Casanova. Their stories had him blushing!
I think the wild proved exhausting though. After a few hours of pondering and a brief but harrowing brush with a seagull (I may have made that bit up too), Sheldon was ready for home. Back on his shelf, he now carries a bit of sand in his crevices — a reminder of his brave journey and a reminder of his wildness origins.
Many thanks for every fave and comment, I appreciate them all!
When all else fails to produce in Canton, no.271 rarely disappoints. I have chased 271, the Brewster to NS Canton interchange run, more times than I care to recall. But it runs on a predictable schedule that favors the sun. With nothing else in the picture and seeing them with two Tigers I just couldn't pass this one up.
Ok, I was hoping to catch a bit of a sunset but not like all those predictable sunset or dawn flat landscapes which are so popular. I'm going for something different amongst the nettles and brambles, chasing umbellifers. And you know what, it really is quite good fun once you get amongst them, trying to make a picture.
Happy Umbellifer Wednesday!
A passing rain cloud on an otherwise sunny day dotted the landscape with glittering gems such as this leaf; although slightly out of focus on the top right, this angle exposed the best of colours in the rain drops. Predictably, through contrast, by eliminating the clutter around it and opting for black further increased the effect.
Times are tough right now in northern Iowa for migrating birds that eat bugs since there are very few insects that can survive these very cold conditions. The only predictable food supply is happening along trout streams as tiny midges hatch out, and that's where I found this hungry eastern phoebe feeding.
THE ANIMAL CRUSADE
One day all the sties and burrows opened
And out came the cave-bear the mammoth the seafaring
cormorant, that poetic diving bird, the white-headed vulture
the rock-goat from the mountains, the sea unicorn
You could see by their snouts that they meant business
You could hear by their flapping wings and their burr
They had thrown off their humility, cast down their yoke
once imposed by Adam’s secretive hero
the one with the garden
They were, to cut a long story short, fed up
And the morals of the shotgun had been cast off
the flayed skin of flight had faded
The viper walked tall and the swine wore polaroid glasses
that lent him pleasant looks. The beavers
gnawed down telegraph poles and so cut off any form of communication
Predictably enough, the lion led the way black black
as black gold and gold-coloured as deep black
It was a magnificent procession, blinding to the eye
At the back the unicorn reported as missing, the dodo the passenger pigeon
as well as various viruses and the elated spermatozoids
So the holy animals
travelled the holy world
And do you know how or why?
Oh no, they just went travelling, they didn’t have a flag!
Sometimes ripped up laws out of sheer happiness
or bled a city dry
Now and then trampled on a Jesus
or struck down a prophet or a princess
They were beginning to get tired
Haste no longer necessary
The one day’s deities left the fire
H.H. ter Balkt
Translation: Willem Groenewegen
Drivetrain: Front engine, rear wheel drive
Engine: Inline 6-cylinder
Displacement: 150 cu in
Horsepower: 95hp
Max RPM: 4,600
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Milan-based Alfa Romeo has been called the Ferrari of the 1920’s and 1930’s. In fact, Enzo Ferrari worked at Alfa as a young man before founding his namesake manufacturer. With thousands of full-time artisans, mechanics and administrators dedicated to the construction of only a few cars, Alfa Romeo-made supercars that represented the height of artistic, automotive and technological prowess.
Unfortunately, and perhaps predictably, the company fell into financial trouble, was scaled down, and eventually absorbed by Fiat. Many high-performance cars existed at the time but none of them could match the performance standards set by the 6C 2500.
The 6C was the last and fastest of Alfa’s famous six cylinder cars, capable of reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour thanks to a lighter body, increased engine capacity and improved fuel feed. The 6C is perhaps the greatest design of the period, and the one that would ultimately cause Alfa Romeo’s reputation to soar. When it debuted at the Milan Auto Show in 1925, the car would set new standards in many categories. Production of the 2500 would begin in 1939. However, a small number, just 13 examples, would boast of coachwork manufactured by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan.
Credit: Audrain
X People who have been following my stream for some time will know my final stop of my French holidays is at the delightful seaside town of Wimereux about 30 miles south of calais. The final night is also very predictable; dinner at the Hotel Atlantic and if I am lucky a shot of the sunset over the English Channel . It wasn’t the best sky this year but you can compare it with other sunsets at the top of the comments are shots from 2016,2017,2018,2022 and finally 2023 . I missed out a few years due to the pandemic
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO
WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT
She is a paradox. she is faithful
and yet detached. She is
committed and yet relaxed. She
loves everyone, and yet no one.
She is sociable but also a loner.
She is gentle and yet rough. She
is passionate but can also be
platonic. In short, she is
predictable in her
unpredictability..-uk
-No Comment Xoxo
_________
.Identity. Body Shop - Soft Touch
!Rebel Hope - Megan Bikini
erratic / aida - top
(r)M, (value)Pack >< Hair No.24'14
While everyone directs their cameras towards predictable clichés, I often turn my attention in the opposite direction to observe the hidden gems we might otherwise overlook. This 'wrong way' approach sometimes leads to the discovery of remarkable images, much like this one.
The sun was gracefully descending behind Mount Coot-tha in the west, creating a captivating, almost red, radiance that blended with the blue hues of the eastern sky. As a result, the city behind us was bathed in a breathtaking pink glow. Even the typically mundane brown river took on a new, temporary charm, transforming its appearance for a few precious minutes.
Snow Buntings are notoriously difficult to photograph. They arrive in huge flocks in early winter, working the road margins where the snow isn't too deep for them to forage successfully. All it takes is one flock member freaking out and the entire group lifts into the air and is gone.
On this day, they moved from the road itself to a nearby barbwire fence. Predictably, just as I got my car within range, they exploded from the fence and across a nearby field - except for this single bird. I would have preferred a different, more natural perch, but it is what it is. Barbwire fences and adjoining fence posts are the perches most commonly used by birds of all kinds throughout our area.
I upscaled this image slightly, using ON1 Resize.
Photographed at Rosefield, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
On what appears to be the last run of their type, Wessex Electrics 2415 and 2420 pass Kings Langley on their final journey from Bournemouth to Wolverton.
73128 'OVS Bullied C.B.E' brings up the rear, while out of sight at the front are 73107 'Tracy' and, providing traction, 66722 'Sir Edward Watkin'.
In service from 1988, the Wessex Electrics spent their years operating from Waterloo to Weymouth, then from Victoria to Gatwick and Brighton, and finally from Waterloo to Portsmouth and Poole.
Although they appeared to have a future, delays in their latest refurbishment programme and the drop in demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic caused their final refurbishment to be cancelled.
Between May and July the survivors were hauled from Bournemouth to Wolverton for stripping prior to scrapping. This was the last of those moves.
The need to convey a partially refurbished fleet from Bournemouth to Wolverton for stripping created some challenges which led to the strange formations used for these hauls.
The refurbishment including replacing the ancient English Electric 546 DC traction motors with new AC motors. At the same time, the BR southern region EP braking system was removed and replaced with a 3 stage electrical brake system. Only 3 of the surviving units retained DC traction motors and EP braking when the decision to terminate the refurbishment was made. For these drags to Wolverton, one of the these units, No 2420 was retained to act as a 'fitted head', with each AC-fitted unit effectively being unbraked.
The class 73/1s also support the EP braking system and so were necessary to operate the brakes on 2420. Complicating the issue, some of the units had bent buffer stalks so the class 73/1s were also acting as barrier vehicles. This also facilitated the reversal at Branksome to reach Bournemouth depot. Thanks to www.flickr.com/photos/linesidephotos21/ for this information.
The use of the class 66 was not strictly necessary - in theory the class 73/1s should be able to use their 600hp engines to power the train away from the 3rd rail. However, the class 73s have a long and illustrious history of overheating when operating away from the 3rd rail. On one of the runs to Wolverton on 5th July no class 66 was used and predictably the class 73s overheated, resulting in a class 56 stepping in. After that event, a class 66 provided traction for the remaining runs.
Taken with the assistance of a pole.
"A single crocus blossom ought to be enough to convince our heart that springtime, no matter how predictable, is somehow a gift, gratuitous, gratis, a grace."
David Steindl-Rast
The Iceland Gull is one of a few predictable or regular occurring rarities along the Great Lakes. This bird can also be found on the northern range of both the east and west coasts.
The IG breeds in the arctic as well as Greenland, but the color coded map on allaboutbirds indicates it is non-breeding in its namesake Iceland. Hmm!
The IG shows up as a single in large groups of Ringbills and Herrings, so when out for a bit of winter birding, one should peruse carefully a flock of gulls to see if an outlier is hanging out.
This is a juvenile Iceland. Notice the full black beak. Another outlier, the Glaucous Gull, will have only a half black bill on the juvenile. The Iceland can easily blend in with a juvenile Herring Gull, except the juvenile Iceland will not have any black on the wing tips and will generally have lighter markings.
I found this gull last winter in a lake-like river out a mile or two before it empties into Lake Michigan. Because the water moves, it stays open while providing shelter, and many ducks and gulls will gather there.
We had a great run on long-tailed weasels at my local regional park. The first year a little slow - just one, but very predictable. Years two and three were too much fun. Folks came from far and wide to see our springtime weasel families. This year, they're nowhere to be found and we've really searched and scoured. The park is doing some upgrade to the grounds, like fixing sprinklers, more grounds keeping, so maybe they've headed out for wilder territory. There's still plenty of rodents to keep them busy. Sigh.
If you need a size perspective, these guys are really quite small and low to the ground. That splash of color is a red-stemmed filaree, a very low-growing wildflower that spreads out not up.
We had some of the most amazing cloud formations imaginable in the skies over Durbanville yesterday afternoon!
There was a huge cold front blowing in from the North... bringing in puffy cloud after puffy cloud... all wonderfully three dimensional... and with air so clear that you could see till infinity. All the signs were there for a spectacular sunset.
There is one farm dam that I drive past quite often on my quest for interesting landscape compositions... that (until yesterday) I haven't shot yet. It's quite far from the road and definitely not trespassable without getting caught. I knew that I needed the farmer's permission for this one.
So yesterday I finally plucked up the courage to brave the huge barking dogs... to knock on their door and ask if I could shoot their dam. Within ten minutes I had the images for this Vertorama on my memory card! Things only got better after that... sudden gusts of icy wind... large drops of icy rain... a flock of sheep ambling past me... and one particular cloud formation that looked so amazing... that I actually stopped shooting just to stand and stare at it for a while.
I'm probably going to be posting at least four or five images from yesterday's shoot... and since this one was the first scene of the day... I thought I'd post it first. :)
Nikon D3100, Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm, aperture of f9, with a 1/80th second exposure.
Click here to check out my Vertorama tutorial.
THE ANIMAL CRUSADE
One day all the sties and burrows opened
And out came the cave-bear the mammoth the seafaring
cormorant, that poetic diving bird, the white-headed vulture
the rock-goat from the mountains, the sea unicorn
You could see by their snouts that they meant business
You could hear by their flapping wings and their burr
They had thrown off their humility, cast down their yoke
once imposed by Adam’s secretive hero
the one with the garden
They were, to cut a long story short, fed up
And the morals of the shotgun had been cast off
the flayed skin of flight had faded
The viper walked tall and the swine wore polaroid glasses
that lent him pleasant looks. The beavers
gnawed down telegraph poles and so cut off any form of communication
Predictably enough, the lion led the way black black
as black gold and gold-coloured as deep black
It was a magnificent procession, blinding to the eye
At the back the unicorn reported as missing, the dodo the passenger pigeon
as well as various viruses and the elated spermatozoids
So the holy animals
travelled the holy world
And do you know how or why?
Oh no, they just went travelling, they didn’t have a flag!
Sometimes ripped up laws out of sheer happiness
or bled a city dry
Now and then trampled on a Jesus
or struck down a prophet or a princess
They were beginning to get tired
Haste no longer necessary
The one day’s deities left the fire
H.H. ter Balkt
Translation: Willem Groenewegen
We got our new place mostly set up in NJ... time to look at trains. I checked the forecast Wednesday evening and saw a perfect blue sky day for Thursday was in the works, so the time was right to find one of the coolest units in the area. Very predictable and easy to find, Winchester & Western J101 with SD9M 954 works an industry at Rosenhayn, NJ, on Dec. 1, 2022. It was originally built as NKP 352 and survived on the NS roster until the early 2010's.
On Monday, July 6, 2020, Parachute celebrated the fourth National Injury Prevention Day in Canada to raise awareness about the devastating effects of predictable and preventable injuries. [...].
Parachute’s National Injury Prevention Day is a day to raise awareness around the importance of injury prevention and aid Canadians to live long lives to the fullest through education and advocacy. Health Canada recognizes this date as an official national Health Promotion Day.
BLE 904 leads down the hill and towards Duluth with pellets for Dock 6. Proctor Hill has been busy so far in 2021 with 4 jobs called per day (Midnight, Morning 0801, Noon, and Afternoon 1600), although trains haven't been very predictable lately with the extreme cold and old equipment.
I haven't shot 904 leading a train since 2019, as this tunnel motor doesn't have PTC, so it has spent much of its time since then as a switch engine in Two Harbors. It did get back to Proctor and has been recently used as a leader down to the dock, as PTC is not required on Proctor Hill.
B&LE 904, CN 5338, and CN 6018 on R921 (0801 Switch) with 137 loads, passing under the four bridges here at I-35, on the cold morning of February 12, 2021.
This was my first time in the park. I had been in the Serengeti in Tanzania several times. This area in Kenya is actually quite different. It seemed a little bit more tame and less wild because of the landscape, but equally as majestic and beautiful.
The name for this wildlife reserve is of course taken from the the famous tribe that has called it home. Mara means "spotted " in Swahili. Quite a great description because these small acacia trees appear like spots across the vast grasslands.
In Tanzania, the landscape offers up surprises around every bend and in Kenya the landscape is fairly predictable as one explores and tracks the animals. I might add that this was true of the area by Little Governor's Camp where I stayed and the rest of the park probably offers different topography
This green turtle was resting under some soft coral. Unlike in most other images, the details in the eye are visible in this one. I can't help but wonder what is the turtle thinking?
Green turtles are endangered for all the predictable reasons (e.g, habitat loss, bycatch, hunting, etc.) I hope all of the many conservation efforts are able to bring them back to a healthy population.
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire is one group dedicated to their restoration. www.bonaireturtles.org/wp/
I wasn’t sure I would like this image, as I was trying to hide behind some shrubs and poke the camera out to get a clean image of the bird without disturbing it. But the out of focus branches worked out better than I feared.
And sunrise, first light, cures a lot of things.
The Snowies are mostly heading back north at this point, having lost their camouflage ground cover. There is a great PBS documentary - it is very short - documenting the northerly migration of a Snowy Owl. The bird has a tracker attached, and ends up on Amherst Island, of all places.
They fly, stop to eat, and then fly some more. It is pretty incredible, especially the risks they are exposed to the longer they go without finding food.
It was another wonderful winter, with as many as six of these amazing creatures just south of me. Lots of people got to see them, and while there was the predictable misbehaviour, for the most part the birds hunted and slept and lived the version of their lives that came with inhabiting a rural community. Here’s to next winter.
© Leanne Boulton, All Rights Reserved
Street photography from Glasgow, Scotland.
Previously unpublished shot from March 2019 on what was a particularly successful day of street shooting. The showery weather has arrived and I love that they are predictably unpredictable.
Wishing you all a great weekend of photography. Enjoy!