View allAll Photos Tagged Weather-Forecast
With good weather forecast in the capital in mid-June 2021, the opportunity was taken to photo the buses at Marble Arch and along Park Lane. Five of us enjoyed catching up and snapping the comings and goings in a near normal busy London.
The four major open top tour operators were out in force and carrying good loads throughout the day. Big Bus, Golden Tours, TOOT bus (The Original Open Tour) and newcomer Julia Travel (City Sightseeing / Stagecoach) brightened up the scene. A single London Bus example was spotted all alone at Victoria.
With good weather forecast in the capital in mid-June 2021, the opportunity was taken to photo the buses at Marble Arch and along Park Lane. Five of us enjoyed catching up and snapping the comings and goings in a near normal busy London.
The four major open top tour operators were out in force and carrying good loads throughout the day. Big Bus, Golden Tours, TOOT bus (The Original Open Tour) and newcomer Julia Travel (City Sightseeing / Stagecoach) brightened up the scene. A single London Bus example was spotted all alone at Victoria.
The official weather forecast seems accurate and there is some stuff on it's way. The change in the light was astounding around mid-afternoon as seen here.
A very odd day in more ways than one as I had to spend a couple of hours unblocking our main drain to the road, about 30 metres away and all in hot sunshine. Clearing the blockage was unpleasant obviously but fairly quickly resolved. It is the clearing up afterwards that takes the time. Just thought I would share that with you!
The weather forecast for the area in Maryland where I photograph Bald Eagles called for partly cloudy skies but as I made my way down route 272 through the Lancaster County countryside, the clouds took over the sky and it was quickly 100% cloudy. Not exactly perfect Eagle photography weather. But I continued onward anyway. Sometimes you get something in your blood and you know you have to be someplace special with animals nobody else you know in your 9-5 day job is seeing. The Susquehanna River in Maryland is just such a place.
This Adult Bald Eagle gave us a pretty good look as he flew over us. I decided to enhance the cloudy sky with a texture by Flickr member, Fractal Artist called 203 Clouds. Thanks to Fractal Artist for the free use of the texture.
For more information on Bald Eagles, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Much better viewed Large
Still at Battle Hill Farm Forest Park where clumps of Daffodil are bursting into bloom - and even the weather forecast is suggesting warmer weather - at last...! :-)
The official Web Site outlining the “story” behind what is now a tranquil working farm open to the Public appears beneath the previous Image, but here’s an interesting little “unofficial” account that a reliable Source shared some years ago... Before relating this unofficial account, however, you might have noticed that the official Web Site notes that some Maori were “assisting” the Government Forces... It turned out that these “friendly” Maori were actually assisting Te Rangihaeata’s eventual escape! So, it is (I think) at least possible that the following might have happened...:
Governor Grey had apparently planned a two-pronged Campaign to defeat “troublesome” Maori. The first prong was to kidnap Te Raupararaha at his Pa (or fortified village) at Plimmerton; the second was to destroy Te Rangihaeata and his Ngati Toa people who were known to be further inland...
On the morning that the British troops were to move out of Plimmerton (having presumably successfully kidnapped Te Raupararaha), those Maori guides performed a Haka (a traditional war dance), supposedly to kindle a fighting spirit within themselves and the troops. What the soldiers didn’t realise was that their guides changed the wording of that Haka, and in the still morning air, bellowed out a warning to Te Rangihaeata which in effect said, “Watch out Brothers. The Soldiers are coming, but we will take them the long way round, so it will be a few days before you see them!”. (Or words to that effect!).
And so it was that the soldiers were – quite literally – led up the garden path. The trek to Battle Hill took at least three days over difficult terrain and through thick forest; it should only have taken a few hours! By the time they reached Te Rangihaeata’s position, he and most of his people had fled. Those who remained put up a pretty good fight, forcing the soldiers to fetch canon from Porirua – but by the time those weapons had been brought to the foot of Battle Hill, the Defenders had melted away into the rugged countryside to the north...
So ended the last fight in the Wellington Region between Government Forces and Maori who soon afterwards were forced to ‘sell’ their land to the Government which in turn sold the land to the White settlers...
Is there regret over what happened? Yes, and in recent years there has been a concerted effort to recognise those Wrongs, and to offer compensation to the people who were so badly treated; this process continues to this day. Probably the Wikipedia Site (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi_claims_and_settl...) offers a reasonable Summary of the Compensation negotiations...
Opinionated weather forecasters telling me it's going to be a miserable day. Miserable for who? I quite like a bit of drizzle, so stick to the facts.
70 years ago, the Weardale Railway lost its passenger service on 29 June 1953. A good few years before innovations like this class 122 might have saved it (unlikely in my view).
In what locals referred to as - "the pissing rain" - E55012 sits outside the old Harperley station.
It has been pretty grey the past few days so when the weather forecast last night indicated a dawn 'partly cloudy' condition, I made a note and decided to get up early and head over to one of my favourite places, Fifty Point (which lies on the Western boundary of Grimsby, Ontario where it meets up with the Eastern boundary of Winona, or more correctly these days, the regional City of Hamilton), on the off chance of getting a sunset with lit-up clouds. When I awoke, it was still early (read dark) and I checked on-line for cloud cover distribution. It looked like two gaps in an otherwise totally overcast Southern Ontario where right overhead and the other a bit to the East, a recipe for some nice light, if you get lucky. So I headed off to the beach at Fifty Point. Fortunately, it was warm for this time of year, more like Spring rather than typical mid-December conditions, so I simply hung around on the beach shooting periodically as the light changed. Unfortunately, the light I really wanted did not materialize. But I still got some nice images and also a reason to return when the conditions warrant.
The wooden structures are groynes. They were built to help stabilize the shoreline and reduce erosion. This view looks roughly NorthEast. The shoreline along the right of the frame is not just the Grimsby shore along Lake Ontario, but, if you look closely, a higher section which is the Niagara Escarpment. The groyne has been lightly light-painted using a high power LED flashlight. - JW
Date Taken: 2015-12-12
Tech Details:
Taken using a tripod-mounted Nikon D7100 fitted with a Nikkor 12-24mm lense set to 16mm with a 3-stop Neutral Density/ND filter attached (to get exposure times long enough to significantly smooth the water surface), ISO100, Auto WB, Aperture priority mode, f/9.0, 10 sec. PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Nikon RAW/NEF source file: scale image to 9000x6000, adjust exposure to set it to as-shot, darken slightly using the L-A-B lightness and also increase chromacity, slightly increase black level, increase vibrance, apply micro-contrast, sharpen, apply noise reduction, save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: slightly increase contrast, sharpen very slightly, save, scale to 6000 wide (my preferred size for prepping and image to be posted on-line), sharpen very slightly, add fine black and white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale to 1800 wide for posting.
Sunday evening shoot. Weather forecast says these might be the last warm days of summer, so better make the most of it outside. I’ve had the chance to work with Marjo a few times, and this time she also brought some styling ideas and pushed for different light setups.
First, I used flash to balance out the heavy backlight (as seen in this bts photo). Then we tried a setup where the flash turned day into night — kind of like a random paparazzi shot from the street. To finish, I switched to just the modeling light with a gel for yet another mood. Still wild how many looks you can squeeze out of a single strobe.
The weather forecast for today was rain, we desperately need rain, everywhere is crumbling to dust, the rivers and lakes are drying out and most of the country has been declared to be in drought, there’s talk of water rationing coming soon…..so the forecast was looking good….however there’s been no rain, there might have been some drizzle overnight as the roads were wet this morning but that had evaporated by eight o’clock and with temperatures of twenty c and above any moisture in the air isn’t enough to condense into rain.
Yesterday, 18 September 2023, the weather forecast was pretty good, though the mention of wind did concern me a little. However, as time is running out for making long drives, I decided to take the risk. Shortly after leaving home and just out of the city limits, I could see smoke haze hiding the distant hills. I was so tempted to turn around and return home, but instead chose to continue.
Most of my driving was on the main roads, in order to get to my destination as quickljy as possible. The total drive of 473 km took me eight and a half hours, between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. Much as I would have loved to check out a few back roads, I knew I absolutely had to get home before the light started fading. The wind was strong and stirred up all the dust from the roads and fields and made it a real challenge to take photos. All my images were taken from inside my car and, even then, the rocking motion made things more difficult.
The small ghost town, that I was so keen to revisit yet again, had to be seen from my car, because it was too windy to walk, which was a shame. Fortunately, I have photos taken from a couple of previous visits. If I remember correctly, this was my third visit - the others were in July 2020 and August 2022.
Once I reached the ghost town, I was the only person there. It is only a small place with a handful of old buildings, but very nicely kept. One of its main buildings is a small, country United Church, kept in great condition both inside and out. I had read online beforehand that people can go inside the church and sign their Guest Book, otherwise I probably would not have gone in. Really like the door knobs to the front door. The link below gives a very interesting, detailed history, including an old photo of the church in 1980, before restoration. I would love to have seen it back then.
www.facebook.com/LethbridgeHistoricalSociety/posts/retlaw...
As well as the old ghost town, I also wanted to check on a favourite abandoned house - simple, old and leaning. It was a relief to find that it was still standing.
From there, I took more or less the same route home, Too late in the season for wildflowers. Very few birds to be seen, too, though I did see four hawks that were too far to photograph. Fortunately, I still had a little gas left in the gas tank. Always a concern when I do a long drive.
Despite the strong wind and the smoke haze, it was a good day. SInce then, we have had a tiny bit of rain, and I noticed that the golden leaves are already falling.
Today the weather forecast was for it to brighten up but it stayed murky all day. I met with Tony in the usual place to walk the Pevensey Levels it was muddy but not as bad as it had been on my previous visit. So although the cameras stayed firmly in our bags for most of the walk however we did manage some images. Here are my five 2 of a Marsh Harrier two of geese and one of the Great White Egret!!.
With good weather forecast in the capital in mid-June 2021, the opportunity was taken to photo the buses at Marble Arch and along Park Lane. Five of us enjoyed catching up and snapping the comings and goings in a near normal busy London.
The four major open top tour operators were out in force and carrying good loads throughout the day. Big Bus, Golden Tours, TOOT bus (The Original Open Tour) and newcomer Julia Travel (City Sightseeing / Stagecoach) brightened up the scene. A single London Bus example was spotted all alone at Victoria.
I visited Chalky Beach (near Swansea, NSW; Australia) at the weekend with fellow members of the flickr group - Newcastle Sundance for a sunrise shoot.
Weather forecast was for strong winds and partly cloudy conditions - they had it right - although the winds were from the west; with a cliff behind us here at Chalky - we were unaffected by it!
I decided to go for a shorter shutter speed here, as I noticed the incoming waves were creating some nice splashes against the rocks further out and wanted to catch one mid- splash!!
In positioning myself, I noticed also that the sun was rising in perfect alignment with a coal ship that was sitting on the horizon - this created a nice natural filter!!
Hope you like what you see here - have a great day!
Huge thanks for any comments, viewings or favorites!!
I'll be away from flickr for a few days - I'll attempt to catch up then.....
Weather forecast cloud at the time the super blue blood moon was due to set, and I couldn't face getting up at that time anyway - so I made a few shots of its rise instead.
I was beginning to feel like I was missing the entire Autumn due to being at work all the time and when my week off came up (I deliberately booked my October holiday for when the school kids aren't off), the weather forecast looked to be terrible. As such, I resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn't be getting any long walks done this week.
However, that hasn't stopped me getting out most days for some Autumnal photography. These photos were taken on Wednesday when low mist and thick cloud hung over the landscape. Despite the poor weather, the colours in Dura Den were looking wonderful and since the road is still closed*, I didn't have to stand here for ages waiting for traffic to pass by.
*the road has been closed since October 2012 when flooding washed it away (caused by Fife Council refusing to clear a backlog of woodland detritus that had built up behind an old dam). It took two years and two months before the council finally got the contractors in to start fixing things.
The road has now been rebuilt and the contractors have left. However, it's up to Fife Council to finish the job so I guess we'll be waiting another three years for it to open. Maybe if I told them Dura Den was in Kirkcaldy, they'd get on with the task at hand and stop forgetting we exist?
weather forecast was wrong so I ended up riding in T.607s. Armwarmers had to stay on as we had no suncream.
I had a disappointing evening of photography yesterday with the sky not clearing as I had wished and the daylight fading away into a flat grey and then shortly after complete black. On returning home I did not even bother to download the image on to the big screen.
In life I however believe the perseverance pays off, so I quickly checked the weather forecast and saw that sunrise today was looking quite promising. So early to bed it was with the alarm clock having 05:30am dialled in to it.
When the alarm went off this morning I hit snooze once, though about how much I would like to stay in bed. I somehow managed to draw the effort to open my eyes and check the latest weather reports. Luckily I live near 3 RAF bases that report the weather in great detail including all the various cloud layers from the surface to over 30,000 FT (Called Synoptic Observations), and when I checked I saw an array of stratocumulus, altocumulus and cirrus cloud was in the Lincolnshire skies!
So out of bed I jumped, wrapped warm I got and off I went. I chose not to go too far only to the next village of North Rauceby, I knew this location and the gentle slope of the land here worked well for sunrises.
So with my head torch on off stumbling through mostly harvested and ploughed fields I saw a distant tree in the far. As I approached it I could make out that the area of land next to the tree was “set a side” land and full of long grass and wild flowers (poppies and thistles mostly).
By this point the sky was starting to colour so I got the tripod out and all set up and ready. I tried a few different locations and compositions, choosing the one that I thought worked best. Then all I had to do was work out how many stops of graduated I would need to balance the sky and foreground when the sun rose in around 20 minutes time. Constant spot metering allowed me to choose 5 stops worth, and get these in to place with now only 5 minutes until sunrise.
As the sun rose above the horizon it illuminated parts of the tree of the left of the frame and spread some beautiful warm highlights across the taller parts of foliage in the foreground, I snapped away like a paparazzi for around 5 minutes collecting an array of similar images to this. The wind was quite fresh this morning and as a result some movement of the tree was captured, I happened to quite like this. Luckily though due to some good shelter from a hedgerow the grass and flowers in the foreground remained still.
In post processing I only needed to make a few minimal changes, including setting the white balance to cloudy, and increasing the exposure over the tree that had been darkened by the graduated filters. I added a touch of vibrancy and increased the contrast by a shade and was left with this as the result. Personally I was pleased with the result and glad I got out of bed.
Technical:
Nikon D3100
10-20mm Sigma
0.4 Seconds F20 ISO200
Hitech 0.9 and 0.6 soft graduated filters stacked
Post Processing in Lightroom 3
The weather forecasters had given us a bum steer on this day. The 'bright and sunny' turned out to be bright for 30 seconds then completely overcast for hours and a bit cool. I took a few pics, but the monument just melted into the sky and there were so many people taking selfies etc. We wandered along the prom and visited the Belém Tower and had some lunch, overlooking the water. After we ambled back, the sky cleared and I took this. Much better!
Taken with my Fujifilm X-T30 II camera and a XF18-55mm lens.
The weather forecast was for sunshine, but in Scotland it is so unpredictable. Depressed with the weather, I was ready to head home, when a break in the clouds allowed for some interesting shots.
The weather forecast was spot on today. After a grey start and light rain it would clear and it would be a sunny afternoon, so I planned for a late trip to the Somerset Levels. What the forecast missed out was a warning about the big squalls and the sudden and ferocious gusts of wind. So I wait.... and was reward with lovely conditions.
On 18 September 2023, the weather forecast was pretty good, though the mention of wind did concern me a little. However, as time is running out for making long drives, I decided to take the risk. Shortly after leaving home and just out of the city limits, I could see smoke haze hiding the distant hills. I was so tempted to turn around and return home, but instead chose to continue.
Most of my driving was on the main roads, in order to get to my destination as quickljy as possible. The total drive of 473 km took me eight and a half hours, between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. Much as I would have loved to check out a few back roads, I knew I absolutely had to get home before the light started fading. The wind was strong and stirred up all the dust from the roads and fields and made it a real challenge to take photos. All my images were taken from inside my car and, even then, the rocking motion made things more difficult.
The small ghost town, that I was so keen to revisit yet again, had to be seen from my car, because it was too windy to walk, which was a shame. Fortunately, I have photos taken from a couple of previous visits. If I remember correctly, this was my third visit - the others were in July 2020 and August 2022.
Once I reached the ghost town, I was the only person there. It is only a small place with a handful of old buildings, but very nicely kept. One of its main buildings is a small, country United Church, kept in great condition both inside and out. I had read online beforehand that people can go inside the church and sign their Guest Book, otherwise I probably would not have gone in. Really like the door knobs to the front door. The link below gives a very interesting, detailed history, including an old photo of the church in 1980, before restoration. I would love to have seen it back then.
www.facebook.com/LethbridgeHistoricalSociety/posts/retlaw...
As well as the old ghost town, I also wanted to check on a favourite abandoned house - simple, old and leaning. It was a relief to find that it was still standing.
From there, I took more or less the same route home, Too late in the season for wildflowers. Very few birds to be seen, too, though I did see four hawks that were too far to photograph. Fortunately, I still had a little gas left in the gas tank by the time I reached home. Always a concern when I do a long drive.
Despite the strong wind and the smoke haze, it was a good day. SInce then, we have had a tiny bit of rain, and I noticed that the golden leaves are already falling.
This is day 153, posted and taken on day 153! At last I am up to date after three months of dragging my feet.
Having resolved to drive north into Scotland and visit Threave Castle, I changed the plan having looked at the weather forecast and we headed down the Cumbrian coast instead. There were lots of interesting locations and things to see but nothing quite worked out.
There was a fantastic Viking cross at the church at Gosforth. But I'd left my camera in the car. The cheese bought for the lunchtime picnic was mouldy. The relaxing sit by the beach was disturbed when it turned out to be right next to a military firing range (bringing to an end my hunt for unexploded sea shells). The last tourist train up into the mountains had just left as we arrived.
On the way back, we took a detour up to Wasdale, to have a look at what has been voted 'Britain's favourite view'. I'd read this is a brochure but wasn't exactly sure what the view was I was looking for. I googled it when I got back and eventually discovered it was the view looking up Wastwater towards Scafell Pike. Not before I got a whole other set of results as I'd typed in 'Brian' instead of 'Britain'.
On the way to the lake a flash of violet caught my eye. I stopped the car and went to investigate. There was a forest with a fantastic carpet of bluebells stretching as far as the eye could see. I'm up to date and I got to see this beautiful place so that's enough for me, whatever the plan.
Yesterday the weather forecast was for cold so I opted for layers including this very warm Norwegian sweater. I met my coffee buddy, went to target and the post office. The sun was shining brightly and there was very little wind so the day was quite pleasant.
In the evening I was visiting via Skype with a friend who is leaving for Florida on Thursday. She suggested that take a photo and post it on Flickr so, here it is.
Weather forecasters are calling for the storms to be in southern counties and moving in a north easterly direction. Good for me and well; not so good for others. I decided to visit a parking garage not too far off from downtown in order to capture some rather eerie clouds. I slowed the shutter down with a neutral density filter. I kinda like the results.
The weather forecast suggested mist but a change of plan was rewarded with a great sunrise over Curbar Edge.
Press L to view on black please.
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With good weather forecast in the capital in mid-June 2021, the opportunity was taken to photo the buses at Marble Arch and along Park Lane. Five of us enjoyed catching up and snapping the comings and goings in a near normal busy London.
The four major open top tour operators were out in force and carrying good loads throughout the day. Big Bus, Golden Tours, TOOT bus (The Original Open Tour) and newcomer Julia Travel (City Sightseeing / Stagecoach) brightened up the scene. A single London Bus example was spotted all alone at Victoria.
The weather forecast meant I was expecting a day of rain, so looking out the window at blue skies changed my plans.
High tides and clear skies meant the river Medway was a wide ribbon of blue. The Medway valley footpath was extremely muddy though.......
ps - the rains came later - but luckily I was home by then.
Weather forecast was nice for the weekend, and I tried long exposure session of the comet for more than 3 hours.
The comet was drifting toward west a bit northward in Virgo. It got bigger and brighter than before. Dust coma was round and small. Dust jets were visible toward north northeast and south southwest in short exposure frames, and the dust area showed not round shape but longer toward north northeast and south southwest. Dust tail got clearer and longer than before toward east northeast. The shape was like a "," comma in total at the night.
Ion activity was detected faintly. The area had greenish tint in color enhanced frame.
Here is a frame of the comet taken on March 7, 2024:
www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/53572742800
Here is a frame of the comet in Virgo taken on April 8, 2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/hiroc/52809324098
Earth Distance: 2.006 AU
Sun Distance: 2.996 AU
equipment: Guan Sheng Optical Ritchey–Chrétien telescope RC-CF 10" f8, TS Extension for The Baffle Tube, TS 2.5" field flattener, and Canon EOS 5Dmark3-SP4, modified by Seo-san on SkyWatcher CQ350 Pro Equatorial Mount, autoguided at a star nearby with Fujinon 1:2.8/75mm C-Mount Lens, Pentax x2 Extender, ZWO ASI 120MM-mini, and PHD2 Guiding with comet tracking on
exposure: 7 times x 1,200 seconds, 7 x 240 sec, 6 x 60 sec, and 19 x 15 seconds at ISO 6,400 and f/8
The exposure started at 15:37:10 and ended at 18:44:15 UTC April 13, 2024.
This frame was cropped 4,927 x 3,290 pixels of the original 5,760 x 3,840 pixels, comparable to a frame taken with a telescope of focal length about 2,300mm.
site: 1,232m above sea level at lat. 36 55 68 North and long. 139 44 57 East near Mt. Keicyo Tochigi 栃木県 鶏頂高原. Transparency was not good. Small fog drops were visible drifting slowly in light beam time to time. Ambient temperature was around 5 degrees Celsius or 40 degrees Fahrenheit. SQM-L reached 21.22 at the night. Wind was mild, though atmospheric turbulence was not fair. Guide error RMS was around 1."
Here is a view of the site and my equipment at the night:
After checking the weather forecast for the next few days, I decided to do a drive N and E of the city on 20 February 2021. I knew I would check a few backroads for a Snowy Owl (none were found), but that was not the purpose of my trip, as I have already seen several Snowies this winter, 2020/2021. I wanted to revisit a few old barns that I had seen before and keep my eyes open for any unfamiliar ones, too. The last drive I did out of the city was on 1 February, so almost three weeks ago! Brutally cold, snowy weather, with windchills that dropped to as low as -42C, kept me safely at home. How good it feels to have milder weather now!
One of the locations I wanted to visit again was a ranch with three wonderful, white dairy barns. Two of the barns are very long and quite impressive. The first time I had seen them was in January 2014, when friend, Phil Quinn, took me out for a day drive north of the city. It must have been the worst day of that winter, with blowing snow swirling across some of the roads and a white sky as well as a white ground. Everything was white. The next time I saw them, from a distance, was on 3 November 2020, when I came across them unexpectedly, not realizing just how far I had driven. Unfortunately, almost all of the barns seen on this day were on roads that had just enough traffic on them to make it really difficult to take photos - there was always at least one car right behind me when I wanted to stop and there was no shoulder to pull over.
On my way home late afternoon, I quickly checked a favourite barn, just in case there was a Great Horned Owl sitting in the window - and there was! I had also photographed an owl there in December 2019 - both times an adult. This made a very nice ending to an enjoyable few hours, far away from crowded city parks.
…Looks like rain, feels like rain, it is rain!..Glad I wore my little red cap!… 8-)
Thanks for looking, and if this picture or any further ones I add to my photo stream move you to leave me a comment, or fave it for that matter, I thank you for that. I just want you to know you needn’t hurry though, as once it’s uploaded it’s not going anywhere that I know of, and only if you wish, you can peek at my pictures anytime. ;-)
Also, because of the way my life away from flickr is right now, I’m most certain I won’t be able to keep up as I have in the past..which really hasn’t been all that good lately anyways, but I‘m sure going to try. Have a wonderful night, and again thanks for looking. :-)
After checking the weather forecast for the next few days, I decided to do a drive N and E of the city the day before yesterday. I knew I would check a few backroads for a Snowy Owl (none were found), but that was not the purpose of my trip, as I have already seen several Snowies this winter, 2020/2021. I wanted to revisit a few old barns that I had seen before and keep my eyes open for any unfamiliar ones, too. The last drive I did out of the city was on 1 February, so almost three weeks ago! Brutally cold, snowy weather, with windchills that dropped to as low as -42C, kept me safely at home. How good it feels to have milder weather now!
One of the locations I wanted to visit again was a ranch with three wonderful, white dairy barns. Two of the barns are very long and quite impressive. The first time I had seen them was in January 2014, when friend, Phil Quinn, took me out for a day drive north of the city. It must have been the worst day of that winter, with blowing snow swirling across some of the roads and a white sky as well as a white ground. Everything was white. The next time I saw them, from a distance, was on 3 November 2020, when I came across them unexpectedly, not realizing just how far I had driven. Unfortunately, almost all of the barns seen yesterday were on roads that had just enough traffic on them to make it really difficult to take photos - there was always at least one car right behind me when I wanted to stop and there was no shoulder to pull over.
On my way home late afternoon, I quickly checked a favourite barn, just in case there was a Great Horned Owl sitting in the window. I had also photographed an owl there in December 2019 - both times an adult. This made a very nice ending to an enjoyable few hours, far away from crowded city parks.
Sometimes a bad weather forecast is just what the doctor ordered. Today was forecast to have rain showers and cloudy skies. When we got to Eielson Visitor Center we found the forecast to be inaccurate!
The most interesting part of this photo is the Muldrow Glacier, the line of ice below the base of Denali. This glacier, like many in the Alaska Range, is a surge glacier in that it doesn't move for many years and then suddenly lets loose. It hadn't moved since the 50's and started to move this May. I understand it has been moving up to 100 feet per day. The ice is piling up due to the last several miles of the Muldrow that haven't moved in the last 5000 years and is acting as a dam at the end of the active glacier causing the ice to pile up much like a reservoir filling up behind a dam.
If you look at any of my past photos you'll note you can't see any ice on the Muldrow from this vantage point..
We had other sightings which I'll post after bit of sleep.
With good weather forecast in the capital in mid-June 2021, the opportunity was taken to photo the buses at Marble Arch and along Park Lane. Five of us enjoyed catching up and snapping the comings and goings in a near normal busy London.
The four major open top tour operators were out in force and carrying good loads throughout the day. Big Bus, Golden Tours, TOOT bus (The Original Open Tour) and newcomer Julia Travel (City Sightseeing / Stagecoach) brightened up the scene. A single London Bus example was spotted all alone at Victoria.
Having seen the weather forecast for another snow storm, I made a quick decision to get back to the mountains - I don't drive there when there is snow on the roads. It was going to be sunny, but unfortunately, it was also very windy, which gave me a lot of not-quite-sharp images. Also, much of the highway through Kananaskis is closed for the winter months, for the protection of the wildlife. There were three or four locations that I wanted to photograph with snow on the peaks. With scenic shots in my mind, I took the south route, this time avoiding the dusty, gravel back road that I love to drive. Normally, I would never do a drive like this on a weekend day - more cars and people.
Much of the drive was similar to my trip with friend, Pam, on 5 September. A little over a month ago already? The first part of my drive, before turning around and heading home, I had done before, but I had never driven myself the most northerly part. I really wanted to make sure I did this while I could, rather than have to leave it till next year, as I might have lost courage by then. Actually, this north stretch had not been in my plans, but as it was not yet noon, I decided to do it, driving further than Pam and I had gone. A couple of extra stops were added - Barrier Lake and Lorette Ponds.
Keeping a close eye on how much gas was left, it was time to turn around and go back home the same way as I had driven earlier in the morning. Lots of animals on the road - mainly cattle! I don't think I have ever seen so many cows on the road before - and, oh, what a mess they were leaving behind them, everywhere! They were as stubborn about moving off the road as the three groups of Bighorn Sheep I came across during the day. I guess cows, too, like licking salt and other minerals off the road surface.
So many people were out to go hiking and there were lots of cars parked in many places. On my return drive, I was not too impressed to see about a dozen cars lined up along the edge of the road - thinking 'hikers' and then suddenly thinking "bear?" As I drove past, I caught a glimpse of three brown shapes in the long grass. I did what I don't like doing - a U-turn and adding myself to the end of the line. My handful of highly zoomed photos were all taken through the windshield, turning them into green-tinted blurs. I have added three of them, just for the record. Not sure if I can rescue any others. I tried to read the blurry number on the pink ear tag - maybe #152? which may have shifted upside down, on her right ear. She was busy feeding in the long grass with her two cubs, totally oblivious of the audience. I didn't notice if many people were out of their cars - I know the female idiot (oops, I mean 'driver') of the car in front of me, got out and walked down the road in the direction of the bears, but I couldn't see where she disappeared to. Eventually, a Park ranger arrived and shooed the beautiful bear family into the trees. Such an unexpected sighting and thrill - definitely the highlight of my 440 km drive. If I am right, I think I had only ever seen two Grizzlies in Alberta in all these years - a female with one cub.
The improving weather forecast for last Friday convinced me to go out and capture the routine scene locally. One of the attractions included this, simply because of the livery variations now possible to witness on the locos used for this service.
Weather forecast was not good except Izu penincula in Shizuoka in the region around Tokyo, and I drove 3 hours to the site at the night. This is a parking for hikers. There were so many astroimagers, maybe more than 20. It was deadly cloudy, when I came here. It was fortunate for us all that it got clear after midnight. Orion was coming up in the east then. Thanks to clouds over Tokyo and Yokohama area, sky was far darker than usual especially in the east.
equipment: Ricoh Theta V on a compact tripoc on my wagon
exposure: 60 seconds at ISO 1,000 and f/2.0
site: 1,490m above sea level at lat. 34 52 22 North and long. 139 01 27 East in Amagi Shizuoka 静岡県天城高原.
SQM-L reached 21.46 at the night. Ambient temperature was around 18 degrees Celsius or 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Although not a great weather forecast I decided to see what Elmley, Kent had to offer for the first time visitor. Hoped to spot a Hare, just one would do! - no luck on the Hare front but I saw a lot of birds: Marsh Harriers, Redshank, Avocet, various Gulls, Reed Buntings, Lapwings with chicks, Oyster Catchers, Coots, Swans, Little Egrets, Skylark. Alas the light was poor so no great bird captures but it was a joy just to watch them. This pretty calf caught my eye and as she was Black and White the overcast skies didn't matter too much.