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This bald eagle has a fish in his talons.The eagle would eat on this fish while he was in flight. I'm guessing he didn't have to share this way. This is from the Farmington Bay trip.
Watched this cormorant fishing for 20 minutes and I observed he was very successful. A fisherman would be very impressed.
Island of Hiddensee, Baltic Sea, Germany
Clinging to the Invisible God
Can I hope that I am now, in a new area, traveling more securely, and that my commitment to the hermit life will be something more than a comic gesture? Is the whole thing just a fantastic private comedy? I question myself and my whole life very seriously. The real absurdity of it all! The unreality of so much of it. I mean especially the ***unreality*** of years I look back on when, being Master of Students, for example, my job gave an appearance of substance and consistency, but actually I was floating in a kind of void! I think I enjoyed it to a great extent, but, if I had been more fully
aware, I would probably have not been able to cope with it.
In a word, what I see is this: that, while I imagined I was functioning fairly successfully, I was living a sort of patched-up, crazy existence, a series of rather hopeless improvisations, a life of unreality in many ways. Always underlain by a certain solid silence and presence, a Faith, a clinging to the Invisible God. This clinging (or rather God’s holding on to me) has been in the end the only thing that has made sense. The rest has been absurdity. What is more, there is no essential change in sight. I will probably go on like this for the rest of my life. Hear “I” am, this patchwork, this bundle of questions and doubts and obsessions, this gravitation to silence and the woods and to Love. The incoherence!
There is no longer anything to pride myself in, least of all “being a monk” or being anything — a writer or anything.
- Father Thomas Merton
from his Journal “September 5, 1966”
Frankreich / Provence - Gorges du Verdon
South Rim
Südrand
The Verdon Gorge (French: Gorges du Verdon Occitan: Gòrja de Verdon) is a river canyon located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is about 25 km (15.5 mi) long and up to 700 metres (0.4 mi) deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named for its turquoise-green colour, one of the location's distinguishing characteristics. In between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, the river has cut a ravine to a depth of 700 meters through the limestone mass. At the end of the canyon, the Verdon flows into the artificial Lake of Sainte-Croix.
The gorge is very popular with tourists, who can drive around its rim, rent kayaks to travel on the river, or hike. The limestone walls, which are several hundreds of metres high, attract many rock climbers. It is considered an outstanding destination for multi-pitch climbing, with 1,500 routes available ranging from 20 metres (65 feet) to over 400 metres (1,300 feet).
History
During the Triassic period, the Provence subsided and was covered by the sea, leaving thick layers of various limestone deposits. Several million years later, with the arrival of the Jurassic period, the area was covered by a warm shallow sea, which allowed the growth of various corals. The Cretaceous period saw what is now Basse Provence being raised and the sea reaching the current location of the Alps, which were themselves erected during the tertiary era. As a result of the large-scale geological activity, many of the Jurassic limestone deposits fractured, forming relief with valleys and other such features. The origins of the Verdon Gorge can be traced to this era.
The dawn of the Quaternary period had large-scale glaciation, transforming water pockets and lakes into rivers of ice, which remodeled the topography, scouring and striating the landscape. At the end of this activity, erosion by rivers continued, forming the Gorge as it is today. The Verdon's riverbed was scoured for a second time of the accumulated coral and limestone sediments, by a water delivery rate nearing 2000 to 3000 cubic metres per second.
Discovery
The gorge was described in printed form from 1782 and 1804. By the second half of the 19th century, it was featured in French tourist guides. According to Graham Robb's book The Discovery of France, the gorge did not become known outside France until 1906.
Recent developments
On 10 July 2006, the Council of State annulled the declaration of public use of a project by EDF relating to a proposed high-voltage line which would have had to pass through the Verdon Gorge. This decision ended 23 years of struggle by public groups and associations of environmental defence to preserve a site of exceptional natural interest, of which a part contains protected animal and plant species.
During the 2022 European drought, the water levels in the river were very low and dried up completely in some parts.
Geography
The source of the Verdon is close to the col d'Allos hill in the Trois Eveches mountain range, whence it continues, flowing into the Durance river near Vinon-sur-Verdon after traveling 175 kilometres. Between Castellane and the Galetas bridge, the river passes through the lake of Sainte-Croix, created by the construction of a dam of the same name. Before the dam was constructed, the village of Les Salles-sur-Verdon occupied the river plain. To create the reservoir, the village was destroyed in 1973. Les Salles-sur-Verdon was reconstructed as a more modern settlement higher up the valley. Today, it is the youngest village in France.
For some distance the Verdon Gorge forms the border between the départements of Var to the south and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the north in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région.
This region between Castellane and the Lac de Sainte-Croix is called the Gorges du Verdon, or Verdon Gorge. It is split into three distinct parts:
"Prégorges" ('pre-gorge'), from Castellane to Pont de Soleils,
the deepest part of the Gorge, from Pont de Soleils to l'Imbut, and
the Canyon from l’Imbut to the Pont du Galetas.
The Verdon Gorge is narrow and deep, with depths of 250 to 700 metres and widths of 6 to 100 metres at the level of the Verdon river. It is 200 to 1500 metres wide from one side of the Gorge to the other at the summits. The Gorge has been compared to the Grand Canyon in the United States.
Hydro-electric dams
Between 1929 and 1975, five dams were erected on the course of the Verdon, between Castellane and Gréoux-les-Bains. These dams hold back water in the following reservoirs:
Lac de Castillon, which was created by flooding the village of the same name
Lac de Sainte-Croix, flooded the village of des Salles-sur-Verdon.
Lac d'Esparron-Gréoux, known locally as "lac d’Esparron".
Reservoir at Chaudanne
Reservoir at Quinson, sometimes improperly called the "lac de Montpezat", the name of the village over which it dominates.
Notable features
The Styx du Verdon, associated with the river Styx of Greek mythology, is an area of sub-canyon within the gorge.
The Imbut, also known as Embut or Embucq, is an area where the Verdon disappears underground, beneath enormous rock structures, before re-emerging above ground.
Tourism
The Verdon Gorge attracts numerous tourists, especially during the summer period. The river's turquoise colour is associated with glacial sources and the minerals of rock flour suspended in the water.
It is easily accessible on its right bank from the north (via route D952 from Castellane to Moustiers-Sainte-Marie), and on its left bank from the south (via routes D71, D90 and D955 from Aiguines to Castellane).
Sport
The Verdon Gorge attracts many rock climbers for its more than 1,500 climbing routes on good limestone rock.
The Verdon and its Gorge are also a favoured destination for fishermen, particularly for fly fishing.
Hiking, canoeing, paragliding, rafting, climbing and canyoning are some of the sports practised in the region.
Hiking and scenic walks
The most common hikes in the gorge include:
Le sentier (pathway) de Martel
Le sentier de l'Imbut
Le sentier du Bastidon
Le belvédère de Rancoumas par le pont de Tusset (the Rancoumas panoramic viewpoint near the Tusset Bridge)
The Sentier Martel, was laid out in 1928 by the Touring Club de France.[citation needed] It was named in 1930 to honor the explorer Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938). Martel had visited the Verdon in 1905 as an employee of the Southeast Electricity Company, carrying out precise geological surveys of the river. On 11 August, he and his team (explorer Armand Janet, schoolmaster Isidore Blanc, geographer Cuvelier, plaus Baptistin Flory, Fernand Honorat, Prosper Marcel, and Tessier Zurcher) began an expedition of the region. Their successful arrival at the Pas de Galetas marked the completion of the first expedition of the Verdon Canyon.
Other expeditions to the Verdon included Martel's team the following year; followed by Robert de Joly, who in 1928 was the first to completely cross the Verdon Gorge.
(Wikipedia)
Die Verdonschlucht, französisch Gorges du Verdon, umgangssprachlich auch Grand Canyon du Verdon, ist eine Schlucht in der französischen Provence, Département Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Sie beginnt flussabwärts nach der Stadt Castellane und endet nahe Moustiers-Sainte-Marie im Stausee Lac de Sainte-Croix. Durch den etwa 21 km langen und bis zu 700 Meter tiefen Canyon fließt der türkisfarbene Fluss Verdon. Die Gorges du Verdon sind neben der Tara-Schlucht einer der größten Canyons Europas und Hauptbestandteil des nach ihm benannten Regionalen Naturparks Verdon.
Geographische Lage
Der Verdon entspringt in der Nähe des Col d’Allos im Bergland Trois Évêchés und mündet nach etwa 175 km in der Nähe von Vinon-sur-Verdon in die Durance. Das interessanteste Stück seines Laufes befindet sich zwischen Castellane und der Galetas-Brücke kurz vor dem Lac de Sainte-Croix. Die Schlucht von Verdon definiert über weite Strecken die Grenze zwischen den Départements Var im Süden und Alpes-de-Haute-Provence im Norden. Das Gebiet ist in drei Teilabschnitte gegliedert:
Die „Prégorges“ zwischen Castellane und der Brücke bei Soleils
Die Schlucht zwischen der Brücke und l’Imbut
Der Canyon zwischen l’Imbut und der Brücke von Galetas
Die Schlucht ist am Grund zwischen 6 und 100 m breit, die gegenüberliegenden Flanken sind zwischen 200 und 1500 m voneinander entfernt und die Tiefe variiert zwischen 250 und 700 m.
Entstehung
In der Trias-Zeit senkte sich die Provence ab und wurde vom Meer bedeckt. In der Folge lagerten sich am Grund verschiedene Schichten von Kalk (abgestorbene Muscheln u. ä.) ab. Im Jura wurde die Provence erneut von einem warmen, wenig tiefen Meer überflutet, was die Entstehung mächtiger Korallenbänke begünstigte.
In der Kreidezeit hob sich die Provence, und das Meer zog sich in den Bereich der heutigen Alpen zurück. Erst im Tertiär wurden die Alpen aufgefaltet. Die in der Folge zerbrechenden Kalkmassive aus der Jurazeit bestimmten das Relief und die Täler. In dieser Zeit suchte sich auch der Verdon sein Bett.
Im Quartär überformten die eiszeitlichen Gletscher die Landschaft. Am Ende der Vereisung nehmen die Flüsse ihre Erosionstätigkeit wieder auf. Bedingt durch die Eisschmelze waren die Wassermengen gewaltig: bis zu 3000 m³/s. Diese Mengen ermöglichten die tiefen Einschnitte im weichen Gestein.
Jüngere Geschichte
Auf dem Gebiet des heutigen Stausees, der durch den Bau des Sainte-Croix-Staudamms entstand, befand sich vor 1973 die Ortschaft Les Salles-sur-Verdon, die kurz vor der Flutung des Tals vollständig zerstört und an anderer Stelle neu aufgebaut wurde. Heute ist sie eine der jüngsten Gemeinden Frankreichs.
Seit dem 7. Mai 1990 ist die Schlucht offizielles Naturschutzgebiet.
Am 10. Juli 2006 beschloss der Conseil d’État, dass die geplante 400.000-Volt-Hochspannungsleitung der Électricité de France durch den Canyon nicht gebaut werden dürfe. Damit endete ein über 23 Jahre andauernder Kampf verschiedener Umwelt- und Naturschutzorganisation, die sich für den Erhalt der ursprünglichen Schlucht einsetzen.
1905: Erste vollständige Durchquerung der Schlucht durch den Speläologen Martel
1929: Grundsteinlegung des Castillon-Staudamms
1932: Unterbrechung der Bauarbeiten
1936: Ein Brand beschädigt den Staudamm
1948: Fertigstellung des Castillon-Staudamms
1951: Fertigstellung des Chaudanne-Staudamms
1960: Fertigstellung des Esparron-Gréoux-Staudamms
1973: Flutung des Sainte-Croix-Stausees
1973: Wiederaufbau der gefluteten Ortschaft Les Salles-sur-Verdon etwa 400 m entfernt
1974: Beginn der Stromproduktion des Wasserkraftwerks in Sainte-Croix
1975: Flutung des Quinson-Stausees
Aktivitäten
Auf dem Wasser
Teilweise lässt sich die Verdonschlucht mit Wildwasser-Kajaks befahren, im Unterlauf am Lac de Sainte-Croix auch mit größeren Booten. Der Wasserabfluss der oberen Stauseen ist zumindest während der Hauptreisezeit Juli und August einheitlich festgelegt. Um den Wassersport wie Wildwasserschwimmen, Rafting etc. zu unterstützen, wird an zwei Tagen der Woche (meist dienstags und freitags) mehr Wasser abgelassen. Der Abfluss beträgt dann 10–16 Kubikmeter Wasser pro Sekunde, an den anderen Tagen ca. 0,5 Kubikmeter Wasser pro Sekunde. Es existiert eine Hotline zur Information über aktuelle Wasserstände. In der Vor- und Nachsaison hingegen wird deutlich unregelmäßiger Wasser abgelassen, in manchen Jahren wochenlang bis zu 40 Kubikmeter pro Sekunde, in anderen wochenlang nur 0,5 Kubikmeter pro Sekunde. Bei Wassermengen über 2 bis 3 Kubikmeter wird im Wildwasserschwimmen Ungeübten vom Baden in der Strömung abgeraten. Durch unberechenbare Hindernisse wie Siphone, Unterspülungen und Holzverblockungen besteht dann Lebensgefahr.
Wandern
Das Wandern in den unzugänglicheren Regionen der Schlucht ist beliebt und gilt als ungefährlich. Die bekannteste Wander-Route durch den Verdon-Canyon beginnt und endet in der Mitte des Canyons an einem Aussichtspunkt, von dem es relativ steil über Serpentinen bergab geht. Sie führt entlang des Sentier Martel (benannt nach dem Erstdurchquerer Martel). Der Abstieg beginnt von der Route de Crête, am Vereinshaus La Maline. Unten am Fluss angelangt sollte man sich an der dortigen Weggabelung nach Norden halten und dort zügig dem Wegverlauf stromaufwärts folgen. Im Verlauf der fast sechsstündigen Wanderung – ohne Möglichkeit eines Zwischenausstieges – führt der Wanderweg beständig bergauf-bergab und über einige künstlich angelegte Leitern und Treppen abwärts. Eine davon (Brèche Imbert) ist recht steil und führt über 252 Stufen von einem Aussichtspunkt hinunter. Kurz vor Ende der Route führt der Weg durch zwei hintereinander liegende Tunnel, die als einzige Möglichkeit weiterführen. Hier sollte ursprünglich der Fluss komplett umgeleitet werden, doch das Projekt wurde nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg aufgegeben. Die Länge des ersten Tunnels beträgt 110 m, die des zweiten 657 m.
Insgesamt ist für diese Bergwanderung mit etwa fünf bis sechs Stunden reiner Gehzeit zu rechnen. Am End- bzw. Ausgangspunkt Point Sublime im Norden befindet sich ein weiterer Parkplatz. Für die Rückfahrt zum Ausgangspunkt besteht die Möglichkeit, ein Schluchtentaxi oder einen allerdings selten verkehrenden Linienbus zu benutzen.
Klettern
Die Verdonschlucht war in den 1970er und 1980er Jahren eines der bedeutendsten Klettergebiete. In den 1970er Jahren wurden zahlreiche ausgesetzte technische Linien erstbegangen, in den 1980er Jahren gelang dann Kletterern wie Patrick Berhault und Patrick Edlinger die freie Begehung vieler dieser Routen. Auch heute wird in dem Gebiet noch intensiv geklettert.
Weitere Aktivitäten
Auf der Ringstraße um den Verdon-Canyon sind immer wieder Aussichtspunkte zur Schlucht hin, aber auch auf die Lavendel-Felder, für die die Region berühmt ist, angelegt. Über der Schlucht kreisen häufig Paraglider, Drachen und Segelflieger, wenn das Wetter dies zulässt. Die Pont de l’Artuby wird sehr stark von Bungee-Jumpern frequentiert. Ebenso ist die Schlucht mit ihren Pässen Ziel vieler Motorradfahrer.
(Wikipedia)
Endangered!
Immature female.
Located inactive and in the shade (could have been mistaken for a rock) on the relatively busy Pinto Basin Road near the Cholla Cactus Garden, Joshua Tree National Park, California USA.
Relocated well away from the road and hopefully will reach maturity and successfully breed.
How can it be a successful trip without a couple of best star trails pics. Startrail is now one of the things I would always try on a trip. Its a tricky type of photography, since you can only click about 2 or 3 long enough star trails in a single night, thus the composition has to be well thought and pre planned, rest have to leave it on the camera, and having a moonless night is an advantage here :), The only problem being was that in Mt Cook, the nights are very small, Sunlight starts to completely fade away by 10:30pm and by 4:30am you can see the morning hues by the horizon, that would give me a night window of only 6hrs (this shot was already 3hr:30mins of that), I was hoping for 3 long star trails (I got 2 long and 2 short startrails), but I am satisfied with what I got. I enjoyed one of the calmest sunrise in my life.
The shot above consists of 210 exposures of 30secs each @ f4 ISO800 10mm giving me 3hrs:30mins of star trail. The main difference in this pic is that the Polaris captured int his shot is the South Polaris, rather then the North one that is usually captured from India
Mt Cook being far far away from the city lights has one of the darkest sky i have ever seen in my life, giving me 10 times more stars to witness then the darkest sky i have seen in India or South Africa, Once your eyes gets adjusted to the darkness of the sky, you can see the Milky Way and a few star clusters and 3 Super novas named SN 1604 (20,000 light years away) and SN 1987A (168,000 light years), 3rd one I couldnt recognize, all this was according to Stellarium on the iphone ;) and with just naked eyes, I wish I had a telescope
The Red light beam you see in the shot was from the night vision torch I used to for keeping an eye on the camera just in case nothing goes wrong and the camera is keeping on clicking, But i wasnt aware it was included in the frame, I kind of like it this way, it gives the shot a Sci-fi feel
A successful marriage requires
falling in love many times,
always with the same person.
(Mignon McLaughlin)
My twin daughters gave these tiny dolls to Freya (their elder sister) and Sam on their wedding day (October 28, 2016).
Last Tuesday, July 10 2018, Freya gave birth to our first grandchild:
a boy named Eli! :-)
an alphabet book - bokeh
Smile on Saturday! :-) - Lucky Charm
(photo by Freya)
Lake State Rwy. is crossing the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan with the PM heritage up front with this installment of watch out for drone killing bald eagles while flying above this spot - August 23, 2025.
In 2014 the North Carolina Transportation Museum held their biggest party ever and in my humble opinion the single greatest railfan event I've ever attended before or since. Following up on their wildly successful heritage unit family portrait event for Norfolk Southern's 30th anniversary they planned something even bigger.
Gathering 26 surviving freight and passenger diesels from the classic first generation era, they all came together for three days of festivities centered around the old Southern Railway 37-stall roundhouse that was constructed in 1924 with a 100 ft turntable.
The structure replaced a smaller 15-stall roundhouse that had been built in 1896. The new building was more than twice the size of the old and remarkably, the former structures were demolished and the new ones erected within a span of only 10 months. The new 120,000 square-foot roundhouse and turntable cost approximately $500,000. Railroad officials named the new facility for roundhouse supervisor, Bob Julian.
Everything seen here was once the principle steam shops of the Southern Railway having been opened in 1896. Original buildings included a machine shop, storehouse building, office building, wood working shop, boiler shop, a power plant, and the roundhouse (purportedly the largest surving in the US). Although Spencer Shops survived into the diesel era, the facility was outdated by the early 1970s and shuttered before being donated to the state of North Carolina in 1977. Gradually restored over the past 45 years it is now nome to the fabulous North Carolina Transportation Museum.
The large building on the left center of the frame is back shop erected in 1905. At 150' wide by 600' long it is the largest building on the site and once the largest industrial structure in the state. But with the Southern being one of the first major Class 1s to fully dieselize this building was completely shuttered by 1960.
This view was not taken from a drone but actually from a helicopter. For $50 you could take an approximately three minute ride looping up over and around the complex and shoot as much as you could out the open sides. This was I think only the third time in my life I'd ever been up in a chopper and while the price was steep it was just too cool to pass up!
I won't single out the specific visiting and resident equipment you can see in this photo, but if you want to learn more about this railfan event of the century in case you weren't there this gentleman has a fabulous overview on his site: www.wvncrails.org/streamliners-at-spencer.html
Spencer, North Carolina
Saturday May 31, 2014
So, here is my friend Andrew, who I have known since we were 7, in the 2nd grade. Were both seniors in high school, and still good friends. One day, he comes up to ask me in 2nd per. about a month ago to do this drawing/painting. I finally come to find out what the significance of the eyeball and toast is.. It is so interesting yet weird in its own little way. This painting I done using his ideas and putting our weird minds together looks like this. But why, you ask... When he and his girlfriend met in the summer of this year, he was doing water polo or swim... He got a bit tan, and he is a quarter mexican. Im more mexican then him and were bth so white looking, anyway. She said he looked a bit, toasty, yet he replies he's just mexican. She laughs in denial. She also tells him something, but really isnt true. She said she had a glass eye due to this tragic accident I believe, bt she doesnt. He totally believed her though! He can be gullible at times and so... This painting depicts my friend Andrew as the piece of buttery toast, and his girl friend, the eyeball. Reminding them both about when they met. "Eye Love Toast" and good relationships. I wish the best for them. I heard she loved the painting when he gave it to her for X-mas, so im glad. A job well accomplished.
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
I watched this Little Egret for some time and it’s strike rate was very impressive. This was one of its bigger catches however it soon got bullied away by a Grey Heron that wasn’t willing to share.
A Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) shows off its successful Dog Salmon catch as a gull screams probably in excitement at the prospect of getting scraps. This bear was plying Pack Creek on Admiralty Island in Alaska on the Inside Passage.
Not a successful aurora hunt, but there was at least a hint of colour to the south. After watching in amazement today some night time video from North America showing wonderful green aurora on a livestream webcam in Duluth on Lake Superior, I was hopeful the good conditions would continue into our southern hemisphere night, but it was not to be while I was out there. Still, it was a good chance to get out with the new 16mm lens and see how it performed. On the R10 body used here, it is about a 25mm equivalent. Quite happy with it for such a cheap lightweight lens. Keen to try it now on the full frame RP body.
The foreground trees were totally dark in most of my attempts, but this one caught a car driving behind me and lighting up the trees with its headlights and I thought it added a little more interest.
Taken on the southern rim of the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier, South Australia.
The Coal Tits must have done well so far - suddenly they have taken over one of my feeders! Taken in Hampshire.
We were happy to see many Starlings on the telephone wires in Woodbridge Reserve. Widespread and abundant in much of North America, the introduced European starling is arguably and problematically the most successful bird on the continent. Often characterized as bold, this bird is actually fairly wary and can be difficult to approach, as it was with this bird, hard to find and hard to photograph.
Pope's Falls, or what is left of it, lie on Greaves creek in Rodriguez Pass, in the Blue Mountains.
Four years ago I did an exploratory to find and shoot a series of falls below Beauchamp Falls in Rodriguez Pass, namely, in order, Pope's Falls, Foy Falls (named after Mark Foy, whose name the track originally bore), John Harris Falls, Bettingham Falls, and Campbell's Falls. I was only partially successful.
I found Pope's Falls, or, more importantly, what was left of them. A recent landslide had buried most of it. Very hard to get to.
Want to see this photograph on your wall? Get in touch via peter@peterhill.au or at peterhill.au/contact/
Went to Valley Green Park in Wissahickon for the first time.. What aggravation! Got lost even with navigation. The lighting was generally bad, other photographers were shooting into the dark. I wanted to get a low vantage point but wasn't too successful - I finally got out onto some rocks in the middle of the creek. To top it all off, 95% of my images were cr*p and soft! I'll chalk it up to an "off" day. Oh, and I hit about 372 red lights on the way home.
Though the house at Nymans has its roots in the 17th century, the story of Nymans really begins in 1870, when Ludwig Messel and his family moved here from Germany. The Messels were of Jewish descent, and they arrived in England at a time when feelings against Germany ran high, and anti-Semitism was rife. Despite the social obstacles, Messel succeeded in carving out a successful career as a stockbroker. In fact, he was so successful that he had the means to purchase Nymans in 1890 and create a romantic, quintessentially English garden around the house at Nymans.
After several failed attempts, I finally caught a Great Blue Heron making a successful fishing catch. To be clear, the failed attempts were mine, not the heron's as it was quite skilled. This was taken earlier in the year before all the rains hit. The creek is now a muddy mess due to overflow and wash out from a nearby residential construction project. It's a real shame and I hope they clean it up. Bear Creek Park, Keller, Texas, USA, March 2015
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"The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) is a tiger subspecies that lives in the Indonesian island of Sumatra...It was listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2008, as the population was estimated at 441 to 679 individuals, with no subpopulation larger than 50 individuals and a declining trend...Chester Zoo, has had a very successful breeding program in recent years..."
"Chester Zoo is a zoological garden at Upton by Chester, in Cheshire, England...Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family... It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 125 acres The Zoo has a total land holding of approximately 400 acres..."
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A successful morning at Brighton's West Pier where what a feared was sensor dust was actually one of the buoys that mark the pier no go limits.
30s at F18, converted to monochrome for effect.
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People in Toronto are excited about Canada's first World Cup game on home soil.
Best wishes for a safe and successful FIFA World Cup 2026 in all 3 host countries Mexico, United States and Canada.
After fire, or logging, paper birch is an early pioneer species. For some reason, when loggers came through here recently, they left a few trees here and there. No matter, in 10 years, this hill will sport paper birch and big-tooth aspen replacements. I will return.