View allAll Photos Tagged treebeard
Raindrops on lupine leaves ... almost a photo cliché, but still a pleasure. This leaf belongs to native Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor) in the Fabaceae plant family. I got this photo in light rain today, with some breeze. Both hard rain and wind knock the drops from the leaves, so you have to time your photo just right. Compare this photo. (San Marcos Pass, 31 December 2016)
Here is a tiny wasp (Hymenoptera) that I believe is an actual Gall Wasp in the family Cynipidae - their shape is pretty distinctive. I found it on a leaflet of Wild Sweetpea (Lathyrus vestitus, Fabaceae) that is growing on Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) in the woods today. The wasp is tiny, about 1/8 inch. I have hundreds of photos of different wasp galls but few of the wasps themselves, see this album. (San Marcos Pass, 5 March 2022)
I have a few other photos that might be gall wasps:
I found this spiny spider on a spiny cactus plant today! The plant is a Prickly Pear (Opuntia, Cactaceae) cactus in our garden, and the large spider is a Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia, Oxyopidae). The spider does have chevron markings on its back, so maybe it is Peucetia viridans as opposed to the Peucetia longipalpis in this photo? These spiders are highly variable, especially at mating time - which is now. This one is especially beautiful - jade, porcelain, and carnelian. It's nice to have both Web Webnesday and Arachtober on the same day, spiders galore! Arachtober 4. (San Marcos Pass, 4 October 2017)
I absolutely unequivocally hated building this. I swear this is the last time you’ll ever see me build an Ent! And I’m taking a break from trees for a while too!
Middle Earth Lego Olympics, Round 4
Build Time: I don’t even know; like 10, 15? I don’t care anymore!
In the heart of the Otzarreta Forest stands a truly iconic beech tree, its vibrant green leaves a testament to the full bloom of spring. This majestic tree, with its sprawling branches and ancient presence, brings to mind the legendary Ents of Tolkien's world, particularly the wise and venerable Treebeard.
Equipped with the TTArtisan 11mm Fisheye, generously lent to me by Laura, I tried to capture this tree from a fresh perspective. The fisheye lens allowed me to experiment with new compositions, emphasizing the tree's grandeur and the lush, enveloping foliage that resembles the mystical aura of the Old Forest. I played with the tree's roots in the foreground, using them to anchor the composition and add depth to the scene. This lens brought a unique curvature and depth to the scene, highlighting the beech's towering presence and the forest's enchanting, almost otherworldly atmosphere.
"My name is growing all the time, and I've lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you the story of things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say. It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time saying anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to." - Treebeard, J.R.R.Tolkien
© 2015 Alicia Clerencia Adanero. Todos los derechos reservados.
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Linares de la Sierra.
El guardián del bosque aparece al final del camino, llegado a la última puerta que pasa por la fuente vieja.
Here are the faux "eyes" on the back of a caterpillar of a Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) butterfly that is stretched out on a new leaf of California Coffeeberry (Frangula californica, Rhamnaceae) in the woods today. Hah, Julie says it reminds her of Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, and the eyes do look like they're drawn on. The caterpillar's real head is pressed down against the leaf - it is always in this pose when I find it, and I've never actually seen its face. It's not huge like the caterpillar in this photo, maybe the size of a child's thumb. I have another recent photo of the same caterpillar here. (San Marcos Pass, 5 August 2020)
There were no marine-layer clouds coming over the mountains today, but I kept looking up expecting to see the fog coming because it felt like the usual fog winds from the south. It was pleasantly cool today, up to about 80 degrees. Maybe the marine layer will return over the mountains tonight.
This tree made me think of a creature sitting in the woodlands with its front legs crossed. If it had antlers the face would look like a deer.
IMGP0283_edited-2 flickr crop
I have cropped this as suggested by my friend Kiki (Vol-au-Vent)
I like this version much better, its more dramatic. I didn't want to remove the original though, so you could see the difference between the two :-)
yes this is me pretending to be an Ent one of those living trees in LOR! this disguise only works when you are a silhouette that is when the sun is behind you... (if it is daylight)
the pic was taken in Sweden when I just moved here 2014-2015???
Peace and Noise!
/ MushroomBrain an organic plant
This is a wild bee on a new flower of native Sawtooth Goldenbush (Hazardia squarrosa, Asteraceae) in the woods today. I think it might be Pebble Bee in the genus Dianthidium, see this photo for more info. (San Marcos Pass, 14 August 2022)
Squirrel Uruk-hai: "That guy is nuts! I'm going to tell Treebeard about this."
Tualatin Fred Meyer, 11:42 PM.
Media:
Here are winged (alate) Termites (order Isoptera or Blattodea) on fallen leaves in the in the woods today. This wasn't a particularly large swarm, compare this photo and this photo from years past. Rain yesterday, termites today -- I guess that's how they synchronize their swarms with other termite colonies so that they'll all emerge at the same time, thereby increasing the chance of mating across swarms to form new colonies. Maybe these are Subterranean Termites in the family Rhinotermitidae? I seem to find them in both spring and autumn. Birds and lizards love the swarms -- like little flying hors d'oeuvres! (San Marcos Pass, 19 November 2023)
Here are handsome new leaves and catkins on a tree of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae). It's interesting that as the new buds expand, sometimes they are mostly leaves like these, sometimes they are mostly catkins, and sometimes they are an even mix. I don't understand how this works. The new leaves are soft and vulnerable at this early stage - see this photo and this photo for a common predator that I've been looking out for. (San Marcos Pass, 10 March 2020)
It's Movie Night again, and after another long and stressful week, Stormtrooper Bruce couldn't wait for the guys to show up. More presents appeared mysteriously during the week, and now they were having fun coming up with different ways to dispose of them. Everything was going great until ...
Paltatine: Pardon our intrusion on your little gathering. I must apologize for arriving so early, but my nephew just couldn't wait another minute!
STB: It's always a pleasure to see you, sir, but I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean be "arriving early"?
Palpatine: I notified your several weeks ago. I need you to watch Treebeard while his parents are away for an extended holiday. And of course you are relieved of your duties in the meantime.
STB: Sorry, sir. I'm afraid I never received any notice. Pretty sure I'd remember something like that.
Palpatine. Oh, well perhaps I forgot to hit the send button.
Treebeard: Hello Unka Dude! How are you? I sure missed you. Did you miss me? I see you've saved all my gifts for me. They sure are pretty aren't they?
STB: Hello little dude. Did you say your gifts?
TK-1110: You mean, those gifts with no name tags, no explanation, no nothing?
Treebeard: Of course my gifts. Unka Pappy was apposed to tell you I was sending them so I'd have something to open up when I got here.
TK-432: Good thing I'm sitting down. And pardon me for asking - but why would you send yourself gifts?
Treebeard: To celebrate Christmas in July, of course.
STB: Oh, of course. I guess that explains the tree you're holding, too?
Treebeard: Of course. We're going to have SO much fun. First we'll celebrate Christmas. Then, well, that's a secret! Isn't this going to be fun!
TK-1110: I think I need to sit down. OvieMay IghtNay ucksSay!
Palpatine: And I think I need to leave. Take your teddy Treebeard. You behave, use your inside voice, and no sneaking out when he's asleep. I'll come pick you up when your parents get back.
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Viewing Large is always fun. Just click on the image.
An amazing tree in front of the Harry S Truman Little White House. The type that legends and folklore is made of.
Here is a wild bee (Anthophila, Hymenoptera) working new flowers of native Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis, Asteraceae) - and showing its rear end. The bee might be a male Anthophora urbana in the family Apidae, see Bernhard Jacobi's comment on this photo of he same bee. HBBBT! (San Marcos Pass, 22 September 2018)
This is a remarkable little Crab Spider (Thomisidae) with perfect camouflage on a twig of a small Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae) tree. I'm sure this one is genus Tmarus, probably Tmarus angulatus. I think this is the best camouflage I've ever seen - good enough that I haven't found another since I found it in 2012! Arachtober 30. (San Marcos Pass, 4 April 2012)
(Yeah, this photo is similar to this one. But it's a better crop and a different original photo, so I reckon it's legal under the Arachtober group rules - technically, at least!)
This is a large bottlecap-size Orb-Weaver (Araneidae) spider, probably Neoscona crucifera and not the Cat-Faced Spider (Araneus gemmoides) which looks similar. (I'm sure I've confused them in the past.) It's the same spider that I showed yesterday moving away from its web in this photo. Lucky me, I went back this afternoon and found it sitting in the center of its web. Light is an issue in this place near home on a north-facing slope that loses the sun in winter, but at least I had some sunlight filtered by trees. Arachtober 12. (San Marcos Pass, 12 October 2017)
Here is another shot of the Silver Argiope aka Silver Garden Spider (Argiope argentata, Araneidae) spider the woods today. I was worried at first because she wasn't sitting in her web where she usually is, but I found her hanging from a perch off to the side. She always seems to be hanging with her underside exposed (like this), so this is actually the best photo of her upper side that I have. The common name of this spider comes from the white/silver part on the spider's top side, but a better characteristic for identification is their remarkable "horns" around the abdomen which gives them a cartoon look. What beautiful spiders they are! Arachtober 24. (San Marcos Pass, 24 October 2017)
Here is an early foxtail stuck in my sock. It's the seed of either Foxtail Barley (Hordeum jubatum) or Ripgut Grass (Bromus diandrus), probably the former with those relatively short awns. Both are non-native weeds that are now ubiquitous, I have a photo here. It's really too early for this, and the seeds are still tight on the plants, but I picked a few of each kind and kept them on the dashboard of my truck for a few days to dry out. That worked. Then I took a clean sock and exposed it to the foxtails. Hah, they almost jump into the sock! I try to remember to wear gaiters when I have to walk through bristly grasses like foxtail or ripgut, but sometimes I forget. And sometimes I have to throw the socks out afterwards! This is my photo for the Macro Mondays group, with the theme of "Cloth/Textile". HMM! (San Marcos Pass, 27 March 2017)
I found this tiny Jumping Spider (Salticidae) in a narrow gap between two leaves of Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae). Sure, it's looking at me. There's something unnerving about making eye contact with such a tiny critter, but here it is. There are many kinds of these little jumpers that I can't tell apart, and this is one of them. Isn't it cute! (San Marcos Pass, 31 January 2018)
The NWS Forecast Discussion this morning said that "The weather pattern is relentlessly unchanging through the xtnded period." Later on they added "Really not seeing much change in this pattern at least through next weekend as well so it`s looking likely that the first 10 days of February will be dry and quite possibly longer." The weather is warm and beautiful but dry dry dry. For some reason the chorus frogs have been really going at all night it in our outdoor bathtub water garden. Go figure.
Who's side are you?
Side? I am on no one's side...because no one is on my side.
Well,that's pretty sweet design =Ъ
This is a handsome Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) butterfly resting on a flower cluster in the mint patch of the garden. These butterflies are are quite plain below - see this photo. This photo shows that they are more interesting above. (San Marcos Pass, 21 August 2017)
The eclipse happened this morning, and I even got a photo through the clouds. It was curious that the traffic on the highway was terrible - and the internet traffic was also terrible. Was everyone on the mountain trying to stream the eclipse at the same time?
Even armored predators need love!
Here are a mating pair of tiny Pacific Ambush Bugs (Phymata pacifica, Phymatidae) on a leaf of native California Coffeeberry (Frangula californica aka Rhamnus californica) in the Rhamnaceae plant family. This particular shrub still has a few flowers, and lots of these predators - I have another photo of one from the same shrub. They remind me of shogun-era samurai warriors. The color is interesting. I've always assumed they are color-shifters that change to match their flowers, but I saw three different mating pairs recently, and they all had a yellow male riding a white female. Is there something else going on? It's not quite Wednesday by local time, but it is by Flickr/GMT/UTC time, so Happy Hump Day! (San Marcos Pass, 29 July 2018)
"Tree? I am no tree. I am an Ent."
"Treebeard some call me."
The Lord of the Rings - "The Last March of the Ents "
Lord of the RIngs OST
Visit this location at The Shire - A homely slice of Middle Earth in Second Life
There is a spider's exuviae -- the shed skin after the molt -- on native Telegraph Weed (Heterotheca grandiflora, Asteraceae) in the woods today. It might a tiny Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia, Oxyopidae), see this photo on the same plant. That word "exuviae" sounds plural, but it is the preferred word even in the singular. It occurs to me that the word "remains" as in "someone's remains" works the same way. Arachtober 10. (San Marcos Pass, 10 October 2022)
Here is a little forest of sexual sporophytes of (I believe) the California Liverwort (Asterella californica, Marchantiophyta) growing on the face of a sandstone outcrop. These look different from the liverworts in this photo which might be Palmer's Asterella (Asterella palmeri) - less like a helmet and more like little surfing palm trees! We have more different kinds of liverworts in our woods than I previously thought. There's a checklist of different California species at iNaturalist, but I haven't yet found a proper key. They seem to be having a good year with all the rain. (San Marcos Pass, 10 February 2019)
Here is a snail trail on a sandstone outcrop, with tiny crustose lichens. It's like a sugar glaze on a doughnut - but it's a slime trail instead! It has interesting oil-slick iridescence, and you can even see some reflections of the trees and sky in the upper-right. I'm not sure if it's the same kind of snail, but I have this photo of our most common native terrestrial Shoulderband Snail (genus Helminthoglypta, Helminthoglytidae, Gastropoda). This is my photo for the Macro Mondays group, with the theme of "Glaze". HMM! (San Marcos Pass, 7 April 2017)
This looks like fireworks! It's a spider on its web in a beam of sunlight in the shady woods on Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon. I can't remember, but maybe there was a puff of wind or I bumped my tripod with my elbow? This web is the work of a small Cross Spider (Araneus diadematus, Araneidae), see this photo for a less dramatic shot. You can actually see the spider in my photo as that brown blur in the upper left. It's a neat effect that would be worth playing with deliberately to see what you could get. Happy Web Webnesday! (Mount Tabor, Portland, Oregon, 27 September 2017)
I believe this pretty green Crab Spider (Thomisidae) is Diaea livens. This one is perched on a leaf of native Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia, Fagaceae), where it belongs. I actually first noticed it on the back of my hand. I transfered it to the oak leaf, and it seemed happy there. See my [Previous] photo. Arachtober 23. (San Marcos Pass, 6 January 2015)
I didn't find any interesting spiders today, so I'm posting a couple from the archives that I've been itching to show. I'm pretty sure I haven't put this one up before, though I've posted ones like it here and here.
Yep, I've got more from the archives I'd like to post, but it feels like cheating! I hope tomorrow is more of a spider day.
Tomorrow "The Hobbit" is due for release on Bluray and look who I've found in the woods.
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Explored - April 18th 2013
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Here is a nice photo of a Pacific Ambush Bug (Phymata pacifica, Phymatidae) on a leaf of Coffeeberry that was flowering. These tiny predators have remarkable armor that reminds me of crabs or traditional Japanese armor. Now look at the other Ambush Bug I found in this photo. That one might be a nymph, but even so - are they the same or different? (San Marcos Pass, 13 July 2018)
This is a butt shot of another little Crab Spider (Thomisidae) on fading flowers of California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum, Polygonaceae). If you use the individual flowers of the buckwheat as your ruler, you can see this this spider is quite a bit larger than this other crab spider I posted a couple of days ago. (The buckwheat flowers are about 1/8 inch across. It's a small world!) The spider might be genus Mecaphesa again. If you look close, you can see that it has a safety line. They seem to be our most common spiders right now. HBBBT and Arachtober 13! (San Marcos Pass, 12 October 2016)
We didn't have marine layer fog this morning, but I had an appointment in town. By the time I got home, there were clouds and breeze for the rest of the day. We do have a chance of rain over the weekend, up to 40% by Sunday night. I'm not holding by breath, but we do need it. We had a bit of rain in April and May, 1/10 inch or so, but this might be our first significant rain since April. *Sigh* I guess there's a 60% chance it will miss us.
Here is the rear end of the tiny nymph of an Assassin Bug (Reduviidae, Heteroptera, Hemiptera) trying to get away from me on a leaf of Wild Blackberry (Rubus ursinus, Rosaceae) in the woods. Hah - it has a face on its butt! We seem to have a few different kinds of the nymphs in the woods: this one has speckled legs and spines on its abdomen, while this one doesn't. HBBBT! (San Marcos Pass, 12 August 2017)
I believe this is a Rural Skipper (Ochlodes agricola) butterfly working one of the last flowers of native White Sage (Salvia apiana, Lamiaceae) on the wild edge of our garden. These butterflies are very similar to the Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides) in this photo, but they have three little hyaline (translucent) spots near the forewing tips which distinguish them. (San Marcos Pass, 14 July 2018)
It was a little bit warmer today, in the low 90s. The wind was not exactly calm, but not bad either. Nice day!