The Cormorant, the Dragonfly, and the Bee: Cormorants

Showing posts with label Cormorants. Show all posts

Thursday, October 14, 2021

First Fall Photos

While September 22 was the first official day of autumn this year, the leaves in my area begin to show their colors several weeks later than that. Mid-October is generally when the colors begin to show in earnest.

Sometimes temps are not even particularly chilly yet. I took these photos in lovely 72 degree weather, two days ago, during yet another walk around the Res. (Have you figured out that I walk around the Res. a lot?)

As you can plainly see, the leaves are definitely beginning to turn their wonderful fall colors.

This is a glorious time of year to be in New England.

All photos are taken with my cell phone.

Reflecting Life

Here is a wider panorama.

Mirror Trees

Scene from the Edge

Though they are quite tiny in this next photo, those are cormorants on logs in the "center" of the image. I often see them relaxing atop those logs. The natural wide angle view of my cell phone is a little deceiving in that the cormorants are actually much closer to me than the furthermost trees seen in the photo, which are just beyond the reservoir dam.

Cormorants Blissfully Basking

Yellow Leaf Zone

Roots and Leaves Discuss

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Autumn at the Res

During the same walking event of my last post, I took several other pictures, presented below. It's almost impossible for me to let the fall season pass without taking pictures of the local color. In my photos, I'm always striving for yet another way to capture the joy of the changing leaves.

From Above

At Water's Edge

Through the Y

While there were actually four cormorants on this rock, I slightly prefer this composition containing just three, mostly because the rightmost cormorant's head is nicely in the same line, and I can zoom in a little closer within the same frame. I had to wait to just the right moment to catch them all relaxing and not self-preening.

Let's All Look Left

For reference, here's a wider view. You can see that the lowest cormorant also enjoys looking left, while the rightmost one has become slightly distracted from the sun salutation.

Four on a Rock

Abstract Surface

Yellow Planes

Many Flecks

Between

Autumn Wind

Chlorophyll be Gone

Downturn

I was done with my walk and returning to my car when I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this venturesome duo out on the res also enjoying the day.

Hats and Sunglasses

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Walden Pond Visit

The mid-October weather and fall foliage inspired us to go for a walk around Walden Pond. I used to go to Walden Pond frequently when I was growing up. In those days it was a quiet place to explore and get some solitude, perhaps as Thoreau himself might have done.

While still a lovely spot, in the last several years it has become extraordinarily popular. Many times, during the summer, when we attempt to visit for a walk and swim, it is so crowded we cannot get a parking spot.

On this recent visit, on a lovely fall day, it was crowded yet again, yet thankfully still with available parking spots. Walden Pond, as always, remains a very special place.

That said, I have only a few photos to share from the day, shown below; only the first one shows any water at all;)

This cormorant was giving us a nice display of his/her "pebbled" wings, a technique called "wing-spreading". The feathers of Cormorants' wings are not waterproof, so they hold out their wings to dry their feathers after a swim. The photo was taken through an opening in the trees from 85 feet away.

Drying Wings

Thoreau Leaves

Curlicue

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Just Ducky

Today's post is mostly about ducks. Mallards in particular. Hope you don't mind a few cormorants too?

There is something about seeing these animals on the water, lazily floating along, in all their feathered glory that I find quite striking. Perhaps it's the detail in their feathers versus the calm stillness of the water? Maybe it's the cool blue "speculum" patch in their wings.

They seem to be rather calm animals from what I can tell. Maybe I appreciate their low stress level.

Do you see what I see?

Partial Wing Display

Ducky Duo

Motoring Along Under Paddle Power

Same shot, Closer Crop

Nature Duplicates the Same Feather Colorations on Different Animals So Effortlessly

Artful Pose While Standing on a Handy Rock

Looking the Other Way to Show Me Her Splendid Feathers

These next two photos, though a bit of a joke relative to seeing real duck photos here, were still fun shots to capture. Believe it or not these were taken in the art / hobby store where Deb buys her pottery clay.

Ducks With Wooden Personalities

Swimming in Air

As promised, more Cormorant photos below. In this shot (s)he's getting ready to go for a swim.

Preparing for the Plunge

There's That Flexible Neck Again

Post Swim Water Drops Bead Up

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Blog Title Theme Revisited

How about some more cormorants, dragonflies, and bees?

For cormorants, we have this capture:

Daily Neck Exercises

For dragonflies, here are a few new specimens:

Not your Regular House Fly

Silvery Wings with Shadows

I have *lots* of bee pictures. It was a challenge to select just a few to show here. These are three of my recent favorites:

Bee Nestling In

Defying Gravity

The Orange Butterfly Plant Attracts Many Bees

While not officially part of the blog theme title, a cicada paid us a visit today, and since cicadas have incredible detail when viewed through a macro lens, I thought I'd share what I saw:

Front Portion of Cicada

Rear Portion of Cicada

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I plan to share some of my favorite photos here.

The blog title is inspired by these three photos.

The cormorant was 200 feet away on his favorite rock in the middle of our local reservoir. I've taken many blurry shots of him at that distance, but this one, at a faster shutter speed, finally turned out okay. Male and female adult cormorants look the same; I'm using "him" just for simplicity.
The dragonfly and bee photos were taken in the front yard. The bee was photographed with my macro lens.

Capturing Some Rays

Attempting Camouflage

Wing Blur