Monday in Nature March 7, 2016

<blockquote>

<p><strong>Basic Guidelines</strong>: Nature based subject matter. Please, declare captive subjects. Keep your image at/under 700 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing and try to keep file size under 300kb. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. Feel free to link your image to a larger version. <strong><em>In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Please refrain from images with obvious buildings or large man made structures like roads, fences, walls. Minimize man made features and keep the focus on nature. </em></strong><br>

<strong><em> </em></strong><br>

<strong><em>Are you new to this thread? We post one image per week. For more <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY">details on guidelines please read this</a> helpful information. </em></strong></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Greetings,<br>

Some signs of Spring are starting to appear here and there. A few crocus leaves pushing up through the leaf litter, mallards defending their partners from the frisky bachelors, squirrels are getting squirrely. Still, snow and ice hang on and peepers are quiet. The great circle of seasons turns at its own pace.</p>

<p>It's easy to get "California Dreamin" stuck in ones head because all the leaves are still brown and the sky is gray. Out on a recent walk on a winters day something made that record stop playing. Small marks, here and there, on a large downed beech tree, looked almost like dentition. Had the tree been standing, the marks would have been too high to notice. What is it? Good question. I don't know. Anyone out there know?</p>

<p>There's always something new in nature. Soon the peepers will join the cry of Red winged Blackbirds and a new set of music from natures play list will begin. They are all sweet sounds. Happy listening on this Monday in Nature.</p><div></div>

Always something new, ain't that the truth! And part of the fun of nature photography.<br><br>

Here's an abstract straight from the camera. It's shallow, fast-moving water over a rough surface with bright sunlight glinting off the tops of the ripples. Although fast-moving water isn't unusual out at the wetlands, water this shallow moving this fast is. It was being discharged from a drain pipe.The sun was low and coming from the side, a shutter speed of 250 was used.<br><br>I suspect the orange color is <i>Archaea</i>.<div></div>

<p>Spring has arrived in Texas. <strong>Bluebonnets</strong> are up. </p><div></div>

<p>Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee</p><div></div>

<p>Jonathan Livingstone came by for a visit.<br>

<a title="JLS" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/outwithmycamera13/25483250145/in/dateposted-public/" data-flickr-embed="true"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1641/25483250145_21e3dacfa9_z.jpg" alt="JLS" width="640" height="396" /></a></p>

<p>Fractal-like pattern in fern leaves</p><div></div>

<p>A Ladybug at the Botanic Garden - Ft. Worth, TX<br /> <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18195814-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="450" /></p>

<p>Speaking of abstract patterns, I stopped by some spouters at Saratoga Springs the other day. Though many are captive, there are still some wild ones, just spots in the ground from which mineral water squirts, resulting in piles of mineral deposits called tufa, which result in some nice patterns.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Mallard Pair Takes Flight</strong></p>

<p><a title="Another Mallard Pair, Taking Off This Time" href=" data-flickr-embed="true"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1472/24798312963_cb60199c26_c.jpg" alt="Another Mallard Pair, Taking Off This Time" width="800" height="640" /></a></p>

<p>Spring arrives early here in Palo Alto, California.</p><div></div>

<p>This is a look-out I visit regularly in the spring with a 360 degree panorama of pristine, untouched wilderness as far as you can see. Not even a cell tower to interrupt your thoughts. It's a reward earned after several hours of combined canoeing, portaging and hiking.<br>

I still have 2' of snow out my window and a driveway reminiscent of an Olympic luge run, but temperatures are expected to reach double digits this week with some rain and that usually spells the beginning of nature's transition around here.</p><div></div>

<p>A cute little sparrow.</p><div></div>

<p>Love those bluebonnets Bill. Spring is well underway in Florida too with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.<br>

EOS 7D2 + EF 500 /f4L II + EFx2.</p><div></div>

Laura, do you have any ideas as to what your "mystery marks" are? Looks like they're on a tree? About a couple of inches high?

<p>Laura - it will be interesting to see what that serpentine mark turns into over time. Do you have access to a microscope? If so a scraping from the mark might be informative.</p>

<p>Christopher - nice capture of Jonathan. Just went to a talk teh other day describing the population decline of gulls in the north atlantic in both europe and north america. 75% decline near acadia national park in Maine, reportedly. Wouldn't have guessed it from where I hike.</p>

<p>Excellent Annas, Shun! Love the little feet.</p>

<p>Gup beautiful vista. Is very reminiscent of Acadia and environs where we hike often.</p>

<p>Rick, your male cones tell me that the "yellow rain" is coming soon to cover everywhere with a fine yellow powder. I keep telling myself to collect some for the microscope. Perhaps this year...</p>

<p>That's a superb hummer shot Shun. The Anna's nesting in my pear tree have had a difficult week of strong winds and heavy rains to deal with but seem to be OK. Looking forward to some interesting photos as the babies get bigger and start to show themselves.</p>

<p>Spring is early this year on Vancouver Island and the plum tree in my front yard is in full bloom. Some times a Turdus migratorius will even stop to pose for a photo.</p><div></div>

<p>A fallen tree exposes a wrecked honeycomb.</p><div></div>

<p>Sally,<br /> I have ideas, but really don't know. The image is a 1:1 macro. These are very small. Some were in chain like patterns, such as the ones photographed. Others were more circular, as if around the edge of something else. The first idea that came to mind was that something was eating. I have seem millipedes graze on algae growing on shelf fungi, and they left a trail that looked like a miniature lawn mower. It may have been fungal, but my mind always bends in that direction. Another idea is leftovers from egg cases of something. All of the marks were at least 20 ft above the base of the tree. The tree probably blew down this past year, and looked healthy. The marks were only on bark, and were on all sides, top and bottom of major branches.<br /> We'll probably go back this summer and see if there are any changes. Maybe something grows on the bark, then falls off or is eaten off. I'm open to any ideas.</p>

<p>Edwin,<br>

Yes, I have a microscope. That's a good idea.</p>

<p>Tim Holt - awesome photo of the Milwaukee shoreline. Like something from Lord of the Rings.</p>

<p>Laura that's a very interesting pattern; when you find out what it is please let us know.<br>

Another shallow-dof-close-up - and <em>Polytrichum</em> again</p><div></div>

<p>Gup, that's the view from the top of "The Crack" trail in Killarney Provincial Park! It's definitely a fun hike to reach. We tried to do it again this past summer, but a stubborn black bear wouldn't get off the trail, so we gave up...</p>

<p>Sigmar, I've usually got a dog with me who is well seasoned at clearing the trail ahead. He has a particular dislike for geese for some reason and chasing off bears is one of his favourite pastimes. <br /> Edwin, I do know Acadia as well and I agree there are similarities. I have seascapes taken along Maine's rugged shoreline that are so similar to others I've taken on Georgian Bay of Lake Huron that even seasoned locals here can't tell the difference.<br /> Shun, I'm also a fan of your hummingbird shots and this one is wonderful. I miss the technical information, though. I'm left guessing which lens/body combination you used and you often share that. Over the years I've often used the details from shots here on Photo.net that I admire to help me make my equipment purchases. Currently I'm in the market for a bit more reach...<br>

Tim, I agree with Edward, that shot is very thought provoking.</p>

<p>Gup, yesterday I was mostly shooting with a Nikon D750 and the 200-500mm/f5.6 AF-S VR lens at 500mm, f5.6 and around 1/2000 sec, but even that is not quite fast enough to freeze wing motion. For a while a friend was trying out that lens such that I used a D7200 with a 80-400mm zoom.</p>

<p>Hummingbirds are highly maneuverable such that they are not too concerned that humans getting a bit close, as you have little chance to catch them. I was about 3 to 5 meters from the birds. That is below the minimum focusing distance of some of the larger 500mm/f4 and 600mm/f4 lenses I used in previous years. However, AF speed for the 200-500mm lens is a bit of an issue since it needs to keep adjusting quite a bit from such a close distance every time the bird moves a little: <a href="/nikon-camera-forum/00do2X">Hummingbirds with the Nikon 200-500mm/f5.6 AF-S VR</a></p>

<p>Spring comes sooner, but not soon enough, to the Colorado Plateau and Arches National Park.</p><div></div>

<p>Bit of an abstract from Bristlecone Forest....one of the oldest trees.</p>

<p>Les</p><div></div>