Monday in Nature May 23, 2016

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<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>

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<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</a> please read this helpful information. </em></strong></p>

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<p>Greetings,<br>

We have a bit of a celebration this week. On <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00bgHO">May 27, 2013</a> Monday in Nature began and this week the thread turns 3. Light 3 candles and lets have some cake.<br>

The thread has always been about coming together and celebrating the love of nature and nature photography. Many people have come to join in, and new folks always find us. We have a pleasant community within our corner of photonet. Someone has the answer to just about any question from the natural world. There are photos to match, and pretty darn good ones, too. What will the future bring? Stay tuned! Let's find out.</p>

<p>We all have things in common that bind us in nature. We get outside, get rained on, wear out shoes, love our gear, try to learn new things, ask questions, get back outside and do it all over again. We all look to the same sky overhead, and we probably all smile at the sight of a rainbow.</p>

<p>Thank you to everyone who has helped make Monday in Nature such a cool place to be. Opening the door each week is a pleasure and an honor. Thanks for coming to the party.</p><div></div>

<p>Happy Birthday! Unfortunately I am one "candle" short.</p><div></div>

<p>Nice lighting Christoph.<br>

Bedstraw from me.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Baby Hummingbird</strong> being fed. My first time to ever see this. Shot was taken at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. </p><div></div>

<p>Let the celebrations continue!</p><div></div>

<p>Laura thanks for all your past and present input to the forum.<br>

Late spring is bluebell time, but I wanted a picture a bit different from the wood-full-of-flowers or flower-heads-close-with-others-and-leaves-behind. So a 300mm lens on a M43 body and lots of grovelling on the ground with a table-top tripod. You may not like the result!</p><div></div>

<p>Happy Birthday Monday in Nature! This wild columbine celebrates with the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm M43 lens. I am impressed with the lens sharpness at 400mm, which is a main concern for telezooms. So far so good, and I hope the columbine approves.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Black-chinned Hummingbird Flashes His Gorget</strong></p>

<p><a title="Hummer Shows Gorget" href=" data-flickr-embed="true"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7370/27152725265_2cff076519_c.jpg" alt="Hummer Shows Gorget" width="800" height="640" /></a></p>

<p>Congratulations. I love those hummingbirds. Alas, none here at the moment, but here's a bee luxuriating in a dandelion (cropped to a faretheewell)</p><div></div>

<p>Happy birthday, and thanks, Laura, for keeping it going. When I first took this shot, I originally thought it had 3 wildlife elements - the frog, butterflies, and flies, but when my wife looked at it, she noticed that the portion of the 'log' that the butterflies were resting on was actually a snapping turtle. Always fun to see something in an image you hadn't noticed when you shot it.</p><div></div>

<p>A short stubby candle that tastes better than the cake. Found on the edge of a hiking trail yesterday. I hope I got the species correct? </p><div></div>

<p>Great egret with breakfast</p><div></div>

<p>The morning after overnight rain.</p>

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18236130-lg.jpg" alt="_E6A0018" width="525" height="700" border="0" /></center><center>Canon 7d II and 100-400 II lens</center>

<p>Happy birthday! Thanks, Laura, for keeping it going.</p><div></div>

<p>The red breasted Grosbeak didn't show but here is a cheerful substitute, Happy for the birthday!</p><div></div>

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<p>We have a bit of a celebration this week. On <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00bgHO" rel="nofollow">May 27, 2013</a> Monday in Nature began and this week the thread turns 3. Light 3 candles and lets have some cake.</p>

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<p>Interesting. May 27th of this year is also the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in World War Two. My how time flies. :)</p>

<p>One more rainbow... or may be two?<br>

Regards, Miha.</p><div></div>

<p>Steller's jay.</p><div></div>

<p><em>Trichodes alvearius</em> - Bee-eating beetle. This colourful species became extinct here in the UK in the 19th century - I spotted this one on a trip to Sicily last month. </p><div></div>

<p>No rainbows or unicorns, but I was able to obtain many keepers, hiking around my hill and checking out local buffer park.</p>

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

<p>Gordon, I am so pleased to see your morel mushroom image, as I just attended a mushroom workshop a few days ago and the speakers raved about it, saying it's one of the most desirable wild mushrooms. A true morel is hollow inside. I hope to have the opportunity to taste one sometime.</p>

<p>From a Photo Class on Raptors' this weekend -</p><div></div>

<p>Great images this week. Thank you, Laura, for your efforts to keep this going. This is a plant I came across in a shady damp spot off the side of the road. Haven't been able to ID it yet. Perhaps someone is familiar with it? </p><div></div>

<p>Mary, yes they are tasty. This one and several others went into an omelette. My ID on this mushroom as a morel is 100%. I'm just not certain about the species. My field guide lists only four species and of those four, angusticeps is the best fit, however I've learned in the past, from Laura, that there are often many more species within some genus than what show up in a single guide book. I also found a number of Morchella deliciosa which are the ones I usually find.</p>

<p>Never mind</p>