Monday in Nature, June 5, 2017

Basic Guidelines: In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include "hand of man elements". Please refrain from images with buildings or human made structures like roads, fences, walls. Pets are not permitted. Captive subjects in zoos, arboretums, or aquariums are permitted, but must be declared, and must focus on the subject, not the captivity. Images with obvious human made elements will likely be deleted from the thread, with an explanation to the photographer. Guidelines are based on PSA rules governing Nature photography which also cover the Nature Forum. Keep your image at/under 1000 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. Are you new to this thread? We post one image per week.

 

Very damp here in Maine, today. This shot, however, is from Bryce National Park in the very dry southwest US - one of my favorite places .

Young FAWN running across my backyard yesterday morning.

Sea Lion

Rain here too, but liked the soft light it produced.

Northern Flicker Pair Swap Places At Nest-hole

 

Pappa Makes Room For Mamma by David Stephens, on Flickr

Satomi Dogwo od

Sometimes you just need a quiet place to think.

Very damp here in Maine, today. This shot, however, is from Bryce National Park in the very dry southwest US - one of my favorite places[ATTACH=full]1190958[/ATTACH] .

When I read that first sentence, I felt like it sure didn't look like Maine, and then I read the rest of the post.

 

Edwin, thanks for starting the thread.

Mourning doves at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, over the Memorial Day weekend

 

A leopard frog testing the water.

 

Passionflowers with buds and fruit.

I received some inquiry that a member received an error message that he doesn't have sufficient privilege to post to this thread. That is likely some kind of system software glitch. When I posted my image above earlier, I also received some error message (but different from insufficient privilege) and it suggested that I should try to post again later. Eventually I got through.

This was last Thursday in Yosemite. Its Summit Meadow on the Glacier Point road. The meadow is currently closed off to the public as it is under restoration. The most amazing thing about this spot is the sound of the place. I shot some video.

JR, with all the snow this winter, I would expect all the falls are roaring. Did the Firefall happen at Horsetail falls this february?

Edited June 5, 2017 by ShunCheung

Bob, the firefall did happen this year. The roads were bad and the Merced river was running high so they were trying to discourage people from coming to the park. Highway 120 was closed near Groveland due to a landslide. From what I understand hundreds of photographers show up for the event. Here is a link to one of my images Vernal and Nevada falls plus a few temporary falls taken on the same day from Glacier Point road. They say many of the smaller falls will disappear by July 1st. Tioga pass probably won't open until then either.

California hummingbird

Shun, I often get the error message, either saying there's a problem with my image posting, or to try again later. It usually works when I try later, and often when an image won't post initially, it will if I add it in an edit.

 

I got the "insufficient privilege" message when I accidentally hit the wrong thread and went to one that was closed.

 

While I'm at it, Gup, I like your frog. We've had a terrible frog die-off here in Vermont, and my pond is nearly devoid of the critters that used to abound here. I hope for a recovery, and am glad to see a nice healthy one wherever you are.

 

note: I just got an "error occurred" message on this post too! Worked again a moment later.

I also received some error message (but different from insufficient privilege) and it suggested that I should try to post again later. Eventually I got through.

 

Had this a couple of days ago, when I had a series of images lined up to post to 'No Words' - I just assumed it was an in-built system security facility to stop bots spamming the site - waited the stipulated time, and all was fine. Well, the images posted OK - whether they're any good or not is a different matter !

JR, on Valentine's day, I always think of that possibility in Yosemite. I just posted a shot on this weeks Nikon shot forum I took inspired by the firefall and the movie Close Encounters. Had to hike in one year from south road across 3 feet of snow covered with breakable crust. Had a large back pack on, 2 tripods, both film and digital cameras. Broke through the crust to my knees and almost went over sideways, a way my knees don't bend. Decided if it happened again would fall backwards. I did and found myself with legs up to the knees in the snow and when I tried to get off my back... no, with the 30 lb pack I was lying on I was like a turtle. After laughing about the situation, pulled out the legs from the snow, rolled over on my side and got up. Coming out with those 2 tripods sticking up, realized I might have looked a bit like a wounded deer.

If it wasn't for it being on the preserve, I might of had a little snack. Surprisingly, there were no other predators.

While cycling in the woods I encountered a bunch of amphibians, don't know if it were frogs or toads.

 

An unidentified beetle on a California wild rose

Marcel your photo is of a chorus frog. Psuedacris crucifer or possibly Psuedacris triseriata depending on your location.

 

Gup terrific frog pic. Not a leopard frog, looks to be a green frog.

 

This photo below is a Leopard frog.

 

Edited June 5, 2017 by gordonjb

I don't think Marcel's frog is a chorus frog, e.g. Pseudacris sp. Pseudacris crucifer in particular does not have the dorsolateral ridge that is visible in Marcel's frog. P. crucifer also has a crude facsimile of an "X" on its back not seen on Marcel's frog.

 

At first I thought it was a wood frog (dorsolateral ridge and black mask) but if Marcel is from europe neither wood frogs nor Pseudacris spp are found there. Perhaps Rana arvalis? Where was the photo taken, Marcel?