Monday in Nature Weekly Photo Jan. 6, 2014

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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. Do you have a series of great shots to compliment your post? Please, tell us where they are so we can see them.</p>

<p ><em >In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Try to minimize man made elements, keep the focus on nature, and let common sense be your guide. <strong >Let's make this a true Photo of the Week and only post 1 image per week.</strong></em></p>

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<p>Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........Good Morning,</p>

<p>If you're in North America, you're probably hugging that cup of coffee with both hands. Yep, it's cold. It's indeed trying conditions for nature photographers. Over time we've had contributors from many points on the compass, so I thought it would be revealing to look at the forecasted high temperature for Monday from those locations. Of course, I don't know exactly where everyone is, but I tried to choose some representative places. Get ready to laugh or cry, and be sure to keep your camera batteries in a warm place. OK, a cool dry place for some. Here goes:</p>

<p>Nicoya, Costa Rica 95F/35C<br>

Ladysmith, South Africa 89.6F/32C<br>

Edinburgh, Scotland 46.6F/8C<br>

Cardiff, Wales 50F/10C<br>

Cavan, Ireland 46.6F/8C<br>

Giggleswick, England 46.6F/8C<br>

Alice Springs, NT, Australia 91.4F/33C<br>

Noosa Heads, QLD, Australia 89.6F/32C<br>

Morro Bay, CA, USA 69F/21C<br>

New Iberia, LA, USA 42F/5.5C (a bit of a surprise)<br>

Phoenix, AZ, USA 67F/20C<br>

Asheville, NC, USA 27F/-3C<br>

Indianapolis, IN, USA -10F/-24ish C (should make John feel a bit better)<br>

Prince Rupert, BC,Canada 42.8F/6C<br>

Moosonee, Ontario, Canada -5.8F/-21C</p>

<p>The cold does give us a major change of scenery and some seasonal subjects. There's a lot of ice and snow around. If the sun comes out, so much the better. We headed down to a local lake for some ice formations on a chilly day. I ended up doing a lot of "California Dreamin'".</p>

<p>What's the temperature where you are on Monday in Nature?</p><div></div>

<p>I just checked, it's 61° F here right now but, the temperature is supposed to drop significantly throughout the day. Not looking forward to possible single digit temps by this evening.</p>

<p>I was recently scouting out some Bald Eagles around a local lake, looking for an advantageous spot from which to shoot. Came across this fallen tree with lichen and a predominant display of fungus "flowers". Hoping that Laura can ID this variety. I've always heard these called turkey tails, but I have no idea if that is correct. Forgive the dismal photo; just taken for ID purposes.</p><div></div>

<p>Mark, That's looking like Stereum ostrea, based on overall shape and the pretty brown tones. When fresh these have very pretty colors, but the algae growth is attractive Turkey Tails is a catch all term for Stereum, Trametes, Trichaptum, and the like. Yeah, it's scary warm here also, but the bottom should drop out as the wind has picked up considerably</p>

<p>These fella stopped at the feeder recently. High today in South-Central Pennsylvania expected to be in 30s, but 12 tomorrow.</p><div></div>

<p>I think this sums it up for quite a chunk of the continental USA.</p><div></div>

<p>Yes, it was cold here, at the East Coast, refreshingly cold. It's been a while since we had -6F at night. Even the kids and dogs preferred to stay inside, which allowed for some untrampled snow shots right from the back yard. Today it's going to be in the 50's (yes, it's crazy), and I am looking forward to some shots of snow and fog later this morning..</p><div></div>

<p>Rick, those ice crystals are amazing!</p>

<p>Minus 11 C. and heavy snow squalls with temperatures predicted to fall to minus 22 later today. For Northern Ontario just another January day.</p><div></div>

<p>Good frigid Monday morning to all in the Cold Zone this morning. It is a balmy 12 Degrees above here in Ashland, Ohio but snowing heavily. The wind is very strong. Getting ready to take the dog for a walk around town.<br>

My photo this morning shows what mother nature did to a beautiful 80 ft. tall oak tree a while back. I am standing on what used to be a wooden foot bridge that spans a swampy area. The top half of that broken tree obliterated the bridge. I used to call those two trees the Twin Towers. They stand about 12 ft. apart. Sure glad I wasn't walking across the bridge when that came down. </p><div></div>

<p>Greetings from the depths of northern Ontario.<br>

It's warmed up to -16C this morning before heading back below -20C this afternoon. We'll take it though. You see it was -37C on New Year's morning, -45C on the 2nd and -43C on the third. Wind was light but the wind chill was still below -50C. My 2 digital thermometers go blank below -40 so I have to rely on the analogue type below that. Harry and Hattie (Corgis) were not pleased.<br>

I was hoping to get a photo of nature that would show what it's like at -45; however, I couldn't do it without the hand of man intervening. You see, at -45, we have a temperature inversion. The air at ground level was colder than the air aloft. The result is thick man-made fog caused by furnace and car exhaust. Anyway, this photo kinda gives the right idea. A small creature sought shelter under a tree.</p><div></div>

<p>Brrrrrr! Woke up to 24-degrees in Austin. Here is a shot of my backyard deer. </p><div></div>

<p>Here in Northern Costa Rica it's 28 degrees C right now and will probably rise to about 30-32 by mid-day. Can't say I envy my family in Michigan right now. Here's a shot taken of a howler monkey while I was at the beach for New Years. Click on the image to view it large.<br>

<a href="/photo/17643978&size=lg"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17643978-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="451" /></a></p>

<p>It is still reasonably warm here in northern California, around 68F/20C during the day. That is a temperature I remember very well as in the old days, B&W developer and fixer had to be kept at that temperature.</p>

<p>There is a lot of algae on a pond in the San Francisco Bay, creating a feeding frenzy for the coastal birds that feed on such vegetation, such as this Northern Shoveler.</p>

<p>Nikon D7100 (APS-C) body with 600mm lens at f5.6, 1/800 sec, and ISO 200.</p><div></div>

<p>Predicted to get down to 20F tonight, much too cold for Florida. Remembering Christmas week when the high was 85 and I took this photo of a Willet</p><div></div>

<p>It has been warm and DRY here on the west coast! Many of my friends are wishing some of that snow could be sent west as the awful D word, drought, is being bandied about. In December a friend and I went snowshoeing at Carson Pass (approximately 8800 ft. elevation) and this is all the snow there was. Very scary indeed if we do not get some precipitation.</p><div></div>

<p>Anna's Hummingbird in my yard<br>

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<img src="http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/anhumm06.jpg" alt="" />

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<p>it was about 15F when i filled the birdfeeder this morning around 7am</p><div></div>

<p>No snow here, but an awful lot of raining and flooding throughout the UK. My house has escaped fortunately but many have not been so lucky.</p>

<p align="center"><img src="http://www.skylight3d.com/images/photoNet/blackcap.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p align="center"><strong>Canon 5Diii + 400mm f/2.8L IS:</strong> <em>1/200s, f/2.8 ISO 1600.</em></p>

<p>Like many others, this is a photo from my window. Not of my back garden as I don't really have one, but of my neighbour's. This chubby female blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) was raiding their bushes and stuck around long enough for a quick photo. Blackcaps used to be exclusively summer birds, spending the winter in Spain, but have been staying in the UK more frequently of late.</p>

<p>While cross-country skiing near Driggs, Idaho, I came across this young moose eating willow branches in a creek. I was within about thirty feet of the moose when I first noticed it, which startled me, but not the moose, it just ignored me and kept on eating.</p><div></div>

<p>I may have posted this before but it's appropriate to the weather. Temperature here (east Tennessee) is 8ºF, down to -2ºF tonight. We're definitely moving back to Arizona. Anybody want to buy a house in Tennessee?</p><div></div>

<p>Belated Happy New Year everyone ! For the deep south we are cold and its getting colder . It is right around 32 F , 0 C now and will drop to 25F , -4 C. That is cold for the south :)<br>

I found one dandelion on my walk yesterday morning. The flower had turned into those beautiful feathery seed pods. Had to try and get some pictures before the cold winds roared in and blew them away.<br>

Stay warm and safe .</p>

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<p>Wow. Thanks for all the beautiful images of the cold. Here in the Bay Area, it's in the low to mid 50s F Monday morning. My image is of a flotilla of leaves on a creek, dropped by red alders.</p><div></div>

<p><strong>Cotton Candy Sky</strong><br>

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<p><a title="Cotton Candy Cloud by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3752/11745006683_7ebe19f1c1_c.jpg" alt="Cotton Candy Cloud" width="800" height="533" /></a></p>

<p>Colorado twilight, both before sunrise and after sunset, produces the most incredible cloud colors that I've ever witnessed. A week or two ago I capture orange and blue skies. This was made even more interesting because our typical wave cloud, on the lea side of the Rocky Mountains, was there, but upper level winds were trying to tear it apart and roughed up the front edge nicely.</p>

<p>Click on the image to see larger sizes and even full-screen.</p>

<p>Oh, that's Pike's Peak at the lower right, about 70-miles away.</p>

<p>A touch of green</p><div></div>

<p>Saturday morning it was below 0 F here in CT, Sunday it hovered, raining, around 30 F with some roads literally a sheet of ice, this morning it rose into the 50's and tonight it's forecast to be around 5 F. I like diversity, but.....</p><div></div>