Monday in Nature Weekly Photo May 18, 2015

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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. Try to 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 details on guidelines please read <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY">this helpful information. </a></em></strong></p>

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<p>Good Morning,<br>

I hope you've all had a great week in nature. We see things in nature from so many different perspectives. Sometimes we aim for pure documentation with specimen photos and others are far more artistic. Subjects can bring about emotions that direct our senses and push our images in a direction. Sitting to watch a fern unfurl can do funny things to a mind.</p>

<p>Wild grape mummies seem to have expressive faces created by emergent over wintering spores of <em>Guignardia bidwellii</em>, a grape black rot. Fascination with the multistage life cycle was set aside when each mummy looked to have it's own moody demeanor. This one appeared to be a grumpy old curmudgeon ready to spit spores.</p>

<p>Maybe you found Lucy in the sky, or a smirk from the man in the Moon. The wink of a lizard or the blink of those long doe lashes can get the imagination going. It's part of the joy of being out there. Any winkin', blinkin' or noddin' out there on Monday in Nature?</p><div></div>

<p>A nod from a sparrow in the apple blossoms.</p><div></div>

<p>Found <strong>Wood Ducks</strong> at White Rock Lake in Dallas this weekend. </p><div></div>

<p>The end of spring. Fortunately the wind gentle enough to minimise nodding.</p><div></div>

<p>Something a tad different from me.</p><div></div>

<p>Interrupted this young doe's morning drink from a woodland pool at less than 10 yards .</p><div></div>

<p>Purple flower</p><div></div>

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18024076-md.jpg" alt="6D 657" width="680" height="453" border="0" /></center>

<p>Shep is a gorgeous ball python who has come to stay with me for a few weeks while his people are on the road.  Because he's a tropical rainforest sort of guy, he's in a dimly-lit room which makes photographing him difficult.  I took this shot using available light (not much!) as you can tell from the shallow depth of field.<br>

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His head is in the upper left corner with white stripes.  You can see a tiny glint of light in one of his eyes which bisects a stripe.

 

<p>If this picture violates the "nature forum" guidelines, please remove it. --Sally</p>

<p>Shep is a gorgeous ball python who has come to stay with me for a few weeks while his people are on the road.  Because he's a tropical rainforest sort of guy, he's in a dimly-lit room which makes photographing him difficult.  I took this shot using available light (not much!) as you can tell from the shallow depth of field.<br>

 <br>

His head is in the upper left corner with white stripes.  You can see a tiny glint of light in one of his eyes which bisects a stripe.

 

<p>If this picture violates the "nature forum" guidelines, please remove it. --Sally</p><div></div>

<p>My Jack-in-the-Pulpits are blooming. I had the purple Japanese kind for years and am dismayed to only see two blooms this year (there were 5 last year). Now I read somewhere that they have an average life span of 5 years. I hope this is not true.<br /><br />However, I am surprised to see a number of the other kind of Jacks - the more common green kind - shooting up this year for the first time. Hmm, are they replacing each other? Here is one - shot this morning.</p><div></div>

<p>Skimmers, Radio Road, Redwood Shores, California</p><div></div>

<p>Nature's got a pricklier, vengeful side.<br>

The thorns on the hawthorns around here are usually about 8cm long. My friend was clearing some dead brush and threw a hawthorn tree in the back of his pickup. He then loaded some other brush on top. When emptying the brush, a limb of the hawthorn sprang up as the weight above it was released. This shoved a dry thorn about 3cm into the back of his neck, and then it snapped off leaving no exposed thorn to grab to remove it. The only good news is that one of the medical students at the hospital got some practice doing local anesthesia and minor surgery (under doctor supervision, of course). </p><div></div>

<p>John, hope your friend will be ok.</p>

<p>Yes, he's fine. He's a former dairy farmer so getting a thorn in the neck is rather minor to him (as compared to being kicked by a cow, for instance).</p>

<p>My backyard is full of hummers these days. Both babies have fledged and mom is kept busy feeding them. One of the fig trees seems to be a favorite perch, perhaps they are trying to blend in with the green figs. Location Southern Vancouver Island.<br>

D800E & Tamaron 70-300 @ 300mm</p><div></div>

<p>An unidentified jumping spider, in a mutual stare-down.</p><div></div>

<p><img src="/photo/18023991" alt="" />From a previous year. Tamron 90mm macro with D300.</p><div></div>

<p>Wild Ginger blossom unfurling.</p><div></div>

<p>Perhaps he/she (not sure if one can tell by coloration) was getting ready to nod off after a stretch.</p><div></div>

<p>While walking from the market I noticed this;</p><div></div>

<p>Wow, really excellent images this week everyone! I found these spider egg sacks while exploring my back yard.</p><div></div>

<p>Cinnamon Fern</p><div></div>

<p>Working my way through all the photos from a trip to the southwest United States. Raven on a rock in Monument Valley.<br>

<img src="http://akgosdenphotos.smugmug.com/Vacation/Southwest-2015/i-JL4hQX6/0/700x700/Southwest-5180-700x700.jpg" alt="" /><br>

<strong>XSi, 18-55mm is lens, f/16, 1/100s</strong></p>

<p><strong>Robin Poses</strong></p>

<p><a title="Robin Poses by David Stephens, on Flickr" href=" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7718/17039318014_bb58d5cd87_c.jpg" alt="Robin Poses" width="800" height="534" /></a></p>