Monday in Nature Weekly Photo June 29, 2015

[Laura Weishaupt]

<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. Try to 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</a> please read this helpful information. </em></strong><br>

<em> </em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Greetings,<br>

Have you been able to get out and spend some quality time in nature this past week? Life gets busy and crazy at time, but grabbing the camera and getting outside seems to bring calm to a chaotic day. The rich greens of summer are inviting and full of details. Hopefully, Monday in Nature can get your week off to a calm start. Have a great day, everyone.</p><div></div>

[johnfarrar]

<p>Some of the reds of summer are good, too - there's something about this subdued red that appeals to me. Marsh orchid.</p><div></div>

[gduffy]

<p>Loon on the run. I came across this a few days ago in the Great North Woods region of Northern New Hampshire.</p><div></div>

[Rick Bortnick]

<p>The three F's - Two flies & a Flower</p><div></div>

[johnfarrar]

<p>Rick, what ARE those flies doing? Nice image - what is the make/model of the microscope lens? It does a lovely fade to blur.</p>

[Bill J Boyd]

<p>I found a <strong>Roadrunner</strong> in a tree this week. Usually I only see them running along the ground. </p><div></div>

[Rick Bortnick]

<p>Thanks John - the lens is from an <em>old</em> Bausch & Lomb microscope we were going to toss out. I also took the 10x objective bit haven't mounted it yet. As for the flies ..... well .....</p>

[rmuckey]

<p>"Crick" lilies (wild daylilies) blossoms started to open last week along the streams and ditches</p><div></div>

[colin carron]

<p>Another shot from my recent trip to Iceland. Seltún geothermal area lies on the fault line between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Here is a fumarole of bubbling mud surrounded by red and yellow sulfur compounds. The air is full of choking hydrogen sulfide gas.</p><div></div>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>Cedar waxwing.</p><div></div>

[User_2019667]

<p>Summer flowers.</p><div></div>

[dcstep]

<p><strong>Bullock's Oriole, Ready To Feed Junior</strong></p>

<p><a title="Food For Junior by David Stephens, on Flickr" href=" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/302/19023382320_2988a52ae3_c.jpg" alt="Food For Junior" width="800" height="534" /></a></p>

[Jon Eckman]

<p>Some veriegated hosta caught my eye yesterday</p><div></div>

[sallymack]

<p>Cullinan Ranch wetlands restoration site in northern California is at various stages of the restoration process.  The western end has been re-introduced to tidal influence complete with boat ramp.  The western end, however, has a ways to go. I find this transition area fascinating. I don't know the processes involved but these little plants (a large one is maybe 2" high) dot the ground in one particular place.  I don't know why the ground is red or what the plants are but the white "spikes" are salt, left over from evaporation of salt water.  The red ground is a thin, crunchy crust over a slick, oily base.  There are a million pictures out there. --Sally</p><div></div>

[Robin Smith]

<p>....</p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>This desert spiny lizard was only half hiding under a log in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument</p>

<div></div>

[marie_d1]

<p>Doves know how to do calm. </p><div></div>

[Mary Doo]

<p>Love Rick B's shot. Here's what I got of the bees today. As usual these guys are really busy. A bee's work is never done.</p><div></div>

[funkag]

<p>Actually got a nice day in Western PA last week and got out to shoot Grass Pink Orchids blooming in a glacial bog.</p><div></div>

[Gup]

<p>Here is a very typical shot of a form of lichen that carpets my surroundings. I tried to research the name but was a bit overwhelmed at all the different names I found for what looks very similar to this. If you have any idea please feel free to jump in. Toadflax? Reindeer Moss?<br>

This life form is slow growing and very fragile, especially when dry. I find myself physically stepping around it when possible out of respect for its struggle ;)<br>

I shot it handheld but I think next time I will spend a little longer setting up and maybe practice a little stack-focusing. </p><div></div>

[jonathan_parkhouse1]

<p>Male Broad-bodied Chaser (<em>Libellula depressa</em>). Females are yellow.</p><div></div>

[Glenn McCreery]

<p>I was photographing the Teton Range from the Idaho side last month when an unexpected moose wandered by. Almost all of the snow is now gone with this week's heat; it's presently over 90 degrees at the location where I took this photo at 6,200 ft. altitude.</p><div></div>

[johnfarrar]

<p>Gup -it's definitely a <em>Cladonia</em>, a genus which includes reindeer moss (which it definitely is not!); beyond that I can't go (though for some odd reason I do have somewhere a book on north American Cladonias).</p>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>Gup, to me toadflax is a "weed" that is a member of the snapdragon family. It has nice yellow snapdragon flowers with orange centers.<br /> I once had a fastidious farmer come to me with a handful of toadflax from his barley field. He asked me what he could do to kill it. I said "You did a pretty good job on those ones". He turned red and I thought he was going to hit me.<br /> Anyway, around here in NE Ont. where your lichen is ubiquitous, we call it reindeer moss even though it is probably a lichen.<br>

Robin, that ungrazed pasture looks like it is loaded with bedstraw. Most domestic animals will not eat it unless forced to.</p>

[anthea50]

<p>Wow Rick! That image is stellar! My shot is from a neighbours' front yard, where they put their grass clippings etc. It was a case of too many mushrooms, so little time...</p>