Monday in Nature Weekly Photo Oct. 19, 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></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Good Morning,<br>

Snow flurries blew across the landscape today like howling harbingers of the cold yet to come. Brrrrrrr. It's the season of color that changes daily and geese flying overhead. The rocky terrain of the local mountains almost glows under the golden foliage. The sunrise is also glowing on another Monday in Nature.</p><div></div>

[cegeiss]

<p>From last weekend's hike in the White Mountains. I grew up with larches, and today tamaracks still rank high among my favorites - especially in the fall.</p><div></div>

[vrankin]

<p>Migrating Canadian geese on a recently harvested soybean field.</p><div></div>

[Bill J Boyd]

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

[Rick Bortnick]

<p>Swamp Sunflower</p><div></div>

[gordonjb]

<p>From last month. I believe this to be Amanita vaginata. These had a viscid cap, sac-like volva and no annulus. This is a big family and I'm no expert so the ID is tentative.</p><div></div>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>Fall seeding time.</p><div></div>

[andy_szeto]

Ducky.<div></div>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Gordon, pretty. Check <em>Amanita fulva</em> when you see this tawny/amber cap color and the distinctly striate margin. A. fulva will also have some amber coloration inside the saccate volva and white gills. Yes, the vaginata group is large. <em>A. vaginata</em> generally is more gray than this, but you're right about the general characteristics. Here are a couple of links for <em>A. fulva</em> and it's provisional new name <em>A. amerifulva. </em>I'm not absolutely certain that this is fulva, but take a look for comparison.<br>

<a href="http://www.amanitaceae.org/?Amanita+amerifulva">http://www.amanitaceae.org/?Amanita+amerifulva</a><br>

<a href="http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_fulva.html">http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_fulva.html</a></p>

[sallymack]

<p>I've been trying for years to take pictures I like of bird of paradise blossoms. --Sally </p><div></div>

[gordonjb]

<p>As always Laura, thanks for sharing your expertise, you are a fantastic resource. I have photos of these in several stages so will cross reference with your links. I have just begun this past season, trying in earnest to identify some of the common fungi in my area.</p>

<p>Sally , agreed they are difficult blooms to capture and you've done well here, I like you photo very much.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>Monday in Nature and I'm always impressed by the skill and artistry of the photography and the fascination for nature shown by the contributors.<br>

Here is what I guess is a queen bumblebee refuelling while on a quest for a new place to nest. Compare size with the standard worker bumblebee to the right. </p><div></div>

[biomed]

<p>This weekend saw peak Fall colors in central Connecticut.</p>

<center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18111479-md.jpg" alt="_E6A5908" width="680" height="453" border="0" /></center>

[Edwin Barkdoll]

<p>Christoph - I think tamaracks are an under appreciated tree. Beautiful in all seasons. Nice capture of one changing color. They are often referred to as "hackmatacks" in Maine.</p>

<p> </p>

[Edwin Barkdoll]

<p>On a hike yesterday. Unfortunately highlights are a little blown.</p><div></div>

[RickDB]

<p>Not sure if it's a sign of fall, but suddenly I've noticed lots of American Redstarts in my garden. These pretty birds are quite difficult to photograph as they don't seem to stop for more than a fraction of a second as they flit about catching insects. They are quite different from the redstarts found in Europe.</p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Great egret (<em>Ardea alba</em>) captures breakfast. Nikon D750 with 200-500mm/f5.6 lens.</p><div></div>

[Gup]

<p>Here is a hastily snapped, adrenaline packed, gob smacked, up close and personal moose encounter.</p><div></div>

[johnfarrar]

<p><em>Crepis</em> (or <em>Hieracium</em>!)</p><div></div>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Gordon,<br>

Happy to assist. I added a photo of <a href="/photo/18111535&size=lg"><em>A. fulva </em></a>to my portfolio, and I'll e-mail another that is more mature. They can give you another reference point for comparison. Yours is a bit more gold than I usually see, and it may be a different species, but may also fall in the acceptable range of variation. I learned 3 new Amanita species this year, but A. fulva is an old friend. You may also see A. citrina v. lavendula in the woods now. It is about the last Amanita to appear in eastern woods.</p>

[DawsonPointers]

<p>I really noticed today how different the wind sounds since most of the leaves around here fell yesterday. I couldn't take a picture of that difference in sound. I wish I was able to.<br>

Anyway, ice that accumulated in the -4C temps last night persisted on the liverwort until after 10AM this morning. </p><div></div>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Wasp on a Purple Flower</p><div></div>

[fgorga]

<p>Saturday evening brought our first snow of the season here in southwest New Hampshire... about an inch total at our house.</p>

<p>The snow did not last long. Sunday morning's sun made quick work of most of it.</p>

<p>However, by mid-day, flurries and snow showers returned as I took a short hike with camera 'in hand' (as is often the case).</p>

<p>Fresh snow and fallen autumn leaves made for a slow and interesting walk!</p>

<p><img src="http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/19-oct-2015/dsc1590-edit.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="480" /></p>

[Mary Doo]

<p>When I was there last week, Colorado's aspens were mostly off peak. However, there were isolated pockets of yellow here and there.</p>

<p>What makes this grove special is the orange and red tinge.</p>

<p>(Shot with Nikkor 80-400mm lens @400mm on Nikon D800 camera.)</p><div></div>

[Charles_Sumner]

<p>First walk in the woods around this new home, some local life close to the ground.</p><div></div>