fgorga

Not a new photo, but a favorite...

American Rubyspot (female) -- late August, southern NH

Mountain Bluebird (Yellowstone NP)

Another from Yellowstone National Park, about two weeks ago. Made about 6:30 on a very chilly evening. One can see traces of the previous nights snow on the trees in the background. We watched this bull in the woods -- he seemed to be trying to get his harem to follow him -- for roughly a half hour before he finally came out into the field where the ladies were.

Just got back from a month-long road trip that included five nights in Yellowstone National Park where it is rutting season for both the bison and the elk. Bull Bison Sniffing the Air (Rutting Season)

Canada Darner (male) with Prey (SW New Hampshire)

Delta-spotted Spiketail -- along the Zealand Falls trail in the White Mountain National Forest (New Hampshire)

Song Sparrow... Singing!

Male Calico Pennant

Three (of four) juvenile green herons on our local pond... http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/14-jul-2017/dsc1528.jpg

I love the shadows!

Beaver Lodge in Early Spring (about a month ago) http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/22-apr-2017a/dsc0106.jpg

I spent Friday and Saturday on Star Island, one of the Isles of Shoals off the New Hampshire coast. These islands are classic migrant traps. Night migrating birds, which get blown out over open water, head for land as the day breaks. Coastal islands (such as the Isles of Shoals) are often the first land they encounter. Thus, these islands can have fairly dense concentrations of migrants. Also, the vegetation on these islands tends toward short and scrubby. Both factors can make for very good photography, especially in spring before the plants are fully leafed out. On this trip, the birding was slow (both in terms of numbers of individuals and in the variety of species), but there were a few migrants around especially on Friday. Yellow-rumped Warbler http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/14-may-2017_star_island_birds/dsc0783.jpg The rest of my photos from this trip can be found here: Star Island – May 2017 « Photographs by Frank

On the Florida panhandle back at the end of March... Willet with prey http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-1/dsc5237.jpg

Green Anole (from somewhere on the Florida panhandle) http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-2/dsc9723.jpg

And a few from a couple of weeks ago on the Florida panhandle (the Apalachicola Bay area)... Willet with Prey http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-1/dsc5237.jpg Clapper Rail http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-1/dsc4654.jpg Sora http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-1/dsc5078.jpg Pied-billed Grebe http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/6-apr-2017-1/dsc4875.jpg

Lots of nice photos in this thread. Here are a few from Ding Darling NWR about a year ago... Little Blue Heron with Prey http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/30-mar-2016-dingdarling2/dsc9118.jpg Tri-colored Heron http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/30-mar-2016-dingdarling2/dsc9275.jpg Yellow-crowned Night Heron Building Nest http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/30-mar-2016-dingdarling2/dsc9575.jpg

<p>Made yesterday around noon:</p> <div></div>

<p>Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird... s/he headed south many weeks ago.</p> <div></div>

<p>Here in New Hampshire, this year's foliage season was spectacular.</p> <p><img src="http://gorga.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/19-oct-2016b/dsc5679.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="600" /><br> Wetland Margin in Autumn</p>

<p>The photo of the black trumpets is exquisite.</p> <p>Here is my contribution for the week:</p> <p> </p><div></div>

<p>Greater Yellowlegs with Prey</p><div></div>

<p>Olive-sided Flycatcher, made back in July</p> <p> </p><div></div>

<p>"P.S. have 4 cheap GND filters."<br> <br> Many cheap neutral density filters are, in fact, not neutral... they often add a color cast, and "pinkish" is a common one.<br> <br> Two solutions...<br> </p> <ul> <li> make black and white photos where color casts are not an issue</li> <li> buy good quality neutral density filters</li> </ul> <p> </p>

<p>All Autumn Meadowhawks start out yellow, the males turn bright red as they mature.</p> <p>The other day I noticed a third pattern of coloration, mixed in with the yellow and bright red individuals populating a meadow. These individuals were mostly yellow but with dull red on the top of the abdomen. They were clearly female in that they have the triangular ovipositor at the distal end of their abdomen.</p> <p>A trip to the reference books revealed that "older" female Autumn Meadowhawks take on this dull red coloration. </p> <p>I have been watching and photographing dragonflies more more that a decade and had never noticed this before!</p> <div></div>