November 2017

Month

Snowy spruce

spruce-snow — A red spruce at the edge of our field sports a mantle of snow this morning

Yesterday’s surprise snow storm made for a pretty morning as the sun rose in a cloudless sky. With a strong southerly airflow, temperatures rose quickly and the 4″ of snow we received is on its way to melting.

According to Mary Holland, this is a boom year for conifer cones, and my observations from around our area bares this out. Those critters that feed on conifer cones—red squirrels, voles, waxwings, chickadees, nuthatches, grosbeaks, crossbills, and siskins—should see a bit of a bump in their numbers next breeding season.

Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 84mm, ISO 800, f/10, 1/640″ exposure.

November 21, 2017 0

Twist

When the leaves disappear, subtler natural forms start to emerge. This twist of grape tendril caught my eye on my way up Taft Road.

Panasonic GX8, Olympus 60mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/800″ exposure

November 17, 2017 0

Sky Ice

Early ice and reflected sky in one of the beaver ponds along Taft Road.

There’s quite a growing complex of beaver ponds along Taft Road now. Cold temperatures have started to close the open water, and the beavers are working overtime (if there is such a thing in beaverland…) to gather enough food to make it though the winter in their lodges bound by ice.

Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 46mm, ISO 800, f/9, 1/500″ exposure.

November 16, 2017 0

Camel’s Hump Black & White

A friend challenged me to black & white photo thingy on the facebooks, so I obliged. Interestingly, this time of year (November…) it’s kind of hard to find much color in the world, so black and white landscapes work!

Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 115mm, ISO 800, f/11, 1/1300″ exposure.

November 14, 2017 0