The purple magnolia in my Mom’s front yard is in magnificent bloom. The movers came today to take her stuff to her new apartment. All’s well if not a tad bittersweet. Transistions…
Spring beauties
Hepatica
Blue cohosh
Spring beauties
Yellow violet
Trout lily
Trout lilies
Purple trillium
Dutchman’s breeches
We went for a short hike up Mt. Hunger in Waterbury today (dutifully turning around at the “Trail Closed” sign above the waterfall…) I’d thought that, after being away from the Vermont woods for a month, that we’d missed the spring ephemerals. Not so! The trail up the mountain was alive with all the “usual suspects”! In places, the spring beauties covered the forest floor, and their fragrance sweetened the air! What a fine welcome back to the hills of Vermont!
Panasonic GM5, 12-32mm lens @ various lengths, various ISOs, apertures, and shutter speeds.
Back to the Florida Keys again with this shot. This green-backed heron was quitely perched near an observation platform at the Blue Hole Nature Area on Big Pine Key. I almost didn’t see him!
There were quite a few ruddy turnstones and sanderlings gathering together and poking about in the washed up seagrass along the shore at Bahia Honda beach. When people approached, they would take off, swing out briefly over the waves and return to their foraging after the people passed.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 102mm, circular polarizing filter, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/3200″ exposure.
A young Key Deer buck grooming
A young Key Deer buck grooming
A young Key Deer buck grooming
Okay, I see you now…
Key Deer are unique to the Big Pine Key region in the lower Florida Keys. This subspecies of White Tailed deer is quite small—bucks weigh in at only 55-75lbs—and were hunted to near exinction by the 1950s. We went to the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. The young buck grooming himself was none-to-shy as I snapped a bunch of shots from about 20 yards away. The closeup doe was right by the side of the road and seemed content to pose for the glamor shot.
You can read about Key Deer here.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 100-300mm lens at various lengths, various ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.
Seagrass forms a wavy line along the water’s edge at Bahia Honda beach in the Keys.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 19mm, ISO 500, f/10, 1/1300″ exposure.
Spring may be reluctant in Vermont, but in Virginia, the dogwood is blooming nicely!
I finally managed to get a good shot of an American Kestrel! This guy was hunting in the fields along Shaker Mountain Road yesterday at midday as the snow fell. Usaully these small raptors will fly away before I’ve even gotten my camera out, but this one was more patient with me, allowing me to snap off several shots before flying off.
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 100-300mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/1000″ exposure.
We went on a little stroll along the trails of the Warren & Grace Beeken Riverside Preserve in Richmond the other day. Cold morning temperatures had allowed thin ice to form in a vernal pool in the flood plain. As the water receded during the day, the ice was suspended in the air, still clinging to the objects that had help form it. Lovely!
Panasonic GX8, Lumix 14-140mm lens @ 26mm, ISO 400, f/13, 1/125″ exposure.
John Hadden Photography 