Photographs by Frank

24 June 2015

You Can Observe A Lot By Watching

Filed under: Amphibians,Monadnock Region,Other Insects,Summer,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: , , — Frank @ 5:00 PM

The title of this post is a quote attributed to Yogi Berra and how true it is!

When one is low to the ground with a camera set up to take photos of small things (such as odes) one finds oneself attuned to a world that is hidden in plain sight. There is a lot of “stuff” going on between the ground and six inches of elevation!

Much of the “stuff” one sees are insects, but I often observe other types of critters as well. The immature wood frog is one of those.

I had just stood up from photographing a damselfly and had taken a step or two when I heard a faint rustle in the old leaves underfoot. I quickly dropped to my knees to investigate and after searching for a few minutes, I finally found the source of said rustle… a wood frog the size of my thumbnail, unmoving and doing its best impression of a dried leaf!

I moved a bit trying to find a “window” in the detritus on the ground without scaring away the frog. I successfully found an angle with a clear view of the frog and was rewarded with a nice photo of this fairly common but seldom seen animal.

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Another good subject for a camera set up to photograph odes are small wildflowers. One can easily make nice photos of the flowers nicely isolated against out of focus backgrounds.

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Maturing and Cooling Odes

Filed under: Odontates,Summer,The Yard — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

In some species of dragonflies, the males change color as they mature. Two of these species have been present in our yard recently.

Both sexes of the hudsonian whiteface and the calico pennant are yellow when they are newly emerged. Over the ensuing week or two the males become red. This process seems to occur from “head-to-toe”. Thus, you can sometimes find individuals (such as those in the first two photographs below) with orange spots on their abdomens.

The third photo in this series shows a behavior involved in thermoregulation called “obelisking”. On hot sunny days, some dragonflies will orient themselves, while perched, to minimize their exposure to the sun. Often this involves “standing straight up” rather than “laying out flat”.

The last photo in this series is of a relatively rare (at least in our neighborhood) species, the racket-tailed emerald. This individual is immature since its eyes are brown. When it is fully mature it will have the bright green eyes characteristic of emeralds.

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Not Your Typical Bird Portrait

Filed under: Birds,Summer,The Yard,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 11:00 AM

Woodpeckers make a distinctive call that announces their imminent appearance at the feeders. Each species’ call is unique. Thus, if I listen carefully, I know when to head for the camera (which is set up on the deck) and what I can expect to find.

The other day I heard the call of a red-bellied woodpecker, but as I got to the camera he flew up into the trees. I found him in the lens, but he was very strongly back lit against a patch of sky… not a recipe for a good photo and I did not press the shutter release.

As I turned away from the camera a thought popped into my head… “silhouette”. I put my eye back to the viewfinder… the bird was still there. I pressed the shutter release.

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18 June 2015

Up North

Filed under: Amphibians,Mammals,Odontates,Other Insects,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: , , , , — Frank @ 5:00 PM

Monday afternoon, we strapped the kayaks to the roof of the car, hitched up the camper, and headed north. We arrived at Lake Francis State Park (in Pittsburg, NH) at supper time.

Pittsburg is as far north as you can go in New Hampshire… it is so far north that Canada lies to the west as well to the north!

On Tuesday morning we put the kayaks in the water at the East Inlet (to the Second Connecticut Lake) and paddled as far up this watershed as we could go. We were finally stopped by the willow thicket overhanging the narrow and fast moving channel.

About a noon time the predicted rain showers began. We were soaked to the skin by the time we got back to the landing and the car. We had a good time anyway!

We saw a loon as we got out of the car and a second one while we were out in the boats. There were other birds about as well, along with lots of frogs and a lone moose.

The frogs were calling from the marshy areas but hard as I tried, I could not espy a single one. I was beginning to despair every getting a photo when I finally noticed the bright yellow throat sac of one sitting just at the edge of the open water. After finding the first specimen, I began to see yellow throat sacs from the proverbial mile a way… they were, in fact, rather numerous!

As for the moose… I was peacefully and slowing paddling along when, as I rounded a bend in the shore line, I heard a great splashing sound. I am not sure if the bull moose or I was more surprised. The moose quickly made for the shore and the first photograph I made of him contained mainly his posterior as he headed up into the marsh. Once out of the water, he did turn to look at me  and I was able to make an adequate (but not spectacular) portrait.

Joan missed the entire show as she was botanizing some distance behind.

The rain was just letting up as we got back to the East Inlet boat launch… figures! We changed into dry clothes and decided to drive up to Scott Bog; another kayaking/wildlife hot spot.

Along the way we scared another smallish moose off the road.  Scott Bog will be our target next time we are in the area with our boats!

After an early dinner, we took a drive up Indian Stream Road. We turned around at the parking area for the Indian Stream Gorge trail head. We’ve put this on our “to do” list as well.

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Wednesday morning we were on the road south by 7:30. Joan was meeting another NEWFS PCV* in Northumberland to do a rare plant survey. While they were botanizing, I headed to the nearby Eames Wayside.

This piece of public land along the Connecticut River looked promising on the map, but I could not find much information about it. It turns out to be essentially undeveloped, there is small parking area on Route 3, but that is it. I tried to bushwhack down to the river but was turned back by the willow thickets.

As I headed back to the car somewhat dejected, I noticed a dragonfly in a sunny spot along the rail bed. Thus all was not lost!

I spent the next couple of hours photographing damselflies and other insects, along about fifty feet of rail bed near a small stream flowing under the rails in a culvert. I did not see another dragonfly the entire time I was there but the damsels were plentiful!

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*NEWFS… New England Wildflower Society; PCV… Plant Conservation Volunteer

 

14 June 2015

Nesting Loons

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: , — Frank @ 1:00 PM

A couple of weeks ago, Joan and I discovered a loon nest on a body of water that has not supported a breeding pair for more that forty years*.

Yesterday, I got permission to cross the privately-held shore line and photograph the nest and its occupant.

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* I am being a bit circumspect about the exact location in order to protect the nest site.

 

Backyard Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,The Yard,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 12:30 PM

Friday (12 June) I notice two yellow (i.e. female or immature male) calico pennants in our yard.

Yesterday there were a dozen or more… enough so that I dropped what I was doing and picked up the camera.

There were a few four-spotted skimmers in the mix. The usual chalk-fronted corporals were also “out and about”.

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12 June 2015

Odes Down Back

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer — Tags: , , — Frank @ 10:56 AM

Ten cords of firewood is finally stacked… I can get back to photography!

Yesterday afternoon was warm (about 80 degrees F) and windy. I donned my waders and headed “down back” to the beaver-made wetland at the back of our property.

I arrived at about 2 PM and stayed for three hours. I spent most of my time at the edge of the beaver pond and the small stream that feeds it.

Given the recent lack of  male Hudsonian whitefaces in the yard (the females are still present), I was expecting to find them down by the beaver pond. I was not disappointed.

However, the most common ode was the chalk-fronted corporal. There were many dozens of both sexes mostly flying out over the open water; although a few perched for short intervals. I also observed a small number of mating-wheels.

Common whitetails were almost as abundant as the chalk-fronted corporals and their activities were similar; less perching and larger numbers of mating-wheels.

The abundance of common whitetails at the water was surprising since, in contrast with the chalk-fronted corporals, we rarely seem then in the yard.

There were small numbers of male clubtails (I’m unsure of the exact species probably beaver pond clubtails*), male frosted whitefaces and a couple of four-spotted skimmers.

I saw only two damselflies during the three hours I was out. A small brownish individual, probably a female bluet, that I did not get a good look or a photograph.

The second individual, which I  did get a good photograph of, is an immature male Amber-winged spreadwing* probably a male Aurora damsel but I am not entirely convinced. It has the yellow lateral spots but the top of the thorax is blue rather than black. My impression is that this individual was significantly larger than the typical Aurora damsel.

Oh… about the frog… “he” appeared seemingly out of thin air (water?) three or four feet from where I was kneeling and was completely indifferent to my presence as I went about photographing odes for the next twenty or so minutes.. He did not even flinch when I stood up to move on.

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*Thanks to Steve and Hal from the Northeast Odes mailing list for the help in identification.

 

27 August 2014

Up North

Filed under: Landscapes,Odontates,Other Insects,Summer,wildflowers — Tags: , , , — Frank @ 6:00 PM

Monday morning, we packed up the camper and headed north. Our goal was the Errol, NH area as Joan had some plant conservation volunteer business to attend to.

We arrived at  Mollidgewock State Park in the middle of the afternoon, dropped off the camper and spent the remaining daylight hours exploring and photographing. The highlight of the evening was watching (through the spotting scope and too far away to photograph) three otters eating and playing in the Androscoggin River.

Tuesday, we awoke to dense fog over the river but it burnt off quickly and  the day turned hot (low 80’s) and sunny as predicted.

After breakfast, Joan spent  four or five hours locating a population of rare plants (the only known population of this species in the US; there are about ten other isolated populations in Canada) and collecting seeds from them  for the New England Wildflower Society.

I spent the time photographing the local roadside flora and the odes and had fun despite the harsh light.

By midafternoon, we were back on the road meandering towards home.

Landscapes

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Odes (and a grasshopper!)

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Flora

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21 August 2014

The “Wilds” of Antrim

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Summer — Tags: — Frank @ 2:00 PM

This morning about 9, my CWS* announced that an AWS** had emailed saying that there was a great blue heron on the Mill Pond behind town hall.

It takes about seven or eight minutes to drive from our house to the town hall… I was on the scene in the parking lot behind town hall by about 9:15!

When I arrived the bird was atop the pile of rocks in the middle of the pond by the bandstand in Memorial Park. I got two or three frames before it moved to the far side of the pond and began hunting. The hunting was poor as I saw him/her make a single attempt to grab prey in about 45 minutes. At about 10 AM the bird moved from the pond to a tree near dam at the south end of the pond. After a few minutes of preening,  (s)he flew again, this time headed east over Main Street and towards the Contoocook River.

I chatted briefly with the folks in Town Hall (including the AWS) and was back home before 10:30; not a bad way to spend 90 minutes.

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*Chief Wildlife Spotter; i.e. my wife, Joan.

** Associate Wildlife Spotter; one has to have a network! Thanks… you know who you are!!!

 

9 August 2014

Connecticut River Odes

Filed under: Odontates,Summer — Tags: , , — Frank @ 12:00 PM

I haven’t done much photography in the past 10 days or so… sometimes life get in the way!

We spent a few days at the end of July helping one of Joan’s cousins move and then I spent the past week stacking the nine cords of firewood that was delivered last Sunday.

The completed pile measures 16′ by 16.75′ by 4.25′. The weight is roughly13 tons. (The web says that dry fire wood weighs between 2000 and 4000 pounds per cord; I used the midpoint in my calculation.)

I would take a photo of the stack but it looks pretty much like last years stack; this years is just a bit larger having an almost complete row in from where there was only a quarter of a row last year.

Woodpile 2013… the 2014 pile looks pretty much the same!

I did take off Wednesday afternoon from my stacking duties to accompany Joan and her cousin Suzy on a kayak trip on the Connecticut River in Walpole, NH. Joan wanted to scout out some rare plants that she will need to collect seeds from later in the season, so Suzy and I tagged along.

I, of course, wanted to explore for odes which I did. I also re-learned the lesson that making photographs of small critters from a boat in a rapidly moving current is frustrating.  Most of the species are new to me and even though I spent some time with the books, I have not been able to identify most of them.

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