Summer « Photographs by Frank

30 May 2020

May — The Explosion

Filed under: Mammals,Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: Chipmunks, dragonflies, Lady slippers, wild flowers — Frank @ 11:27 PM

May is a month of explosive change here in New England.

We begin the month wondering if we will ever be able to stop feeding the stove and end the month ready for a swim many afternoons. The woods are drab and gray at the beginning of May and fully leafed out a couple of weeks later. The summer breeding birds, the earliest of which begin arriving in April , are sitting on nests by the end of May. Additionally, there are waves of both migrating birds and ephemeral wildflowers which come and go all within the month.

And… most importantly, to me anyway, the dragonflies reappear! I saw my first ode of the season, a lone Hudsonian whiteface in the woods on May second. Their population in the uplands around the house peaked a week or ten days ago… most have headed back to a wetland to breed, but there were still a few stragglers in the yard this afternoon.

The past few days have seen an explosion of chalk-fronted corporals in the uplands. Walking along the unmaintained section of Brimstone Corner Road this morning, in every sunny spot, I stirred up a dozen or more chalk-fronted corporals. The large majority were brown (either female or immature males).

There are also a few individuals of another, larger species also present… I have to find where I stashed the ode books for the winter in order to identify these!

And then there are the chipmunks… remember when, a few seasons ago, we were all concerned about the lack of chipmunks? Well… thanks to the remarkable reproductive capacity of rodents, I can report that they are back in numbers which seem larger than ever. The current generation also seems much bolder than those of the past. I have had chipmunks trying to steal seed as I was filling the bird feeders! The photo of the chipmunk which accompanies this post was made with my camera set up for odes… in this mode it can not focus beyond about four or five feet!

All of these photos were made over the course of an hour or so this afternoon.

Lady Slipper

Dragonfly - ID Needed

Hudsonian Whiteface (immature male or female)

Chalk-fronted Corporal (male)

Chipmunk

Chalk-fronted Corporal (female)

Chalk-fronted Corporal (immature male)

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6 September 2019

Late Season Odes (and Wild Flowers)

Filed under: Odontates,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: dragonflies, wild flowers — Frank @ 11:00 AM

Yesterday afternoon, I took a walk on the Harris Center Brimstone Corner Road property just down the road from our house. My goal was to see what odes were still out and about. I was expecting to find autumn meadowhawks and some darners.

As I expected the most common dragonfly I observed was the autumn meadowhawk. I saw more than a dozen; mostly in the old log yard. However, there were also a few, including a mating pair, by the outlet of the beaver pond. Here, I also observed a single variable dancer; the only damselfly I saw yesterday.

There were a few large darners flying out over the water of the beaver pond. However, the most common dragonfly here was the slaty skimmer. There were at least a dozen, mostly males, patrolling the edge of the pond defending territories.

In addition to the odes, my eye was attracted to all of the late season flowers.

Autumn Meadowhawk (female)

Autumn Meadowhawk Mating Wheel

Slaty Skimmer

Autumn Meadowhawk (male)

Seed Head

Wild Flower #1

Wild Flower #2

Wild Flower #3

Wild Flower #4

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15 August 2019

Portsmouth, NH

Filed under: Landscapes,Summer — Tags: landscapes — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Yesterday, I made the two hour (one way) drive to Portsmouth, NH over on the seacoast. I had arranged to pick up an old Epson printer that I am going to convert to use only black inks. (details below, after the photos).

After getting the printer safely ensconced in my truck, I took a walk, camera in hand, around downtown Portsmouth, a bit of New Hampshire that I am not familiar with.

Despite the hordes of tourists, I spend an enjoyable couple of hours. I visited a special NH Art Association exhibit at the Sheafe Warehouse in Prescott Park and a photography exhibit in their permanent gallery on State Street. The sights and sounds of the city were interesting, but I was glad to head back to the peace and quiet of our neck of the woods before too long.

Memorial Bridge

Sheafe Warehouse (detail)

Gundalow Rigging (detail)

Cafe Tables

Pilings

North Church (detail)

Portsmouth Shadows #1

Portsmouth Shadows #2

Portsmouth Shadows #3

Warning… photographer talk ahead!!!

I already have one converted printer with a set of Piezography “warm neutral” inks installed; it makes wonderful prints on all sorts of matte papers.

I am trying to decide on which ink set to use in the “new” printer. I’m torn between a set which resembles selenium toned gelatin silver prints or the “special edition” set which emulates the tones of platinum/palladium prints.

Decisions… decisions!

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11 August 2019

Yesterday’s Photographs

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Summer — Frank @ 12:30 PM

Yesterday morning, I took my camera with me on my morning walk up the un-maintained section of Brimstone Corner Road and down Boutman Rd to its low spot.

Woodland Pool

Stone Wall and Grasses

Shadows

Woodland Road

Butterfly

What is the Story?

Late yesterday afternoon I had a bit of free time before I was due at the Grange’s Summah Suppah so I headed out to make a few photographs.

Most of my recent non-wildlife photography has been done using the camera obscura. This day, I resolved to leave the camera obscura in the truck and to see what photographs I could make with the regular camera.

I ended up with two series of photographs,

Machines…

Not Going Anywhere

Tractor Detail #1

Cylinders

Pistons

Coil Spring Mechanism

Coil Spring (detail)

Seat Spring

Tractor Detail #2

“Numbers”…

Five

One-Ninety-Three

Seven-Forty

Thirty-Four-Fifteen

Fifty-Six Hundred

Recognize this?

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7 August 2019

Hattie Brown Road Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: damselflies, dragonflies — Frank @ 9:33 PM

On Monday afternoon (from about 2 – 4) I took a walk up Hattie Brown Road to see what was up “ode-wise”. The temperature was in the high 70s F, the skies were mostly clear and there was a bit of breeze intermittently.

The walk along most of the road is heavily shaded and I did not expect to see many/any odes until I approached the beaver swamp. My expectations were met and I saw my first ode, a bright red male meadowhawk, just as I got to the swamp.

The swamp itself is amazingly dry, even for this time of year. The outlet stream is still flowing, but much of the swamp proper consists of large dry or drying patches separating discontinuous patches of surface water. (I imagine that there is still significant subsurface water.)

Usually, there would be good numbers of darners cruising out over the swamp, but not this trip. There were a few (two?) male meadowhawks along the road and a single female damselfly (most probably a variable dancer).

I continued along the road past the swamp and was rewarded with more numerous insects in the clearing just where the road turns up the hill.

Present in this clearing were small numbers (less than six) of both male and female common white-tails. The most common ode present were female spangled skimmers, roughly a dozen; I saw no males.

Individuals of both of these species seemed to be attacking me as they flew directly at my head numerous times, often close enough that I could hear there wings beating. A male common white-tail even briefly perched on the front of my thigh. Of course, what these insects were really doing was picking off prey from the cloud of small flying insects that I had attracted!

I also observed a single male twelve-spotted skimmer who was a very obliging model. During the course of the ten or fifteen minutes I watched him, he made repeated hunting forays and always returned to the same perch. In contrast to the other species, he ignored me and the cloud I attracted, as he flew off in seeming random directions each time.

One the way back to the truck, I passed a single meadowhawk along the road by the swamp and a single spreadwing along the road almost at its junction with Craig Road. I watched the spreadwing for a few minutes always staying low to the ground and in the shade. Just as I despaired of making its photo, it flew to a chest-high perch in a patch of sun. Even the background (the dark shaded woods at some distance away) was perfect. I made two exposures before it flew away!

Meadowhawk (male) #1

Dragonfly (ID needed)

Common White-tail (female)

Common White-tail (female) with Prey

Spangled Skimmer (female) #1

Spangled Skimmer (female) #2

Twelve Spotted Skimmer with Prey

Twelve Spotted Skimmer #1

Twelve Spotted Skimmer #2

Twelve Spotted Skimmer #3

Meadowhawk (male) #2

Spreadwing

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1 August 2019

Poking Around Town

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Summer — Tags: Stone Walls — Frank @ 12:00 PM

Yesterday afternoon I headed to town to drop off some photos for an upcoming exhibition at the library. As I headed back to the truck, I noticed the nice light. There were dark gray clouds (and presumably rain) just to the south. We were clearly on the edge of this weather system.

I was inspired to get out my camera and to poke around the old Goodell Company mills across the street from the library. It sprinkled very lightly and for only a few minutes while I explored.

Most of my non-wildlife work these days is in black and white. However one of the first things that struck my eye yesterday was the wonderful combination of weathered blue paint and rusty hinges on a mill building door. Thus the resulting photo and the next one I made (of a nearby window) are rarities in my oeuvre.

After I finished poking around “downtown”, I decided to head to the Antrim Center and Meetinghouse Hill (the original “downtown”). It is about three miles from the library to the top of the hill.

I may have a need for a photo of a stone wall for the next issue of the Limrik and there are plenty of stone walls on Meetinghouse Hill. Of course, the same can be said about the rest of Antrim… or New Hampshire… or New England! However, I am particularly fond to those on Meetinghouse Hill.

On the way by, I stopped and made a couple of photographs of the Stone Church, where Joan and I were married some thirty nine plus years ago. For some reason, I have not made many photographs of this building.

Mill Door

Mill Window

Mill Building

Up!

Stone Church

Untitled

Stone Wall #1

Stone Wall #2

Stone Wall #3

Stone Wall #4

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27 July 2019

Another Short Walk

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,The "New" Yard & Environs,Wildlife — Tags: dragonflies — Frank @ 9:30 PM

This afternoon (about three) I took a walk up the unmaintained portion of Brimstone Corner Road. I wanted to see what was up with the logging operation that has been going on for the last several weeks. The good news is it looks like the loggers are essentially finished. Therefore, shortly, serenity will again reign in the neighborhood.

It was a perfect mid-summer day. It was sunny and the temperature was right around 80 degrees F.

Most of the road is well shaded but I did find some dragonflies in the sunny patches and in clearings near the road.. I did not see any damselflies.

The most common ode were male calico pennants; I saw three individuals, all immature males) in one clearing. In addition, I saw single specimens of the following species: a female meadowhawk (exact species not know), a female Halloween pennant, a female blue dasher, a male common whitetail and a male spangled skimmer. I was unable to make photos of the last two of these.

Meadowhawk (female)

Halloween Pennant (female)

Calico Pennant (imm. male)

Blue Dasher (female)

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26 July 2019

A Slow Day “Down Back”

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,The "New" Yard & Environs,Wildlife — Tags: damselflies — Frank @ 10:30 PM

This afternoon (at about four) I donned my waders and headed “down back”. It is a short (maybe a quarter of a mile) walk to the beaver made wetland complex at the back of our property.

The weather was mostly sunny and the temperature was right around 80 degrees. I spent about seventy five minutes watching the wildlife.

The beavers have been busy as the water level in the wet meadow is as high as I have ever seen it. Many of my usual spots: for hunkering down along the pond are now part of the pond!

As seems to be the case all over this season, the number of odes were small. There were darners flying over the vegetation in the wet meadow. They are impossible to enumerate, identify or photograph as they are in constant motion. I also observed a single male meadow hawk at the woodland/wetland interface. It did not stick around long enough for a photo.

The most common odes present were the sprites. I probably saw at least a couple of dozen. Both sedge sprites and sphagnum sprites were present. The latter were more common. Most of the individuals I saw were male but females were present. I saw (but did not photograph) a single pair of sprites flying in tandem. I did not see any damselflies other than sprites,

Sprites are very difficult to photograph. They are the smallest ode we have in the area; about one inch long and very slight of build. They also prefer to stay low in the emergent vegetation. I rarely see a sprite more than six inches off the water.

However, if one stakes out a small open spot and applies some patience a sprite or two are likely to show up. With a little luck you can then find a window in the grasses with a clear view and make a photograph before the critter moves on. The challenge is all part of the fun!

Lastly, as one would expect for the end of July the blue flag irises are done for the year. I did, however, see a number of their fruits (seed pods?). The equally showy but much smaller (the flowers are only about an inch long and their stalks rarely rise higher than six inches) rose pagonias were in full bloom. I saw five or six patches containing from a single flower to more than a dozen.

Sphagnum Sprite (male)

Sedge Sprite (male)

Sprite

Sphagnum Sprite (male)

Rose Pagonia

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24 July 2019

Odes on a Short Walk

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: damselflies, dragonflies — Frank @ 11:33 PM

This afternoon, about two o’clock, I headed out for a short walk. My destination was the outlet of “our” wetland. This brook crosses the road across the Harris Center property on Brimstone Corner Rd (in Antrim) roughly a couple of dozen feet below the beaver dam. I spent about two hours total in the field.

The weather was mostly sunny and the temperature was in the upper seventies. A perfect summer afternoon in New Hampshire.

As I hoped there were odes in the sunny patches along the road, in the old log yard and around the brook. The numbers of individuals were small; only three or four individuals maximum of each species were observed This seems to be the rule this summer… small numbers of individuals but a good variety of species.

I observed the following species of dragonflies: blue dashers (both male and female), calico pennants (both male and female), a female meadowhawk and a few male frosted whitefaces. I also saw a few damselflies: a single spreadwing, and few bluets and a lone ebony jewelwing.

I made photographs of all of these species except for the jewelwing.

Blue Dasher (female)

Calico Pennant (male)

Spreadwing

Bluet

Calico Pennant (female)

Meadowhawk (female)

Frosted Whiteface (male)

Damselfly

Frosted Whiteface (male)

Blue Dasher (male)

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16 July 2019

Spangled Skimmers

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,Wildlife — Tags: dragonflies — Frank @ 7:00 PM

This coming Saturday (20 July 2019), I am co-teaching a workshop on wildlife photography at the Harris Center in Hancock. This afternoon I headed over there to place some perches near the bird feeders and to scout out the odes.

The weather was warm (about 80), muggy and it was overcast. It was not great weather for odes to be out and about. I was disappointed, but not surprised, that I saw not a single ode in a quick trip around the Harris Center field. The weather for Saturday is predicted to be hot (mid-90s’ hopefully not too hot for either workshop participants or odes) and sunny. The fears of every workshop leader… a large crowd of participants shows up but there is no wildlife to be found, or vice versa!

Ever the optimist, I headed to the boat launch on the Contoocook in Greenfield to see what might be flying in the field. There were many deer flies and mosquitoes around but only a few odes… maybe a half dozen female spangled skimmers.

The trip was worth it, I was able to make a photograph of two perched dragonflies in the same frame. Although closely perched damselflies are quite common, this is a very rare event with dragonflies.

Spangled Skimmer (female)

Spangled Skimmers (female)

Spangled Skimmer (female)

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