wildflowers « Photographs by Frank

28 June 2022

Monhegan Island – Flora and Fauna

Filed under: Birds,Mammals,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: Birds, wild flowers, wildlife — Frank @ 11:00 AM

Although our trip to Monhegan Island was mostly about the landscape, I did manage to make a few photographs of the non-human inhabitants of the island even though I did not have a long lens* with me.

There were plenty of birds on the island including, according to Merlin, many nesting warblers along with nesting gulls and cormorants. Common Eiders were also plentiful out past the surf.

The mallards on Ice Pond are clearly habituated to humans. As soon as I showed up on the small beach, every mallard on the pond made a beeline for me expecting a hand out.

There was also a well habituated Herring Gull present atop White Head both times we visited there. I assume that it was used to folks feeding it scraps of their snacks/lunch.

The photos of the seals and the cormorant colony were made when we took an afternoon boat ride around the island… it takes all of thirty minutes to circumnavigate Monhegan Island!

Waxwings

Gull Nest & Chicks

Ice Pond Mallard (in molt)

Harbor Seals (Monhegan Island)

Harbor Seal in Water (Monhegan Island)

Coromorant Nesting Colony

Gull #1

Gull #2

Mallard in Molt (Monhegan Harbor)

Late June is also a good time for wildflowers on Monhegan. The beach roses were in full bloom as were many other flowers both large and small.

Wildflower

Blueflag Lily

Monhegan Flora #1

Monhegan Flora #2

Beach Rose #1

Beach Rose #2

Beach Rose #3

Monhegan Flora #5

Monhegan Flora #3

Monhegan Flora #4

* I had my 70-200 mm zoom and a 1.7x teleconverter.

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31 May 2022

Yard Odes at the End of May

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers — Tags: damselflies, dragonflies, Lady slippers, wild flowers — Frank @ 11:00 PM

Early this afternoon, I noticed numerous dragonflies sunning themselves on our deck. Thus stimulated, I headed out with the camera and made a quick circuit of the yard to see what I could find.

The weather was hot (mid 80s F) and the skies mostly sunny.

Whitefaces, probably Hudsonian Whitefaces, were far the most common ode present. There were a few female chalk-fronted corporals present as well. I also observed a single male Beaverpond Baskettail, an uncommon find.

At one point, while chasing whitefaces, I got briefly distracted by the dozen or so Lady Slippers that are blooming at the edge of our yard. I could not resist adding to the already large number of photos of these show flowers that I have made over the years!

MId-afternoon, Joan called my attention to a damselfly acting strangely on our front steps. It was moving about weakly but clearly could not fly. The photo I made clearly shows why. It was injured. Its head was at a very odd angle to its torso. I made a couple of exposures and then watched for another minute or two until it fell off the steps and into the flower bed.

Late afternoon, while puttering around the yard, I noticed a few damselflies in the patch of ferns on the slope below the garden. Always willing to be distracted by odes, I went a got my camera. There were small numbers of Eastern Forktails (of both sexes) and Sedge Sprites (between my eye and the dim light, it was had to discern sexes) present. Females of both species posed nicely for me.

Whiteface (sp?) (female)

Chalk0fronted Corporal (female)

Beaverpond Clubtail (male)

Whiteface Peek-a-boo

Whiteface sp? (female)

Hudsonian Whiteface (imm. male)

Lady Slipper

Injured Aurora Damsel (male)

Eastern Forktail (female)

Sedge (?) Sprite (female)

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9 May 2022

(Re)Birth

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Spring,wildflowers — Tags: wild flowers — Frank @ 9:45 PM

Spring is coming on rapidly… just like it does every year at this time!

The daffodils around the yard are in full bloom. We ate a few leaves of lettuce from the garden this evening. And… the trees are leafing out.

This afternoon I mounted the macro lens on my camera and went for a walk in the woods. The purple trillium have been out for some time as have the violets. Today was the first time this season I saw painted trillium in bloom.

Hobblebush Seedling

Hobblebush Leaf (detail)

Painted Trillium

Basswood Seedling

Budding Out

Bud

Purple Trillium

Violets

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27 April 2022

Harrisville Details

Filed under: Early Spring,Garden Flowers,Landscapes,Monadnock Region,wildflowers — Tags: black and white, landscapes — Frank @ 9:05 PM

Yesterday morning I picked up my last load of compost for the season. This final load was destined for Joan’s cousin Suzy who lives near our abode. Since I had no fixed schedule, I meandered vaguely in the direction of home. Of course, I had my camera with me.

As I drove, I noticed the nice texture (at least in some directions) in the clouds and went in search of a foreground for the interesting clouds. I ended up at Halfmoon Pond in Hancock, near the Harrisville border (see the first photo, below). The textured clouds did not last long. The overcast built steadily and it began to drizzle.

Knowing that Joan had to make a trip to Harrisville Designs, and with the lunchtime approaching, I called Joan and arranged to meet her at the General Store for lunch. After lunch Joan headed to the yarn pushers for what she needed and I wandered about the village to make photographs.

Harrisville, NH is a quaint, well preserved old mill town. It is among my favorite places to make photos. Since the weather was not suitable for grand landscapes (think low, thick overcast and intermittent drizzle), I concentrated on the details.

It was almost 5PM before I got the compost delivered.

Halfmoon Pond (Hancock, NH)

Barn (Dublin, NH)

Shagbark

Nubanusit Brook

Trilium

Chalkboard Wisdom

Church Detail #1

Church Detail #2

Millwork Remnant

Cupola with Bell

Mill Buildings

Room With A View?

Brickwork

Daffodils

Headstone Trio

Steeple

Veteran Marker

Be Happy

Harrisville Reflection

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12 May 2021

Two Walks

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Spring,wildflowers — Frank @ 10:45 AM

These photos are from walks on two recent days. The trees are beginning to leaf out and the hobblebush is in full bloom, as are many other early spring wildflowers and the black flies!

Hobblebush #1

Hobblebush #2

Hobblebush #3

Hobblebush #4

Balancing Rock

Beech Foot

Beaver-work

Hand Labor (Stone Wall)

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24 July 2020

Cilly Family Forest Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: dragonflies, wild flowers — Frank @ 10:45 PM

The Cilly Family Forest is a parcel of conserved land along the Contoocook River in Greenfield. It was once part of Joan’s cousin Stevie’s farm. The parcel is mostly wooded but there is a large field abutting the river that is kept open. There are often good numbers of dragonflies in the field.

I spent about ninety minutes there later this afternoon. The temperature was in the upper 70s and it was mostly sunny. There were relatively small numbers of odes present. The most numerous were female widow skimmers; I saw roughly ten individuals. In addition to the species I was able to photograph (i.e. slaty skimmer, widow skimmer and blue dasher) I also observed a single calico pennant and one other dragonfly that I was not able to get a good enough view of to identify, but it flashed green as it sped by.

I also saw (but did not photograph) roughly half a dozen damselflies total. Additionally, there were good numbers of a small (maybe an inch and a half across) orange butterfly.

Widow Skimmer (female) #1

Slatey Skimmer (male)

Closed Gentian

Widow Skimmer (female) #2

Orange Butterfly

Blue Dasher (male)

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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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20 June 2019

A Walk and Backyard Birds

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,The "New" Yard & Environs,wildflowers,Wildlife — Frank @ 2:30 PM

Can you tell it is a rainy day here in Antrim? Must be, it is a three blog post day!

Yesterday was a hot (for NH) and sticky day. The temperature was in the upper seventies and it was mostly cloudy. The rain held off until early evening.

I took a walk up Brimstone Corner Road with the camera rigged for odes. There was not much activity and the only species I saw were chalk-fronted corporals. I saw roughly two dozen individuals in the roughly three miles I walked.

In one old log yard, I found three different wildflowers all within about a six foot radius. I barely had to move between photographs!

Chalk-fronted Corporal (male)

Chalk-fronted Corporal (female)

Wildflower #1

Wildflower #2

Wildflower #3

When I got home from the walk, I decided to set up the camera rigged for birds on the deck. It was pointed towards the feeders. All the usual suspects were present. Finches both gold and purple as well as downy woodpeckers have been most abundant recently.

Rose-breasted grosbeaks are also common. On other days I have seen as many as three individuals on the feeders simultaneously. They were present yesterday, but I did not get any photos as they have the annoying habit of flying directly to the feeders with out stopping at one of the abundant perches available. And, as I am wont to say one should not make photos of birds on bird feeders unless one is trying to sell bird feeders!

Every once in a while, a we get other woodpeckers. Hairy woodpeckers being next most common and very occasionally a red-bellied. We hear pileated woodpeckers in the woods regularly but have never seen one on or even near the feeders.

Red-winged blackbirds are also infrequent visitors to our feeders. They are common in the wetland “down back” (about a quarter mile away) but are rare in our yard tucked away in the woods.

Downy Woodpecker

Red-winged Blackbird

Purple Finch #1

Purple Finch #2

Goldfinch (male)

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

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15 June 2019

Flowers (in the Studio)

Filed under: Garden Flowers,wildflowers — Frank @ 7:14 PM

This afternoon Joan brought me a lady slipper that she had knocked off its stem while rummaging around behind the took shed. Of course, I headed to my basement studio to make a photograph.

While I was at it, I also snipped one of the irises in the garden that I had noticed earlier and made a photograph of it too.

Lady Slipper in the Studio

Iris from Joan's Garden

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22 August 2018

A Jaunt in the “Neighborhood”

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: damselflies, dragonflies, wild flowers — Frank @ 11:59 PM

This afternoon, I headed out on a walk down Hattie Brown Road, just to see what was up. I had not been out that way in probably almost a month. Weather-wise there were broken clouds and the temperature in the mid-70’s. There was also a nice breeze blowing… nice because it kept the mosquitoes down.

As I left the house, I noticed a small (a couple of dozen individuals) feeding swarm of darners over the yard. Feeding swarms are large congregations (dozens to hundreds of individuals) of big dragonflies (usually a mix of darner species) that gather over open spaces to feed on small flying insects. Feeding swarms form most often in late summer and in the late afternoon. I paused only briefly to watch the swarm before driving down to the bridge.

As I walked out Hattie Brown Road, the sun kept peaking out of the clouds and I saw both female autumn meadowhawks and spreadwings in some of the patches of sunlight along the road. I also saw an occasional darner cruising the road well above head height.

When I reached the beaver pond, the birds took noticed. A crow perched high in a nearby tree, being a social bird, began to call loudly announcing my presence to its compatriots. A great blue heron, being a solitary sort, silently took flight from its fishing spot near the road and headed to the other side of the pond.

As I arrived at the pond, I noticed a large dark cloud come over the ridge to the west and within a minute or two it began to rain lightly. Unsurprisingly, there were no odes to be seen. Since there was only gray sky to the west and the patches of blue to the east were rapidly receding. I decided to head back towards the truck without dallying. It rained lightly the entire walk back.

Of course, just as I arrived back at the truck the sun began to reappear and after a short interval the rain stopped.

Since the weather was looking better, I stopped at the road into the Harris Center property along Brimstone Corner Road rather than heading directly home. Parking near the gate, I walked down this road as far as the beaver dam and observed small numbers of the same odes as I saw on Hattie Brown Road. There were a couple of darners patrolling the road, a few spreadwings in sunny spots along the road and a couple of female meadowhawks at the log landing. I saw no odes out over the beaver pond itself.

Eventually, I lost the nice light as the sun disappeared over the ridge to the west. Thus, I headed back up the hill to the truck and arrived back home at 6:30, a bit more than two hours after I departed. The feeding swarm in the yard was gone.

As you might expect, I took a few photos while I was out!

Spreadwing #1

Wildflower

Autumn Meadowhawk (female)

Grass Seedhead

Toadstool

Spreadwing #2

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