Foliage season is in full swing in the Mondanock region. The wetland margins (i.e. swamp maples) are pretty much at peak and there is significant color on the hillsides.
The weather Thursday afternoon was “severe clear”… not the best for landscapes. However, with polarizer firmly in place, I headed out around four anyway.
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Three-frame panorama:
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Last Monday morning on our way south, Joan and I noted the first bits of color in the wetlands along US 202. A few swamp maples were showing tinges of orange and red.
On our trip north on Thursday, we were amazed at how much “progress” autumn had made. Now, there are even tinges of color on the hillsides.
On Saturday, as the sun was headed down,I headed out to some of the local wetlands to see how the light was falling.
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Eagle Cliff in Sandwich, NH is situated on a small bit of high ground between Squam Lake and Lake Winnipesaukee. The climb from the road is is short and steep (about 600 feet of elevation in about 0.6 miles) but the views of Squam Lake and the White Mountains are spectacular.
Yesterday was a perfect early fall day. The temperature was about 60, there was a nice breeze and the clouds were decent. It was too early for Fall foliage, but that should be spectacular in a few weeks. I hope to find the time to return!
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Yesterday was a perfect mid-September day weather-wise. Thus, when I got home from work, the urge to meander the neighborhood was irresistible.
There were not many odes about. I saw a couple of spreadwings, a couple of darners and a half a dozen or so Autumn Meadowhawks while meandering.
I also encountered three or four very small (thumbnail-size) toads or frogs. Fun to watch but impossible to photograph well… I tried without success. These critters are rarely in the open, preferring instead to hide in the grass or under small pieces of wood. They are very wary. Once you have located one, you can easily watch one for minutes… if you stand very still. However, any small movement and they take one or two hops which leaves you search again for a very well hidden amphibian on the forest floor. I know… excuses, excuses!
There were, however, dozens of wasps on the goldenrod and eight or ten monarchs on the flowers around the perimeter of Joan’s vegetable garden. None of these seemed to mind my making photographs while they went about their business.
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Today was a beautiful early fall day and I could not resist the urge to wander down to “our” beaver swamp late this afternoon.
Noticing all of the nice clouds, I tossed my wide angle lens and polarizing filter in my pocket as I headed out the door. Thus, I can actually show those who have not (yet) been here a photo of the place where I have whiled away many enjoyable hours in pursuit of odes over the past two summers.
The ode season is definitely winding down here. There were a dozen or so large odes (darners, most likely) aloft out over the meadow and I watched a couple of female darners ovipositing at the edge of the pond. I noted two or three spreadwings along the edge of the woods and that was about it… except for one rare opportunity that I caught!
Darners are large, spectacular dragonflies that are frustrating to photograph… they rarely perch! However, every once in a great awhile one finds them perched and you get an opportunity!
I was wandering slowly along the edge of the meadow when I flushed a darner mating wheel out of the grass. This is a fairly rare, maybe two or three times a summer, event in itself. Usually the pair flies off and that’s it. You loose track of them, they land high up in a tree or you flush them a second time trying to get a good angle photographically, et cetera, et cetera. Or as Joan would say… “excuses, excuses”!
This time the mating pair landed about ten feet up on the trunk of a nearby tree; a little high to be ideal but one takes what nature provides. I took the extension tube off the 70-300 mm lens and was able photograph them for twenty-five minutes (according to the meta-data). The show ended when the couple parted ways; presumably she headed to the pond to begin ovipositing. They are either Canada Darners or Green-striped Darners… I can’t decide. [UPDATE: Thanks to my friend Kevin and the helpful folks on the Northeast Odonates mailing list (who all agree), we can say that these are Canada Darners.]
I wandered for another hour or so before the sun dipped below the ridge and I headed home. In that interval, I saw a couple more spreadwings ,always at the edge of the woods, and a few grasshoppers among the marsh grasses.
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Thursday, Joan and I took the kayaks down to the lake for a quick paddle on a nice quiet evening. I headed under the bridge to the swampy northern section just to see what I could find.
Not more than a minute after I got the camera ready, I spied a pair of spreadwings flying in tandem. I watched as they landed on the stem of an isolated aquatic plant in good evening light. I quickly moved in and positioned myself to get a clear shot with a an uncluttered background; all the while thinking what a great shot this was going to be. I tripped the shutter a single time and off they flew never to be seen again. Total time from first seeing them until losing them… two minutes at the absolute most. And the photo? It was out of focus. Missed opportunities, a common theme in the life of a wildlife photographer!
I paddled along the edge of the lake staying to the ever changing patches of “good light” as the sun dipped lower with each passing minute. There were a number of green frogs taking advantage of the warm sun. There were small numbers of spreadwings and Eastern Forktails present as well.
At one point, I flushed a great blue heron from the edge of the marsh. I was barely fifty feet away when she/he took off and I was glad that she/he was not directly over me when they lightened their load shortly after takeoff! Since the camera was rigged with an extension tube for closeup work (and thus only focuses to about six feet) I could only watch the magnificent sight… another missed opportunity!
Eventually the sun dipped below the ridge and I headed back to the boat launch. Upon my arrival there I noticed the rapidly changing patterns in the clouds. Photographing the clouds kept me fully entertained while waiting for Joan to return.
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