Three Favorites from May 2023

It's time to wrap up May with three bird images that have some meaning to me.  First, is an elegant Cedar Waxwing that was part of a group of about five that were gleaning caterpillars incredibly close to my parked car.

Waxwings are a huge treat when they appear.  Their contact singing is so extremely high pitched that any background noise will surely leave it disguised.  They move through the cover like ghosts.  

On the same morning, a pair of Brown Thrashers appeared.  Not shy like waxwings: rather bold in human terms.  More often they are in grass fields, so finding this one perched was unusual. It appeared to be surveying the grasses for insects.

The thrashers generally nest in a series of dense thorn bushes.

Bobolinks are always a subject for my May outings. It seemed to be an off year for them and most outings were failures, especially in the quest for flight images.  This boy did stop to sing in the hope that the females had arrived from South America.  The rich yellow cap on the head plus the bold black and white patterns on the back (not visible) are supplemented by their bubbling song. Look at the scalloped ends on the tail feathers. 

Two weeks later, all of the singing was over and the ladies were in their ground nests. 

I noted the black and white patterns on the back.  Well, the otherwise inadequate flight image on the left does illustrate one more reason I track these boys in May.  This was at 1/2000 second, and I still couldn't precisely track his flight.  Next year!

 

Next for me is June in Shenandoah National Park.

Paul
 

Mundy Wildflower Garden- Slowing Down to See

It's been twenty years since I discovered the Mundy Wildflower Garden on the Cornell campus. The rich array of spring blooms captured my imagination. Soon I was working on a project to upgrade the  images posted at the welcoming "Bloom Board."  A sense of urgency drove me as I worked to find artful compositions that spoke of the beauty.  No mug shots! I said.  Over five hundred quality images were put on file; but in retrospect, I needed to slow down in order to realize the emotions that I was feeling. 

The urgency is now controlled.  Honestly, every time I get low on the ground for an intimate view, well, my cranky knees also work to slow my pace.  There are only three subjects for this message.  In addition to appreciating their beauty, I hope there is some useful insight for even simple phone captures.

The first subject is a small pod of Wild Geraniums. This image is different from what I made twenty years ago in two respects.   First, I paid more attention to the colors in the scene and to the location of the supporting yellows especially.  Twenty years ago, the distant colors were not carefully placed above and below the blue-violet blooms. I could have done better years before.  Notice how the leaf at the bottom shows  the form clearly.

The second difference is in the camera technology now available. I was so close to these flowers that only a short distance is actually in sharp focus. The image is a stack of six images that walk from the nearest part of the Wild Geranium leaf to the last part that I wanted in focus. The camera is on a tripod and does not move for all six images.  For each shot, the scene displays red dots on all edges that are sharp. I merely walk the red dots from near to far on the flower, and stop. The software selects all sharp areas and fills in the rest with those blurry remaining pixels.  Amazing, and not even a dream in 2003.  

The next image is also a second group of Wild Geraniums but with a different intent.  There is a subtle hint that the plants thrive in the mixed light of woodlands.  That was my intent. The blooms are also more directly facing the viewer. 

This is actually a better offering for identification purposes.  It called for greater depth in sharp focus; there were 9 images in the stack.  Impossible twenty years ago.  Easy today.

These big white Trillium grandiflorum are my final subject.  Wait, did I say white?

Yeah, this healthy trillium started out that way, and in its old age it is blushing pink. Still beautiful.  That's why I concentrated on it.  Richly green leaves, too.  It gets love from me because it is still vibrant.  Do you see anything unusual on the flower?  There's a critter sitting motionless even as I poked the one-eyed lens close to it. Let's get a closer view.

I wonder if it is waiting to snap up some visitor feeding on the rich amber pollen? 

I am not sure if I would have noticed this little bug in my earlier rush to photograph everything.

So, there you have it.  Three images in 2-1/2 hours with pauses to enjoy the orioles passing through Mundy.  

Going up to Ithaca, I also am slowing down with the idea to see any of the deer waiting to run across the Route 13 morning rush of commuters. That's another story that also teaches that the slower you go, the more you see.

It's spring.  Enjoy!

Paul