Photos and notes from on the road. A biologist at heart. A 'retired' network administrator and lifelong photographer. Living in Ashland Wisconsin on Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay.
Did you ever wonder, what was on the inside? Well...the top photo was first posted on this site on 10/08/05. The bottom photo shows a cross section of a similar nest. The cells where the eggs of the hornet are laid and incubated. The white caps close off the cells for the incubation stage. Thanks to Skip P. for the 'loan' of the specimen.
Closeup view of the individual cells where each egg is laid. Notice the white caps. In particular notice the white cap that is 'torn' open at the top center of the bottom picture.
This plant came into bloom today. With short days of sunlight it was necessary to shoot this with artifical light. I have to work on the positioning of the lights to eliminate unwanted shadows.
Part of a large flock of geese that remain in the Chequamegon Bay area. It appears that the bay is nearly iced over with only one small patch of open water toward the Washburn side. Both shots taken from the Ashland marina with 75-300 telephoto lens. The top photo is taken to the NNW city of Washburn and the bottom photo toward the North.
Butler traveling to family thanksgiving gathering. Traditionally oven roasted smoke coho salmon with side dishes of broiled whitefish and his favorite frozen fish stick casserole. He'll have to loosen the old cummerbun before dessert. Sardine pudding delight.
The Christmas cactus. In many families it has become an heirloom passed from generation to generation with and occasional offshoot being given to friends and other family members. It's a plant, no, it's a member of the family that requires loving care and "just the right" conditions to make it bloom. Some care givers have the touch and can make it do it's magic year after year. Others, sadly never quite get the formula. In our house the care giver has a green thumb. For less fortunate plants our care giver runs an intensive care facility for neglected and dying plants. This Christmas cactus is a family member. It is a daughter plant started from a cutting of a family heirloom. The parent plant is twenty three years old.
Rough-legged hawk in the Bibon swamp Bayfield County Wisconsin (see October 25th posting for additional shots). Apologies to all. This is not a very good shot(s). Low light conditions, the outer limits of the 75-300 lens, hand held exposure and a very very jumpy subject. But for those who rarely get the chance to see a large bird of prey it's worth the space on the blog. So enjoy!
Hay wagons "waiting" for next summers crops. Snow fence in the foreground. Common along Wisconsin highways. Usually set in early November and taken down each spring.
Sunrise (left photo). Sunset (right photo). Red sky at night sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning sailors take warning. One day on the road sunrise and sunset.
From the archives. The left critter is a Cicada. This insect has a long life cycle. They live a large part of the life cycle underground and emerge in the adult form every 13-17 years. These are the critters that make the high pitch sound (much like a smoke alarm) on warm summer days.
First ice. Compare the right and left half of the water. This is the first ice I've seen skimming this little roadside pothole south of Grand View WI. Going to dig out the ice auger and sharpen the blades. Just kidding! No ice fishing yet.
These ornamental grasses swayed in the gentle unseasonabily warm breeze yesterday (11/08/05). Not so today. Today the were straight out horizontally. Wind chill temperatures in the mid teens with constant winds and gusts at 40 mph. Maybe not the gales of November but a stark difference from 24 hours ago.
This shot of the moon was taken within minutes of the sunset posted below. Notice the blue sky in the sunset photo and the blue sky in this photo. The photo was taken with a 75-300 telephoto lens. Tripod mounted. I'm no astronomer. Amateur or otherwise. But I've had fun with the details in this photo. Try going to this website The Full Moon Atlas and compare the atlas with the photo details. Go to Section E-5 in the atlas. Click on the sector. Find the Crater Theophilus (100 km) next to the "T" in the word EAST. You can clearly see this crater in the photo.
November 07, 2005 what a great day on the bay. Temperatures in the high 50's, sunny and very little wind. I started the day with a pre-sunrise shot (see below) so I decided to end the day with a sunset shot. I suppose the gales of November can't be far off.
This is one of those wonderful surprises that a photographer finds on an "exposed roll". Or in the case of digital photography a full media card. It caught my eye while uploading from the camera to the computer.
