Friday Photography - Halfway There
Submitted by janis b on Fri, 05/01/2020 - 6:07pm
Evening all. I hope your weekend is unfolding nicely.
I now have my new laptop, but can’t download photos from my camera onto it yet. The incompatibility between the two is still a mystery that won’t be solved before Monday. So I’ll post a few of the most recent photos that were transferred from my defunct laptop to my new laptop.
Cheers and good health everyone.
Comments
Lovely almost b&w photo Janis
not that the others are shabby.
Minnehaha Creek from earlier this year:
Also, too, Fred likes to watch birds, so this has been flying for part of the week...
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Thanks Bollox
The sense of icy stillness is strong in your photo. Thank you for reminding me of those special wintery sensations.
I'll be back in an hour.
So, tell me Bollox,
what the flag represents. I didn't see it while scrolling through images of a two-headed black eagle on a red background, but I came across this interesting flag-like eagle image, tattooed ...
Nothing to do with that tattoo
Why do people do that to themselves?
(shudder)
There's a hint in my ancient sig. line.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
I have wondered about the same
Even though I've talked with a close friend who has extensive tattoos, it's still a mystery. I think it's difficult for both to articulate; those who enjoy it, and those who wouldn't consider it.
I think there's also a dragon in his tattoo. Do you see it in the image?
The Albanian double eagle …?
Shqip to my lou, my darling …
I seem to remember seeing on TV a certain soccer player who would take a victory lap in front of the stands after kicking a goal while making an odd flapping movement with the fingers of both hands, wrists intertwined.
Turns out the gesture is meant to symbolize the Albanian double eagle, and the player — originally a war refugee from Kosovo — was censured for breaking a rule that forbids as unsportsmanlike any nationalistic gestures or other identity-politics-based forms of boasting and gloating on the field …
(Ha! Obviously doesn’t apply to the fans in the stands. Isn’t symbolic nationalism, like, the whole point of international soccer matches? Outlet, relief valve, and diversionary channel for people’s (and peoples’) patriotic sentiments and warlike instincts, not to say bloodlust and tendency to hysteria and hype over historical grudges?)
At the time I’d thought the gesture was harmless and kind of cute, but what did I know? Apparently it was interpreted as deliberate provocation aimed at Serb spectators who were present.
The standard of the first prince
of modern Albania. Prince William of Wied.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
double eagle
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
That, reminded me of this ...
[video:https://youtu.be/G_OMxvhc358]
Ah! Thanks for finding a photo.
That could very well be the player and occurrence I was recalling.
beautiful creek pic!
beautiful winter creek photo BR! Is that a duck at the left bend toward back? Nice flag too.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
There were a few Mallards
wandering around, but I think that's just a piece of wood.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Thanks for Friday Photos tonight, Janis.
Hope you're able to get your computer problem solved soon. It's always frustrating when the things we depend on give us grief.
The yellow hibiscus in my yard had a really nice blossom blooming earlier in the week.
Mother Natures chandelier
I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise.
But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
Hi Social
Thanks for your sympathy ; ).
I've never been a fan of the ornate, but I do very much appreciate it at times. Your hibiscus would be the perfect model for a chandelier of that type that I bet I'd enjoy. Thanks.
You're welcome, Janis.
I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise.
But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
As usual
stunning.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Thank you, Pricknick.
I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise.
But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
great pics SP!
Great flower pics SP! Beautiful photos! There was an herb tea, Red Zinger I think it was, that was Hibiscus flowers. It will wake you up. Surely you can still get the flower buds. Very lemony.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
'Very lemony', umm
There is still a flower bud on my hibiscus, but it's pink. Do you think it might be lemony in taste?
I'd be guessing... :)
I don't know if it was only the red ones or not... But that was all that was ever in a box of Hibiscus flowers herb tea. I never saw anything that looked as though it were another color, but dried not sure I could tell. They didn't call it red zinger for nuthin' though, it is super lemony.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
I'll try it
and let you know.
@Socialprogressive Awesome images.
Awesome images.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Awesome, Janis
These two go well with the one that has the purple and white hues in it. Theyd make a Great Wall collage.Same area?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Hi snoopy
I hadn't thought of the three together as very complimentary, but now I see what you mean. Thank you.
Oh,
and yes, they are within 100 yards of each other, but on different days.
Can you get a wider shot sometime
so I can see more of the area? Poor favor?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Looking SW from the tidal bay
The Bees Are Back In Town
Usually twice a year, colonies of traveling bees visits our Honey Mesquite trees here in Arizona to collect pollen for making honey. The photo shows a cluster of Mesquite flowers with a bee in the lower left quadrant gathering pollen. After a while, the flowers will turn into edible seed pods that were an important protein source for Native Americans, who ground them into flour. The fermented flour makes a fizzy alcoholic drink. Mesquites are related to peanuts and beans and other plants in the legume family.
That's beautiful, edg
Do the seeds still get ground into flour, even though native americans are few? Do the birds enjoy them? Does everyone get intoxicated by the plant ; ).
Answers
Yes, still ground into flour. Lots of recipes available online. Yes, birds eat them. Doves, quail, and ravens. I have doves and quail that spend a lot of time in and around the tree in the picture. Coyotes, squirrels, deer, jackrabbits, and javelinas also eat them.
Native Americans made a mash of the dried flour and water that became lightly intoxicating when fermented. The high sugar content of the beans causes them to naturally ferment under certain conditions. Once cattle taste fermenting mesquite beans, it's said they'll go to any length to get more.
Thank you for the answers, edg
I didn't think about, or expect the mammals participation. Again, thank you.
This was interesting, edg
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/04/649311562/austin-baker-r...
nice blooms edg
Great pic of those Mesquite flowers. I have lots of bad pix of them. That honey the bees make from it is awesome too. We (wife and I) just finished a half-pint of Mesquite Bean Jelly I got from one of the grannies at the craft fair last fall (she does all the wild native stuff). Some historically called Mesquite Bean jelly 'poor mans honey'. Made from boiling extract from those beans. It was delicious!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
I believe I have located the Northern Flicker's nest.
There's a large hollow burrowed into a dead trunk of a very large, mostly-alive pussy-willow, only 6 feet or so above the ground. I can't see it from my living room, but this afternoon I saw the flicker swoop across the lawn in that direction.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
great news UR!
awesome UR! any kind of pic would be GREAT! phone, anything. I was so thrilled once when I found out a nest box I had built and installed right before I left home as a teen, was then used for years by a Red-shafted Flicker.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Cool, UR
Stay in touch with them and their nest.
I will photograph, and hopefully be able to include in next weeks POT, a photo of my saved flicker feathers.
Interestingly enough, just today I came across one while on a different mission.
I miss forsythia and pussy willow (and daffodils) that thrive at this time of the year in the northern hemisphere. I especially miss the dogwood flowers that come next.
I enjoyed watching this flicker, housed in a tulip tree …
[video:https://youtu.be/YxHEc6e0PSw]
Great pix Janis!
Great pix Janis! Are those rain drops we are looking through on the first one? Great photo! Love the tidal 'debris' too. So many stories there. Second one would make a great puzzle.
My wife and I got out for a hike last weekend, the local state park opened, masks required to enter, but few wore them on the trail. It was the quarantine fever escape version.
We had great views of a bathing female Golden-cheeked Warbler. A threatened species that breeds only on the Edwards Plateau of central Texas, only where Ashe Juniper.
Sorry I gotta fly... hope all are well, and stay that way!
Thanks for all the great photos, all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Very familiar
to the Kirtlands Warbler, a still protected but no longer endangered bird.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Great shot of the Kirtlands Warbler, Pricknick.
I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise.
But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
very cool P!
The Kirtland's warbler of the lower peninsula of Michigan and the Golden-cheeked Warbler of the Edwards Plateau in central Texas are the two most range resticted No. Am. breeding warblers (about 55 U.S. species). The Kirtland's is a Jack Pine specialist, was once called Jack Pine Warbler. Habitat specialists have it tough. Both were nearly wiped out by nest parasitization from Brown-headed Cowbirds. Which expanded into the warblers habitats and became abundant only because of man's alterations of the environment. Most serious birders make pilgrimages to both places to see these two warblers. My Kirtland's pics aren't very good, just good enough to count on my "photo'd" list. It is a beauty too.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Thanks dystopian
I didn't know that Cowbirds, like Shining Cuckoos displaced warblers.
Nice shots of the Golden-cheeked Warbler, dystopian
I put a small birdbath in my backyard a few weeks ago. So far the birds have shown no interest in it, at least not while I've sat watching it out the window.
I woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right, and exercise.
But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
@Socialprogressive Thanks S.P. Sometimes
Thanks S.P. Sometimes it does take a bit for the birds to figure otu the bath. Once one does, they all will. Titmouse if you have any are usually the first, jays too, are pretty inquisitive. Take a hose over to, near, or above it and let it drip one drop every several (10) seconds. That will bring them in. Once they are hooked, you won't need the drip for the locals, but it will attract migrants just passing through. Sound of a drip is magic. Just need that first local bird to figure it out. Everything else will follow. Meanwhile it is kind of like waiting for that first bat to show up at that batbox one installed.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
'sound of a drip is magic'
You can say that again ; ).
'A great puzzle',
if you enjoy those type of challenges ; ).
I love your warblers. They are so sweet, especially when wetly ruffled.
I will try to get a decent photo of the goldfinches pigging-out on lavender seeds. I've rarely seen them here, but they're around now.
Thank you all for great photos especially of birds and simple
yard and home vignettes. Very refreshing and cozy.
We hear a Eurasian bird called a Huppe which lives from here in Western Europe over to Nepal.
About the size of a flicker with a stunning head piece.
Photo
Huppe
We also hear Cuckoos and the Blackbird of Beatle's fame, who is really a black Robin in every other way.
[video:https://youtu.be/Man4Xw8Xypo]
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Interesting stuff DM.
That Hoopoe is a bucket-list bird for lots of folks. Many consider it the most spectacular of birds. That crest when fanned is amazing. They are the only bird in their genus (Upupa - methinks was latin for the call), there is nothing like them, they are on their own branch of the tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoopoe
And yes the European Blackbird of Beatles song fame is a Thrush. Our American Robin is a thrush. Nightingale is a thrush too. All thrushes are great singers. The birds that are actually true blackbirds, are not thrushes.
Cool, you get to hear the clock cuckoo then! American cuckoos do not do that clock sound.
And only very rarely parasitize nests.
Always great to see interest in birds...
edit - inserted missing letter
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Our woods must have plenty of good bird food, as they
don't come up to the house for winter food much. We've seen the Huppe (huppe-boop-boop is the constant call daily in Spring) up close in a driveway of a house we rented for awhile. I fed him grubs from my gardening. They are outstanding striking birds. We always know where he is here and the Cuckoo too. They seem to take turns calling from the woods and move around during the day. We do have Nightingales, although this year none so far.
You are right, the Merle Noir is a Thrush and is notably different from our Robin Red Breast only in that they are all black, but body size, shape and listening for things in the dirt with a cocked head is the same. They sing longer phrases and at twilight sing longer into the dark than American Robins. They love to stake out chimney tops.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Hiya, Janis! Late to the Party,
but, needed to try to conjure up a photo (before I visited), and, I'm also on a new(ish) laptop. So, had to figure out how to download a few on this hard drive.
Instead of a dog pic, figured I'd post this shot of some of the lovely flowers native to the area (when we're down South). Full Disclosure - I didn't take this lovely photo. It was posted on the Internets by a tourist. Cool beans, as Smiley would say.
Here you go,
BTW, very glad to hear that NZ has all but eradicated the dastardly CV. I take it that you're faring well, at this time. Hope so.
Luckily, we're not in a hotbed of CV while in TN, although a couple of such 'spots' exist. (Memphis and Nashville) Not sure of their current status--meaning, whether they're squashing the curve, or not.
Thanks for hosting the Friday Photography OT. You take good care of yourself. As usual, it's a pleasure to see you!
Mollie
THANK YOU America's Physicians & Nurses, All Medical Personnel, First Responders, To Include Medical (EMT/Paramedics/Ambulance), Pharmacy Personnel, Fire Depts, Police Depts, Retailers/Grocers--Especially, To Marginally-Paid Frontline Retail Cashiers & Clerks.
Last, but not least,
THANKS to America's Truckers/Delivery Persons, Especially, To Over-The-Road/Long Haul Truckers Who Obviously Have The Capacity To Shut Down The Entire Country, If They Were To Choose To Sit Out The Current Public Health Crisis, In Order To Protect Their Own.
You are all truly heroes.
Godspeed.
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
I'm faring well Mollie,
and I am delighted to hear that you are also.
A connection with you is always a treat. Thank you.
Hola janis b! :-)
Always look forward to this thread. Your top pic has an interesting hive-like image in the 'v' shape formed in the tree. Interesting to this non-artist, anyway. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Thank you orlbucfan!
I very much appreciate your 'non-artist' take.
"Your top pic has an interesting hive-like image in the 'v' shape formed in the tree".
Your take enhances my understanding of how images are perceived, and for me the is invaluable.