Zooming – November 2021

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Three locations for my zoomed image collection this month: Maryland (home), Texas (Carrollton), Missouri (Springfield). Enjoy the slideshow of the whole group then look below for thumbnails by location!

Maryland

Texas

Missouri

Mini Road Trip: Mt Pleasant – April 2021 (2)

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Hiking back from the skunk cabbage patch at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant, I noticed the tree canopy over the trail. It was a great spring day….cool, sunny with occasional puffy clouds.

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I looked at the shelf fungus again – from the top and bottom.

The larger woodpecker holes on a high branch seemed larger than last hike but I still didn’t see or hear the bird.

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I was surprised to see a patch of daffodils in the woods. They probably started out as a few bulbs….but had proliferated over the years.

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Ranger the Barred Owl was very relaxed. He opened his eyes when I first walked up to his area but then dozed – deciding I was not a threat.

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There were bees active at one of the hives.

The redbuds are blooming. I like that they bloom all over - even on the larger branches.

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As I was eating a protein bar for my lunch, I noticed a black feather….maybe crow-sized…

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And some dandelions.

The pear tree in the orchard is blooming. I hope it makes pears this year; the past few years the flowers or small fruit have been ruined by late frosts.

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Overall – an enjoyable April hike on a familiar trail.

Found Feather

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I was out in the yard picking up sticks and sweeping the deck on a sunny afternoon….and found a feather in a pile of tulip poplar seeds. There were no other feathers around so maybe this one fell out as part of a molt rather than a predator/prey interaction. The tip was in relatively good shape, so it probably had joined the pile of seeds sometimes after the last rain. I took it inside to photograph.

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The feather had a lot of down near the base.  Using my 65x magnifying lens with a light clipped to my phone – it is easy to see the structure of the fluff!

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The part of the feather near the tip had even more structure although there are already parts of the feather than have split apart…and small debris. If the feather were still attached, the bird would be preening to correct both imperfections. Once a feather falls out, it doesn’t last long in the natural world.