morning light arrives trees reflected in still waters nature’s calming gift
ms
Trees and their reflection along the eastern edge of Dixon Reservoir this past week. The plains were shrouded in fog and everything was blanketed in morning dew. Love the feel of this image even though the technical quality is lacking. The backlit leaves, the calm water and the reflection make it happen for me.
Update: As per suggestions from Tom I played around with this image and came up with this post processed scene. I do like it better. Let me know what you think.
Storm clouds were on the eastern horizon enticing me to head out of town to find open areas for an image or two. Before I knew it I was on a course heading north to the Soapstone Natural Area. I did get a few cloud images but I also was gifted with a few unexpected images of this beautiful landscape and a few bison images.
This natural area is the biggest one the City of Fort Collins maintains. It is 48 square miles of wide open vistas, nearly pristine grasslands, miles of trails and cultural resources. The trails are a mix for hiking, biking and horses. Thankfully they have restricted access to some areas to keep them free of man’s destructive tendencies. During excavations in the 1930s by the Smithsonian and Colorado Museum of Natural History they conclusively dated human habitation in in this area to at least 10,000 years. You can go online and find many stories about the early homesteaders, mostly ranchers and sheepherders, in this area as well as the American Indians.
In November of 2015 they introduced a herd of bison on over 1,000 acres of pasture land which is inaccessible to the public. However, the main entrance road, Rawhide Flats Road, and Cheyenne Rim Trail, follow along the edge of this pasture which gives an opportunity to observe them and even get a few photographs, if they are close enough. I find these animals so intriguing.
And of course this area is a haven for my favorite bird the meadowlark. It is also a place for many other birds, such as red-tailed hawks. The Fort Collins Audubon has a bird checklist that’s two pages long. You will find coyotes, fox, rabbits, prairie dogs, deer, antelope, and elk and of course a few snakes. I don’t go there often enough and it is always an uplifting experience for my soul when I go. It’s nice to come home with a few images but just spending time there, listening to the silence, transforms me in some wonderful way. Experiencing nature’s touch.
ominous storm clouds in the east rain, hail and wind hidden within we watch in silence, the hawk and I
“The innocence and silence of the animal world has a huge subtlety to it that is anything but dumb, but rather notices everything and is present in everything. Animals carry a huge ministry of witness to the silence of time and to the depth of nature. They are like the landscape in a sense: they live too in a mode of silence.”
John O’Donohue
I believe this to be a Western Kingbird. I am not that familiar with them but they are a beautiful bird. I encountered this one along Weld County Road 15 in an open prairie area. This is a major crop and looks fairly decent.
shared from the heart the joy of being alive meadowlarks song
ms
Sorry but you may be seeing more bird images as I play with this new lens. Already shot about 400 images with it. I thought I had a bad lens at first because I felt the motor was too loud and would continuously run. I have never experience this before with any lens using image stabilization. I talked to Pat at the store I purchased it from and and he was not aware of any such issues. And, of course I bought the only one he’s seen in the store. He pulled out the 80mm macro lens because it has quad linear motor for focusing, where there is a clunking noise when the lens is not powered up. Once the motor is powered up the noise goes away but the motor runs continuously. This is part of their floating focusing system in that lens and is being used more on mirrorless cameras. I have the same clunk with this lens when off the camera but it is very minimal compared to the 80mm macro. All information I have found says the 70-300mm lens has a linear autofocus motor, saying nothing about a floating focus system. What’s the difference? I’m still checking on this. Other than that, this lens seems to be a good addition to my camera bag but left a hole in my wallet.
Image information: 300mm f8.0 1/450 second and ISO 160; handheld with 70 year old hands and shooting from my car. 😁 No sharpening or clarity on this image.
stirring up mud seeking aquatic insects evening dinner
ms
I see a lot of killdeer out here but I can’t remember ever seeing an American Avocet until last week. As I drove by a pond along Weld County Road 13 I noticed a very large killdeer so I stopped to check it out. That’s when I realized it was not a killdeer. This is a lovely bird with a lovely call. They use their long bills to stir up the mud, disturbing the aquatic insects and having a feast.
