Monthly Archives: April 2016
Bucks County April Wildflowers. Happy Sunday!
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Bucks County PA
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
This is a panel of some of the April wildflowers we found on our unscheduled stop at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in Bucks County Pennsylvania. We will not see our Maine wildflowers, with the possible exception of Trout Lily, for another 4 weeks at least…six for some of them, so it was a real treat to be in the woods this early with blooming wildflowers. I am certain by the end of April, if Bowman’s Hill is any example, that the woods of Bucks County are carpeted with wildflowers.
We have here, clockwise from the upper left…Bluebells, Marsh Marigold, Bloodroot, Dutchman’s Breeches, Wood Poppy, and Spring Beauty. They were all taken with the Sony HX90V, processed in Lightroom, and assembled in Coolage.
I find it difficult to understand how anyone can look a the abundant beauty of spring wildflowers and not see the work of God who creates in love…who loves to create. Even before Jesus broke into my life and demanded that I take notice, I went in awe of the beauty of spring. Awe must have its origin…if we call it Nature…or if we call it The Universe…we are already attributing intelligence and creative love to something bigger than ourselves…something that is so big that it encompasses all that is, including us. It is only one more step to calling what we feel in awe of “God.” And if God then the author of all that is, who moves by the spirit to give us life. And, in my experience, if God, then the father of Jesus Christ, who gives us new life when the troubles of this world, and our own failings, have dulled and deadened us. I can not see the wildflowers of spring without awe…without praise…without the joyful response of my spirit to the spirit of God moving in love in the world.
May your eye be generous and your being full of light. Happy Sunday!
Bluebells in Bucks County
As I mentioned in yesterday’s poem, I found myself unexpectedly wandering Bucks County Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon. We visited Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve. Though the season is well advanced compared to southern Maine, it is still early for Pennsylvania wildflowers. Sill, there were a dozen species or more in bloom, especially along the several streams that wander though the wooded property. These are Bluebells…more properly Virginia Bluebells. They nod, and this shot is low looking slightly up.
Sony HX90V at 24mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ISO 80 @ f3.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Agitation!
Red Squirrel, Alewive Pone Woods, Kennebunk ME
This is another shot of the Red Squirrel from my encounter last week in Alewive Woods. You can see how unhappy he is to have me visit by the blurring of his agitated tail. Sure sign!
Nikon P900 at 1100mm equivalent field of view. 1/50th @ ISO 800 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
House Finch Singing
House Finch, Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR, Goose Rocks Maine
The song of the House Finch is not strong…it kinds of wisps along…but it is has a good deal of melody. Pleasant, if not striking. This specimen sang for 10 minutes while I watched. It was well buried back in the back branches of a road-side tree at the Timber Point section of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge across the Little River from Goose Rocks Maine, and the head of Goosefair Bay.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom. Cropped slightly to eliminate distracting out of focus branches at the base.
Crocuses in the snow… Spring surprise.
Crocuses in the snow, our yard, Kennebunk ME
Though April snow storms are not unheard of in Southern Maine, they always come as a surprise, especially right after a week of really spring like weather. We had a day in the 70s last week. Then it snowed a bit on Sunday, and then pretty much all day on Monday, and we woke to something over 2 inches on the ground. The crocuses, as you see here, were not happy! I don’t know what will become of them…whether that’s it for blossoms this year, or if these blooms can recover, or if they will push out new buds. Time will tell. They are hardy plants and we can only hope. I feel for them. I was ready for spring too! 🙂 Still, there is no accounting for the weather…and don’t get me started on climate change!
Sony HX90V at 24mm equivalent field of view from a few inches out. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/2000th @ ISO 80 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.
Song Sparrow in the deep reeds.
Song Sparrow, Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR, Goose Rocks Maine
As I mentioned last week, there were quite a few Song Sparrows along the Timber Point trail at the new section of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge across from Goose Rocks in Southern Maine. This one was buried well back in the cattail reeds, and was busy with its grooming. That made for a variety of poses, which I have assembled here in Coolage.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ~ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
The wacky world of wood…
Weathered roots on driftwood. Timber Point, Rachel Carson NWR.
Every once in a while I see something in the field and realize that it has more interest as a graphic design than as an actual photograph. The Sony HX90V which I carry for HDR landscapes has a Picture Effect called “Illustration” which reduces an image to its graphical elements and attempts to render it as a color drawing, pen and ink style with airbrush style. Often it produces surprisingly attractive results, so much so that I have it set to one of the three memory slots on my camera. I just have to remember to use it. Generally, once I have used it on a photoprowl, I will try several shots during that adventure…only to forget it until the next time some really apt object or subject catches my eye to remind me it is there.
This is the root end of a huge driftwood log on the beach at Timber Point (Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge) across from Goose Rocks Beach in southern Maine. It has been exposed for many years, and the wood, especially around the roots, has weathered into something very like a modern abstract sculpture. Just the thing for the Illustration Picture Effect. Once in Lightroom, I applied some HDR-like adjustments to bring up the shadowed areas deeper into the log. What do you think?
Goldfinch in the Snow. Happy Sunday!
American Goldfinch, back deck feeding station. Kennebunk Maine
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
We are having a minor spring snow event today and tomorrow. No significant accumulation (well maybe an inch by tomorrow night), and nothing compared to what they got from this storm further west…but still enough to remind us that we don’t put our snow boots and winter coats away until May 1st here in Maine. My wife had to find her mittens to get to church this morning. This American Goldfinch was one of several birds hanging close to the feeders in the snow. I expect we will get lots of traffic on the back deck today and tomorrow as birds try to find enough sustenance to keep warm in the unseasonable weather.
Jesus reminds us that God takes care of the Goldfinch, no matter what the weather does, and that we should take that as evidence that God will care for us…that we should not be anxious for how we will stay alive, but, the implication is, devote ourselves to living in a way that demonstrates our faith in God, our thankfulness for the blessings of God, and a generosity of spirit that embraces our fellows and all that lives.
The Goldfinch in the snow reminds me of God’s blessings in my life…but it also challenges me to take a look at how well I live…how well I embody faith, thanksgiving, and generosity. The answer today is the same as it always is, and always will be…not well enough…or at least not as will as I think I ought to. The hardest lesson of all to learn, far harder than trusting God for our daily bread and shelter, is trusting God for our goodness. If God takes care that I stay alive…surely God will also take care that I live well…with faith, thanksgiving and generosity. Being anxious about how good I am is just as misguided as being anxious about what I will eat or what I will wear.
God is good. Only God is good. We live by faith in God or we do not live at all. When I look at this Goldfinch in the snow, I do not see a trace of anxiety…no fear…no worry…just the impulse to get on with it…to get on with life…no matter what the weather does. Yes, you say, easy for the Goldfinch…that is just the way it is made. But isn’t that what Jesus was saying? That is the way we are made. We only have to let ourselves live that way. By faith. All else follows.
Happy Sunday!
Sassy Red
Red Squirrel, Alewive Woods Preserve, Kennebunk Land Trust. Kennebunk ME
I told the story of this Red Squirrel, which I encountered on my hike into Alewive Pond on Thursday, in today’s Year Poem (which I will append here for your viewing pleasure :).
The photo is with the Nikon P900 at 1100mm equivalent field of view. 1/60th @ ISO 800 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
And the poem.
The red squirrel paralleled me
100 years along the trail,
always three threes ahead,
but with one eye solid on me.
Eventually he found a perch
on a branch, oh, twice my height,
just where the trail turns,
to sit safe and sass me as only
a Red Squirrel can sass…tail
arched high, little paws, tiny
claws clenched, every ounce
of his ten, behind the eye
that glared, that dared me
to do my worst!
Little did he know I had
my camera ready to
record his heroic posturing,
or that his antics would
be exposed on the internet
for all the world to see.
So there, Mr. Red Squirrel,
we humans can sass too.
Croci!
Crocus in our yard
I had to look it up, but the plural of Crocus is, as I might have expected, either “crocuses” or “croci”…both are accepted forms. We have had a single crocus blooming for several days, and lots of buds showing, but yesterday it got up to 70 degrees in your yard and the whole little bed burst open. The crocus is such a cheerful flower, and I find our variegated variety is particular festive.
Sony HX90V macro. 37mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 80 @ f4. Processed in Lightroom.