Today's photo is of raindrops on a blackberry vine. I love the beautiful fall colors in the background. This was taken a few weeks ago along the roadside where I live.
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Today's photo is a young red squirrel. Two of them arrived as babies in my yard in the spring of 2016 and have remained ever since. This photo was taken last winter. Although they have grown, they still frequent my bird feeders and I'm sure will be the subject of many photos throughout the winter. According to the Adirondack Ecological Center the red squirrel's average lifespan ranges from 3 to 5 years, but some can live up to 10 years. Neither of these squirrels had babies this summer, but I am hopeful I will see new babies in the spring.
In my location red squirrels are rampart, but there are very few gray squirrels. According to some sources, even though they are much smaller than the gray squirrel, red squirrels are more aggressive and will chase gray squirrels out of their territory. They can become a nuisance at bird feeders, but I prefer to feed the squirrels as I enjoy their antics in the yard. Today's photo shows a male and female ruby throated hummingbird buzzing around a bouquet of wildflowers. These tiny birds summer in Maine, arriving the first week of May and heading south again sometime in September. They are a welcome sight in Maine gardens and backyards. While many Maine residents provide feeders to attract hummingbirds to the backyard, they can be found buzzing around flowerbeds or feeding on native flowers.
Today's photo was taken a few days ago along the little dirt road beside my home. It is lined with both maple and beech trees that make a good show of color in the fall. It also provides ample opportunities to photograph wildflowers and insects during the summer. In winter, whitetail deer can often be seen foraging for buds and twigs.
Thanks for visiting. If you enjoyed my post, don't forget to share it with friends! Today's photo is a dandelion seed head from my backyard. These delightful flowers have been the subject of folklore and legend for hundreds of years. In my region children are taught that if you make a wish and then blow on the seed head, your wish will come true - but only if all the seeds are blown away.
Other beliefs include:
Thanks for visiting! Today's photo was taken last May with a vintage film camera macro lens on my DSLR using an adapter. This lens does an amazing job of capturing the sparkle in dewdrops and is great in good light. It doesn't match my 85mm Macro for all-around shooting, but if the conditions are right it can capture amazing shots. As an added bonus, the vintage lens creates a hexagonal bokeh; whereas, modern lenses create round bokeh.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Don't forget to share with your friends! Today's selection is another 3D pop out photo created in Photoshop. I captured this inquisitive raccoon last summer when he came to check out my bird feeders. He was kind enough to stop and pose for me before he continued on his way.
Thanks for visiting. If you enjoyed this photo please take a moment to share it with friends. Today's photo selection was created in Photoshop to make the butterfly pop out of the photo. The butterfly is a Silvery Blue Butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus). It is similar to the Eastern Blue Tailed Butterfly. This tiny butterfly is a common sight in late spring and early summer. It can be found in backyards and along roadsides throughout Maine. I took the original photo this spring.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed today's photo. Don't forget to share with your friends so they can enjoy it too. Today's photo is a Bellezza D' Autuno sunflower. Although the flowerheads are smaller than traditional sunflowers, they more than make up for their small size with their rich colors.
According to Greek Mythology, the sunflower was once a lovely maiden named Clytie. Clytie was tall and slender with blond hair and large brown eyes. One day, the maiden cast her eyes to the skies and caught a glimpse of Apollo in his chariot and fell madly in love. Day after day, she stood in the garden watching Apollo as he traveled across the sky. Instead of returning her love, Apollo became angry because he was disguising himself with the brightness of the sun and did not want mortals to see him. Apollo cast a sun arrow upon Clytie's head. Her brown eyes grew larger as her blond hair transformed into the petals of a flower and her toes grew into strong roots that anchored her to the ground. Clytie spent her days gazing upward and following Apollo's path across the sky. The sunflower has followed the path of the sun across the sky ever since. There is some truth to the belief that sunflowers follow the sun's path across the sky. Sunflowers are heliotropic, meaning they turn towards the sun, but they don't follow the sun forever. Young sunflowers do track the sun across the sky, facing east in the morning and west at sunset, but as the sunflower matures, the flower typically stops tracking the sun and becomes stationary, facing the east. If you grow sunflowers for their beauty, or you want to grow these flowers to take photos next year, choose a location on the north or west side of your property so the sunflower blooms are visible in your yard. Thank you for stopping by. If you enjoy my photos and posts, please take a moment to share with friends. Today's photo is Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) growing through a fence along the road. This plant gets a bad rap for being an invasive species, but I have always found it extremely beautiful as it adds a brilliant splash of purple to the landscape.
Loosestrife was introduced to the United States from Europe in the 1800's as a medicinal and ornamental plant, explains the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). The problem is: This aggressive plant spreads rapidly and displaces other native plants, posing a risk to wildlife that depends on them. You can find loosestrife growing along roadsides, in ditches and in marshy areas throughout Maine. It may be tempting to add them to your backyard, but it is not recommended. This plant spreads at a rate of a foot a year and self seeds readily. One plant can produce up to 30 flowering spikes and produce an amazing 3 million seeds each year, says NRCM. If you enjoy the beauty of loosestrife, go ahead and have fun photographing this beauty, but resist the urge to transplant them into your backyard. Thanks for stopping by. If you enjoy my photos and blog posts, please share them with others who may be interested, too. |
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