William Butler Yeats

Digging around in archives again.

I like this poem:



By William Butler Yeats (b. 13 Jun 1865 – d. 28 Jan 1939)



Photo from wiki
(Edits mine.)

archive
W B Yeats - Collected Poems, 1889-1939

archive2
W.B. Yeats; a critical study (1915)

gutenberg
Yeats, W. B. (William Butler)

mobileread forum lrf
Yeats, William Butler: Collected Poems
(Calibre can convert lrf to epub.)

A Little Excitement Saturday

So we had a little excitement Saturday...





On a trail by the Missouri.

Here's a favorite inflight photo:


Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
npwrc
The bald eagle is uncommon in North Dakota and is usually seen along the Missouri River in late fall/early winter and in the spring during migration to its northern breeding grounds.
Bald eagles do not acquire their white-colored head and tail until about 4 years of age.
The bald eagle feeds primarily on fish.

Feb 2010 NDOutdoors magazine:
listed here
Nesting in Numbers - Active Bald Eagle Nests Up in ND - Feb 2010 - (330Kb PDF)
pdf direct link
It wasn’t until the mid-2000s that the number of nesting eagles climbed in North Dakota.
To date, North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists have logged 103 individual nest sites, some of which are no longer in use because the trees have fallen or the eagles abandoned the sites.
In 2009, Game and Fish biologists estimated that 66 nests were occupied by bald eagles, though not all eagle nest sites were visited and verified. Bald eagle nests have now been reported in 29 of 53 North Dakota counties.

enature
cornell
Cornell has some good juvenile photos alongside the golden eagle for comparison.
I'd love to get photos of the golden eagle too.

Road Less Traveled

Some recent photos of a trail along the Missouri river after the summer flood.



Some of the trees had water marks almost 6 feet high.
At one point the trail just disappeared. Washed away as if it never existed.


How about a tune with that.
I like this song.
Road Less Traveled
By George Strait
Country genre, not something I usually go for.

wiki
George Harvey Strait (b. 18 May 1952)
American country music singer, actor, and music producer.
Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend.
George Strait holds the world record for more number-one hit singles than any other artist in the history of music on any chart or in any genre, having recorded 57 number-one hit singles as of 2010.
He eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma in 1971.
In 1981, Strait and Norma welcomed son George Strait, Jr., known as "Bubba."
Their daughter Jenifer was killed in an automobile accident in San Marcos, Texas, on June 25, 1986, at the age of 13.

amazon
Album Nov 2001
georgestrait.com

At grooveshark:
Road Less Traveled
George Strait

There's a road, a winding road that never ends
Full of curves, lessons learned at every bend
Goin's rough, unlike the straight and narrow
It's for those, those who go against the grain
Have no fear, dare to dream of a change
Live to march, to the beat of a different drummer
And it all might come together
And it all might unraveled
On the road less traveled

For the road less traveled ain't for the faint of heart
For those who choose to play it safe and never stray too far
Me I want to live my life and one day leave my mark
And it all might come together
And it all might come unraveled
On the road less traveled

I've chosen a pathway I may not endure
One thing's for certain nothing for sure
And it all might come together
Or it all might come unraveled
On the road less traveled

For the road less traveled ain't for the faint of heart
For those who choose to play it safe and never stray too far
Me I want to live my life and some day leave my mark
And it all might come together
Or it all come unraveled
On the road less traveled

And it all might come together
Or it all come unraveled
On the road less traveled

There's a road, a winding road that never ends...

Amur Maples

I think these are Amur Maples.
They sure are pretty this year.



Lots of trees still have green leaves right now, which is unusual for our area.



usda
Amur maple (Acer ginnala)

ndsu

google images

Sunrise Moon Nature Show

In the East - fabulous sunrise:


With the tele:


In the West - moon in trees:

I like how the tree branches seem to be holding up the moon.

Moon in clouds:


Moon again:


October's full moon is called Hunter's Moon.
Googling tells me it's supposed to be the smallest full moon of the year 2011, or furthest away from the earth.
Well, it was really beaming forth into the window right before the sun came up. Hard to ignore.

The Call of the Wild - Robert Service Poem

Dug this out of the public domain archives, so I'll post the links and poem here.







Photos from:
Wiki
(Edits mine.)

Robert W. Service poetry at:
gutenberg
archive

Poem images from:
archive sourdough
(Edits mine.)

mobileread forum epub
Service, Robert W: Songs of a Sourdough

Larry Beck recites the poem:
YouTube
He goes a little too fast, but pretty good overall.
"The poem, written by Robert Service, is performed by Alaska's Ambassador of Good Will, Larry Beck (1935-1990)."
"Though Service never got to Alaska, his poetry describes all the regions of Alaska and the Yukon."

Here's a song of the poem - eh:
YouTube
Eldorado Gene - Robert Service Call of the Wild Gold Prospecting Placer Mining
Music by Ronald Eugene Ralph.

Photo Walk

Some photos I like from a photo walk.



(Continuing the into the sun tall tree shadows photography study.)



Red Admiral Butterfly. I like the angle and the wood texture background. I thought it might be unusual to see butterflies this late in the autumn? Captured another one on camera but could not positively identify.

Migrants

Swarms of noisy Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) passed over our place yesterday (12 Oct 11).
North Dakota is on their migration route.

First the V:


Then the swarms:


This is the closest one captured:



cornell
npwrc

How About Some Music With That

How about some music with my latest imagery.
Eddie Vedder is always good. (I love his voice.)

Acoustic #1

From:
Pearl Jam Twenty Album (Sep11).

Eddie at/on
Grooveshark

Peachy Autumn Colors

Playin' around in Paint Shop Pro:

VM Toolbox Crystal Ball Filter/Plugin (Free):



VM Natural Lakeside Reflection Filter/Plugin (Free):



I love the peachy orange, gold and green leaf colors on these.

Cropped Original:



Kaleidoscope:

Pretty Colors

I'm not sure what kind of tree this was.
I thought maybe sumac, but I thought sumac leaves turned red in autumn?
Anyway, I was standing underneath it taking photos of the leaves hanging down around me.
The leaf colors were actually more muted greens and golds, but I pumped up colors and contrast and they turned rust and brilliant green.

Kaleidoscope:

Autumn Sunrise

Waiting for the coffee, looked out the window, and...
Attention!
Nature is putting on a fabulous sunrise show this morning.
Go.
Now.

East:



West:



Up:

Tall Shadows

I liked this one:


So I went out to the same area and shot more the next day, but the lighting wasn't quite the same.
More contrast, and the foregrounds were too dark, so didn't get the brilliant green grass I wanted.
(S3 Canon Point and Shoot camera.)

This next one has quite a bit of post processing, but I like it.



Here's the Original, no post processing:


What I did in Paint Shop Pro:
Lifted the Shadows 90, Midtones 50, Highlights 20
Pumped up colors: Vibrancy 20, Soft Light 50
Chromatic Aberration Removal in the sky by the sun.
Burn Brush touch up on spots that got too faded.