Going HOME!!

These were shot in the car driving home from Rochester, MN.
We left at the crack of dawn and nature put on a glorious sunrise show for me.
Thank you Nature.
I adore sunrises.













Free Fallin' Clouds:


I was Happy, in the moment:

Don't Let Your Feet Touch Ground

A happy upbeat song. Love it.
First heard it on the radio. Imagine that. HA. I seldom listen to the radio.

Don't Let your Feet Touch Ground
Ash Koley

A Canadian New Wave/alternative pop band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Winnipeg. Not that far from North Dakota.
Ashley Michelle Koley, lead singer.
Phil Deschambault, guitar/ keyboard.

Listening To...

The Fighter
Gym Class Heroes
ft. Ryan Tedder

Give 'em hell, turn their heads
Gonna live life till we're dead.
Give me scars, give me pain
Then just say to me, say to me, say to me
There goes a fighter, there goes a fighter
Here comes a fighter
That's what they'll say to me, say to me
Say to me, this one's a fighter


Titanium
David Guetta
ft. Sia

I'm bulletproof nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium
You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium


Burn It Down
Linkin Park

We're building it up
To break it back down
We're building it up
To burn it down
We can't wait
To burn it to the ground

My First Giant Swallowtail

Got my first giant swallowtail butterfly picture.
Papilio cresphontes

Wing Span: 4 - 6 1/4 inches
HUGE butterfly fluttering furiously.

Bigger than the
Monarch
Wing Span: 3 3/8 - 4 7/8 inches

Photo taken in Minnesota
but listed for North Dakota also.

google images
bugguide tree

iPod

Bought an iPod Touch for the free Wi-Fi.
Love it.
My first Apple product.

Cormorants

Whenever you see dead trees standing in water, look for cormorants.



Near Cleveland, North Dakota right by Interstate 94.



There were hundreds of them and many nests.



Previously
wiki

Cigar Tree Blossoms

Well, I finally got my cigar tree blossoms pictures.
Blooms late June, early July, evidently.



The blossoms are beautiful and interestingly shaped, come in clumps, and smell wonderful.
White, with purple and gold.







Here's a photo of the leaves, blossoms, and last year's "string beans" fruit which is what captured my attention originally when I saw the trees. Last year's, so brown in color, but normally green when new.



The full tree was in a spot that is difficult to capture on camera, but here is the best I could get. Not a very big tree.



I love this tree.

previously
google images

Dahlias

Must be dahlias.




wiki
google images

Petunias

Both are petunias. They look so different because of the coloring.
The flashy red and white ones are called Red Star Petunias, I think.




wiki
google images

Clematis Mailbox

I thought this mailbox looked so pretty with the flowing plant around it.
The plant is Clematis (KLEM-uh-tiss). The blossoms look like cultivar Jackmanii.
I quickly snapped it from the car, so didn't get any closeups.

Links:
itis
Common Name: Jackman's clematis
Taxonomic Hierarchy

davesgarden
Family: Ranunculaceae (ra-nun-kew-LAY-see-ee)
Genus: Clematis (KLEM-uh-tiss)
Cultivar: Jackmanii
Synonym:Clematis x jackmanii

wiki
Hardy to USDA Zone 4a

A Few Photos

Magpies are a more prominent presence at our place this year, but have been difficult to catch on camera:


Water marks on the trees from the flood last year:

Some Recent Photos

Lilacs: Love the colors:



Some kind of fruit or something on the wild rose. Didn't know it had such a thing:



Cute squirrel pose:



Spring growth:


Framed Purple Flowers:


Bokeh with a point and shoot, which is much harder than it looks. A combo of manual focus and the right zoom.

Starling Color Swap

I'm not sure what this starling was doing, but we caught him in the act.
Did a color swap on the photo, so cream and purple instead of blue and green.
Going for a minimalistic oriental look. I like it.

The Year of the Butterfly

What is going on with the butterflies this spring?
They are arriving unusually early and there is a lot of them.
I took photos and managed to capture four different species in a matter of minutes. All blogged previously, so details there.



(Photo Top left, then clockwise: Monarch, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Mourning Cloak.)

They were just all over the place, mostly landing on the dandelions, probably because there isn't much else out there yet.
The monarchs looked kinda rough/ragged when I examined the photos close up.
This was about 10am Saturday 12May12. It was beautiful out. Calm, clear, in the 50's maybe.

I tried googling:
butterflies+2012+population
and did find some talk on the topic.

A few links:
monarchs
red admirals

Naked Famous Young Blood

I really like this song.

Young Blood,
By The Naked And Famous

wiki
From Auckland, New Zealand.
Wiki says the song played on Covert Affairs pilot. I do not remember that.

Another song of theirs is pretty good:
Punching In A Dream

Meet two members of the band:
The Naked And Famous - Bands For 2011 video

More Links:
amazon
grooveshark
songfacts
songmeanings

Hooded Merganser

Another new one for my North Dakota bird photo collection.
Male (Drake) Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Raised Crest, evidently (cornell).
He makes a distinct funny/odd sound (enature).

audubon:
 His most distinguishing feature is his crest, or “hood.” At rest or in flight, this hood appears as little more than a white line behind the eye, but when the drake is alert on the water, the fully-raised crest reveals an elaborate hood of white on an otherwise black head.

So in other words, he can look quite different on water depending on how he holds his head.
(google it)

npwrc
(Ducks at a Distance)

Nature's Woodcarvings

Dog?:


Snake?:

Digital Butterflies

A happy accident.

Step 1 - Radial Rainbow Gradient
Step 2 - VM Toolbox Radial Mosaic
Step 3 - Warp Brush Twirl
Step 4 - Simple 4 Way Average
Step 5 - Layer Blends and Tone Map



More Examples: