I really should STOP going to Reptile Shows...

Kenyan Sand Boa. I also bought a Sinaloan Milk Snake, but he looks to be just about to shed, so no pics for a while. I also bought 1000 crickets, but there didn't seem to be any frozen mice sellers, so off to the pet store I go for more pinkies. I did restrict myself to animals with a very small adult size, and few complicated requirements.

Daily photo - Happy Halloween

This year's pumpkin. I'm quite proud of myself, even though I followed a pattern. Last year's pumpkin was so badly carved I didn't photograph it much.

Daily Photo - Bug

I found this on the raspberry plants just before the first frost. I'm not quite sure where to start in the bug book, maybe beetles??

Abby - Flashlight

Playing with a flashlight and ISO 1600. I was trying to copy a Halloween themed pic on a forum somewhere, but the dogs colors just weren't working out, and the cat seemed so interested. I might tint this one more orange later.

Daily Photo - Abby

I don't know what she has to be disgruntled about. She hasn't even met the new cat yet. However she does seem annoyed with the constant smell of wet cat food but none appearing in her bowl.

Daily Photo - Squirrel

Photo from the same day as the accommodating pigeons at the beginning of the month. The squirrels weren't anywhere near as easy to find if you weren't willing to feed them, which I was not interested in trying.

Daily Photo - Clouds

Clouds over my house early Sunday morning.

Daily Photo - Ruby Throated Hummingbird

Another of my excellent hummingbird photos, from back in July in Elm Bank. (Due to the weather and my dislike of the cold, there are going to be a lot of older pics used for a while.)

Daniel Webster

Another Sunday morning at Daniel Webster in Marshfield. I'm extremely lazy about going out in October and November, partially due to the weather, but also due to the fact it now gets dark within an hour of getting out of work. It keeps raining on the weekends, so I keep getting trapped at home. Above and Below are only different due to a twist of the circular polarizer. I took some colorful leaf pics before my basic proclivities reappeared and i noticed all the fungus covered tree limbs that fell down the day before. There were plenty of weird berries and such ready for the critters willing to eat them. Canadian Geese, there's a closeup farther down. Even the Poison Ivy is changing pretty colors. Reflections of sky. There were a few dozen of these guys all over the place. Oddly enough the only other birds I saw in large numbers were crows and starlings. Overall I had fun, though it wasn't as interesting as it has been before.

I'm going to bed.

I ended up busy today finishing my book. I did go hiking at Daniel Webster this morning, but the photos won't be up until tomorrow.

Daily Photo - Too Much CSI

I've been eyeing these for over a year. It's mostly to sit next to mushrooms or bugs so later I'll have better luck with scaling them. Might use them for footprints too.

Daily Photo - Clouds

Clouds on the way home.

Daily Photo - So Abby Doesn't Feel Left Out

I think she knows there is a cat in the attic, but she doesn't seem to bothered by it. The dogs are more up in arms over the wet cat food they can smell all the time now. Thankfully Abby has lived with other cats before, and I can't see her being threatened by Licorice much. He just eats and sleeps between a few begs for petting.

Daily Photo - Licorice

This is Licorice. He was my grandmother's cat. He's maybe 11 or 12 years old, missing a lot of teeth, and kind of skinny. He's also due for some shots. My grandmother died last Wednesday, and I picked up Licorice yesterday, that was actually my first meeting with him. So far he's very friendly, eats like a champ, and seems housebroken. He's hanging out in my finished attic until I get him to a vet for a checkup, and start to introduce him to his new roommates. Hopefully that will work out. Worst comes to worst I could rework the reptile room, and he can live in there with the other critters safe from the dogs. My grandmother loved all her cats, and the least I can do is keep her last one happy in his old age.

Daily Photo - First Snow

It was quite a surprise. Most of my plants haven't even finished dying back yet. You get two due to me very, very lazy weekend posting.

Books I Use

I've spent a few years taking various field guides out of the library, or at least browsing in a book store. Some I've found at MassAudubon Sanctuaries, and others only through Amazon. These are the ones I found the most useful. A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts by Blair Nikula, Jennifer L. Loose, and Matthew R. Burne is so far my favorite one. I bought it before any of the others at Stony Brook in Norfolk. Every id has full color pictures of males and females as applicable, as well as location, status, and time of year they can be seen. I haven't seen it in a library, and you can't get it on Amazon. I've seen it on some wildlife sites, and at several MassAudubon Sanctuaries. I find it to be hands down the best dragonfly guide out there, and possibly the only one. Link to site where you can buy it: Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Publications Butterflies of New England by David Weber. I like this one too, but it doesn't include caterpillar photos, which I think could make it a great rather than a good book. It does use photos unlike some cheaper guides I've seen which use drawings instead. I've never been great at identifying animals from drawings to life. Mushrooms of Northeast North America by George Barron. At this point you should be noticing a pattern. I find this book organized in an easy to follow manner with full color id pictures throughout. Even if I don't figure out exactly what I took a photo of I get some guesses. And it's much easier to follow than trying to google 'orange mushroom eastern US'. National Wildlife Federation Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America by Arthur V. Evans and Craig Tufts. Again full-color photos. Especially important to me is that the photos and the information are on the same pages. You don't dig through a huge section of photos then have to dig through all the pages in the back to find the accompanying info. New England Waterfalls by Greg Parsons and Kate B. Watson. This one I haven't gotten to use yet, but i do so far like it. It has locations, descriptions and in some cases pictures of 200 waterfalls and cascades in New England. It will likely keep me busy in April. Beachcomber's Guide from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras by Henry Keatts. This book goes to the cape with me every year, and helps figure out what some of the odd seashore stuff is made of, or by. Wildflowers of the Berkshire & Taconic Hills by Joseph G. Strauch. This book was origianlly bought because it was less than 5 dollars on clearance. It's not a bad book, as all the flower id's are photographs, but they are seperate from the descriptions. it is nice that the images are sorted by bloom color first though. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (Second Edition) by Jon L. Dunn. This book is up to a 5th edition, but the artwork looks largely the same. I like the book, because I find it better than the little pocket field guides, but I really would prefer pictures rather than drawings. Hiking Massachusetts by Benjamin B. Ames, AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Boston: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails in Eastern Massachusetts by Michael Tougias, and Hiking Southern New England by Rhonda Ostertag. I haven't used them for actual trail ideas, more locational ideas.

New Toys

Let's hear it for fun new toys. I got a new iPod. Since I got I as a gift I ended up with an iPod touch, which is my new favorite toy ever. I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. So far I haven't bought any apps, but the free ones have been quite nice. There is nothing quite as fun as a computer that fits in your pocket, connects wirelessly to any network, and can be filled with music, movies and games. This is likely going to be my favorite toy for a while.

Daily Photo - Cloud

Not even today's clouds, sorry. I really wich I could find a convenient place other than parking lots for cloud photos. The light posts just won't cooperate.

Daily Photo - Asters

This always happens when I don't keep on top of the weeds. If only they would grow somewhere in the yard where they're less of a nuisance, or if only I could recognise them before they bloom.

Daily Photo - Pigeon

I took a few photos of him... okay at least a dozen.

Daily Photo - Back to my Roots

Mom keeps saying I took lots of pigeon pictures as a kid. Feral pigeon on a bridge in the Boston Public Garden.

Daily Photo - Seasonally Appropriate

Sunday

I spent some time today outlining about half of my new cat litter box hider. I found a big empty base cabinet for $20 at ikea in the as-is department. It was in perfect condition, though missing a top and doors. The top I'm fixing with a piece of plywood. The doors I should be able to find a pair at ikea for another $20, I'm just going to have to check often. I need 15" doors, and most of the ones in as-is are 12 inches. I bought a deep plastic tub to use as the box, and built the shelf on the other side. My goal is to cut a hole in one of the doors, so Abby can jump into the whole thing, then down into the box. I want to line the shelf with a cat litter catcher material, so the dog's will stop eating the cat litter. the whole thing is going to double as a stand for some reptile cages, so none of them will be on the floor any more. The space under the shelf is going to store cat litter, as my cat loves to lick and eat plastic, and World's Best Cat litter only comes in plastic bags.

Above: Cactus that summered outside and decided to bloom. I brought it in and put it under lights trying to keep from stressing it too much. I figured more light was better than the complete lack of light in my kitchen where most of the other plants overwinter.

I spent the rest of the day working on my book. I'm using blurb, because I've used it before, and it's fairly cheap. I personally have had good luck with them, here's hoping it works out again. This book is going to double as an album for the first 9 months or so of my dSLR, turns out other than a few test prints I haven't been printing pictures from it. I have about 120 pages right now, and just finished putting in shutter speed, f stop and lens information for all the pics. I just need to finish adding my comments, format the text, spell check, and have someone read it through.

Char who wasn't interested in the camera last weekend. (Charcoal Corn Snake)

Red (Amelanistic Corn Snake)

And now for something completely random. FARSCAPE IS BEING RE-RELEASED ON DVD FOR LESS THAN $150 for the entire series. I know, it's quite sad how excited I am. It's also sad that I know that $104 dollars (pre-order price) is going to Amazon in the near future so I won't have to slowly borrow them all from the library ever again. Farscape: The Complete Series

Daily Photo - Clouds

Clouds from today, which started out quite dark and damp.

Daily Photo - Morning Glory 2

A more luminous version from yesterday.

Daily Photo - Morning Glory

Okay, I used a spray bottle, but they just look so nice with water droplets.

Daily Photo - Mushroom

This is growing out near my parking space at work. I rather liked the pattern.

Daily Photo - Monarch Wing

Cloese-up of Monarch's Wing.

Daily Photo - Widow Skimmer

I can't believe I've never posted this one before. Likely a young male.

Critter Sunday

You get a bit of a view of some of the critters. The corn snakes bowed out as they were fed recently and are all still sleeping. Bob (Fat Tail Gecko)

Lemon Squeeze (Leopard Gecko)

Girl (Crested Gecko)

Old Man (Crested Gecko)

Bruce (Ball Python)

Chubby ( White's Tree Frog)

Spike (Leopard Gecko)

Max (Cockatiel)

Baby (Leopard Gecko)