Showing posts with label Broadmoor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadmoor. Show all posts
Friday, July 8, 2011
Deer
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Broadmoor Dragonflies
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| Blue Dasher Dragonfly - Male |
Broadmoor in Natick MA is my favorite dragonfly spot. I find the best diversity of species there. This is an immature male Blue Dasher. You can see how his tail is starting to turn blue and he's losing his bright yellow stripes.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Daily Photo - Whoops
Missed a day so here's two. Both from July of 2009 at Broadmoor.
Orange fungus
Dragonfly from before I owned a flash.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Foggy Broadmoor
I woke up early this morning. Then I shut off the alarm. Then I woke again still fairly early. I've been trying to go out at dawn, but I keep worrying about the traffic since dawn is currently around 7, so psych myself out and go back to bed. My goal was to get out of the house by 8 AM. I managed that but had to go back for my tripod.
I picked Broadmoor as my destination as I could get there on back roads. Halfway there I crossed the Charles River and drove through some lovely banks of fog. Thankfully the fog persisted all the way to Broadmoor.
There are plenty of tiny spider webs.
Some of the trees are changing colors.
Even the reflections were nice.
Grass in sunlight.
More leaf veins.
This would be the lowpoint of my hike. In the wildlife meadow a strange bug landed on my hand. Since it looked like a tick on first glance I shook my hand and whacked it against things. Ticks bring out my irrationality. I got it off my hand, but it started crawling on my shirt. I saw it only had 6 legs so couldn't be a tick, but it certainly looked like one. A little reaseach when I got home led to a Deer Louse Fly or relative. I didn't find out if they bite, but they do have nice hooks on all their feet, which explains why I had so much trouble getting rid of it.
I picked Broadmoor as my destination as I could get there on back roads. Halfway there I crossed the Charles River and drove through some lovely banks of fog. Thankfully the fog persisted all the way to Broadmoor.
There are plenty of tiny spider webs.
Some of the trees are changing colors.
Even the reflections were nice.
Grass in sunlight.
More leaf veins.
This would be the lowpoint of my hike. In the wildlife meadow a strange bug landed on my hand. Since it looked like a tick on first glance I shook my hand and whacked it against things. Ticks bring out my irrationality. I got it off my hand, but it started crawling on my shirt. I saw it only had 6 legs so couldn't be a tick, but it certainly looked like one. A little reaseach when I got home led to a Deer Louse Fly or relative. I didn't find out if they bite, but they do have nice hooks on all their feet, which explains why I had so much trouble getting rid of it. Sunday, September 5, 2010
Broadmoor
I took a jaunt around Broadmoor this afternoon. I remembered immediately why I don't hike on weekends. Too many people... and shrieking children.
I did see dozens of these guys. Only one wanted to sit still. The trail around the wildlife pond is flooded and full of frogs.
There was just one damselfly. I also saw one far off dragonfly, but nothing else but bees.
There was some nice fungus too.
I did see dozens of these guys. Only one wanted to sit still. The trail around the wildlife pond is flooded and full of frogs.
There was just one damselfly. I also saw one far off dragonfly, but nothing else but bees.
There was some nice fungus too.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Broadmoor Footprints and Ice
It was cold and clear Thursday morning this week and I managed to finally go two places in a week. A light snow fell Wednesday. A nice shallow sticky snow, so I found lots of nice footprints Thursday.
Fox Track
Confusing Bird tracks
Raccoon Tracks, there were tons of these all across the Charles River crisscrossing back and forth.
I really liked the patterns of snow over the roots. The sunlight coming from behind was just a bonus.
I have no idea what these are the tracks of, but they were maybe the size of my fingertips. There weren't many around the rock, so I'm not really sure where the critter came from but they really liked this rock.
Most of the trails had a light cover of snow but under that was a sheet of ice in many places. The locations of the ice were kind of random, so there was plenty of sudden slipping.
In the field around the wildlife pond I keep seeing red tailed hawks overlooking the pond. Thursday there was only one, often I've seen two. Most of the time they get chased off by blue jays before I get close enough to even really see them.
I'm still deciding what my next lens will be. The above is as close as I could get to a hawk. I expect I'm not going to be getting much closer to one. The above was fully zoomed with my 250 mm lens. The hawk still looks like a little white smear. Even if I get a new 200 mm zoom, that would be able to take pics at f/4, rather than having to stop down to f/8 to get good shots, getting close would still be a problem. If I can't get closer to the subject a better lens won't help.
The waterfalls are nicely frozen. One is now frozen completely over. It didn't occur to me for a few hours that I completely forgot to use my polarizer for the water. I had plenty of fun, though I didn't actually see many critters.
Fox Track
Confusing Bird tracks
Raccoon Tracks, there were tons of these all across the Charles River crisscrossing back and forth.
I really liked the patterns of snow over the roots. The sunlight coming from behind was just a bonus.
I have no idea what these are the tracks of, but they were maybe the size of my fingertips. There weren't many around the rock, so I'm not really sure where the critter came from but they really liked this rock.
Most of the trails had a light cover of snow but under that was a sheet of ice in many places. The locations of the ice were kind of random, so there was plenty of sudden slipping.
In the field around the wildlife pond I keep seeing red tailed hawks overlooking the pond. Thursday there was only one, often I've seen two. Most of the time they get chased off by blue jays before I get close enough to even really see them.
I'm still deciding what my next lens will be. The above is as close as I could get to a hawk. I expect I'm not going to be getting much closer to one. The above was fully zoomed with my 250 mm lens. The hawk still looks like a little white smear. Even if I get a new 200 mm zoom, that would be able to take pics at f/4, rather than having to stop down to f/8 to get good shots, getting close would still be a problem. If I can't get closer to the subject a better lens won't help.
The waterfalls are nicely frozen. One is now frozen completely over. It didn't occur to me for a few hours that I completely forgot to use my polarizer for the water. I had plenty of fun, though I didn't actually see many critters.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Daily Photo - Icy River
Icy River at Broadmoor. If I'd been paying more attention I would have noticed that the iso was set to 400, which explains why I wasn't getting the shutter speeds I was expecting. It was very, very cold.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A Hawk Landed on My Head Today!!!
Well, it may have been a Merlin, I didn't manage to get a picture.
Anyway. I went to Broadmoor this morning since I didn't have to be at work early today. It was freaking cold, 19 degrees or something and windy. I meandered a little, found some ice, and the mostly frozen river and noticed the spillway under a water fall I like got reworked. Only time will tell if they ruined it for photography or not. There also appears to be a new overlook at the wildlife pond, though I didn't explore it.
Wandering around I spotted a hawk in a tree quite far off, and circled around to try to see it better. By the time I got there the blue jays had chased it and a friend off. I stayed to try to photograph some birds with some new tips I got about by 55-250 mm lens (f8, Servo Auto focus, shutter speed 1/320 or faster). I stood there for a good 10-15 minutes, very still with the camera up in front of me, snapping images of some sparrowy looking birds. I heard wings, and felt something land on my head, but almost immediately take off. I felt nothing but a light weight settling on my hat then it was gone. I turned around, expecting a blue jay, though I couldn't figure out why one would land on me. I figured if it had been an attack, I would have been pecked, or been whacked with the wings, there also would have been some shrieking as a warning before any dive-bombing.
A few feet away at eye level was a tiny raptor, grey or brown and white streaked chest, tiny hooked beak, about the size of a jay. He took off before I could get the camera up. I think he had pointed wings, but the people at the Wildlife Center thought he was a sharp-shinned hawk, since merlins aren't as common this time of year. (Mind you just about anyone I know probably wouldn't have held still if they heard wings that close. My cockatiel has been using my head as a landing platform for years now, and I've become accustomed to freezing so she doesn't miss. Most of my relatives start freaking out when she takes off, which of course in turn freaks her out more.)
So apparently in this getup and not moving I look like a very inviting tree stump. Especially since I was about 10 feet away from what I suspect would have been breakfast.
I find it extremely funny that on my first day actively birdwatching a hawk landed on my head. I did manage some much, much better pics of small birds, though none were outstanding.
A few of my very close to actually focused birds... not too heavily cropped.
American Robin
White Throated Sparrow (maybe)
Northern Cardinal (female)
No idea, it had a little yellow on the top of its head and yellow and black wings. It also sat still almost long enough to focus then would take off again.
About the size of the above birds in their original files.
Basic tips for the lens included get closer, which I'm not so good at.
I bought some thermal pants, so maybe I'll go out again tomorrow.
Anyway. I went to Broadmoor this morning since I didn't have to be at work early today. It was freaking cold, 19 degrees or something and windy. I meandered a little, found some ice, and the mostly frozen river and noticed the spillway under a water fall I like got reworked. Only time will tell if they ruined it for photography or not. There also appears to be a new overlook at the wildlife pond, though I didn't explore it.
Wandering around I spotted a hawk in a tree quite far off, and circled around to try to see it better. By the time I got there the blue jays had chased it and a friend off. I stayed to try to photograph some birds with some new tips I got about by 55-250 mm lens (f8, Servo Auto focus, shutter speed 1/320 or faster). I stood there for a good 10-15 minutes, very still with the camera up in front of me, snapping images of some sparrowy looking birds. I heard wings, and felt something land on my head, but almost immediately take off. I felt nothing but a light weight settling on my hat then it was gone. I turned around, expecting a blue jay, though I couldn't figure out why one would land on me. I figured if it had been an attack, I would have been pecked, or been whacked with the wings, there also would have been some shrieking as a warning before any dive-bombing.
A few feet away at eye level was a tiny raptor, grey or brown and white streaked chest, tiny hooked beak, about the size of a jay. He took off before I could get the camera up. I think he had pointed wings, but the people at the Wildlife Center thought he was a sharp-shinned hawk, since merlins aren't as common this time of year. (Mind you just about anyone I know probably wouldn't have held still if they heard wings that close. My cockatiel has been using my head as a landing platform for years now, and I've become accustomed to freezing so she doesn't miss. Most of my relatives start freaking out when she takes off, which of course in turn freaks her out more.)
So apparently in this getup and not moving I look like a very inviting tree stump. Especially since I was about 10 feet away from what I suspect would have been breakfast.
I find it extremely funny that on my first day actively birdwatching a hawk landed on my head. I did manage some much, much better pics of small birds, though none were outstanding.
A few of my very close to actually focused birds... not too heavily cropped.
American Robin
White Throated Sparrow (maybe)
Northern Cardinal (female)
No idea, it had a little yellow on the top of its head and yellow and black wings. It also sat still almost long enough to focus then would take off again.
About the size of the above birds in their original files.
Basic tips for the lens included get closer, which I'm not so good at.
I bought some thermal pants, so maybe I'll go out again tomorrow.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Summer's Fading
Critters are leaving shed fur chunks everywhere.
Darners are decimating the dragonfly population (kidding.)
Cat tails are breaking apart.
Milkweed pods are ripening.
And it's thinking about getting dark early again, uggh...
Friday, August 7, 2009
Daily Photo - White Fuzzy Caterpillar
I Found this guy on a milkweed plant. It was 1/2 in to 3/4 in long.
Added: Oct. 12, 2009. Possible ID is Cycnia teneraWednesday, August 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dragonflies 201
So today I finally found some dragonflies willing to let me get very close before freaking out. That means I managed to take some pics through my macro lens and use my new flash. Since I had the flash I managed to get to f/16. Getting to f/16 means much greater depth of field, coupling that with the macro lens got me the below shots.
I managed to get lots of close shots of the female above. The males would only sit still if they had food.
Crop of the above pic to see how detailed I got the eyes.
Apparently I'm nuts about getting pics of the compound eyes.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the emergence of the red dragonflies I've seen the last two years who will perch on your fingers if you approach slowly enough.
These are all Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis).
I managed to get lots of close shots of the female above. The males would only sit still if they had food.
Crop of the above pic to see how detailed I got the eyes.
Apparently I'm nuts about getting pics of the compound eyes.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the emergence of the red dragonflies I've seen the last two years who will perch on your fingers if you approach slowly enough.
These are all Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis).
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
More Dragonfly Photo Tips
I went to Broadmoor today and wandered around for about 3 1/2 hours, taking 458 pics. This was caused by following my new rules. Until the critter gets bored and flies or crawls away I will keep clicking away.
^Heavy crops from photos shot at 100 mm.
I had been avoiding using my 55-250 mm IS lens after trying it in Disney with less than stellar results. I'm still unimpressed with it's auto focus, but when I switched to manual I managed some very nice dragonfly pics today. The only big downside I have with it is focusing distance, which starts at a whopping 3.6 feet. However, it helps a lot when you can't get anywhere near a critter. It also seems to work better, or at least easier in manual focus. On my cape vacation I discovered that in manual focus mode you can still get a focus spot when you hit focused. I was kind of impressed.
I ended up with a good dozen in focus dragonfly pics with the lens, handheld even.
I also discovered that Broadmoor has Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), though they're very hard to photograph. They can be seen on the Hemlock Trail along the river. You'll have better luck on the side without the waterfall, as they seem to like sunlight. I'm going to Garden in the Woods tomorrow, so there will likely be more dragonfly pics.
^Heavy crops from photos shot at 100 mm.
I ended up with a good dozen in focus dragonfly pics with the lens, handheld even.
I also discovered that Broadmoor has Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), though they're very hard to photograph. They can be seen on the Hemlock Trail along the river. You'll have better luck on the side without the waterfall, as they seem to like sunlight. I'm going to Garden in the Woods tomorrow, so there will likely be more dragonfly pics.
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