Big Bang Black Hole

Birding Galveston and Laffite's Cove Nature Society Preserve

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 22:34:00 +0000

Of all the places we visited, Galveston was our favorite. The climate was perfectly tempered by the Gulf of Mexico and the birding was productive. We spent a day on the sand, just decompressing and watching birds though the scope. Here are Sanderling at the surf's edge.

And a Wilson's Plover.

There was a brackish pond, with some Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks.

We visited Galveston Island State Park and saw Eastern Meadowlark and the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher.

We were given some very good advice, to visit Laffite's Cove Nature Society Preserve. It had many features that led it to be a very birdy spot. Indigo Bunting, Orioles, Brown Thrasher, Cattle Egret, and White Ibis.

Birding Anhuac National Wildlife Refuge

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:54:00 +0000

Our final destination in Texas for birding was Galveston. The place perhaps should have been named for the Laughing Gulls, which live there in droves.

High Island is uniquely renowned for its spring migrants, and we hoped to experience that. As luck would have it, High Island was bereft of birds on the day we opted to visit, but replete with mosquitos.

We knew full well that if the winds were stormy and from the north, one could see the "fallout" of flocks of migrants ... and that if the day was clear, one might as well have a fallback plan. Which we did. After experiencing High Island, we drove on to the Anhuac National Wildlife Refuge, and that did not disappoint.

We took the free ferry across the channel, and that gave us some nice views of the Royal Tern.

High Island was beautiful, and had many nice trails and water features.

The birds of Anhuac were unusually social, even the American Bittern seemed unconcerned by human activity.

They were probably paying more attention to the Alligators.

Cyndi saw the Least Bittern, but I did not get a very good photo. The Green Heron picture came out better.

On the way home we got a surprise view of the Crested Caracara ... which we had hoped for, because we wanted a nice photo. Two were atop a pole by the side of the road, mating. By the time we turned the car around and returned, the deed had been done, but there were still two in close proximity.

Birding the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:27:00 +0000

After the solar eclipse, we drove to the southern tip of Texas, to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. There are many birding hotspots in that general area, as well as the World Butterfly Center. Collectively, the area is known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV).

In addition to miles of trails through different habitats, there are some very cool hawk watch towers and this bridge at the canopy level.

There are wetlands with various depths of water, and a feeder area that is outside the visitor center / gift shop, visible through the plate glass windows. The gift shop sells ice cream, which is nice as Texas gets very hot. Here are some of the birds seen through the windows.

Inca Dove, White-tipped Dove, and White-winged Dove.

Here are two species that we had really hoped to find, and after a hot day of searching without success, we saw them out the window ... the Green Jay and Plain Chalacha.

But, it wasn't all "out the window" and the long, hot treks are worth it. Here are the Carolina Wren and Hooded Oriole.

Most all the cormorant there are Neotropic Cormorant, and we saw Mottled Duck (and never were clear enough on what distinguished the Mexican Duck). The Mottled Duck photo has other species present as well, as you can see. I expressed to one birder there my disappointment in not seeing the Least Grebe. He replied, "That's 20 of them right there." I have no defense ... it was hot, and I was tired. They were right in front of me.

This Javalina was foraging in the refuge, and we spotted the Great Kiskadee gathering nesting materials.

I had really hoped to see the Green Kingfisher in Texas, it was certainly near the top of my list. That was not to be, so I'll have to content myself with this photo that shows the Ringed Kingfisher at left and Belted Kingfisher at right, in one shot.

We stayed in McAllen, and we both were very severely bitten by bedbugs at the accommodations. I grew up in Maine and have been bitten by fleas, mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, no-see-ums, and every sort of biting insect imaginable. Bed bugs are the worst. As luck would have it, I would soon get antibiotics.

Yeah, birding is an extreme sport.

Birding Christmas Mountains Oasis

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Tue, 07 May 2024 18:08:00 +0000

On our way out of Terlingua, we made a side-trip to the Christmas Mountains Oasis, a wildlife sanctuary where Lucifer Hummingbirds had been recently reported. Upon seeing this photo of a sign on the road to the destination, one of my friends remarked, "I didn't know that birding was an extreme sport." Let me just say, it is.

The road is well-maintained, so a highway vehicle can slowly navigate it, but if you happen to have 4-wheel drive and high clearance, you could relax more during the approach.

We saw the Scaled Quail while driving the road, and again in the feeder area. Unlike the National Parks, which don't place feeders, this sanctuary had many feeding and watering stations to support the wildlife. We donated to the birdseed fund.

We were not disappointed in the quest to see the Lucifer Hummingbird.

Birding Big Bend National Park

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sun, 05 May 2024 19:39:00 +0000

Though the total solar eclipse set the date of our trip to Texas, we had long wanted to go birding there. We allowed time before and after the eclipse to visit some of the better known birding hotspots. We began our trip, before the eclipse, by driving from Austin down to Terlingua, a community adjacent to Big Bend National Park and spent three days birding some popular hotspots in the park: Sam Nail Ranch, Rio Grande Village, Dugout Wells, Cottonwood Campground, and the Chisos Mountains Basin.

We stayed at sleeper cabins that had no potable water, so it was a good thing we had brought our own water. The weather was a big change from Idaho where there was still snow on the hills out our window. Ninety degrees with hot dusty winds gusting to 40 miles per hour was our experience. At night, the turkey vultures flew in to roost on a cell tower near our lodging. At dawn, seen below, they stretch their wings to warm in the morning sun.

Our first stop was at Sam Nail Ranch. Tired from traveling, we were not the early birds, and it was afternoon by the time we walked the trail.

This colorful lizard was well-adapted to the hot, dry life.

We proceeded on to the Rio Grande Village campground where we were greeted by the begging Greater Roadrunner. They seemed very acclimated to campground life.

A Ladder-backed Woodpecker was foraging the in the trees.

The next morning while we sat outside our cabin, enjoying the cooler morning temperatures and drinking coffee, we observed a Lark Bunting foraging nearby.

Our second trip into the park took us to the Visitor Center, where this Curve-billed Thrasher was seeking shade and very audibly calling.

We proceeded to Cottonwood Campground, where some helpful birders pointed out the Common Black-hawk, behind the sign that said, "No entry, Black-hawk Nesting Area".

There were also numerous Gray Hawk residing there.

And, Vermillion Flycatchers everywhere.

On our third and final day visiting Big Bend, we first went early (relatively speaking, early for us) to the Dugout Wells area, which was rich with birds even at the hour we arrived. Bell's Vireo were prevalent.

We then went to wait in line to be permitted to drive up to the Chisos Basin. The parking is limited there, so when a car came out, another was allowed to drive up. This was confusing to those at the back of the line, as there was only one volunteer at the head of the line and no explanatory signage. I did some volunteer work for a while, going to each new arrival and explaining the options which included driving to the head of the line and making a left turn to drive back down the road if one was not interested in the roughly 20-minute delay.

Solar Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 21:05:00 +0000

Cyndi and I traveled to Fredricksburg, Texas to view the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. It was intermittently (mostly) cloudy, even during the eclipse. Of the four minutes of totality, we perhaps had 20 seconds of viewing, much of which was spent by me trying to get a photo. My inexpensive camera was very unwilling to focus because of the soft edges caused by the clouds.

Difficulties and challenges aside, we *did* see the eclipse and the final photo taken shows the corona at left, a loop solar prominence at the 5 o'clock position, and just above and to the right of that is Bailey's Beads just about to flare into the diamond ring ... all through hazy and broken clouds. Bailey's Beads is a broken arc of bright light points as light from the edge of the sun's sphere bursts through valleys and canyons on the moon to just begin to reveal the sun's disc to viewers on Earth (or as it is about to be obscured, but this image was taken during the reappearance).

John Hancock's remarks on events at the capitol

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 17:39:00 +0000

The following are the words of John Hancock regarding events at the capitol. I have made every effort to keep the original meaning and intent, but long sentences have been shortened and emphasis added as noted.

"Security to the persons and properties of the governed is so obviously the design and end of civil government ... [and it is] .. . vicious and infamous to attempt to support a government which manifestly tends to render the persons and properties of the governed insecure. Some boast of being friends to government; I am a friend to righteous government, to a government founded upon the principles of reason and justice ... ."

"It was reasonable to expect that troops, who knew the errand they were sent upon, would treat the people whom they were to subjugate with a cruelty and haughtiness which too often buries the honorable character of a soldier in the disgraceful name of an unfeeling ruffian. The troops, upon their first arrival, took possession of our senate-house ... ."

"Tell me, ye bloody butchers! ye villains high and low! ye wretches who contrived, as well as you who executed the inhuman deed! do you not feel the goads and strings of conscience guilt pierce through your savage bosoms?"

"Patriotism is ever united with humanity and compassion. This noble affection, which impels us to sacrifice everything dear, even life itself, to our country, involves in it a common sympathy and tenderness for every citizen and must have a particular feeling for one who suffers in a public cause."

"Will not a well-disciplined militia afford you ample security against foreign foes? ... When a country is invaded, the militia are ready to appear in its defence ... ."

"There is a heartfelt satisfaction in reflecting upon our exertions for the public weal, which all sufferings of an enraged tyrant can inflict will never take away ...."

"I have the most animating confidence that the present noble struggle for liberty will terminate gloriously for America."

-- John Hancock, delivered March 5, 1774 in Boston, MA

Commentary: As you see, I could not resist adding in the historical context about what was meant by "well-regulated militia" as today quite a few Americans do not know the plain meaning and intent of the Second Amendment. The several states had no armies. There was no nation. Defense against a foreign enemy (England) would have to rely upon citizens who were authorized, regulated, and managed by the several states. The purpose of a militia was not to shoot legislators with whom they disagree, but was originally intended to be a substitute for what we today call the United States military.

In the present day, the United States does have a standing army, despite concerns of some of the founding fathers. The several states have a well-regulated militia, and it is called National Guard, and is under the control and direction of the state governors.

Groups participating in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021, acting with military coordination and tactics, wearing body armor, helmets, and ballistic goggles are not a well-regulated militia as envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. They are vigilante mobs dressed as combat soldiers. Vigilante justice is no justice at all.

6 January 2021

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 17:57:00 +0000

I took the day off from work on January 6, 2021 so I could watch our democratic republic on a day that was clearly going to be historic. It was obvious there would be violence, was it not? The day before I had discussed with a friend the statements made by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX). "The bottom line is the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy'," Gohmert stated on a conservative media outlet. "Essentially the ruling would be 'You have to go to the streets and be as violent as antifa, BLM'," he added.

On the day of the event, addressing the assembled Americans, Rudy Giuliani called for "trial by combat".

The crowd marched to the Capitol building, overwhelmed barricades and police lines, and used makeshift battering rams and force of human phalanxes acting in unison to smash through doors and windows. A scaffold was erected and a noose hung from it. Video of the event shows in hindsight that some law enforcement officers stepped aside as the very halls of Congress, where our elected representatives did a duck and cover that was shockingly surreal, were breached and gunfire from within was not sufficient to deter the crazed mob. Terrorists with zip tie handcuffs, lots of handcuffs, entered the room where moments before the Vice President had been grabbed by each elbow and rushed from the chamber out a back door.

Later that night, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) would claim (the source retracted, but the untruth now spreads given a life apart from reality) that antifa has been identified in the mob. No fascist has any love for an antifascist, that is a given. But, let's get off this Patriot - Antifa divide where we discuss the nuance of labels instead of underlying issues. Can we all agree that those who entered the Capitol unlawfully were anarchists?

One person who read this blog post said the words were elitist, and that not everyone knows all these words. I would ask, politely, that we all get out our dictionaries and visit Wikipedia, so we can have a discussion instead of a Civil War. The anger that led to this attack on the American Constitution was caused in part by "alternative facts" and differing views on what words and ideas actually mean.

My mother-in-law asked me, a few years ago, "Are you a communist?" I explained my leanings were more like a socialist, like in some of those Nordic nations. But, subsequently I read up on socialism and all the other -isms. Socialism has led to some lousy outcomes. I am not a socialist. I am an American, and my view of our new system of government of the people, by the people and for the people was stated best by Winston Churchill, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."

My mother-in-law gave me a beautiful, leather-bound, gold embossed history of the United States, and I bought my own leather-bound copy of the founding documents of our nation which included the Federalist Papers, George Washington's farewell speech, and many other writings that comprised the best thinking of the wise people who debated and verbally wrestled to craft the framework of our common political reality. I hesitate to mention that the Constitution was the first thing I read, because everyone now waves the Constitution as if it would ward off evil and bullets.

A mob with an American flag is a mob.

A mob attacking the foundation of the rule of law while flying a Blue Lives Matter flag is hypocrisy given malevolent evil form with a foul stench and bitter taste.

I expressed to a deeply religious friend, pastor of his church, a person who voted for Trump (Can't we all talk like this, no matter our beliefs, in a quest for understanding and common ground?), "I saw a flag with the Christian fish symbol and an American flag with the words, 'Jesus is my savior, Trump is my President', and I was saddened that one could proclaim a Christian belief while attacking the American system we all hold dear."

My parents are members of the Religious Society of Friends, who you would recognize by the term 'Quakers'. That Christian faith is perhaps known as the group that refused to remove their hats for the King, and left England for the freedom of the new world. Many know of their nonviolence practice, which includes Civil Disobedience. But not all know about a practice of the faith known as 'bearing witness'.

I feel that I am doing my highest duty as an American by bearing witness to the events in our nation's Capitol and by speaking the truth about what I witnessed.

So, let me circle back to what I said in the opening paragraphs. Can we all agree that a system of government composed of three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial is good; that a system of checks and balances created thereby is good? Because there is a gathering storm that believes that two of those three are optional, and that proposition is at the heart of what we now debate and take sides over.

When the Judicial branch is criticized to the degree where violence defiles the right to free speech it is not protected speech but anarchy and contempt of court. A court that declines to hear a case is not cause for violence, it means the argument presented to the court in filings and briefs was so weak that it is without merit and frivolous. Filing a frivolous lawsuit can have repercussions.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) had such a poor understanding of the Constitution of the United States of America that his case was not heard by the United States Supreme Court. Saying the next step is mob violence is ignorant and contempt of court. It is an attempt to tear down our system of government and shows disdain for the Constitution of the United States of America. Censure for Rep. Gohmert would be a mild outcome and is justified.

Rudy Giuliani's seditious demand for a trial by combat was an incitement to violence and as an attorney he should be immediately and permanently disbarred from practicing law in all jurisdictions for his contempt for our American justice system. Trial by a jury of our peers is how we do things in this great nation. Trial by the judicial system is how we do trials, but I guess he missed that part in law school.

Long ago my kind uncle took my mother and me to attend a broadway play, The King and I, starring Yul Brynner. To this day I recall the meaning and intent of something that was said, that went something like, "A gentleman always means what he says, and says what he means." I guess it was also stated in The Last Emperor as, "If you cannot say what you mean, your majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says." The sentiment is now being repeated as "words have consequences", a lesson I learned at a play in New York City when I was still in grammar school.

I was not happy when the Supreme Court settled Bush v. Gore, stopping the ballot counting and determining the outcome of a Presidential election that was very, very close. I was aware that the State of Florida had purged the voter rolls by name (not address) of all names of those who had been convicted of a felony. Said plainly, if your name was the same as the name of a convicted felon, and you were not a felon, and you went to vote in that election you would have been turned away with, "I'm sorry, you are no longer registered to vote." Was I unhappy? You bet. Did I storm the Capitol? No.

I was not happy when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump, despite winning the popular vote. That's the Constitution for you. We have an Electoral College that substitutes its judgement for the majority of voters following a process prescribed in the Constitution. I attended a rally and held a sign in my own state capital. I rallied, I would even say I protested. But I didn't riot. I complied with all lawful orders. I did not trespass. I broke nothing. My sign said, "What do we want? Science-based decision-making. When do we want it? After peer review." (I didn't make that up, I saw it on someone else's sign, but it expressed how I felt.)

So, is there to be common ground, reconciliation, and healing? My father was a Republican and my mother a Democrat. Can't we all just get along?

In hindsight, I feel badly that the courts often dismissed Trump supporters' frivolous lawsuits without ruling on the merits, as when the Supreme Court refused to hear Gohmert's wild assertion that the Vice President picks the next President of the United States, instead of the voters and the Electoral College. These people were so blinded by their passionate quest for power that they were unable to see what the courts intimated. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if all those frivolous lawsuits had been heard and after their day in court the Judge had said, as Judge Stephaos Bibas did for the 3rd US circuit court of appeals, “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.” The Judge stated, “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections. [The] campaign’s claims have no merit.”

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
--Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.”
--Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher

Rockhounding for Kaleidoscopes

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:10:00 +0000

I have a rock tumbler (Harbor Freight, in case you want to get one), which is a great way to get into working with rocks one collects while hiking, camping, or enjoying the outdoors. These rocks just came out of my latest tumbled batch: some agate, petrified wood, and other colorful stones.

Some of the smallest pieces are translucent and colorful. Having received a book about making kaleidoscopes for Christmas, I thought those small, glassy, colorful fragments might be a nice addition to the object compartment in my kaleidoscope. Here are a few images through the kaleidoscope. All of them show rocks I collected along with beads and other items which add interest.

Solar Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 19:34:00 +0000

Totality, 21 August 2017, as seen from the Lost River Valley at the foot of Mount Borah, Idaho's tallest peak.

Black-chinned Hummingbird - Archilochus alexandri (Slow motion video)

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 16:52:00 +0000

I suppose this is my first slow motion video. The black-chinned hummingbird has a gorget that flashes bright purple when the sun hits just so, but usually it looks black.

Birding Southern Idaho

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 01:28:00 +0000

On our way home we visited a wide variety of habitats, taking secondary roads instead of the Interstate.

Woods' Rose

Rosa woodsii

Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalis

House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

Dark-eyed Junco (Pink-sided)

Junco hyemalis

Franklin's Gull

Leucophaeus pipixcan

Wildflowers

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 00:21:00 +0000

The last day of the conference we set out on our own to visit some nearby areas, including a hike into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.

Bluebell Bellflower

Campanula rotundifolia

Cyndi photographing the Bluebell Bellflower

Campanula rotundifolia

Red Clover

Trifolium pratense

pollinator on False Hellebore

Veratrum californicum

Columbian Monkshood

Aconitum columbianum

False Hellebore

Veratrum californicum

and Cyndi with Coneflower and Red Clover

Bumblebee and Larkspur

Bombus and Delphinium sp.

Explorer's Gentian

Gentian calycosa

Ruffed Grouse

Bonasa umbellus

Mourning Cloak butterfly on Cow Parsnip (I think ... all feedback about identifications is welcomed).

Sticky Geranium

Geranium viscosissimum

This large lichen was growing on the forest floor.

Grand Teton, near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Botanizing, Grand Targhee Ski Area

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 13:45:00 +0000

The Grand Targhee Ski Area opens its lifts in the summertime so mountain bicyclists can take their bikes on the lift to the top, and ride the trails down for that adrenaline rush all speed junkies crave. Cyndi and I went on a field trip with the naturalist, to view the alpine wildflowers.

Small-flowered Penstemon

Penstemon procerus

Sulphur Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja sulphurea

Alpine Milkvetch

Astragalus alpinus

Colorado Blue Columbine

Aquilegia coerulea

Shooting Star

Dodecatheon conjugens

Desert Parsley

Lomatium cous

Green Gentian or Elkweed

Frasera speciosa

Alpine Wildflowers

Grand Teton

Alpine Wildflowers

including the orange Wyoming Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja linariifolia

Pika

Ochotona sp.

Parry's Primrose

Primula parryi

Yellowstone National Park, Norris Geyser Basin, Steamboat and Vixen geysers

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 05:58:00 +0000

Late in the day we arrived at our destination, the Norris Geyser Basin, welcomed by a slight drizzle that became more pervasive as we walked the loop. The Steamboat Geyser has been the highest geyser on the planet, a few years back, so one is tempted to sit and wait, just in case it does it again. It was shooting 10 to 30 feet in the air while I watched in eager anticipation.

The Vixen Geyser is worth the brief wait for its frequent spurts of activity.

Mesa Falls, Henry's Fork, Snake River, Idaho

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 03:25:00 +0000

Cyndi and I took a detour to view Lower Mesa Falls on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River on our way to Yellowstone National Park. How very awesome.

Above is Lower Mesa Falls.

Fireweed Chamerion angustifolium

I call this one, "I love my iPhone." Both Cyndi and I got iPhones on a shared plan, and Cyndi often claims to hate it, and says it is very expensive (which it was). But she's often seen holding it up to scan the scenery, and I'm often caught talking to mine.

I'm not trying to do some product placement here, and have not had the chance to try out the competing products. I'm just saying, to see us becoming one with our technology is an interesting journey and raises a lot of questions.

I needed a cell phone with pager capability for work. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You can really begin to get an idea of how big this waterfall is when you view the image below full size by clicking on it, and see that there's a second observation deck beyond the first, one that is right at the top of Upper Mesa Falls.

The cascade is about 200 feet wide, and the vertical drop is 114 feet.

Waking up at the south end of the Lost River Range, Idaho

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 01:43:00 +0000

Cyndi and I took a vacation in July. Our destination was a joint meeting of the Idaho and Wyoming Native Plant Societies, at a campground near the Jedediah Smith Wilderness east of Driggs, Idaho. We made a wandering path toward the rendezvous, setting out a few days early to compensate for our erratic course. We went through Craters of the Moon National Monument on the way, and spent the night near Deadman Canyon, at the south end of the Lost River Range, in Idaho.

When we awoke we were surrounded by the sagebrush ocean and the community of life that calls this their home. Sage Thrashers were abundant, Horned Larks flew through, and Ravens called. I walked away from the truck without my camera and suddenly found myself surrounded by birds that I rarely see. By that I mean I have seen the Sagebrush Sparrow only one time in my life, and the photo I took at that time was not clear enough for anyone to see what bird it was.

I ran back to the truck, fuming, and Cyndi was delighted because she had never seen a Sagebrush Sparrow at all. I returned with my camera, and the pictures below will show you some of the ways to identify a Sagebrush Sparrow should you ever happen upon it. It sits on sagebrush (but more often runs on the ground under sagebrush). It has a central dark spot on its breast and a white line over the eye (supercillium, as the ornithologists would call it).

I now have an iPhone, and it does have some fun features, like the ability to take a panoramic image of something like 180 degrees. There are many times a view like this is the only one that can tell the story. You can click any photo in this blog, and some of them are high resolution, though honestly I usually reduce the size (both the physical size in pixels, and the file size in bytes). You get a blog that loads faster, and I help keep photographers employed by trying to thwart digital theft and copyright infringement.

Pacific Crest Trail

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:59:00 +0000

On a long weekend trip to Eugene with Cyndi we had the good fortune and pleasure of camping in the mountains. The first morning we woke up and walked on a Forest Service road that was well off the beaten path. We were rewarded with views of an incredible trillium and a Life Bird, the Hermit Warbler.

Trillium ovatum

Flowering Currant

Ribes sanguineum

Hermit Warbler

Setophaga occidentalis

On the second morning, we awoke next to the Pacific Crest Trail. Cyndi on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The lichens were hanging densely off every available branch.

We saw this beautiful butterfly with deeply serrated wing shapes. It is a Hoary Comma butterfly, Polygonia gracilis. It is called by a few different names over its range. Some call it a Hoary Angelwing. This is one of the few North American butterflies that hibernate during the winter and wake up in the spring to feed and lay eggs.

We photographed a number of pollinators. This interesting fly with a long proboscis was probing the Manzanita.

Nature's Languages

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sun, 10 May 2015 15:08:00 +0000

Have you ever been fascinated by all the different ways we communicate? I think of ancient Celtic runes that look to me like leafless trees in autumn, the dots and dashes of Morse Code or Braille, the bird heads and loincloth-clad figures in Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Japanese grass writing (which is the equivalent of our cursive hand). As I walked in the forest I came across many patterns and textures that made me think of the varied ways we preserve and transmit information, and took this series of photos in case any cryptographers out there are interested in trying to break nature's code to find out what is being relayed.

This is a tree, returning to the particles from which it formed.

With just a little imagination, you'll see a woodland sprite, seated, Maybe it will take a lot of imagination.

This was in a burned-over area.

This is the one that reminded me of Morse Code.

These are some large and very regular woodpecker holes. I suppose it could be a sapsucker that made them. Looks like dragon scales to me.

I believe these to be wood fibers, or the layer that held the bark to the tree, perhaps.

Have you seen the petroglyphs left by ancient peoples, the ones that are maps of their travels? This, too, is a map of some creature's travels.

Happy Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sun, 10 May 2015 04:16:00 +0000

To all mothers everywhere, but especially to mine ...

Happy Mother's Day!

Quest for desert violet

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 18:33:00 +0000

Last weekend Cyndi, Emily and I went on a quest seeking the spring wildflower Beckwith's Violet (Viola beckwithii). Emily located the first one, despite my assertion that I would be the first.

I also spotted Emily training for the Redneck Olympics on the barbed wire balance beam.

Maine

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:43:00 +0000

This is the bridge between mainland Maine and Deer Isle. We were on our way to Stonington for the view and dinner.

Stonington, Maine is a beautiful harbor town.

It is a major port for fine fresh seafood. The refrigerated semi trucks were rolling onto the docks and loading at night. I could imagine them pulling up to the back door of a very fine restaurant in New York or Boston to unload.

Maine in autumn, lobster boats, and fall color.

Fort Knox, in Bucksport, Maine dates to 1844, to guard against the British.

My father built this house, and I lived in it when I was about four years old.

The water in a nearby stream made endless patterns.

Wave crashing against the granite of Schoodic Point at sunset.

The vast ocean horizon.

My mother, at sunset, on Little Moose Island.

Seeing Clearly

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 01:41:00 +0000

Orion Nebula and Lunar Eclipse

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 22:55:00 +0000

The astronomy bug has me in its grasp! I awoke from a sleep to watch the total lunar eclipse.

I observed some features on my camera that I had not fully explored, and aimed at the Orion Nebula. This would be the middle "star" in the sword that hangs from Orion's belt. I was pleased to observe the results, and hope you enjoy them as well. You can see this yourself on a dark night with the naked eye. If you have binoculars or a telescope, all the better.

If you don't have a dark sky, you'll be denied the opportunity to see this and other celestial wonders. Lights should be shielded and downcast to avoid wasting energy and to preserve the beauty of our environment. I also observed a couple of galaxies, the Pleiades and Beehive Cluster, Jupiter, Leo, Gemini, Cancer, and Taurus. Two meteors streaked across the heavens as well.

Idaho's seasons

noreply@blogger.com (jonathan) — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 14:37:00 +0000

Many people come to Sun Valley, Idaho in the winter to ski. They're missing out on what I think are the best seasons. The summertime allows for camping in the cool mountain air, and on the Earnest Hemingway memorial it states, "Best of all, he loved the fall." Autumn is quite special as well, after the heat of summer has gone and the leaves display their glorious color.

This picture could have been taken in any season, but it shows the Smoky Mountains, to the west of the Wood River Valley.

This surely does look like summertime in the Sawtooth Mountains. Maybe that is Snowyside Peak in the distance at the right. There are 216 mountains taller than this in Idaho.

This looks like autumn with the brown grasses, dried at the end of the growing season.

Southern Idaho's autumn is predominantly colored yellow from Aspen and Cottonwood, but the riparian areas and northern Idaho give some reds and oranges in the fall. This is Freezout Ridge in northern Idaho's Clearwater Mountains, with red huckleberry bushes.

Here's another look at the Smoky Mountains, in the fall. The aspen are green and gold patchwork in the sagebrush ocean. The north side of the hills gets enough shade from the sun that evergreen trees can grow. The southern exposure is too hot and dry for a tree seed to germinate and thrive.

There is a downside to living in a ski resort community. It snows. It snows a lot. You can see my neighbor on his roof, shoveling what looks to be about four feet of compressed snow. First I would shovel the driveway, then I would get up on top of the snow piles, and shovel the piles away from the driveway.

These are the Boulder Mountains as seen from Galena Summit on a clear morning after a heavy overnight snow. I saw this view my first week in Idaho.