We were lucky to have a clear sky on Friday night so I went to Big (Gereaux) Lake to view the conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Moon after sunset.  Here is a record of the apparition:

Actually, before the apparition.  As I was parking the truck this flock few by:

A while later I could just see Jupiter, 10 O’clock to Venus which is 12 O’clock to the sliver of the moon.  You can see the reflection of Venus right at the bottom of the frame the bottom of the frame, below Venus:

Here are the three and reflections of two:

I was shooting hand held as the mosquitos were fierce!  This is at the limits of what I can do, propped against the windowframe of the truck. 1/6 sec, f/3.3,  ISO 400

Click on the bottom  two images to see reflected sunlight from Earth reflected back to us from Moon. Tricky exposure.

Earthshine in a conjunction is a beautiful sight, eh?

Although the conjunction will be even more impressive  tonight, the forecast is for cloud to cover our neck of the woods this evening.   Too bad.

Last Wednesday, on the Old Still River Road, I saw a GBH coming in for a landing.  So I stopped the truck, grabbed the camera and let the Autofocus on the FZ1000 work its magic to get this sequence …

Flaring just before landing.  Feathers on top of wing are (F)luffing indicating a full aerodynamic stall

The high drag of the stall and loss of lift enables a good landing for the big birdie.

Landing gear fully extended for a gentle landing.

Down on terra firma.

After take-off:

Wings are starting down stroke.   Not nice smooth surface of upper wind indicating nice laminar flow giving lots of lift and low drag.

Middle of the downstroke:

End of downstroke, beginning of lifting of “elbows”:

Amazing bird!

We went for a drive along Hwy 522 to Smith Bay Road and saw a variety of beasties and blossoms a few days before Sun-Stop.

The white spots on the tips of the wings identifies this Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly as a female.   This one is worth clicking on to see its fine structure.

Interesting name for this butterfly … Little Wood Satyr ??!!

Sedges have edges, grass has joints.  Grass inflorescence.

Unknown dragonfly  …

Common weed  … the very delicate and pretty Daisy Fleabane seen up close.

Canadian or Eastern Tiger SwallowTail.

Bladder campion, a delicacy in southern Europe, considered a weed in North America.  In any event it is very nice to look at up close.

This patch of Sheep Laurel bloomed about 3 weeks later than the patch on the Shawanaga Reserve.

Widow Skimmer, I think.

Bright male housefinch.

The little beetle on the uppermost mushroom is a good indicator of Oyster mushroom, a delicacy to mushroom eaters.  I must say, though that the folks in California have quite a different mushroom than the one we harvest in Ontario.  I have never seen a “grey” one and I have never seen any in the fall.  In Ontario P. ostreatus fruits during the first rains of late spring / early summer, usually on standing Aspens that have died a few years earlier.

“Nevermore”?

This painted turtle was photographed just before it plopped into the water.

Viceroy or Monarch?

White Admiral

Some folks will remember this wild nut that is common around Georgian Bay

A few months ago the nuts started out in buds like the one above.  They will be ripe in August when the trick will be to harvest them before the borers, jays, squirrels etc harvest them.

Nice picture of Solomon’s Plume (aka False Solomon’s Seal).

On Sunday the noon sun   ( apparent solar time ) stops, pauses and starts its southbound journey until Winter Sun Stop in December 2015.

Next week the Pickerel River First Nations will be celebrating the occasion with a few days of fasting, rituals and then feasting.   I hope to visit their festivities and to take a few pix.

t

… and the flora and fauna around Britt are growing quickly.

These Blanding’s turtles are busy laying eggs wherever they can find some sandy gravel, usually on roadside shoulders.

Soon Mama Red Fox will be taking the kits, cubs, pups on foraging expeditions

to find protein-rich turtle eggs in nests like this ravaged Snapping Turtle Nest:

New wildflowers are blooming … every few days we see something new

… like these wild blackberries.

Wild Geranium (Cranesbill).  This is a true geranium and shouldn’t be confused with the garden variety “geranium” which is actually a Pelargonium.

Cinquefoil one of the Potentillas.

Nannyberry, I think.   V. lentago?

Nice grass:

Great Blue Heron alongside Riverside Rd at Capt Keith’s place.

Some warblers (again)….

A nice calm day ..

Great celebrations in Chicago tonight!

PS  We’ve concluded that the unknown birdie at the end of  the last post is a Red Eyed Vireo.  Thanks for everyone’s expert help!

t

As usual, a click on an image brings up the large version, enabling close inspection.  A “right click” brings it up in a new tab in your browser, usually.

This Mallard couple is cruising through the Canada Rushes nibbling on….

grasshoppers!

This proud momma takes her little brood out for a Saturday excursion.

While this proud mom has a rest break with her brood.

A song sparrow in the tag alders watches and sings.

A Yellow Goatsbeard shows it delicate structures.

This Eastern Phoebe is reducing the shoreline insect population.

I need help identifying this birdie.  “Little Dickie Birdie”??

Spring is moving along quickly.  Next weekend brings the first day of summer!

The rain provided some different views of the countryside and up close scenes so we stopped quite often to try to capture the sights of the day.  Click on the images to see the close-up effects of the rain.

A new flower for me… at the edge of a swamp…non-invasive Tufted Loosestrife:

Has M. Monet been here?

I am now convinced that Reddy Fox trails along the shoulders of roadways and feasts on both Snapping and Blanding’s Turtle eggs.

I had an interesting chat with a neighbour here and learned that the  gentleman left that house in 1982/3 after being born there.  He now lives nearby but no longer farms  the land.  The last remaining farmer in the area cuts wild hay from that property for his cow/calf operation but all of the farms are growing over.

Although the storm clouds remained menacing, we got some nice calm weather from time to time.

This snowshoe (judging by the size of its hind feet) stopped to lick a bit of salty mud from the roadway.

On the A. E. Hitchcock movie set?

Twin Rivers is looking quite summery now.

So is Big Lake!

Monet again??

More rain is forecast for Sunday.  Wind also giving yet another opportunity for photographers.

t

A nice warm day so we checked out some nice blossoms in the  neighbourhood … (all of these are quite nice when you click on them to enlarge.)

Wild Rose on Old Still River Road

Irises in B’s and G’s garden on Old Still River road.

Highbush cranberry with well developed attractor blossoms

A Comma butterfly, I think on a fern.

Possibly a skipper.

While I am putting together these posts tonight, the little MacBookPro is doing a back-up of my imagery in the background onto a new 3TB Seagate drive that I got at Walmarts in Parry Sound yesterday for $129.99 plus taxes.  Amazing!