Tuesday, August 31, 2021

8/31/21

 Today's image is a Hawk one that I was quite happy to get.  This young Red Tail Hawk had been hanging around the yard and I captured it as it took off and turned towards me to head off.  I actually got the timing right.



Monday, August 30, 2021

8/30/21

 My Surprise Lilies/Naked Ladies whatever you call them were blooming very well recently and really drawing in various types of nature.  One that came to visit several times was this Sphinx Moth.  I saw an actual Hummingbird Moth one evening too but did not have a camera and it was getting fairly dark.  I was pretty happy with how this image turned out.



Sunday, August 29, 2021

8/29/21

 It's another Steamy Sunday here on the Blog, we are heading into the last 3rd of the year already.  Today's image is still at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.  This is Locomotive 1223 seen from above on the nice observation walkway they have.  It was built in 1905 and retired by the Pennsylvania railroad in 1950.  In 1960 the Strasburg RR borrowed it and ran steam excursions from 1965 to 1989.  This locomotive has appearedon screen several times, most notably in a couple of movies, The Broadway Limited (1941) and Hello Dolly (1969).



Saturday, August 28, 2021

8/28/21

 I captured this image of a sailboat out on Milford Lake a couple of weeks ago while on a bike ride.  It has actually had a lot of work done to it because it was very flat looking due to the haze in the air from the Canadian fires.  I really had to bring out the colors and contrast to make it presentable.




Friday, August 27, 2021

8/27/21

 It's Friday, TGIF!  I have had a few large butterflies around lately which has been nice.  This Black Swallowtail male was visiting my Butterfly Milkweed plant last week.  One of it's tail wings was a bit scraggly but it seemed to be making it around just fine even though.  Friday's Are Bokehlicious so this photo was chosen for the lovely bokeh behind created by other plants.



Thursday, August 26, 2021

8/26/21

 The Ironweed is in bloom and is a nature magnet.  I have seen Skippers and small butterflies and this Clearwing Moth enjoying it.  I was able to get fairly close with this shot so I was pretty happy with it.



Wednesday, August 25, 2021

8/25/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  I have a new one as well.  This is called Arrowhead due to the shape of the leaves which I did not get in my photo unfortunately.  This is growing in a shallow area of my Gazebo pond and is a new one there as I transplanted it in from a friend's pond last fall.  It survived the winter and flowered recently.  It usually flowers July to September and is found in shallow water of ponds, slow streams, marshes and ditches.



Tuesday, August 24, 2021

8/24/21

 This is an older image from late this past Spring.  I was able to capture a Baltimore Oriole in a more natural setting and not just eating jelly.  I think I actually got this image in Missouri and not at home though.  




Monday, August 23, 2021

8/23/21

 My Surprise Lilies have surprised me around the garden.  They have popped up and bloomed in a couple of areas.  The main one is in front of the deck I am trying to redo making it a bit difficult to get at it and not break the Lilies.  A few were sacrificed but there were still a good number to enjoy.



Sunday, August 22, 2021

8/22/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.  This locomotive can be seen a bit behind last week's loco.  This is Pennsylvania RR No. 7002, but not really.  7002 was the world's fastest locomotive in 1905 setting a speed record of 127.1 mph.  When they wanted to send the locomotive to the 1939 World's Fair, they found that it had been scrapped!  They substituted Locomotive 8063 which has been used as 7002 ever since.  For a time between 1983 and '89 it was leased to the Strasburg Railroad and operated there.



Saturday, August 21, 2021

8/21/21

 It's a double digit day!  😊  Today's image was taken on the same day as last weeks but is a bit later when the sun was quite red due to the smoke from the Canadian fires.



Friday, August 20, 2021

8/20/21

 It's Friday!  TGIF!  Friday's Are Bokehlicious as well!  Today's image with some lovely bubbly bokeh is of a Praying Mantis that I saw while working on my deck recently.  This guy was on the post next to where I was leveling it and posed for a few photos.  I then had to relocate it to a tree because it climbed onto my shovel and it was too small to help with that.  😁



Thursday, August 19, 2021

8/19/21

 I was able to capture this shot of a Damselfly in flight recently.  I was pretty happy with it due to the shadow in the water it was flying over.  I believe it is a Jewelwing.



Wednesday, August 18, 2021

8/18/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is anew one for me and the Kansas Wildflowers White & Green page has been updated with it as well.  This is one that is a problem for a lot of people.  This is Common Ragweed that causes allergies and because it blooms at the same time as Goldenrod and is less seen, makes it seem like it is Goldenrod that is causing the issue.  Don't forget to check out the Wildflowers by Color pages here on the Blog to help you ID the flowers you are seeing.



Tuesday, August 17, 2021

8/17/21

 This is the last of 3 different trees that I saw at Hershey Gardens that were quite different and beautiful to stand under with their sweeping branches.  As I mentioned, I wish I had paid more attention to what they were.  This one was a bit sad to see because people had carved their initials or names all over the beautiful trunk at some point.  Their were signs now but the damage had been done.  Fortunately the tree survived it but still sad.  I took the photo in a way that didn't show the damage too much.



Monday, August 16, 2021

8/16/21

 While out in my yard recently, I was able to capture a young Red Tailed Hawk in flight with some great light.  It was being harrassed by some crows and there were also some Turkey vultures around as well but I did not get them in the image.  The bar marks on the upper part of the wings near the lighter color are an indicator of the type of hawk.



Sunday, August 15, 2021

8/15/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  While I was in Strasburg to see 611, I also went to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania there.  It's a beautiful museum with their collection very nicely displayed.  This is a replica of the John Bull locomotive.  Off to the side of it is an original wheel.  The Pennsylvannia Railroad aquired the original John Bull in 1871 when it absorbed the Camden and Amboy RR.  In 1884, it was donated to the Smithsonian but they were still allowed to operate it for special excursions up until 1940 when preservation concerns arose.  This replica was built in 1940 to use at various events instead up until approximately 1999.



Saturday, August 14, 2021

8/14/21

 I was out for a drive last week and was treated to a lovely sunset.  I have n't seen or been able to share one lately.  The sun was turning red because of the haze from smoke in the atmosphere due to the fires in Canada.  A terrible situation making for lovely sunsets.



Friday, August 13, 2021

8/13/21

 TGIF!  It's Friday the 13th!  Hope your day goes well in spite of that.  Today's image is of a cute little guy that was living among my flowers over by my garage.  I captured him out on the driveway pad.  Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious, the out of focus driveway is creating today's lovely bokeh.



Thursday, August 12, 2021

8/12/21

 I had a Tawny Emperor Butterfly visiting my Gazebo pond recently.  I liked this shot I was able to get of it sitting on a rock with the reflection.in the water.



Wednesday, August 11, 2021

8/11/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday!  I had posted the other variety of Bee Balm a few weeks ago that had the more grouped or bunches of flowers.  These are the more normal, kind of tufted variety that I usually see.



Tuesday, August 10, 2021

8/10/21

 This was another of the interesting trees at Hershey Gardens.  I don't know what type this was but the branches reminded me of rain falling while standing under it.  This is actually a combination of 2 photos put together to get more of it in.



Monday, August 9, 2021

8/9/21

 While I was at Hershey Gardens this guy was pointed out to me when I was photographing the Globe Thistles.  I had my macro lens on at the time so I couldn't get as close as I would have liked without scaring it off.  I thought this one turned out fairly well though.  It's a Clearwing Moth, very fun creatures to watch move around the plants.  It was enjoying a Butterfly Bush.



Sunday, August 8, 2021

8/8/21

It's a double digit day and it is Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Once again this is from Paradise Pennsylvania where the engine changes position on the train from the back to the front.  This is locomotive 475 pulling it's train into Paradise before moving around on the siding.  I was just arriving to get to the park for photos of both locomotives and got lucky with this shot. 



Saturday, August 7, 2021

8/7/21

 The Air & Space Annex at Dulles in Virginia is a really great place to visit if you are interested in flight.  The Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the major attractions.  The Enterprise used to be there but was switched out with Discovery which actually went into space.  Enterprise is now at a museum in New York City.  Here I got fairly up close and personal with Discovery.  😃  




Friday, August 6, 2021

8/6/21

 Happy Friday!  TGIF!  One evening last week I was able to capture a Hummingbird enjoying the flowers on my deck.  A lot of my shots were of it's back but I was able to get this image of it from the side at my Lantana flowers.  Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious, the lovely bokeh is created by the tree in the distance.



Thursday, August 5, 2021

8/5/21

 I captured this Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly enjoying my Cone Flowers one day this summer.  This was before there were all kinds of small black caterpillars on them and my Sunflowers which ate all the leaves.  The Cone Flowers are making a bit of a comeback fortunately.  The Sunflowers died.  



Wednesday, August 4, 2021

8/4/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one I just shot this past Sunday while bike riding out by Milford Lake.  This is a Prickly Poppy.  It looks a lot like my red variety, I wish I could figure out how to get them to grow in my yard.  I maybe would regret it with the thorns but they are a lovely flower.



Tuesday, August 3, 2021

8/3/21

 While I was in Pennsylvania and visiting Hershey Gardens, they had a very nice Butterfly House.  The people working there were quite nice and when they saw me with a camera would point out things they thought might be of interest to me.  One of those was this Atlas Moth which are not seen very often, even in a Butterfly House.  It was quite cool and quite large.  It was approximately 6 inches across, at least.



Monday, August 2, 2021

8/2/21

 Today's image is from one of my new favorite flowers.  I have always loved Gerbera Daisies but I can never get them to re-flower once they have flowered once.  I bought this flower this spring and it claimed it was an always blooming Gerbera type.  It has lived up to it's claim and constantly has at least 3 flowers blooming all the time.  I have lost the actual name so not sure if it is an actual Gerbera.  I love it though and will try to over winter it in case I can't find another.  It is an annual.  In a Google search of Gerbera Daisy the center of these is different than a regular one.



Sunday, August 1, 2021

8/1/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  In Paradise Pennsylvania, the Strasburg trains stop and the engine moves around the train to pull it back to the station, they pull backwards out of Strasburg.  They have a nice little area to watch this occuring.  Here I captured the Queen of Steam, Norfolk & Western 611 as it headed back to hook up to it's train just around the bend.