It's Friday, TGIF! It's also the last day of September as the year moves quickly along. Today's image is a Monarch I captured last week on the Goldenrod in my yard. I have seen a few Monarchs traveling through recently. Keep hoping for a big migration again but no such luck. Anyway, sharing this image due to the bubbly bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
It took quite a while this year but I have finally seen some of my Leopard frog buddies at the Gazebo pond. They are much more friendly towards getting their photo taken and even hanging around when I am skimming it. I captured this guy trying to catch some rays on a pink rock in the pond this past weekend. The Bullfrogs, you can't get within 20 feet of them and they squeak and jump in the water.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's image is of a Maximillian Sunflower in bloom that I captured last week. Maximillians bloom August through September throughout Kansas. It is palatable and nutritious for livestock. It is named after the botanist who discovered it, Prince Maximilian Alexander Philip von Wied-Neuwied.
I was able to take photos of a Scissor Tail Flycatcher a few times this year which was pretty cool. The last time I was able to capture one, back in July, it had just captured something for lunch.
Happy Monday of the last week of September. I haven't made it over to see my Morning Glory blooming over at the Gazebo pond this year very much. I was able to see several blooms open a couple weekends ago on a day that had a cloudy morning. I love how the blooms look like they have lights in them when back lit by the sun. This one was a great example because the surrounding area was so shady.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog. The last one for September, wow this year is moving right along. I took this image over Labor Day weekend of the Wagner locomotive that I get to help operate. I liked how the smoke looked in the sunlight. The track for this one is 14 1/4 inches but the locomotive is almost double the size of my Ottaway.
On the bike ride home from dinner last Friday evening I was treated to a rather lovely sunset that I just had to stop and photograph. This sidewalk they put in in our town is quite nice to ride on when it's getting dark. They are supposed to be extending it out to the high school. It will be nice when finished. The lights they chose gave it a nice touch.
It's Friday, TGIF! What a week. Today's image is another of one of my favorite wildflowers, Echinacea or Coneflowers. They are pretty much done blooming now. I tried cutting some back to see if they would rebloom as things I have read said they will but mine did not really. It's been hot and dry here so I am sure that didn't help. Anyway they were lovely while they were in their prime. I captured this one with some lovely bubbly bokeh behind and am sharing it today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
It's a double digit day! 😊 I have seen a few more butterflies around these days. The Painted Ladies have been around a lot more. I captured this one on my Butterfly Bush or Budldleia a couple weeks ago.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's wildflower is one that has been blooming around the area for the last few weeks. This is Dotted Gayfeather. It usually blooms in August and September. Native Americans utilized the roots to make a tea that could help with stomach aches. The taproot of the plant can grow to 15 feet deep making it very drought tolerant.
Remember there are the Wildflowers by Colors pages here on the Blog to help you ID what you are seeing. They can be found across the top of the Home Page.
Today's image is one from this past winter, early spring. I was able to see and capture Red Shoulder (aka Shouldered) Hawk in a tree. Not a common one I get to see. I took this while out walking one afternoon.
I had dug up and transplanted a baby Mimosa (Silk) tree about 4 years ago now I think. The tree grew like crazy last year and this year as well. It got a few flowers on it for the first time as well this year which I am sharing a capture of here. The leaves are folded up for the night as I took this image in the evening as I was watering. I was surprised to see the flowers as other trees of this type had flowered a few weeks ago in our town. Not sure if it was late blooming because it is young. I love the hairy whispy looking flowers these trees have. They are not native to Kansas and can be considered invasive, but I like them and will keep it from spreading.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! We took our locomotive to the railroad that we get to play at outside of Topeka every now and then. We were very pleased with how it performed. At the end of the day it started to rain quite a bit so we had to load it back up in the rain. Before we could do that we had to let pressure off so here it is blowing down the boiler near the pond for a nice steamy shot.
I haven't shared many butterfly images this summer, mainly because I haven't seen all that many. I have been treated to a few though and this is one of them that visited my yard earlier this summer. This is a Great Spangled Fritillary that was enjoying the Cone Flowers in early July.
TGIF, it's Friday! We got a bit of rain last Saturday. The next day it provided an opportunity for some raindrop photos. This is a 3 image focus stack of one of my red Dipladenia buds with a lot of rain droplets. I chose this image because of the interesting bokeh created by the aperture of my camera.
I captured this neat guy at my Gazebo pond last Sunday. I had never seen this variety before. I love it's blue eyes. Not sure what type Dragonfly it is or it might even be a Damselfly.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! The Common Sunflowers have been blooming quite profusely everywhere the past couple of weeks. Here are a couple of fairly perfect looking ones blooming by the garage last week. These are the Kansas state flower.
I was able to observe several Western Meadowlarks late this past spring. I am always happy to see them because they seemed to be declining in past years. It is the Kansas state bird. I captured this one off to the side of the road in a field singing.
Happy Monday and new week! These flowers are called Surprise Lilies and this group was a surprise to me. It was a beautiful bouquet of them in a spot I was not expecting to see any at all, much less a group of them. They are lovely while blooming but they are all done now. They have a nice smell while blooming as well.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! I was in Minnesota over Labor Day weekend at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion. I was able to play with my new drone a bit, not as much as I would have liked due to the wind though. This is locomotive 353 stopped for loading by the water tower. I was playing with the drone after my shift on it during the beginning of the day. This view shows only a small portion of the grounds, it's a large place with lot's to see and do.
I was in Minnesota last week where I was mostly getting to fire on trains. I had to start fairly early in the morning though not as early as the ones who actually fired up the locomotives. This was a sunrise I observed on the first day as I headed over to the Roundhouse.
It's Friday, TGIF! It's also a double digit day! 😃 Here is an image of some of my favorite flowers, Echinacea or Cone Flowers. These are a white variety that I have growing over by my Gazebo pond. They have some lovely bokeh behind so I chose this photo for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
There have been some Damselflies around the yard off an on this summer. I was able to capture this one in a garden in my front yard not too long ago. It posed nicely on one of the Limestone blocks I have edging the garden and I liked the shadow it produced.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is Trumpet Vine which blooms from June through August. It spreads like crazy and gets in areas I wish it would not and keep having to remove. I would have thought twice about planting if I realized that. It does hide things well which is why I planted it. Hummingbirds love the flowers and I usually can capture them at it but so far have not been successful this year.
This winter I am looking forward to seeing the hawks again. They are around all year but are much harder to spot with all the foliage on the trees. This is a Red Tailed Hawk I spotted sitting in a tree as I returned from a walk one day late last winter.
Happy Monday! It's a holiday for a lot of people in the US, Labor Day. Here is an image of a little Crab Spider seeming to wave hello on a Cone Flower. It was probably trying to wave me away from photographing it.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is a very steamy shot of locomotive 611 which was operating at the Strasburg Railway in Pennsylvania last summer. The Norfolk & Western engine's home is in Roanoke Virginia but it had come out to PA to do some excursions to raise money for it's various needs like storage. On it's way out of Strasburg, locomotives pull the train backwards and then in Paradise, maneuver around the train to the front to pull forward.
I had my drone out again to update the software and then practice with it a bit. The sun had set but there was still some lovely color.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is a lovely bokeh filled background to one of my red Daylilies. This image was chosen for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
Happy September, the year is moving along so quickly! I was redoing the rocks on my waterfall in my backyard pond this past weekend and had this little guy visit. This is a Great Plains Skink or Blue Tailed Skink, I believe. He was very cooperative and I was able to get this shot with my phone which is all I had near me at the time.
