It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog! Today's image goes back to Pennsylvania and one of the rides I went on last year. This is the Northern Central Railroad which has a replica 4-4-0 American style oil burning locomotive. It's a beautiful looking and sounding locomotive. I have a couple of videos on YouTube where you can listen to it and see it run of which this is one. NCRR Locomotive by Drone
Today's image is the second one I took with my telescope. I was practicing with different eyepieces and the moon was a good subject to use during the day when I could see what I was doing. 😊
It's Friday, TGIF! Today I am sharing a Question Mark butterfly image where you can see the question mark on the wing that it gets it's name from. It's upside down as it sits here. Today is all about the bokeh so that is another reason why this image was shared as Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
Today I am sharing my first catch of the year for one of my most difficult birds to capture. They are one of my favorites, Great Blue Heron, very prehistoric looking but are always a challenge. This is the position I almost always get them in, flying away from me before I even get very near to them. 🙄
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Spring has sprung though it has been very cold in the mornings the last couple of days and didn't feel like it. Today's flower is one I am looking forward to seeing again. This is Missouri Evening Primrose. They bloom from May through July and open at sunset and close in the heat of the next day. They will stay open longer if it's cloudy out and this was the case when I saw these. The flowers face up until pollinated and then face down. These flowers are very drought resistant as well which is good for our area as we have trouble getting consistent rain. 😏
I heard this Phoebe outside a few days ago. I quickly went to get my camera thinking it would probably leave by the time I got back but it was still there and I was able to snap off one shot before it flew off. They get their name from their call.
Happy Monday and happy new week! My first Tulip bloomed this past week. It is a new one that I planted last fall and the area it is in warmed up much faster than another area I planted some bulbs in and they are only about 2 inches tall.
It's a double digit day! 😁 It's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is our locomotive at the water tower at the C&H Railroad. We were there playing on a nice day last November and I took this image. It is a bit staged as there was no water in the tower at the time.
I bought myself a telescope late last year after much deliberation on what type to buy. Ironically, since I bought it, on days when I had the time, it was usually cloudy or really cold. In preparation for the upcoming solar eclipse, I bought a sheet of sun filter foil and made a filter for the scope and was testing it out this past Sunday. I also used my camera on the scope successfully for the first time as well and took this image of the sun. I liked how you could see some sun spots, one up near the very top and then a group of 3 down in the lower part.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is one of a flower that I love seeing around and makes me happy. It's technically a wildflower but I am sharing this image of it today dues to the lovely bubbly bokeh because Fridays Are Bokehlicious! This is an Ox-eye Daisy bloom up close from last summer.
Last week I was able to capture my first butterfly of the year. I had seen a few Sulphurs flying around a couple of days before this but was not able to get an image of any. While on a bike ride on a river walk trail I spotted this one and was able to get a few images. This is a Mourning Cloak butterfly which over winters as an adult and is usually one of the first to emerge.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is one of my favorites but I can never seem to get it to come back the next year in my gardens. It's weird as I find it growing wild so it has to be returning and not freshly planted. This is Indian Blanket Flower which usually blooms May through September. It is also known as Gaillardia. The Kiowa Indians believed it brought good luck and it is the state wildflower of Oklahoma. It gets it's name from the fact that it usually grows in large groups and looks like a blanket of color.
I was off work last week and was able to go on some longer bike rides and visit some areas with ducks that were passing through the area. This image was one of my favorites that I was able to capture. I am not sure what type of duck it is though, not up on my duck IDs. 😋 My guess, because of the black on the butt and dark beak is a male Gadwall.
Happy Monday and happy new week. This is a photo I took last spring and never got around to sharing. I hope to see something similar soon this year. This is an image of a couple of Peony blooms. They did really well last year and hoping the same for this year.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! I'm looking forward to being able to run my Garden Railway trains again. This is an image from one of it's first runs this past year before I put out any buildings. This engine is battery powered so I don't have to worry about any track cleaning. 😂
Lately I have not had much of an opportunity to photograph colorful sunrises, the sky was either fairly dreary or the timing wasn't great. With the time change I hope to get a few more now that it will be a bit darker in the morning for a while. This is one from the end of February that was fairly colorful.
It's Friday! Not saying TGIF this week because it's the last day of my week off. 😏 Today's image has some bokeh goodness in it because Friday's Are Bokehlicious. I captured this image last spring of a Monarch butterfly enjoying the Mock Orange blossoms on one of the bushes in my yard.
Ive been cleaning leaves out of my Gazebo pond. It's quite the chore every spring as there are many trees around it and it seems that all the leaves end up in the pond. I have taken out at least 6 big baskets full of them so far, I have lost count. Anyway, while cleaning the other day I saw my first frog. It was very small, only about 3/4 of an inch long. I captured this image with my phone. I believe it's a Leopard frog due to the dark spots on it.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's image is of Spider Antelopehorn Milkweed. It usually blooms April through June. The fruits of this plant will resemble Antelope horns which is where that part of the name comes from, not sure about the "spider" part. When the plant is injured it will ooze a white milky substance. Monarchs can take this in and it makes them taste bad to predators. This milkweed is not their primary diet though.
Today's image is of a Cardinal I was able to capture this past winter. They were cooperative subjects for me at times which was very nice. Usually they are moving around a lot. I captured this male resting in the Walnut tree above the Trumpet Vine where they are usually hiding out in the backyard.
Happy Monday and happy new week! Spring is quickly approaching. I have Crocus blooming already which is making me excited for warm weather and gardening. We received some badly needed rain afterwards which was great for everything coming up.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today I am sharing an image of the Wagner locomotive that I get to help run in Minnesota. It's a 14 inch scale and was sitting at the Roundhouse before we steamed it up. The Roundhouse is in the process of being expanded to accommodate some new rolling stock that was acquired last year.
It's been warm lately so spring is on the way. I can share snowflakes and not feel cold. This one is another 9 image stack that I captured on a very cold day in January. I loved the tiny little snowflake that attached on the upper right like a jewel to the bigger flake. I also left the little one that was developing off to the left which reminded of a jewel as well.
It's Friday, TGIF! I captured this female Praying Mantis last year in a few images. This is one I hadn't shared where she is upside down in the Cosmos looking for a meal. I am sharing this image today due to the bubbly bokeh in it because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
With our recent warmer weather I am looking forward to flowers and sights of nature like this one. I captured this Crab Spider in the Ironweed this past August waiting for a meal. It probably was a good spot as I usually saw a lot of insects around the Ironweed.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is Lead Plant. Lead Plant blooms June through August. It is a native legume and it's roots can go as deep as 16 feet making it quite drought tolerant! It's name comes from silvery grey hairs on the plant that give it it's lead color.
Today's capture is of one of my favorite birds. I captured this BluJay
sitting in my in-law's Bradford Pear tree after just getting a peanut from the feeder. He/she paused long enough for me to get a capture which is pretty rare. They usually grab one and are gone.
Happy Monday and happy new week! For Valentine's Day I received some flowers. One of them in the arrangement was this neat giant Mum which I found rather photogenic. I'd love to grow some like this one.
It's a double digit day! 😀 It's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image goes back to Minnesota and the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion. This is locomotive 353 sitting outside the roundhouse on a day before the show started up. I took this when I was at the roundhouse for the safety meeting.
Today's image is another from this past January's lovely clingy snow. I took this image of the Gazebo pond in snow. The water had an interesting rough texture to it because before the snow started there was a lot of rain and then sleet.
Happy Friday, TGIF! Today's image is another of the melting frost that I captured while on a walk this past winter. I liked this one that captured the upside down tree in the drops. I also loved all the bubbly bokeh and since Friday's Are Bokehlicious, this was the perfect image for today.
