Hurricanes and Earthquakes

Last week in the midst of New England's major natural events, I wandered over to Great Meadows one morning to enjoy the fresh air, walk a bit, and see what I could see. While birding was interesting, the bird count that day saw 77 different species; the photography, was ordinary.

Unmotivated to quickly post, I took a vacation and let these images enjoy several days riding the carousel known as my hard disk. During the hurricane induced power outage on Sunday, I encountered the following passage, written 160 years ago to the day. It seemed so appropriate, I thought I should share it with you along with the "ordinary" photos from that day.

Without further ado, here's today's guest commentary courtesy of Concord's own Henry David Thoreau.

"I omit the unusual — the hurricanes and earthquakes — and describe the common. This has the greatest charm and is the true theme of poetry. You may have the extraordinary for your province, if you will let me have the ordinary. Give me the obscure life, the courage of the poor and humble, the workdays of the world, the barren fields, the smallest share of all things but poetic perception. Give me but the eyes to see the things which you possess." — August 28, 1851

A Three Hour Tour

Saturday morning we joined Cherrie Corey and a group of fellow wanderers for one of her Sense of Place walks at Great Meadows. They are always interesting and informative. The day was sunny with a bit of breeze that kept the temperatures feeling comfortable for August.


Cherrie explaining something to onlooking walkers




We explored both flora and fuana. I photographed more of the fuana and less of the flora. It is tough to set up your tripod with a large group trying to crowd around a few plants to get a good view. The breeze would also move the plants back and forth making focusing a challenge.


Aphids on Alder, the Ants come for the sweet juice the Aphids excrete


Interesting patterns made by lichen on tree


Close up of cardinal flowers which are prolific this year


Water smartweed - That's smart as in stings...not intelligence


Swamp Rose Mallow



Several of us became disconnected from the main group as we joyed this beautiful moth. It had the most beautiful white wings, which opened to reveal a pale blue / purple color.




Damselfly




Milkweed bugs on Milkweed plant


Common Whitetail


Slaty Skimmer


Great Egret fishing near end of Dike Trail


We had arrived a bit early, so I did a quick loop of the Black Creek Duck Trail to see what was new there. The place was exploding with mushrooms of different shapes, colors and sizes.

Long Lens Macro

Early Friday morning, I set off for Great Meadows with the intent of using my long lens to get some more photos of Goldfinches and Hummingbirds on the Evening Primrose plants. You know the expression, "Want to know that God has a sense of humor, just make plans."? Well today he was laughing.

The number of American Lotus that are blooming each day has started to decrease. They still blanket the impoundments. The open water is difficult to see. Much of the wildlife that is in them are difficult to see. For example, this Canada Goose was landing. In the next frame, it disappered for view.




An almost perfectly formed lotus blossom


The refuge was crawling with Goldfinches. They just weren't feeding on the Evening Primrose. There was a lot of flying and calling, but not many photographic opportunities. All was not lost. This Goldfinch did settle down for a few moments, in an area with a pleasing background.






Lately I've been frustrated some beautiful photography opportunities that were missed because the subject was inside the minimum focusing distance of my lens. Unfortunately, the surroundings prevented me from backing up to get the shot. The solution for that problem is, off course, more equipment, namely extension tubes. Mine arrived by UPS yesterday, so I was interested in giving them a try.

They day was hot and humid. There wasn't a lot of activity so my choices were shooting bees or dragonflies. Since I was going to be carrying this heavy long lens with me, I figured I would test out shooting dragonflies with the extension tubes. The results were often frame filling images, with beautiful backgrounds. So I expect taht I'll have to lug the tubes around the refuge in the future.


Slender Bluet


Common Whitetail


Female Common Pondhawk


Male Common Pondhawk












Common Green Darner


I have noticed that the flowers that are starting to bloom now fade oh so quickly. During the late spring and early summer they seemed to last forever. One flower that seems to be an exception to this is the Swamp Rose Mallow. These large pretty flowers have been blooming for a couple of weeks.




In photography you often have happy accidents. I was shooting these flower and did not notice the tiny bee that arrived until I got home and uploaded my photos. It makes what would otherwise be a boring photo.