August 2007
25 posts
WatchLunar Eclipse: A few photos of the August 28th lunar eclipse as seen from Bowdoin, Maine. Unfortunately, the Moon set before totality occurred. Camera settings: 400mm lens + 1.4X teleconverter. Dial to Manual mode. Set to as close to infinity as dial will go. Preferrably past infinity…but in this case, with the 400 mm lens on, we could not dial past infinity. F22, 1/5 second.
WatchA distinctive dragonfly found in the U.S. and Canada.
VEGETABLE GARDEN UPDATE: I pulled up all the broccoli plants as they were being demolished by a small green worm and had no chance of developing. The cucumbers are still doing very well and some are climbing the garden fence. I might try planting them closer to the fence next summer. The cherry tomatoes are gorgeous as are the medium-sized tomatoes. We have a few small yellow squash and zucchini...
WatchViceroy Butterfly: The Viceroy butterfly closely mimics the Monarch butterfly in appearance, but is non-toxic. The word “viceroy” derives from the Latin vice-, meaning “in the place of” and the French roi meaning “king or monarch”. Drew photographed this butterfly in the milkweed patch yesterday. We did not see any Monarchs.
WatchLuna Moth Caterpillar: We found a half drowned Luna Moth Caterpillar on the bottom of Caesar Pond in about 10 inches of water. Our gummi-looking little friend seemed to revive after drying out for an hour, but has yet to eat anything or begin building a cocoon. Did you know that caterpillars only live for 2 weeks to a month before creating their cocoon? The luna moth caterpillars make their...
HOT AIR BALLOONS: Yesterday, we photographed some hot air balloons at the Great Falls Balloon Festival. Photos and video are posted to our http://kdoggy.tumblr.com/ web site. You will see the link to the right of this entry.
BLACKBERRY PICKING: We decided to check the progress of ripening blackberries in our favorite “secret” patch of the forest. We have been picking luscious berries here for the last 6 years. Well…over the last several years the berry yield has been decreasing, and this year we saw about a dozen berries, of which one was ripe. This area used to be disturbed with a nice, clear path...
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: The upcoming total lunar eclipse will occur on August 28th (a Tuesday morning). Wherever you live, make sure to look in the southwest sky to see the lunar eclipse. It will begin at 3:55 am here on the east coast, and totality will occur at 5:52 am with sunrise occurring at 5:58 am. This means that we will have a very small window of opportunity to see the orangey glow of the...
WatchSouth African Boer Goats: The nature of agriculture in Maine is changing with the burgeoning population of African immigrants. With the rising need for goat meat, many farmers are incorporating South African Boer Goat herds among their livestock. A neighboring farmer has done just that, and we had a lovely visit with his small goat herd.
PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: We had cloudy skies all night long and the Perseids were not to be seen. Here’s hoping the Leonids will be visible in November. Check out this calendar of astronomic events to keep abreast of upcoming viewing opportunities: http://home.att.net/~tangents/tech/astrocal.htm
WatchMacro Photography (closeup photography): The definition of “macro” is enlarged or elongated. The goal of digital macro photography is to enlarge tiny objects so they appear life-size, or larger than life. This slide show gives examples of my first attempts at macro photography. My ultimate goal is to photograph my sand collection. I have approximately 100 sand samples from all over...
COOPER’S HAWKS: The Cooper’s Hawks seem to have departed for other territories as we do not hear the incessant calling of the young anymore. All is quiet in the woods behind our house at the moment. I am hoping to see them soaring high above when I am over at the pond.
WatchBluegill (Sunfish): My buddy, Brandon, and I went out for a paddle on the pond with the intent of netting a bluegill. We knew of many nests along the eastern shore of Caesar Pond, and visited several of them before we found one with a fish in the nest. Brandon grabbed his net and proceeded to dip it into the water two times and, to our complete surprise, came up with a net full of a fish! We put...
WatchMilkweed Patch Update: As we hiked to the milkweed patch, Kasha found a number of irresitable mud puddles to wallow in to escape from the heat of the day. She was also able to amuse herself in the pursuit of “frogging”. Lucky for the frogs, she has yet to catch one. But, she is so cute as she attempts to pounce on the frogs as they nimbly jump away. As for the milkweed patch, the...
HAWK IDENTIFICATION: Many thanks go to Stan DeOrsey of the Stanton Bird Club for identifying our hawk as a Cooper’s Hawk. He also suggested a great hawk book titled, “Hawks”, by Clark and Wheeler. I’ll have to look into purchasing it.
WatchThere is a pair of hawks (parent and juvenile) in the neighbor’s woods adjacent to our property. I haven’t gotten a good look at the adult, but was able to photograph the juvenile this afternoon. The portion of the forest they are favoring is predominantly white pine. They have been very vocal for the last couple of weeks. Our best guess is that the hawks are either Northern Goshawks...
UPCOMING CELESTIAL EVENTS: Mark your calendars to do some nighttime skywatching. The first event, the Perseid Meteor Shower, will occur on August 12th between 9:30 pm and 4:00 am. Look into the northeastern sky to see Earth Grazers just above the horizon as the shower begins. Action will pick up as the night goes on. Naked eye viewing is the preferred method of seeing the meteors. If you try...
WatchPearly Eye Butterfly: The Pearly Eye Butterflies are performing an intricate mating dance in our backyard this week. I feel like I am in the Disney movie Fantasia as the butterflies flit about. Their constant movement made photographing them difficult, especially when they often chose to land on top of the camera or on my arm. Pearly Eyes are in the Satyr family of butterflies. It has been hot...