05-29-2014, 02:35 PM
Went up to the cottage for the Memorial Day weekend. First we've been up since end of February and it may be a while till we get up again.
So we went up Friday morning and the first thing I see is this:
Wow! Lot's of folks are up there not only for the holiday but it's morel season too. We've never seen any in the 12 years there and we have a batch next to our cottage!
And prepping for consumption:
The one yellow morel was by itself away from the patch and was the only one of those we found. Browned the onion and garlic, added some white wine and cream, added the morels and simmered the mix for a little bit. Delicious!
Being further north the trees are even slower at getting going. Here's a pic of some maples and oaks alongside the white pines and it almost looks like Fall! The new growth on the trees has yellowish and reddish buds:
So, to the critters... I first want to say that I'm not really happy with the outcome of some my pix. I had experimented with a UV filter over the lens of the SX40 but it seemed I was getting some effect like multiple images. Some forumites suggested it was the quality of the filter I used. But, I don't like having the lens unprotected and I do forget to put the lens cap back on so I experimented again with a better brand and sure enough, I got the same results. I'm just going to have to be careful when I shoot with the SX40 as I'm not using a filter any more. Yes, I know, it's a poor workman who blames his tools, but this is an obvious problem.
Here, then, are some of the wildlife busting loose:
An Oriole. Lot's of them here...
And an Osprey. You can see what looks like a line along the body and wings-that's an artifact from the UV filter. Tried to get a closer shot but it comes out of nowhere (back in the trees) and disappears just as quickly:
A crappy shot of a Crayfish-no, no polarizer. But this guy was pretty large. I'd say about four inches long.
And a Painted turtle enjoying the sun:
Also, a turtle I have never heard of and when I had seen these I thought it was a Snapper but it's a Blanding's Turtle. I just got this shot but when I showed a friend this pic he said the chin-which is all the shot shows-is the identifying mark:
I know this is hard to see but not only have I've never seen any of these up here but saw two in one day! A Northern Water Snake and this one was swimming across the lake which at that point is 300 yards:
Then I saw this guy outside the window-a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. At first I thought it might be injured or ill as it was just sitting on a downed log. But then it was preening itself and acting normal so it was just warming up in the sun:
These are some beautiful flowers growing right along the water line in the bog next to the lake. Anyone know what they are?
So I sat out looking for the meteor shower till almost three AM and didn't see squat. But I did get a shot of the Summer Triangle rising. This about a 100ยบ angle of view:
I know, you're thinking, "What Triangle?" as it's smack in the Galaxy. So here are the three stars comprising the constellation; Vega at the top, Deneb at the left, and Altair on the right:
We had just perfect weather all weekend and I'll finish with a pleasant pic of the flora greening up, the lilies in the water coming up, and a nice sunny day for kayaking:
Thx for looking in...
So we went up Friday morning and the first thing I see is this:
Wow! Lot's of folks are up there not only for the holiday but it's morel season too. We've never seen any in the 12 years there and we have a batch next to our cottage!
And prepping for consumption:
The one yellow morel was by itself away from the patch and was the only one of those we found. Browned the onion and garlic, added some white wine and cream, added the morels and simmered the mix for a little bit. Delicious!
Being further north the trees are even slower at getting going. Here's a pic of some maples and oaks alongside the white pines and it almost looks like Fall! The new growth on the trees has yellowish and reddish buds:
So, to the critters... I first want to say that I'm not really happy with the outcome of some my pix. I had experimented with a UV filter over the lens of the SX40 but it seemed I was getting some effect like multiple images. Some forumites suggested it was the quality of the filter I used. But, I don't like having the lens unprotected and I do forget to put the lens cap back on so I experimented again with a better brand and sure enough, I got the same results. I'm just going to have to be careful when I shoot with the SX40 as I'm not using a filter any more. Yes, I know, it's a poor workman who blames his tools, but this is an obvious problem.
Here, then, are some of the wildlife busting loose:
An Oriole. Lot's of them here...
And an Osprey. You can see what looks like a line along the body and wings-that's an artifact from the UV filter. Tried to get a closer shot but it comes out of nowhere (back in the trees) and disappears just as quickly:
A crappy shot of a Crayfish-no, no polarizer. But this guy was pretty large. I'd say about four inches long.
And a Painted turtle enjoying the sun:
Also, a turtle I have never heard of and when I had seen these I thought it was a Snapper but it's a Blanding's Turtle. I just got this shot but when I showed a friend this pic he said the chin-which is all the shot shows-is the identifying mark:
I know this is hard to see but not only have I've never seen any of these up here but saw two in one day! A Northern Water Snake and this one was swimming across the lake which at that point is 300 yards:
Then I saw this guy outside the window-a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. At first I thought it might be injured or ill as it was just sitting on a downed log. But then it was preening itself and acting normal so it was just warming up in the sun:
These are some beautiful flowers growing right along the water line in the bog next to the lake. Anyone know what they are?
So I sat out looking for the meteor shower till almost three AM and didn't see squat. But I did get a shot of the Summer Triangle rising. This about a 100ยบ angle of view:
I know, you're thinking, "What Triangle?" as it's smack in the Galaxy. So here are the three stars comprising the constellation; Vega at the top, Deneb at the left, and Altair on the right:
We had just perfect weather all weekend and I'll finish with a pleasant pic of the flora greening up, the lilies in the water coming up, and a nice sunny day for kayaking:
Thx for looking in...