Happy Fourth of July!

The night sky lighting up, on the eve of Independence Day:

Photo by NB Hunter (3July2020). All rights reserved.

Happy Winter Solstice 2018!

Photo by NB Hunter. © All rights reserved.

Holiday Joy

Resident geese on a late evening flight to roost

Photo by NB Hunter. © All rights reserved.

A Winter Moon

Two days beyond perfection, but still lighting up the night sky.

Photo by NB Hunter (Jan. 3, 2018).

Our Winter Super Moon

Photo by NB Hunter (December 3, 2017). © All Rights Reserved.

Calls in the Night

The November full moon rose above the tall spruce trees along the edge of the yard around 8:00 this evening. Standing on the porch to get a better look, maybe take a picture or two, I was reminded that a full moon is much more than a diversion for a shivering photographer. The entire natural world responds, in some way or another, as its brightness casts shadows into the night.

This evening the response was audible: a pack of coyotes howling and yipping on a hilltop a half mile northeast of me. The eerie, bone-chilling calls are mesmerizing, even frightening when close, but I love the wildness of it all.

Photo by NB Hunter (3Nov2017).

October Memories

Wisps of clouds and soft colors defined a warm and peaceful sunrise

Natural rhythms were interrupted by unusually warm, dry and erratic weather patterns

Early leaf drop and muted colors in woodlands shifted attention to the landscape underfoot

The Harvest Moon reminded all of the landscape overhead

Harvested fields were crowded with hungry geese

Gulls as well as geese foraged in dense, low fog on cold mornings

Searches for fall landscapes led to familiar haunts, like the old mill pond

Driven more by photoperiod than the tricky warm weather, a mature male beaver prepared for winter by harvesting an aspen tree and stashing branches at the family lodge

Staghorn Sumac was on fire!

A large ash tree, dead for many years, returned to life. An impressive mass of “Chicken-of-the woods” fungus fruited on the base of the snag and lit up a drab woodland scene.

October reflections

Photos by NB Hunter (October 2017). © All Rights Reserved.

 

Partly Cloudy

I don’t look up as often as I should. Yesterday, in the midst of whacking away at multiflora rose invading my trail right-of-way, I received a call from a friend: “Where are you?” half mile from the house, clearing trail, trying to avoid hornets. “Do you have your camera with you?” of course, in a fanny pack. “Look up – you can thank me later!”.

Minutes later, the entire scene was gone. I never got to where I needed to be, in order to do what I wanted to do. Love the way mother nature presents and teases with these fleeting spectacles.

Photos by NB Hunter (9/13/2017). © All Rights Reserved.

A Summer Moon

Last week the first full moon of summer teamed up with scattered cloud cover to put on a show. Each evening the moon rose a little later, at first in twilight, then in total darkness. I was told of a 4 AM scene where it was framed by a rainbow in the southern sky; sorry, missed that one!

Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.

Flying High

I walk for wellness but this morning I came home with a stiff neck! I watched wave after wave of geese flying high and with purpose, all moving in a northerly direction. Three or four thousand birds passed overhead in an hour, many of them so high they were more easily heard than seen, dark specs strung out across the puffy white clouds.

Some flocks were Canada Geese…

while others were Snow Geese.

Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.