1 Adventure

Green Moss On Limestone Rocks After Storm

It rained pretty good yesterday (about a half inch) and when it does the natural area behind my house pops to life with a fantastic assortment of green moss and lichen all over the rocks and trees. Right after a storm is one of my favorite times to walk around and see what is taking advantage of the moisture. There is a collection of rocks next to a cedar tree in the back of my property and the rocks really put on a green show of this type of green moss. I have waited to "try" to take some good pictures of this. Wasn't sure which photo I liked better so I am posting both above and below.

I was reading a website a couple months about types of green moss and their remarkable ability to remain completely dormant (sometimes for many many years) until the slightest bit of moisture/rain/water to come alive for a very short period of time. Kick in photosynthesis, grow, use up what water it can till it dries out and then goes back into a dormancy. For such a small plant its very tough. Enjoy the photos, if you have any comments let me know.

Baby Cardinal & Eggs

This image is cropped from the original. I had a hard time trying cropping this image because I liked the whole scene of the baby cardinal in the nest but at the same time wanted to focus in on the fragile helpless nature of the bird in the nest. That is why I left some of the background nest at the top of the photo.

Here is the full frame shot of the baby bird with the nest surrounding it. This was terribly awful to shot. I was precariously standing on a latter with a heavy camera and lens trying to peek through a wrought-iron light fixture that keep moving in the breeze. Lots of fun though. A personal favorite shot.

Painted Bunting Photo - Male

Had the really rare wonderful opportunity to see a painting bunting this morning. I had only seen this bird before in fleeting moments while hiking and never close enough to get a photo. At first I didn't know what this bird was but was amazed at the beautiful colors and its apparent deep contrast to its brown and green surroundings. I was able to quickly snap some photos and this is the only one came out decent enough. Still not clear as I would like. (need to get a new zoom lenses badly). My camera's compact flash card decided to read "Full CF card" in the midst of shooting. My luck...but also my fault for not cleaning out the card regularly.

I also saw the female painting bunting. She was a greenish yellow color and harder to see in the trees and much hard to shot. Here is what she looks like in case your interested. Nice Sunday morning surprise!

Mt. Princeton Under Snow Fall - iPhone Picture

Loved how this image came out and even more spectacular it was shot with an Apple iPhone. The phone's camera carries only a 1 megapixel camera and uses all the surrounding light(no flash). Sometimes it takes a really good picture. This is a photo of Mt. Princeton or Yale near Salida, Colorado.