Category: Nature

Views of nature and the natural world. Plants, animals, and wildlife from around the world.

Four-Years Ago (19-November-2007) — Hawaii

Gone to See Hawaii. Big Island Photography Workshop with Thom Hogan. Day 2: Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historic Park.

Image of a Green Gecko taken during the Thom Hogan  photography workshop on the Big Island in Hawaii I attended four years ago.

Gecko at Pu?uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park. Image taken with D2xs and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, f/11, 1/80 sec).. (David J Mathre)
Gecko at Pu?uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park. Image taken with D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, f/11, 1/80 sec).. (David J Mathre)

Friday (18-November-2011) — New Jersey

Backyard Autumn Nighttime Sky Over New Jersey: Leonid Meteors.

I had two cameras out monitoring the night sky with the hope of catching a Leonid Meteor. Two of the images had small meteor trails. A bit later there was something much brighter. I am not sure if it is a meteor, however it does not have parallel lights or regular strobe flashes like a jet trail. The other possibility would be a satellite trail. The curved trail is due to the fisheye lens. I used DxO to process the image to correct for the fisheye effect (4th/final image).

Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with DxO Pro, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)
Late fall night sky over New Jersey with a Leonid Meteor. Image taken with a Nikon D3 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 60 sec). Raw image processed with DxO Pro, Nik Define, Photoshop CS5. (David J Mathre)

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Four-Years Ago (17-November-2007) — Colorado

Colorado Wildlife — Migrating Tundra Swans and Big Horn Sheep.

I drove to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge near Walden Colorado. It is a long drive, but the pass through Rocky Mountain National Park was still open. I knew it was late in the year and didn’t expect to see many migrating birds, but hoped to see some Pronghorn Elk or Moose. While driving through the refuge on the Auto Tour route, I saw eight large white birds across one of the lakes. I took some images, first with a 80-400 mm VR lens, and then with 200-400 f/4 VR lens. It was rather windy, so used the car to block the wind to minimize motion with the big lenses. Even on a tripod this was hard. It looks like these are Tundra Swans which the bird list for the wildlife refuge list as being rare (once every 2-5 years). I guess  I was lucky. I also didn’t see anyone else while visiting the reserve.

Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/8, 1/1600 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 200 mm, f/8, 1/1600 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 400, 400 mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens + TCE-II 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 800 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)
Tundra Swans. Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. Image taken with a Nikon D2XS and 200-400 mm f/4 VR lens + TCE-II 20 teleconverter (ISO 400, 800 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro 6, Photoshop CS5, Nik Define, Nik Color Efex Pro 2. (David J Mathre)

While returning from the reserve I came upon several Big Horn Sheep along Colorado Highway 14.

Big Horn Ram Huddle. Along Colorado 14 near Sheridan in Roosevelt National Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 200-400 mm lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Big Horn Ram Huddle. Along Colorado 14 near Sheridan in Roosevelt National Forest. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 200-400 mm lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)

 

Wednesday (02-November-2011) — New Jersey

Late October Nor’easter Aftermath: Day 4

Update from PSE&G >95% of Power Restored. Restoration Challenges:

  • This storm caused more individual incidents of damage to PSE&G’s electric infrastructure than Hurricane Irene.
  • This storm was particularly damaging because, with leaves still on the
    trees, the heavy snow created considerable weight on tree limbs, bringing down
    numerous trees and power lines.
  • In addition to major circuits, there were a larger number of individual
    service lines from our poles to customers’ homes and business that were
    damaged.

Tuesday (01-November-2011) — New Jersey

Late October Nor’easter Aftermath: Day 3

Other than a few power dips (brown outs), the power remained on for the last day. My APC UPS units continue to protect the computers and servers. The following is an update from PSE&G.

  • 88% of the more than 570,000 PSE&G customers impacted by power outages from
    Saturday’s wet, heavy snow that brought down numerous trees and power lines.
    Crews will continue to work around the clock until all customers have power.
  • PSE&G expects to meet the state’s goal of having at least 95 percent
    of customers restored by Thursday. At this time, about 67,000 customers are
    without power with the majority of these in Bergen, Essex and Passaic
    counties
  • This storm caused more individual incidents of damage to
    PSE&G’s electric infrastructure than did Hurricane Irene. There is a larger
    number of service lines that are damaged as a result of falling tree limbs.
    Repairing the significant number of single lines from the poles to customers’
    homes and businesses presents the greatest challenge with this
    storm.
  • PSE&G is using every available resource to make repairs and
    restore electricity as quickly and safely as possible.  Resources include 262
    crews and troubleshooters, 116 line contractor crews and 240 tree crews working
    to restore power.  In addition to its own crews, PSE&G is receiving
    assistance from mutual aid crews from Alabama, Florida, Georgia and
    Mississippi.
  • Electric crews work to restore power to the largest numbers
    of customers first, taking into account “priority” customers, such as hospitals,
    police stations, fire stations, water and sewer facilities, schools, and
    communications facilities (TV, radio, and telephone).  At the same time, the
    utility restores power to homes and businesses, starting with the circuits
    serving the largest number of customers.