Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Black-capped Chickadee.
It was really cold out when I found this small bird trying to keep warm above my front door. It kept flying around and getting bits of the spider webs caught on its beak and wings. These images were taken with my “go anywhere” Nikon D300 camera and 18-200 mm lens with the pop-up flash. I did need to remove the lens hood to prevent a shadow in the image.
Individual images in the slide-show can be viewed here.
Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Spring is Coming!!!
When I got home today, I noticed that these Purple Crocuses were in bloom across the street. I think that this is the earliest that I have seen these blooming. In addition, some of the Daffodils are also starting to bloom.
For those wondering why I have not posted recently, things have been busy at work.
Backyard Winter Night Sky in New Jersey: Star and Jet Trails.
I used a 16 mm Fisheye lens to take acquire some winter night sky images. The images were combined using the startrails.exe program to get the star trail images. The first image is a composite of 15 60 second images relatively early in the evening. The next three are composites of 16, 35, and 300 second (5 minute) images.
Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Vacation. Day 9: Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage Traveling North.
The extended family was on a winter vacation in Norway, traveling north on the Hurtigruten ship M/S Kong Harald. This was day 6 of the voyage traveling north along the Norwegian coast. The stops on this day were in Øksfjord (02:15), Hammerfest (05:15-06:45), Havøysund (09:45) Honningsvåg (11:45-15:15), Kjøllefjord (17:45), Mehamn (20:00), and Verlevåg. During the stop in Honningsvåg we took a bus to North Cape (Nordkapp) traveling through the North Cape Tunnel. Later that night, the Captain announced that Auroras (Northern Lights) were visible.
Gone to See Norway 2007 Family Vacation. Day 8: Hurtigruten Coastal Voyage Traveling North.
Five years ago the extended family was on a winter vacation in Norway, traveling north on the Hurtigruten ship M/S Kong Harald. This was day 5 of the voyage north along the Norwegian coast. The stops on this day were in Stokmarknes (01:00), Sortland (03:00), Risøyhamn (04:30), Harstad (06:45-08:00), Finnsnes (11:45), Tromsø (14:30-18:30), and Skjervoy (22:45). During the stop in Tromsø, several of us went for a dog-sled ride. Even though only early afternoon, it was already dark out. At the end of the day, there was a baptism ceremony for passengers that crossed the Arctic Circle for the first time officiated by the Captain and King Neptune.