The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Tag: Wildlife

Other creatures in our world

Spider Breakfast

The season of giant orb-weaving spiders comes again to Poughkeepsie, with this one stretching a web across the decorative grasses bracketing the (unused) front door:

Orb spider – at rest

While I screwed around with the camera, she dashed off to one side and began wrapping a package:

Orb spider – wrapping insect

Her spinnerets release a torrent of silk during that operation!

Dragging it back to the middle of her orb, she settled down for breakfast.

Orb spider – ready for breakfast

So did I…

Hand held with the Sony DSC-H5, facing westward in dawn light, using the flash to bring the image up out of the mud. A touch of unsharp mask and some contrast stretching; nothing too drastic.

2014-10-11
Love at First Sight?

Woolly bear caterpillar on corn cob

The corn cob sat on the patio after an outdoor supper, awaiting a trip to the trash can, when an all-black woolly bear caterpillar appeared from nowhere.

I’m sure it’s a direct descendant of that one. We put this one in the garden, too, for the same reason.

2014-09-28
Chipmunk Feeding Zone

Mary puts damaged cherry tomatoes beside our resident chipmunk’s favorite hideout:

Chipmunk Feeding Zone

The critter eats them from the inside out, then tosses the shredded skins.

Since she started leaving her offerings, the chipmunk has been leaving the good cherry tomatoes in her garden untouched. We’re both astonished at how many tomatoes fit inside one chipmunk…

2014-09-27
Roosting Vultures

These turkey vultures were settling in for the evening on the south bank of the Rondout Creek in Kingston:

Vultures roosting – Rondout Creek Kingston NY

Hand-held with the HS-230SX at dusk and cropped a bit. There’s no way to get a good exposure of a black bird backlit by the sky…

2014-09-20
Monthly Image: Hummingbird!

Mary grows Scarlet Runner Beans with vivid red flowers specifically for the Ruby Throated hummingbirds that frequent the back yard:

Hummingbird with Scarlet Runner Bean flowers

This female perched quite a while on that tendril while sticking her tongue out; it looks like a length of monofilament fishing line. The male also feeds on those flowers, although I’ve never seen him perch anywhere for more than a few seconds.

We wish them success in raising their chicks!

Hand-held with the Canon SX-230HS zoomed all the way in, then ruthlessly cropped.

2014-09-15
Cellular Toad II

It seems toads really like the plant cell packs that Mary uses to start her garden veggies:

Cellular Toad – in cell pack

The garden isn’t quite as snug, but the camouflage works much better:

Cellular Toad – in garden

It’s been a dry year and we haven’t seen many toads or slugs around the house.

2014-09-13
Hudson River Eagle Sightings

A pocket camera can’t do justice to the Bald Eagles, just before dusk and halfway across the Hudson River from our river cruise yacht:

Bald Eagles at dusk – Hudson River near Hudson NY

We got a closer look at the pair of eagles who once graced the original Grand Central Station and are now standing guard at St Basil Academy in Garrison.

This one glanced away from the entrance, perhaps to keep an eye on us:

Eagle at St Basils Academy – entrance

Another watches over an interior road:

Eagle at St Basils Academy – cliff

They’re two tons of cast iron apiece and, should any of you want a restoration project, I’m sure the good folks at St Basil’s could work something out.

We saw those during the Cycling the Hudson Valley tour: riding during the day, camping and touristing in the evening.

Several years ago we encountered a Penn Station eagle at the Washington Zoo:

Karen on Penn Station eagle

Fly away, young Valkyrie, fly away …

2014-09-07