Red Admiral Reflection
This was one finely crafted and very reflective Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly. It was only taking a drink of water, but it felt like much more.
Read MoreLightning Rainbow
Here’s a thunderstorm from earlier this week with orange, pink, purple, white and blue lightning – it may not be all the colors of the rainbow, but it is still pretty good, huh? Natural nature art is the best. Go enjoy some this weekend.
Read MoreHot Northern Flicker
Here is the Roger Tory Peterson “spark” bird, the Northern Flicker. This fella (a male as noted by his mustache) was not chatting and was instead rather hot on one of the most brutal recent summer afternoons. It had flown into the tree a moment earlier after feeding on some ants on the ground in the scorching sunshine. Keep those bird baths full and clean, please!
Read MoreThunderstorm
One reason we did not have severe thunderstorms locally at Stratford Point on Sunday night was because of this severe thunderstorm to the north in the late afternoon. It likely took some of our energy, and it was pushing out air towards us, cooling things down and then blocking the sun for a while. Combined with other factors like drier air working in thanks to the cold front we lost some of our massive instability. This is right before the sun went behind the clouds from the thunderhead. You can see rain coming down from the ground under the anvil looking NW/N from near the main...
Read MoreSong Sparrow Bath
Whether you are currently living in the heat and humidity or being threatened with heavy rain and thunderstorms we all can take a bath outside simply by walking out the door in much of the U.S. this August. Or perhaps you would like to join this Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) for a cool down and clean up. You can see the bird even dunking its head in the water and getting its entire body wet. Bird bathing is critical for our feathered friends in order to help keep all of those feathers in the best shape they can be. Baths also likely help in getting rid of mites or ticks while of course...
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