wildlife – Page 25 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

To Catch The Wind

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Eastern Red Cedar 51821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Thick evergreen boughs shake lightly in the still afternoon air. The Eastern Red Cedar is just beginning to flower and soon the light colored cones will be replaced by fragrant blue berries. I hoped to find a Cedar Waxwing building a nest or simply hanging out among the boughs but whatever the sly bird was it made a hasty egress on the other side of tree. I remember when this particular Cedar was just a tiny sprout growing among the brambles on the border of my parent’s driveway and the neighbor’s fields. In those days the only occupants of the large open hill were cattle. On warm Spring days the huge open field was the perfect spot to try and launch a kite. In the days before drones a kite was the best way to touch the sky. I seem to remember that we had one with Snoopy on it and the other was embossed with the markings of the Red Barron. We were by no means expert kite pilots. In fact we were happy to just get them airborn most of the time. We were thrilled if one made it above the trees! Now we have drones of every imaginable type and automatic return with high quality video. But the connection is virtual. The skill of reading the wind by the slightest vibration of a string and knowing that it’s time to reduce or increase tension is rare if not lost within the general public. And now it’s the little sprout that I used to brush past on my way to the open field that touches the sky. My she stand for generations and hopefully one day see children rediscover the lost art of catching the wind with a string.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.

We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Lloyds Lens Photography web link — Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographerThank you again for your support of my page!♥️

Weeds?

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Vetch 51821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Springtime in the Appalachian Mountains is always an explosion of colors. Small wildflowers seems to erupt from every mountain hollow. It seems like when you blink a new life appears before you. Vetch isn’t a native species but it is one that has adapted here. I do sometimes wonder if it’s capable of supplying a full range of micronutrients and phytochemicals for the wildlife that is native we’ve learned so much about our world since the days when learned people who had the best intentions brought so many alien species to North America. But it is sometimes used as fodder for livestock and it does fix nitrogen in the soil. The honeybees aren’t native here either but we do seem to consider them important to the balance of nature. And they do seem to enjoy the brightly colored pea like flowers of the Vetch along with the native bees and other pollinators. I was once advised by a marketing expert that I should probably not publish as many weeds but I to be honest I think that I have a different definition for what a weed is. The common aspect is that a weed is an undesirable plant growing in an inconvenient environment. And when I look at my forest with tree of heaven sprouting hither and yon I have a tendency to see their point. That particular tree is one that if I could completely remove from North America I would. I find no redeeming qualities in it whatsoever. However, that’s not true for every species. The deer on my mountain seem to enjoy the European clover, apples and even the Asian vetch that grows in the ditches and fallow fields. So the question becomes if it’s undesirable to whom? But I digress. The truth is that with a few exceptions like tree of heaven most of the alien species do offer at least some benefit.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

In The Pink

Color Photography, wildlife

A warm glow spreads through my mountains and drives out the unseasonably cold rain. In the wake of the life giving rays of the sun all manner of woodland creatures scurry, fly crawl and swim throughout my forest sanctuary. I step out into the warm day myself and feel somewhat renewed by the sunshine and balmy breeze out of the south. The white azaleas have run their course and lay exhausted in the grass at the base of the shrub which is now sprouting new leaves. But my pink azaleas are still bursting into a glorious bloom. The little bush has found just the right spot to be happy on the Eastern Wall of my deck. The dense cluster of twigs and branches provide just enough cover for the songbirds that frequent my feeders when the shadow of the crows and hawks pass overhead. I’m still waiting for the hummingbirds to make an appearance here but they have been visiting my mother’s feeders on the other side of the river and mountains. In the meantime I am still visited by the sparrows, goldfinches, cardnials and towhee that are often found waiting their turn at the feeders in the pink azaleas.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

Dealing With Rainy Days And Mondays

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Pawpaw Flowers 42821a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

Cold air spills into my window as I listen closely to my Carolina wrens chattering in the rain. They say that if you don’t like the weather in West Virginia all you need to do is wait a few minutes and it will change. Thanks to La Nina May hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations and a few minutes became a few weeks. The little wrens don’t even seem to notice the cold and have no problem with the soggy meal they find around the feeders. As for myself, I find myself less tolerant of the cold Appalachian rain than I used to be. Fortunately I have always held back a few photos for just such a rainy day. Back in April as I trekked out to Cathedral Falls I happened to look down at trail and found it was covered by chocolate colored pedals and that I was standing beneath a pawpaw in bloom. The tree was loaded with delicate bell shaped flowers with more coming on. This Fall visitors to the little roadside park will have access to one of the best treats in Appalachia. The oddly shaped fruit should be quite plentiful judging by the floral load on the tree. Scientists say that the pawpaw was once a tropical fruit that came here by way of wooly mammoth during the ice age and indeed the scenery here could put one in a prehistoric mood. Especially during a cool Spring day like today. As the rain waxes and wanes I occasionally peek out to see that wrens are joined by my woodpeckers and song sparrows. The littlest one has developed a routine of coming to sit on my window sill and peek in. Today I thought for sure that when he landed he was going to hop right onto my computer monitor and enjoy a little shelter but it seems that at the last moment he lost his nerve and flew back to the shelter of the mountain Magnolia and its giant leaves. We call it the umbrella tree for a reason. Rainy Days and Mondays and might get The Carpenters down but I have my little songbirds to cheer me up and a sunny day in my pocket. ( In the form of a photo).

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

A New Hunter In My Forest

Color Photography, wildlife

Hello Friends! Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Eastern Rat Snake 51621a” and is available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

The May sun is cooler than normal this year. I have been wondering if resident rat snake had made it through the winter. He lives in my sheds and we’ve learned to tolerate each other to a degree. Often I find him resting in some part of my lawn tractor and so that chore begins with a careful inspection of the moving parts to ensure that my natural pest control is safe from damage. If you missed last year’s post about rat snakes let me catch you up. The snake isn’t a pet. He’s a wild animal just like my songbirds and other wildlife on the property. However, He’s the only non-animal that regularly allows me to pick him up and so I gave him a name. I call him Decon because he deals with the mice. But he also disappears for long periods. We do also have a resident hawk and I’ve begun to wonder if Decon met his natural fate with the hawk. So when I saw the dark shape stretched out in driveway I thought that Decon had returned.

Image Titled “Eastern Rat Snake 51621b”. All photos found on my website are my original work and are available for purchase by clicking the thumbnail and reaching out to me on the contact page.

However, as I approach the snake it started to display it’s kicking posture. Something that Decon never did. It’s believed that this posture is an attempt to mimic a dead stick lying on the ground and thus is a form of camouflage. After all, a rat snake has only two defenses. Hide is one and stink is the other. It has absolutely no venom and it’s teeth are rather small and barb like. It still hadn’t dawned on me that this is not the same rat snake I’ve known over the past years. It wasn’t until I got closer and eye level with my lens that noticed the differences.

Image Titled “Eastern Rat Snake 51621c”.

This snake has more white on it’s face and a beautiful brown undertone in it’s coloration. I could be wrong but I think it’s also younger than Decon. It seems to have freshly molted as well revealing patterns in it’s skin.

Some people think that these patterns are the result of cross breeding with pit vipers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rat Snakes lay eggs and pit vipers have live birth. I’m not sure but I also think that the chromosome count is wrong for cross breeding. Not to mention that rat snakes like king snakes will eat pit vipers. Which is another big reason why I allow rat snakes to have space in my sheds. The two species have been known to hole up together in winter but generally speaking pit vipers avoid areas with rat snakes. And since they have such a keen sense of smell they can tell where each other is living.

Image Titled “Eastern Rat Snake 51621d”.

And so I step a little easier knowing that these non venomous and non-aggressive Rat snakes are patrolling my yard. However, this newcomer is a little too close to the door. In my sheds he’s fine but the house and walkways are out of bounds. He wins a free ride in a bucket to the forest edges where there’s plenty of hunting and some large exposed rocks to sun on. And judging from his reaction to meeting a real live human he’d prefer to return to the forest. And so he did.

Announcement 2.0

I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup

Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc

Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!

To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

WELCOME TO LLOYD’S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/embed/#?secret=ZBipPVJdZw