Day 20 - In My Hand

Nestled in my hand

A tiny phlox bloom

Searched for the light

She had fallen from the plant

at the height of her beauty

Looking for a tender hand to save her from her plight.

I was lucky to capture these photos on my balcony just before the storm broke and the 

heavy rain fell, bouncing off the road and path.

Ah!

Coolness at last!

Ocean Sunfish

Ocean Sunfish Mola mola 

Ocean Sunfish with Great Shearwater

On July 7 a group of 35 naturalists were treated to a good viewing of an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) while on a long boat trip off Grand Manan to the Prong area between Grand Manan, NB and Nova Scotia.  The Mola mola is a slow-moving creature so we had a good view and photo opportunity.  Shown above is what it looked like as it moved along slowly at the surface.  There were many seabirds present and the photo shows a Great Shearwater.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola mola is a very large pelagic bony fish which inhabits all the world oceans except the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.  It is a member of the Molidae family which contains the world's largest bony fishes.  There are several species of Molas in this family.  The Molas are prehistoric creatures being around since 45 million years ago.  They are harmless, slow-moving creatures which occasionally occur in our waters.  The Molidae contains fishes which weigh from 247 to 1000 kg or more.  Some rays and sharks can be larger but they are cartilaginous fishes.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Ocean Sunfish occupies a unique place in the ocean ecosystem.  It drifts around slowly looking for jelly fish, its main diet.  Its top speed is 3.2 km/hour.  Its name, 'mola', is derived from the word for millstone and describes its peculiar shape.  It looks like a fish without a tail; a fish that has only a head.  In German it is called a 'swimming head'.  It is flattened dorsoventrally and its dorsal and anal fins have evolved into large paddles which it uses to slowly move along.  It kind of looks like a lollipop with 2 fins on the lower edges.  It moves through the water by slowly undulating back and forth propelling itself along with the 'paddles'.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola can get very large, 10 ft by 14 feet.  Because of its large size it does not have many predators except orcas, sharks and sea lions.  It is silvery in colour and is covered with tough, leathery, sandpaper-like skin.  The skin is composed of millions of minuscule bony plates each with a tiny spine.  It has large eyes and an open mouth which gives it a weird expression.  It cannot close its mouth and its teeth are fused into a beak-like structure.  Its only mammal-like bones are in the dense bony spine.  The other bones are cartilaginous.  This is an advantage for weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity.  Its intestinal walls are thick in order to resist the stings and abrasions from its food.  Its 'tail fin' is not actually derived from a tail at all but has evolved from a fusion of the trailing edges of its dorsal and anal fins.  It is called a 'clavus' and is used for steering.  

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The dorsal fin which is frequently out of the water looks much like that of a shark.  It can be distinguished by the motion of being waved in and out of the water as it propels the fish along.  The dorsal fin of a shark would be cutting straight through the water.  See the photo above.

The Ocean Sunfish eats mainly jelly fish but also small fish, zooplankton and algae.  It dives to a depth of 500 ft to feed and then returns to the surface to warm itself after being in the cold ocean depths.  That is how its gets its name, 'sunfish'.  Its skin can be covered with parasites and it often has commensal fish feeding off these parasites.  The Sunfishes sometimes breech in an attempt to rid themselves of these parasites with the force of the heavy splash.  The female lays 300 million eggs and the young are only millimetres in size when they hatch.  The young travel in schools but become loners when they reach adulthood.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

The Mola mola has a very large eye which can be seen in the photo above.  They are curious creatures and often approach people.  It seemed to be enjoying watching us as we watched it.

The populations of Molas are vulnerable to human activity.  Many get caught in gill nets and other fishing gear.  They are especially vulnerable to the garbage in our oceans.  Many suffocate on plastic bags which they may mistake for jellyfish.  They also consume other ocean trash like so many other species.  

We must clean up our oceans in order to protect vital ocean ecosystems! 

Day 19 - Evening Walk

Evening bee on sunflower.

There are many gardens and allotments in my neighbourhood 

and my early morning and my evening walks allow me to enjoy them all.

One garden was just full of beautiful sunflowers

They are glorious from every angle

Even from the back.

The colours vary

I love the young flowers unfolding their petals.

Perfection

The sky was showing an announced change in the weather from hot and sunny

and then to hot and humid as the clouds increased.

Storms and rain are on the way and hopefully we shall get some refreshment

from the lovely rain!

Day 18 - Time to Dream

Isn't that what summer is all about?

Taking time to dream

and be totally immersed in the moment.

New flowers to plant in two of my window-boxes

I bought them down the market today

and just love their fresh colours.

Author: Gladys Taber

Day 17 - Heart

Heart shapes

have a particular charm.

I notice them when I go out walking

and they are especially lovely to crochet. 

I recently made some for a wedding table decoration.

This time I have made a crocheted bag to give as a gift

to a little four year-old girl. 

I've made it reversible so that her favourite colour scheme can be used.

The buttons allow the shoulder strap to be altered as needed.

A bag is so much more exciting with a little gift inside

This tiny panda bear wanted to come home with me when I was out shopping.

He fits in perfectly!

***

It is common politeness to give a link

to the person who provides or creates this pattern

Double Trouble? Think Again!: Benefits of Adopting a Pair

Warm weather marks the beginning of kitten season at Animal Friends. This is the time of year that cats give birth, often beginning as early as March and lasting into October. At Animal Friends, we're  feeling the effects of kitten season as we work tirelessly to accommodate the overwhelming needs of kittens who come through our doors. With so many homeless kittens waiting to find loving families, right now is the perfect time to adopt a sweet kitten … or two! At Animal Friends, we know it’s twice as nice to adopt two kittens at once.

Not to mention, when you adopt two animals from Animal Friends, you get twice the amount of love for one adoption donation!





There are many benefits to adding two kittens to your family at once.

• They will always have a playmate to chase, wrestle and keep them active, well-exercised and healthy.
• Many cats are social and will love having a sibling to groom and cuddle with during nap time.
• Kittens learn from each other! If one is a little shy, socializing with an outgoing sibling can show them how to interact with humans.
• Usually, negative behaviors in pets can be because of boredom. Having a companion will help to keep them mentally stimulated and out of trouble!
• We all have to leave home from time to time. Having a kitten sibling can alleviate separation anxiety for your kitten and can prevent you from feeling guilty for being away.
• Two cats will bring your family double the love. They make great lap warmers during the winter months and offer twice as many purrs and cheek rubs. The only thing more heartwarming than the love of a pet is the love of two!
• Adopting two cats actually saves four lives – the two you're adopting, and the two that will take their open spots at Animal Friends, given a priceless second chance thanks to your adoption.

Having two kittens doesn't require much additional effort, either. An extra food and water dish and litterbox is well worth the joy your newest additions will bring to the family. Plus, if you adopt from Animal Friends, your newest family members will be spayed/neutered, microchipped and up to date on all vaccinations. 

Often, Animal Friends has pairs of cats who have come in together and need to find a home with room for two. We'll help you introduce your new cats to your home and give them the time and space they need to bond. 

It’s the perfect time to bring home two homeless cats! How can you resist? Two-step to Animal Friends at double speed – after all, two cats certainly are twice as nice!

So, come to Animal Friends or visit ThinkingOutsideTheCage.org/Cats to meet our adoptable cats today!

Golden-winged Skimmer in Ohio

Hard to keep current with the blog of late, due to travels and too many commitments. I'm not wanting for subject matter, though - many of my excursions, if not specifically photographic in nature, at least allow for some pictorial exploration.

Last Saturday involved work and play. Debbie DiCarlo and I were scouting a few spots in advance of our "Prairies at their Peak" photo workshop the following day, and stopped by a wonderful fen in west-central Ohio to see how things looked. Of course, we had cameras in tow and were creating imagery along the way.

ASIDE: The workshop mentioned above was full with twelve people, and we had a great time. Lots of images of everything from tiny macro insects to sweeping prairie landscapes. Scores of great images were made, and I think we all advanced our knowledge of picture-taking, and natural history. Our next workshop will immerse the group into a deluge of biodiversity and fascinating subjects, as we'll be visiting southern Ohio's Shawnee Forest and vicinity. That'll be August 31 - September 2, and we can take a few more participants. All of the details are RIGHT HERE.

Anyway, while scanning a fen meadow on last Saturday's scouting trip, I spotted a gorgeous golden dragonfly shoot past. I was mostly focusing on dragonflies at that point of our field trip, as I'm trying to photo-document as many damselflies and dragonflies as possible for the Ohio Dragonfly Survey. I knew the golden insect was special, and began stalking it. It was, if my suspicion was correct, a dragonfly I had only seen once before in Ohio, when Rick Nirschl found the first state record in Lucas County in the summer of 2008. That was such a notable find that I met Rick at the site specifically to see the beasts (he found a few).

After a bit of watching and waiting, the animal finally alit on a stalk of prairie-dock, allowing me this documentary shot. Yes! A golden-winged skimmer, Libellula auripennis! This is a showy species of the southern and eastern states, with few but an ever-increasing number of midwestern records.

Following Nirschl's inaugural Ohio discovery, there were three other documented records, the most recent of which was last year during the Ohio Odonata Society's annual conference, appropriately enough. Unless I'm missing something, this record would make Ohio's fourth record of golden-winged skimmer, but I'll wager there will be plenty more in the coming years.

It was hot and sunny when I found the skimmer, so the bug was quite active and quick to flee. Nonetheless, he - it is a male - eventually allowed me this one nice pose, and I took advantage. Golden-winged skimmers are striking insects due to their large size and gorgeous golden-orange coloration, and also quite distinctive. If you see one, please let me know, or better yet, report it to the aforementioned Ohio Dragonfly Survey. One of our main goals with that three year project (2017 thru 2019) is to document shifts in dragonfly populations.

Finally, a note about dragonfly photography. There are many ways to photographically skin a dragonfly, or damselfly, and most any camera can get an identifiable shot if the shooter can get close enough (AND the species is identifiable in a photo). But dedicated macro lenses often work best, and my two favorite dragonfly lenses have long been Canon's superb 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, and the quirky but crazy sharp Canon 180mm f/3.5 macro lens. In a perfect world, I would use the 100mm for small stuff like bluets, forktails, and spreadwings, and the 180mm for larger dragonflies. The latter is a telephoto macro lens that allows the user to be about twice as far away as is necessary with the 100mm lens. Keeping distance from the subject is helpful as dragonflies can be quick to flee in the face of a perceived threat.

But recently I've hit on a new favorite dragonfly lens rig, usually mated to my Canon 5D IV. It is the aging but still amazing Canon 300mm f/4, with image stabilization. I got this lens used a while back, and didn't have to pay a lot for it. It's good for lots of things, but when I coupled it with a 12mm extension tube and turned it to dragonflies, I realized it was an excellent dragon-slayer indeed. The 300mm works well on even tiny damselflies, but really shines with the larger dragonflies. Because of its long focal length, I can often remain well back from the subject and am thus more unlikely to flush it. This lens/camera combo is what allowed me to photo-document the subject of this post.