As the guest judge and the guy who chose "rocks in black & white" as the August challenge on the Intense Photography Group, I've been keeping my own eyes peeled for good rock shots. I like this one looking up the old quarry wall in Ballard Park:
Still down in the quarry, I was pleased to see that the Purple Coneflower at the foot of Maggie's Tree is still blooming:
I got down on my belly to get the next two shots of Ground Ivy blooms. Unfortunately it rained last night, there was fog afterward, and today was still pretty humid, so the grass was quite wet when I laid down to get the pictures. O, what I put up with for my art!
A little farther along on the quarry floor I ran across some more Orange Jewelweed and decided to get a down-the-throat shot of one of the blooms:
We exit the park at Hazard Rd. and head down the road toward Gooseneck Cove, and along the way run into this Canada Darner dragonfly:
Arriving at Gooseneck Cove who did I see but my buddy Jack Kelly, fellow birder and photographer. He was looking across to the eastern side of Hazard Rd., and following his line of sight what did I see but a Great Blue Heron fishing. We watched and shot this gorgeous bird for a while. By very good luck, I'd been hoping to find a Great Blue for Bob this weekend, and here it is!
Along with the Heron, this upper end of the Cove was quite busy - a Little Blue Heron (a smaller cousin of the Great Blue), several Snowy Egrets, a couple of Great Egrets, and a Belted Kingfisher. I managed to get a shot of this Snowy flying by:
After Gooseneck cove I ended up on the "country lane" leg of my loop, and ran across another prime subject for the rocks in b&w category, this stone stairway on Beacon Hill Rd.:
A little farther along on Beacon Hill Rd. I ran across these Indian Pipes. Down on the elbows and belly again, I got said elbows all caked with twigs and dead leaves. Ouch, that hurts!
And finally, down to King Park on the southern end of Newport Harbor. As I said earlier, it's humid today, so these Arleen clouds were piling up all over the place:
And to wind up the hike, I saw this fella taking a dip in the harbor. His mistress says his name is Rocco:
And that's another walk on a Saturday in August.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 9
Isn't jewelweed supposed to be good for poison ivy? I seem to remember my mom showing us how the seedpods explode and throw seeds all over on a visit back to her hometown in Andover, New York, years ago. It grew down by the creek behind my grandmother's house.