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May Day Full Flower Moon.
May. 2nd, 2026 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
full_metal_oxTaken on 1 May 2026 at 22:25 Eastern US Daylight Time over the parking lot joining Winn-Dixie and a local hotel, the latter outlined by its lights.
Once again, the photo doesn’t reflect what my corrective-lensed eyes actually saw—a serenely luminous disc the pale yellow of Muenster cheese—but the image is stark and dramatic. The lens flare on my cheap-ass burner phone made it resemble a black star sapphire (or, to read the image as suitably floral and local, a spider lily):
(I wasn’t the only one prowling this clear moonlit tropical night in search of food; two of the Burrowing Owls at my apartment complex were out hunting on the side lawn, as a third stood perched at the nest; this represents a full year of continuous occupancy and breeding, reflecting how safe they must feel here. They squawked at my approach, but did not hiss.)
Once again, the photo doesn’t reflect what my corrective-lensed eyes actually saw—a serenely luminous disc the pale yellow of Muenster cheese—but the image is stark and dramatic. The lens flare on my cheap-ass burner phone made it resemble a black star sapphire (or, to read the image as suitably floral and local, a spider lily):
(I wasn’t the only one prowling this clear moonlit tropical night in search of food; two of the Burrowing Owls at my apartment complex were out hunting on the side lawn, as a third stood perched at the nest; this represents a full year of continuous occupancy and breeding, reflecting how safe they must feel here. They squawked at my approach, but did not hiss.)
Bohemian Waxwings
Mar. 31st, 2026 09:32 ambookscorpion
This weekend, we went to the botanical gardens and we saw a big group of Bohemian waxwings! They are very rare guests here on their way to and from Scandinavia and I had never seen one before. I did know instantly what they were seeing them all sitting in the tree though.
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Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Mar. 26th, 2026 10:03 pmysabetwordsmithYesterday we visited the Coles County Community Garden. (See the right side and left side of the Charleston Food Forest.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
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Orchard Bees
Mar. 19th, 2026 04:02 pmbookscorpionThis morning I went to check out the big insect hotel near the canal and I was just in time to catch a whole bunch of male European orchard bees who I am fairly sure had just hatched (the females will hatch a little later in the year).
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March: Pusekätzchen
Mar. 11th, 2026 04:24 pmbookscorpionI went out for a little walk this morning and found the first willow catkins - Pusekätzchen! They are an important flower for bees at this time of year, not just for honey bees but for solitary bees, bumblebees and solitary wasps.
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Photos: House Yard
Mar. 6th, 2026 09:28 pmysabetwordsmithToday was unseasonably warm and sunny, so I took pictures around the yard. The first few are from indoors, then the rest are the house yard. (See the savanna.)
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Snowdrop Day
Feb. 27th, 2026 02:29 pmbookscorpion
I went to the cemetery today and it was the first warm day of spring - even the wind was warm, and all the birds were going absolutely nuts, they were so loud. The snowdrops are in full bloom everywhere and they look so incredibly lovely against the leaf litter.
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Photos: Flowerbeds
Feb. 18th, 2026 07:56 pmysabetwordsmithThe first crocuses are blooming! I just had to take pictures when I spotted them this morning. Yesterday they were just buds.
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bookscorpion
The sun came out and everyone was enjoying it so much after more than a week of clouds and snowfall. This crow was taking a very energetic bath - look how far the water droplets are flying all around him!
Photos: Flowerbeds
Feb. 17th, 2026 05:00 pmysabetwordsmithYesterday I shared photos from the House Yard and South Lot plus Savanna and Prairie Garden. Today I did a bit of yardwork that revealed fun new things. :D
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Photos: Savanna and Prairie Garden
Feb. 16th, 2026 11:31 pmysabetwordsmithThese are the rest of the pictures I took today, from the savanna and prairie garden. (See the House Yard and South Lot.)
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( Walk with me ... )
Spring Flowers
Jan. 12th, 2026 05:14 pmbookscorpionI buy primroses and pots full of bulbs as soon as they are available, it does so much for my mood to have them where I can see them from the couch. I have daffodils, grape hyacinths, a couple of different hyacinths and these netted irises.
Cemetery in the snow
Jan. 5th, 2026 05:17 pmbookscorpionI went to the cemetery today to take photos of all the snow we've been getting, and it was gorgeous. Even better, the snow came out - only for about fifteen minutes but it was magical
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Full Wolf Supermoon, 2 January 2026.
Jan. 3rd, 2026 12:28 amfull_metal_oxTaken on 2 January 2026 at 19:44 U.S. Eastern Standard Time.
The lunar halo of mackerel clouds, darkly dappled by the spaces between, keeps the moon from being reduced to just another circle of warm white light in the electric constellation of the apartment complex—which has usually been the effect when I’ve tried to take a picture. (That startling peacock-blue color was a happy artifact of my cheap-ass flip-phone camera!)
You can see how the moon continues an arc formed by the walkway lights—somewhat resembling the head of Scorpius, with the stairway light standing in for Antares.
The lunar halo of mackerel clouds, darkly dappled by the spaces between, keeps the moon from being reduced to just another circle of warm white light in the electric constellation of the apartment complex—which has usually been the effect when I’ve tried to take a picture. (That startling peacock-blue color was a happy artifact of my cheap-ass flip-phone camera!)
You can see how the moon continues an arc formed by the walkway lights—somewhat resembling the head of Scorpius, with the stairway light standing in for Antares.
Photos: Coles County Community Garden
Aug. 3rd, 2025 02:51 amysabetwordsmithThese pictures show the Coles County Community Garden on Saturday, August 2. (Begin with Part 1: Right Side, Part 2: Left Side.)
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( Walk with me ... )
ysabetwordsmithWe visited the butterfly gardens at the Charleston Library, on June 19 although this is dated 20 because it's after midnight. They were filled with birds, although I didn't manage to catch any pictures of them.
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( Walk with me ... )
Abstract Art on a Northern Lake
Jun. 17th, 2025 06:39 pmjesse_the_kI’m staying near a northern Wisconsin lake at 45.658965, -89.497625, where I’ll be revelling in 15:45 hours of daylight on the summer solstice. The logged-over forest is mostly red pine, and wow they’re pollinating—creating very abstract art near the dock
Pine pollen forms semi-opaque circles over shallow sandy beach
( two more pics )
