common_nature | Entries tagged with urban

Taken 15 May 2023, 19:13 U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings Time, at the Wright Stop Plaza(1) bus hub in downtown Dayton, Ohio.

This handsome gent was the last photo I took in Dayton before my departure for Florida, and I’m rather pleased with the role the strong contrasting lines of the paving stones and the bars of the metal bench play in the composition.

(Out of frame: the flock of English sparrows he was challenging for the rights to a popcorn spill. Also out of frame, except for the merest edge of her jacket to the right of my purse: the young lady conducting a live webcast on recovery and the Gospel from her smartphone.)

(1) The Wright Brothers’ names and likenesses are all over the Dayton area, from Wright Memorial Library to Wright State University to Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; these guys are our unofficial genii loci and patron saints.

full_metal_ox

Strelitzia reginae in bloom in a bedding of white seashells, with low-growing palms and (agave?) also visible in the flower bed, taken on 18 August 2023 at 15:43 US Eastern Daylight Savings Time:

The mature male specimen of Homo sapiens var. euroamericanus was a passerby and did not give his express consent, but the color of his T-shirt coincided so perfectly with the blue nectary petals of the flower that I decided to keep him; the measure I took to respect his privacy somehow completes the composition.)

full_metal_ox

Taken at 5:52 PM EST 22 December 2023, this is something I really should’ve posted a year ago; I’m squeezing it under the wire just as the outgoing Lunar Year expires.

From the parking lot of my neighborhood Publix: the Rabbit prepares to hand the year over to the Dragon.

pauraque

I ran into this lady while hiking today.

side view of deer, captured mid-chew, looking at cameraperson in the woods

( And she had a friend )

ysabetwordsmith

Today we drove down to Toledo and Greenup to view the eclipse where totality would last a couple of minutes. We had a nice drive down.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: excited

dewline

So I was waiting for a bus on Bank Street, just north of the Rideau River across from Billings Bridge Mall in 2008...and I spotted these critters.

Current Mood: busy

thenewbuzwuzz

Light me like one of your French dandelions.

( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz

Some mauve friends that I can't name, with a dandelion for scale - ETA: turns out it's Stork’s Bill, Erodium cicutarium - thanks,

boxofdelights!

flowery lawn with parked cars and people in the distance

( three more images )

spiralsheep

( Four more images. )

A bird’s nest, probably belonging to a song thrush, dislodged since last year’s breeding season.

Bird's nest, dislodged since last year, Worcestershire 03-14

( In like a lion and out like a lamb? )

spiralsheep

( Six small images in total. )

Tree with tangled branches.

A hole in the tree trunk, about a metre above ground level: who lives in a house like this?

( Knock, knock. Is anyone at home? )

spiralsheep

Red-tailed bumblebees, Bombus lapidarius, nesting. The open cells are "honey pots" for food and the closed are "larval cells" for baby bees. A couple of bees exhibited territorial behaviour by flying at me while I captured these images but they were investigative not aggressive.

1 Red-tailed bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, Worcestershire 07-13

( Two more small images. )

spiralsheep

Wild dog rose, Rosa canina.

One Perfect Rose, by Dorothy Parker

( One short poem and one small snail image. )

spiralsheep

Random wild flower seen growing between a stone wall and a tarmac path by the River Avon in Bristol: common mallow, Malva sylvestris.

6 Common mallow, Malva sylvestris, Bristol 06-13

spiralsheep

The eldest of the four kestrels flew for the first time earlier today. These screenshots from the Worcester peregrines webcam are from a 10 minute period. I decided not to show you the one with the large pigeon leg + foot sticking straight out of the eldest fledgling's beak. /red in beak and claw

( Four more images. )

5. Four young kestrels, Worcester 04-07-13 at 18-34

spiralsheep

Evergreen mistletoe growing high in treetops, in Worcester city centre during April 2013, before leaves came out on the deciduous trees.

05 Mistletoe in Worcester city centre 04-13

spiralsheep

At tai chi, which my group practice outside, we were outnumbered by peacock butterflies (Inachis io), who flew around us and occasionally perched on us, so when we'd finished I grabbed my camera and chased them through the buddleia. The one I capped, probably a male, is this year's adult but has already faded from its brightest red and metallic blue. Adult wingspan is about 6.5 to 7cm (so the images on this page are about lifesize). The larvae/caterpillars are generally black and always spiky. More details and images here @ ukbutterflies.

Red peacock butterfly, with eyed wings, on pink and green buddleia bush, 1

( Three more similar images. )

redbird

I took this photo of violets last week, in northern Manhattan (Inwood Hill Park). It was very early for violets here, but the whole spring has been running early, starting with dandelions in late January. (Also uploaded to Flickr, two photos of different kinds of tiny purple flowers I don't have names for, and one of the same kind of violets, tiny purple flowers, and bright magenta rhododendron, also from the warm spell, but taken in Central Park.

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full_metal_ox - Mallard drake at the Wright Stop Plaza bus hub.
full_metal_ox - Bird of Paradise flower at a Gulf Coast Florida strip mall.
full_metal_ox - A happenstance silhouette at the neighborhood grocery.
pauraque - White-tailed Deer
ysabetwordsmith - Eclipse Pictures
dewline - 2008: Ducks on Bank Street
thenewbuzwuzz - One city pic and four forest pics
thenewbuzwuzz - More suburban lawn flowers and such
spiralsheep - March of the daffodils, also damson blossom, a bird’s nest, and sunset
spiralsheep - January trees, hills, clouds, and a crow
spiralsheep - Red-tailed bumblebees, Bombus lapidarius, nesting
spiralsheep - In which there are three perfect roses and a white-lipped snail
spiralsheep - Common mallow, Malva sylvestris
spiralsheep - In which there are four young kestrels in their city centre nest
spiralsheep - Mistletoe in Worcester city centre
spiralsheep - UK: Peacock butterfly, Inachis io
redbird - The first violets of Spring

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Common Nature

wonder and joy and mystery in everyday things

Entries tagged with urban

Mallard drake at the Wright Stop Plaza bus hub.

Bird of Paradise flower at a Gulf Coast Florida strip mall.

A happenstance silhouette at the neighborhood grocery.

White-tailed Deer

Eclipse Pictures

2008: Ducks on Bank Street

One city pic and four forest pics

More suburban lawn flowers and such

March of the daffodils, also damson blossom, a bird’s nest, and sunset

January trees, hills, clouds, and a crow

Red-tailed bumblebees, Bombus lapidarius, nesting

In which there are three perfect roses and a white-lipped snail

Common mallow, Malva sylvestris

In which there are four young kestrels in their city centre nest

Mistletoe in Worcester city centre

UK: Peacock butterfly, Inachis io

The first violets of Spring

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April 2025

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