We could hear the red-winged blackbirds - the males - across the (former) pond this morning. First time this year - February 25 - in years past, that's happened pretty much on the equinox. So, early.
It's been warmer lately and with the snowmelt, the stream that runs through our property has swollen considerably. I went out for a walk before breakfast with just the phone for a camera. Macro is generally unsatisfactory on the phone but I feel like I synced my brain a little better today.
My last shot before things seemed to click: this is what I think of as a pretty typical attempt at a somewhat close-up on my phone. It looks great on the phone itself, but any bigger, and it gets unacceptably blurry to me.
last year's female catkins.
Still, though, it inspired me to spend a little while letting the phone figure out how to focus on what I wanted it to focus on.
There we go.
This year's male catkins? sheesh, that specificity of knowledge has been put in back storage, apparently. It's been a while.
Onto the perennial favorite, exploded cattails. I think these shots came out okay....I should get out the Nikon with its macro lens and re-train my brain to really see the world...
Oh, fluffy goodness.
They should call these 'catbellies'.
No wonder this stuff used to be used as bedding.
The Nikon would be even better at getting the mist drops.
Zero clue who this is - I need to brush up.
Ahhhh, mud season...
It's the weekend. Fortunately, "The Hidden Life of Trees" became available from the library, via Kindle. I already know, a few paragraphs into the prologue, that I'm going to have to buy this one.
