Photohunters: Taste and Bridges

Taste

Bridges

I have rather eclectic taste when it comes to bridges.

To combine the two photohunters themes this week, I'm going to show you some of the bridges that suit my taste.

I started with bridges I took in the Blowing Rock, NC mountain area (first 3 shots).

Sometimes the simplest foot bridges can be both useful and tasteful, even if the bridge is just stepping stones like the second one.

Shots 4, 5, and 6 are bridges on trails near my house in Raleigh, NC.

The bridge above and below make me think of a crooked little bridge instead of the crooked little house from nursery rhymes. 

The bridge below is barely visible which I kind of like. The next 3 shots were taken in the West Virginia mountains.

The next one is much larger and dominates the landscape immediately around it.

In contrast to the one above, the next bridge is stepping stones across the creek.

The red bridge below is on a trail near my house in NC.

The next three bridges are in the Virginia mountains near the NC border.

I am posting a lot of shots of bridges but they barely skim the surface of bridges that I've photographed which suit my tastes.

The bridge below is rather large but the way I shot it makes it look like it's nestled in the trees. My tastes run to reflections which is another reason I'm including the one below.

Unfortunately when I was in San Francisco I was in between cameras so the shots I took there were taken with a disposable camera.

Although the quality of the photos is lousy, since the Golden Gate Bridge recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, I'm including shots I took of it.

Click for the home of Gattina's bridges photohunt and/or click for Sandy's taste photohunt.

Nature Notes: Moving into summer

It's beginning to feel like summer with the heat and humidity moving in.

I don't mind so much as long as it continues cooling off at night.

The bees are very busy and focused fully on the butterfly weed.

I've been photographing the bees more than the birds in recent days.

They ignore me while feeding and I can get very close.

I find the squirrels very amusing.

I know some people think squirrels are pests but I like them.

They are so inquisitive and agile.

The gardenias are beginning to flower and spread their fragrance widely.

The American Robins are hunting for insects and worms.

I see them year round but they are mostly in the trees during winter here. In spring and summer they hunt on the ground.

Click for the home of nature notes.

Today's Flowers: Blooms in downtown Raleigh, NC

The hydrangeas around the Capitol in downtown Raleigh, NC are blooming well.

Last weekend there were some extra blooms downtown as part of artsplosure.

 Local landscapers put out displays of flowers around the sculptures.

It must have been a lot of work for a weekend festival.

As a lover of flowers it was a bonus to see all the blooms.

Back at capitol square the permanent landscape is also looking beautiful with amaryllis blooming.

Click for the home of Today's Flowers.

Photohunters: Creative and Famous Places

 CREATIVE

 FAMOUS PLACES

In combining the two photohunters themes (creative and famous places) this week, I went to my photo archives for shots I took in Greenwich Village which is a famous and creative Manhattan neighborhood.

I've used many of these shots before but they seemed particularly good for both themes.

I was in Washington Square Park (a historic Greenwich Village Park) when I took these shots, and this park has hosted many creative artist performances through the years.

The park was being renovated so it was fairly empty when I was there.

The buildings below are part of the NYU campus and that is certainly a campus with a lot of creative artists. Martin Scorsese directed a number of short films while he was a student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He has also taught there (to drop one famous creative name).

Click here for Gattina's Famous Places and/or click here for Sandy's Creative photohunt.

Nature Notes: Green Square and my green yard and birds

This week before I do my regular nature notes on what's going on in my yard, I'm going to begin in downtown Raleigh, NC with our new Green Square.

The green rectangle above is in the courtyard outside the new Nature Research Center and I'm not sure of its purpose as there isn't a sign yet.

The green roof above is pretty self explanatory. To explain about Green Square it's a "two-block multi-use sustainable development project" in downtown Raleigh where the NC State environmental offices are being built. Green Square also includes the new Nature Research Center as well as the NC Museum of  Natural Science which has been there for a long time.

The Green Square Complex will enable the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences to promote stewardship by example to the general public, while providing experiential learning opportunities focused on the current scientific research and environmental issues affecting our daily lives.

The model below in the Nature Research Center shows how rainwater collection and design features for water run-off are part of the new buildings.

I noticed there were a lot of charging units for people with electric cars around Green Square.

 The rest of the post will be my regular nature diary style nature notes.

The bee above looked drowned on the butterfly plant and I never saw it move.

The female house finch blends into my deck floor.

Although I only caught two bees in the next shot, after I zoomed in, their were hundreds of them on the ampelopsis (porcelain vine).

It's a good thing I like Queen Anne's Lace because it springs up all over my yard.

My perennial grasses are starting to form their plumes.

The bee below was feasting on the butterfly weed.

   

My hydrangeas are very early blooming this year.

Below is what I call my parent hydrangea.

The next shot is of its offspring that I moved to another part of my yard, quite a few years ago, and it is rivaling the parent. 

Next another shot of the house finch which hang out on my deck. The house finch shots this week or all females. The colorful males were camera shy this week.

The male cardinal was shaking off water from his bath below.

The next shots are of the male rufous-sided towhee.

Their eyes are very intense.

The American Robins are enjoying the spring weather.

I think the mourning dove looks very stoical.

Click for the home of nature notes.