Posts in Category: Nature
Chicago Penguin
One of the penguins from the Lincoln park Zoo in Chicago, taken at the end of the train trip out west in 2006.
Blizzard 2008
In like a lion and out like a lamb. It’s March in Ohio. 20.4 inches of snow fell on Friday and Saturday.
Lunar Eclipse
The full lunar eclipse from February 20, 2008. Extremely cold temperatures outside (13F, windchill was -5F). Used the Tamron 500mm with a 1.4x teleconverter giving a total range of 700mm. Next full lunar eclipse in North America is not until December 2010.
Portrait of giraffe
The tallest animal on the ground, giraffes can reach up to 19 feet in height. Females are slightly shorter than males, topping out at 16 feet, but both genders display brown, patterned coats. The Baringo giraffe’s front legs are longer than the back legs, giving the body as a whole a sloping appearance.
Baringo giraffes use their extremely long (up to 18 inches), manipulative tongues to gather leaves in the wild. The tongue is flexible enough to pluck preferred acacia leaves while avoiding the acacia tree’s accompanying thorns. Males gather their food from the tops of trees, while females browse at lower levels. This strategy enables them to share habitats without competing directly for food.
Yosemite Falls
Yosemite Falls is the highest measured waterfall in North America. Located in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The 1430 foot (425m) plunge qualifies the Upper Falls alone as one of the twenty highest waterfalls in the world.
The Ahwahneechee people of Yosemite Valley called the waterfall “Cholock” and believed that the plunge pool at its base was inhabited by the spirits of several witches, called the Poloti. An Ahwaneechee folktale describes a woman going to fetch a pail of water from the pool, and drawing it out full of snakes. Later that night, after the woman had trespassed into their territory, the spirits caused the woman’s house to be sucked into the pool by a powerful wind, taking the woman and her newborn baby with her.
Hume Lake
Located in the Sequoia National Forest, the lake is 87 acres and was formed from an artificial dam built in 1908 to provide water for a logging operation. The peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range overlook the lake.
Bryce Canyon
Another canyon photo! This one defies any type of description. Looks like something the Disney engineers would build for their parks. Despite its name, this is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to its geological structures, called hoodoos, formed from wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lakebed sedimentary rocks. A must visit for all.
Red Rock Canyon
In between Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, there is Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area. As you can see from the photo, it is not hard to guess how this area got the name. It was a gorgeous morning, after an awful day and night in Zion National Park. Need to return to Zion and give the park another chance, did not have a great experience while there.
Ute Canyon
Ute Canyon is located within the 32 square miles of the Colorado National Monument. Taken from one of the many viewpoints along Rim Rock Drive, the only road through the monument.