#41
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Obstructions
On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:13:09 -0600, wrote:
Aha! Whining and complaining works! Today, a great blue heron posed for me against the tasteful backdrop of a brick outhouse, a dumpster, and a trash barrel: http://i13.tinypic.com/62p5gk8.jpg Then it flew off: http://i8.tinypic.com/6gl6l28.jpg An email asked me about the absurd water slide mentioned elsewhe http://i10.tinypic.com/4xwp82e.jpg That's what a water slide is, and that's how this one usually looks--unused. Mostly, it serves to justify part of the maintenance budget for the state park. A cheerful sign warns that the pond is filled with untreated river water, a tactful method of warning swimmers that they could get sick if they let any of that stuff get up their noses. The chain-link fence through which the picture was taken keeps out beavers, which gnawed down the ornamental trees years ago. The fence also stops softshell turtles, which I sometimes find on the path next to the fence, imitating green manhole covers, baffled and furious because they can't reach the sandy beach, which would be perfect for laying eggs. Later, I came across this fiend, lurking in one of the wooden bird-boxes nailed to the cottonwoods: http://i9.tinypic.com/637fyqf.jpg Apologists for the creature may try to excuse it for gnawing that huge hole in the bird box, but what can they say about this hideous debris at the foot of the tree? http://i8.tinypic.com/62h8bch.jpg Yes, that's a nail sticking up from a board, a plank that has obviously torn off the tree where it supported the lower part of the bird house and thrown down by the squirrel to endanger passing bicycle tires. Cheers, Carl Fogel |
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#43
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Obstructions
On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:15:32 -0700, Bill wrote:
wrote: On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:13:09 -0600, wrote: Aha! Whining and complaining works! Today, a great blue heron posed for me against the tasteful backdrop of a brick outhouse, a dumpster, and a trash barrel: http://i13.tinypic.com/62p5gk8.jpg Then it flew off: http://i8.tinypic.com/6gl6l28.jpg An email asked me about the absurd water slide mentioned elsewhe http://i10.tinypic.com/4xwp82e.jpg That's what a water slide is, and that's how this one usually looks--unused. Mostly, it serves to justify part of the maintenance budget for the state park. A cheerful sign warns that the pond is filled with untreated river water, a tactful method of warning swimmers that they could get sick if they let any of that stuff get up their noses. The chain-link fence through which the picture was taken keeps out beavers, which gnawed down the ornamental trees years ago. The fence also stops softshell turtles, which I sometimes find on the path next to the fence, imitating green manhole covers, baffled and furious because they can't reach the sandy beach, which would be perfect for laying eggs. Later, I came across this fiend, lurking in one of the wooden bird-boxes nailed to the cottonwoods: http://i9.tinypic.com/637fyqf.jpg Apologists for the creature may try to excuse it for gnawing that huge hole in the bird box, but what can they say about this hideous debris at the foot of the tree? http://i8.tinypic.com/62h8bch.jpg Yes, that's a nail sticking up from a board, a plank that has obviously torn off the tree where it supported the lower part of the bird house and thrown down by the squirrel to endanger passing bicycle tires. Cheers, Carl Fogel Carl, I'm in the need for a digital camera since I loaned one to my daughter to take pictures at a party and guess what, she lost it. Can you recommend any decent ones for pocket use or at least not to break the bank. My old one was a whopping 1.3Mp Vivitar fixed focus but did use rechargeable AA NiMH batteries and standard SD memory cards. For all that matter does anyone have any camera ideas for a budget camera that I won't cry about falling on?? Bill Baka TIA Dear Bill, Mine's a--uh, let's see . . . a Canon A530 with 4x optical. One advantage was that it was just a step below the model that allowed you to add expensive accessories I buy 30 batteries for about ten bucks at Home Depot. Its only mechanical failing is an occasional half-hearted effort to open the protective lens shutter, either due to poor quality (unlikely) or else a careless owner who carries and uses it in dusty conditions (embarrassing). It's ridiculously good at automatically taking good ordinary pictures and can be forced to focus up close. Long hand-held shots with fading afternoon light require either steadier hands or setting shorter exposure times. I'm resisting the urge to get a 10x with auto-stabilizer, figuring that the increased zoom would just about offset the stabilizer, even though the new toy would be fun. Legions of RBT posters are hoping that I don't give in and plague them even more. Slightly smaller legions have forgotten more about cameras than I'll ever know. The new issue of Consumer Reports reviews recent digital cameras and is always a good place to start. Gratuitous obstructions the windstorm Wednesday, starting with a familiar creatu http://i14.tinypic.com/6bv8tja.jpg That was the only snake that stayed on the path long enough to be photographed. There were several others, since no one else was fool enough to ride in the high winds and the path was pleasantly deserted. The wind was 25 to 45 mph where I was, with several trees blown down across the path, but I expect that Peter Chisholm saw much worse up in Boulder. This little fellow (the males are smaller, as is common outside our species) was marching stupidly up the road that climbs up the south side of the Pueblo dam, sticking next to the yellow center line: http://i18.tinypic.com/664uhoj.jpg Normally, they cross roads instead of following them, but maybe he wanted to head straight into the wind--which was what I was stupidly doing, mashing away at 5 to 6 mph up into the wind. When I shooed him off the pavement, he flipped in the wind (twice) and lay on his back before reaching the grass. Both pictures were just point and shoot. For resizing and converting to other formats, the free IrfanView program is good for Windows. I use it for converting the odd format that the patent office prefers, which requires a plugin and which takes forever to load--I figure that anyone curious enough to look at whatever catches my bizarre fancy would be discouraged if they had to download and install plugins and then wade through the patent office tarpit. Cheers, Carl Fogel |
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Camers, was Obstructions
wrote:
Dear Bill, Mine's a--uh, let's see . . . a Canon A530 with 4x optical. One advantage was that it was just a step below the model that allowed you to add expensive accessories I buy 30 batteries for about ten bucks at Home Depot. Its only mechanical failing is an occasional half-hearted effort to open the protective lens shutter, either due to poor quality (unlikely) or else a careless owner who carries and uses it in dusty conditions (embarrassing). It's ridiculously good at automatically taking good ordinary pictures and can be forced to focus up close. Long hand-held shots with fading afternoon light require either steadier hands or setting shorter exposure times. The Canon would be a step up for me and the 4x optical sounds good. Those stupid digital zooms are a complete joke. I'm resisting the urge to get a 10x with auto-stabilizer, figuring that the increased zoom would just about offset the stabilizer, even though the new toy would be fun. If I could pick one up for about $300 I probably would would go for a 10x zoom, but now they are pushing 4Mp and up, even at a bottom end store like Wal-mart. Even that is five times what will fill a computer screen. Legions of RBT posters are hoping that I don't give in and plague them even more. Slightly smaller legions have forgotten more about cameras than I'll ever know. The new issue of Consumer Reports reviews recent digital cameras and is always a good place to start. Their reviews and my uses are really different points of view. I'm avoiding proprietary Lithium Ion batteries since if one goes dead, the replacement will kill you. Gratuitous obstructions the windstorm Wednesday, starting with a familiar creatu http://i14.tinypic.com/6bv8tja.jpg Good quick shot. We had a windstorm in sunny Ca. that had them putting out tornado warnings. What they would call a tornado in California would barely be a gust in the midwest. That was the only snake that stayed on the path long enough to be photographed. There were several others, since no one else was fool enough to ride in the high winds and the path was pleasantly deserted. The wind was 25 to 45 mph where I was, with several trees blown down across the path, but I expect that Peter Chisholm saw much worse up in Boulder. Sort of what I encountered after the storm since I really did not want to ride in it. I did go out for a run in the storm and nearly got blown over a few times. This little fellow (the males are smaller, as is common outside our species) was marching stupidly up the road that climbs up the south side of the Pueblo dam, sticking next to the yellow center line: http://i18.tinypic.com/664uhoj.jpg Normally, they cross roads instead of following them, but maybe he wanted to head straight into the wind--which was what I was stupidly doing, mashing away at 5 to 6 mph up into the wind. When I shooed him off the pavement, he flipped in the wind (twice) and lay on his back before reaching the grass. Both pictures were just point and shoot. Fast auto focus? For resizing and converting to other formats, the free IrfanView program is good for Windows. I use it for converting the odd format that the patent office prefers, which requires a plugin and which takes forever to load--I figure that anyone curious enough to look at whatever catches my bizarre fancy would be discouraged if they had to download and install plugins and then wade through the patent office tarpit. Are you talking MrSID? I have run into that on the Smithsonian site. I'm using IrfanView now as my main viewer and some picture manipulation but I got a free package with both my Visioneer and HP scanners. I'll have to check out the patent sight a little more carefully because I am working on some patent projects right now. (Energy related). Bill Baka Cheers, Carl Fogel |
#45
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Obstructions
On Jun 3, 10:26 am, Tim McNamara wrote:
You have more interesting creatures in your neck of the woods than we do here in the Twin Cities metro. Although in SE MN I have encountered 3 foot long rattlers out sunning themselves, and snappers along the river and the backwaters. No big hairy spiders, though. I have seen llamas, alpacas, camels, peafowl, ostriches, bison, miniature donkeys, miniature horses and burros while riding in Illinois, all kept as exotic pets or livestock. Dogs are the main form of fauna that bicyclists encounter around here, roaming about the countryside singly or in packs thanks to ignorant owners who saw "Born Free" as children. Had to outsprint a boxer yesterday. Riding on the other side of the river, I note that Wisconsonites tend to be more responsible owners and keep their dogs under control. Loose dogs chasing the Holstein-Friesians are not considered acceptable. However, I have had some unpleasant experiences with Shepards (aka Alsatians) who think the public road is part of the territory they need to guard. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia The weather is here, wish you were beautiful |
#46
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Obstructions
Johnny Sunset wrote:
On Jun 3, 10:26 am, Tim McNamara wrote: You have more interesting creatures in your neck of the woods than we do here in the Twin Cities metro. Although in SE MN I have encountered 3 foot long rattlers out sunning themselves, and snappers along the river and the backwaters. No big hairy spiders, though. I have seen llamas, alpacas, camels, peafowl, ostriches, bison, miniature donkeys, miniature horses and burros while riding in Illinois, all kept as exotic pets or livestock. Dogs are the main form of fauna that bicyclists encounter around here, roaming about the countryside singly or in packs thanks to ignorant owners who saw "Born Free" as children. Had to outsprint a boxer yesterday. Riding on the other side of the river, I note that Wisconsonites tend to be more responsible owners and keep their dogs under control. Loose dogs chasing the Holstein-Friesians are not considered acceptable. However, I have had some unpleasant experiences with Shepards (aka Alsatians) who think the public road is part of the territory they need to guard. -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia The weather is here, wish you were beautiful If you get the chance to befriend them without getting bit they will come up to you for a quick petting encounter. Most of the dogs on my regular ride roads now know that I will stop and engage them in some friendly interaction. Of course there are some hard cases that need a 2x4 upside the head, but they are rare. There is one pair that I ride by and one comes up to get attention while the other hangs back and growls. Some dogs are dense, some are not. If you get the chance to dismount and put the bike between you and the dog, my experience is that they will think twice when you are staring them down. Patience usually wins. I've only been bitten once and that was a complete ambush, but animal control made that one go away for keeps. There is a leash/yard law in California but nobody obeys that particular law. Happy (unbitten) trails. Bill Baka |
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Obstructions
On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:13:09 -0600, wrote:
[snip] Another great blue heron decided to tease me, flapping off and then perching on a distant juniper across a deep gully: http://i9.tinypic.com/62f7gpv.jpg Silly bird looks like a misplaced weathervane. Cheers, Carl Fogel |
#48
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Obstructions
wrote:
On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:13:09 -0600, wrote: [snip] Another great blue heron decided to tease me, flapping off and then perching on a distant juniper across a deep gully: http://i9.tinypic.com/62f7gpv.jpg Silly bird looks like a misplaced weathervane. Cheers, Carl Fogel I've managed to scare a few, while riding on pavement, and they look like a small plane taking off. We have rice fields next to the road where I'm at. Bill Baka |
#49
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Obstructions
On Sun, 03 Jun 2007 01:13:09 -0600, wrote:
[snip] This was as close as I expected to get to a great blue heron today: http://i8.tinypic.com/4pniy5g.jpg You need binoculars to see that's a great blue heron out on its nest in the dead tree in the middle of the reservoir. On top of another bluff, I was annoyed by a great blue heron that flapped away into the deep gully below us. I hadn't noticed it perching right below me on the steep slope. It landed on a tree far down the slope, so I dug my camera out to take a picture, but it flew off again before I was ready. "Drat!" I said, or words to that effect, and put the camera away. As soon as I had everything zipped up, two more great blue herons flapped away from where they had been perching right below me, just out of sight on the steep slope and even nearer than the first bird. "Bother!" I said, or perhaps a slightly different phrase, one that Christopher Robin took care not to let Winnie the Pooh hear. I hate being mocked by these large birds. They both flew off out of sight. I was about to leave when a juniper tree just below me cautiously moved its foot-long bill to see what I was doing. I took the camera out again and took some bad pictures in poor light. Here's one: http://i14.tinypic.com/5y84lg4.jpg The bird is about fifty feet below me, down a steep slope. The brown water and white shale much further down are below a fifty-foot drop beyond the greenery. The first three herons were much closer. Here's the fourth bird, fuzzily flying off: http://i16.tinypic.com/6b26fzp.jpg Instead of vanishing, this fourth great blue heron landed on another juniper tree, far below me, so I plodded down the slope, trying to keep an eye on the bird. I soon lost sight of the huge bird, but I kept looking up hopefully at every juniper. Meanwhile, the great blue heron was down on the ground, playing turkey or roadrunner. I noticed it by accident and took more bad pictures like this one: http://i11.tinypic.com/4t71kk7.jpg The stupid heron finally gave up imitating a roadrunner, flew across the bottom of the gully, and perched on a dead juniper on the far side: http://i17.tinypic.com/5z78oc5.jpg The light was bad, at least for an automatic camera and an incompetent photographer, but the heron stayed on its tree while I trudged up through the weeds, taking more pictures like these: http://i15.tinypic.com/54dsakg.jpg http://i12.tinypic.com/4mk0l02.jpg http://i10.tinypic.com/63j5bo7.jpg http://i10.tinypic.com/52gav87.jpg http://i10.tinypic.com/5x3f98n.jpg Note the clawed feet. It may have decided to stay where it was because unclipping those things from a dead juniper isn't easy. By then, I was right under the bird, so I moved away and climbed up the shale to the left and ended up about thirty feet away, almost at eye-level with the bird. By sheer luck, I stumbled onto an angle with better lighting: http://i17.tinypic.com/4vi8aas.jpg There! That'll teach those tall birds to tease me! CF |
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Obstructions
wrote in message ... Finally, here's about ten pounds of expectant mother, a bit bigger than a bike helmet. Inflamed by a thunderstorm, she foolishly dug a nest this afternoon at the edge of a sandy but poorly drained two-rut road, fifteen feet from her marsh: http://i12.tinypic.com/6gxpi1g.jpg Damn, that is one ugly turtle, but I guess I prefer tortoises: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3645128 Greg -- Ticket******* tax tracker: http://ticketmastersucks.org/tracker.html "Run over your friends in stolen Volkswagens And tell them I sent you, and tell them I sent ... you" - Mclusky |
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